Newsletter Summer 2018
Words from a Hanley Center Alum
Just about a year ago, I walked into the Hanley Center at Origins beyond broken and scared. Immediately, staff was warm and welcoming. They promised me that I would be well taken care of. All of the staff, from the groundskeepers, kitchen crew, nurses, doctors, therapists, and Recovery Advocates were nothing short of amazing. They did not judge and they spoke to us with respect. They shared their own experiences which helped me to build trust, to open up, and break myself down to build me back up. I have found forgiveness for myself and others and have a true calmness inside. I am no longer in conflict with myself. I was given the most amazing opportunity to change and rebuild my life and I will be forever grateful to Hanley Center at Origins for who I am today.
– Cecelia, Alumnus, Hanley Center at Origins
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Referrals from alumni are the best endorsements. At the moment we need rockin’ Recovery Advocates on South Padre Island. Here is a partial overview of qualifications.
Each RA candidate must be thoroughly familiar and able to convey the principles and programs of the various 12-Step fellowships. This position directly interacts with patients, and senior and clinical management. Be ready to assist the staff in the management and execution of the daily schedule and coordination/facilitation of patient needs.
RAs often facilitate 12-Step lectures and group discussions, and are directly involved in monitoring and mentoring the patients. There is the maintaining of files, facilitating and coordinating off-facility activities such as driving clients to medical and other appointments, making airport runs, etc., as well as assisting in the admission/intake process, and other aspects of the patient’s experience at Origins. Recovery Advocates must quickly become familiar with all Origins staff members, programs and properties.
There’s a good bit more in the arena of responsibilities, as well as wonderful benefits to being a part of our team.
Remember that feeling of clarity and serenity that descended upon you after engaging in a PsychoNeuroPlasticity session? Are you using those same tools today, at home, to align your mind, body, and spirit?
Here is a refresher of what you learned which you can use now and for a lifetime:
1) How To Breathe – In some cultures, breath is the same term for spirit. When we learn how to breathe, we learn how to live fully. Breathing is the one activity we do until the day that we die. The way you breathe will drastically change the way you live your life.
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by Chris Raymer, Vice President of Recovery Services, Origins Behavioral HealthCare
My twin brother Myers and I recently got back from one of the best conferences ever. The Southern Maryland Round Up in Solomons, Maryland. Six hundred recovered alcoholics and Al-Anons gathered at a big ol’ Holiday Inn where we spent a couple days talking about the Steps and laughing our butts off. Got to bed about midnight, grateful to have been included in this event.
Sitting in the airport Sunday morning, I started thinking about how many folks I know in various 12-Step Fellowships that never attend events like the one I just left. I felt compelled to write a bit about that point. (Our flight being delayed an hour helped!)
I was in and out of a 12-Step Fellowship for a bunch of years back in the early 80s. Went to a bunch of meetings but never stayed sober long. Y’all have heard me talking about it before. I never heard of recovery conferences. I’m sure I wouldn’t have gone if I had. In 1987, after trying to “off myself,” I landed in a different meeting up in Lewisville, Texas. Bunch of Big Book folks as it turned out. I always went to the 6 p.m. meetings after work…
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Is Desire Enough?
by Chad Lentscher, Lead Alumni Coordinator, Origins South Padre
I was initially writing this article about Steps 6 and 7, but decided to change direction after receiving a phone call. A friend called to let me know that another friend had died. I immediately began to think about him, and all the work he had done. He had a strong desire to stay sober, just like so many other men and women who still suffer from this illness…
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Quotes to Ponder..
by Myers Raymer, Alumni Support, Origins South Padre
These days it seems I spend much of my time sitting in airports waiting to go somewhere. This morning I’m waiting for Chris (“The Evil Twin”) to meet me in Dallas so we can go to Boston or is it Baltimore? Sigh. Anyway, while I’m waiting, my mind keeps drifting back to a book I just finished reading called “Many Faces, One Voice” by…
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Settling for Less?
by Tharin Smith, Lead Alumni Coordinator, Hanley Center at Origins
“He may not see at once that he has barely scratched a limitless lode which will pay dividends only if he mines it for the rest of his life and insists on giving away the entire product.” (Big Book, page 129)
What a wonderful and glorious promise this is to one that labored long and hard just to achieve a mediocre life at best…
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A Common Solution
by Kellye DeBerry, Alumni Coordinator, Hanley Center at Origins
Every time I attend our Alumni Meeting or Anniversary Night at Hanley Center at Origins, I am blown away by the power of the Fellowship! Every Tuesday night, the Alumni Meeting is packed – and I mean PACKED – full of people on fire for recovery, sharing their experience, strength, and hope.
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Words from an Origins South Padre Alum
My experience at Origins South Padre, and at home since I left, have been one in the same. The Big Book makes a number of promises, all of which I have seen come true, if not in myself then in the lives of others around me. The solution to alcoholism and addiction is only achieved by a spiritual awakening. This is exactly what the Big Book is designed to achieve, and Origins is the only place I have ever seen that facilitates this type of transition. It is not about triggers, people, places, and things. This disease takes away the choice that non-alcoholics have. Origins shows us how to connect to a Power that restores us to sanity and a life worth living!
– Jeffrey, Alumnus, Origins South Padre
