For his help in starting Double Trouble in Recovery

Carolyn P.

a friend and colleague who provided support over the years

David N.

This booklet was prepared by

Howard V.
Executive Director of Double Trouble in Recovery, Inc.

For additional copies, contact:

Double Trouble in Recovery, Inc.
DTR
PO BOX 245055
Brooklyn, New York 11224

718-373-2684 (sometimes it is on as a fax, sometimes as a phone. If you don\'t get through try again at another time.)
© 1993, 1997 Double Trouble in Recovery, Inc.

KEY WORDS AND TERMS

Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of Double Trouble in Recovery. What it means is that the names of people at a meeting and the subjects discussed are traditionally left in the meeting room where they belong and not taken outside. We ask that you respect our anonymity both as alcoholics and people with mental disorders.

A diagnosis involving a mental disorder such as depression or schizophrenia and an addiction to alcohol or street drugs.

People supporting each other around a common, shared problem.

Recipient of Services

An individual who uses or has used services of the mental health system. (Other similar terms are "consumer of services," "psychiatric survivor," "patient" or "ex-patient.")

The process of gaining mastery over a mental disorder or addiction according to one’s capacity to do so.

How you feel about yourself, whether positive or negative.

Self-Help

Taking steps to help yourself gain control of your life usually with peer support in a group setting.

The prejudiced belief that people with a mental disorder are "crazy," "dangerous," incapable of taking care of their own needs, helpless and unacceptable. (Often people with a mental disorder take in and allow stigmatizing attitudes of others to determine how they feel about themselves; this is called "internalized stigma.")

Double Trouble in Recovery is designed to meet the needs of the dually-diagnosed and is clearly for those having addictive substance problems as well as having been diagnosed with mental disorders. It is a fellowship founded upon equality, one dually-diagnosed person talking to, never down to, another. This manual has been designed to help start and run a Double Trouble in Recovery group. We share our experience, strengths and hope with each other so that we may solve our common problems and help others to recover from their particular addictions and mental disorders. We who are dually-diagnosed are compelled to walk a long and narrow path. We band together for common good in recovery. This manual has been designed with an open mind and understanding of each other so that we can honestly expose our problems and weaknesses. The humility we show shall never mask the courage it takes to admit who we are as together we find the hope and strengths that make our narrow path into a wide road that leads to peace, serenity and a meaningful life. We regard our fellowship as one dually-diagnosed fellow and human being helping another.

Recovery is a lifelong process which does not end when our fellows are discharged from formal treatment. Let those healthcare providers who read this manual understand that we work with fellows of Double Trouble to support the recovery process and that the greatest contribution providers can make in affecting change is in supporting the initiatives of our fellowship. In no way should healthcare providers start or run a Double Trouble group. For then, it would no longer be a self-help group, as Double Trouble provides a place for those of us who are dually-diagnosed, our own mutual aid support group.

This manual has been designed for groups to be started and to run so that we might find a helping and healing environment to free us from our affliction and bondage. It is a kind of service that we perform in our fellowship, a service which has been so freely given to us that we have learned that giving of ourselves required effort and time; we have learned not to govern, not to judge, not to play politics and not to gossip. We share our experience, we give praise and learn to be slow to condemn. Those of us in recovery are sometimes close-minded and it is the reason why we find our spiritual teaching difficult, not wanting to find out much about ourselves. We have seen that tolerance expresses itself in a variety of ways, in kindness and consideration toward the man or woman who is just beginning along their path of recovery, in understanding of those who, perhaps, have been less fortunate, and in empathy toward those whose ideas may seem to be at great variance with our own. Without these spiritual principles, we don’t believe that the type of giving we offer each other could keep anybody clean, sober and out of the hospital; but giving of our effort, strength and time in service is quite a different matter.

So for anyone reading this manual, please bear these ideas in mind, that we are servants of our fellowship and that none of us are here to govern or control, but to share in our fellowship. Many of us have never had that flash of light, the spiritual experience. Rather it is a process of spiritual growth, a new awakening. We all seek inner peace, sanity and serenity, and we must practice in order to be good at it. We cannot do anything well in this world unless we practice it; and so we practice these principles in our lives.

So, in reading this manual, we attempt to acquire the spirit of service. We attempt to acquire some faith and hope, which isn’t easily done, especially for those of us who have been stigmatized. Please remember to come to some of these ideas and before starting a group, know what you are doing it for, which is not only for Self but for others in recovery.

The Second Tradition of Alcoholics Anonymous states:

"For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority,
a loving God, as he may express Himself in our group conscience.
Our leaders are but trusted servants, they do not govern."

Good luck and God bless,

Howie

This letter came to us. It was signed by Andy.  "I am a recovering alcoholic. I hear and see things too. I am in Alcoholics Anonymous, and have admitted I am powerless over alcohol and my mental disorder, like the program’s First Step suggests. I am sober, but I still hear voices talking to me always. Other members of AA don’t have these experiences and I feel alone. They tell me to "let go and let God," and I feel I have tried very hard to, but it just doesn’t help. I must have done something terribly wrong to have these voices for eight years. I must be viewed in an unfavorable light by God. I must have many sins in my soul. I wish so much that there was somewhere to go where others have experienced these problems…."

There is such a place.

I write this article for Andy, and the rest of the people like us.

Double Trouble in Recovery is a special interest meeting that has been adapted from the Twelve Step program. It is a fellowship for men and women who share their experience and hope with one another so that they may solve their common problems and help each other recover from their addiction and mental disorders. DTR specifically embraces those alcohol / drug users who have a diagnosis of a mental disorder.

Due to their dual impairment, recipients find it easier to engage in this type of adapted Twelve Step program because they are all battling common problems not dealt with in regular Twelve Step meetings. It is my firm belief that this type of group is a breakthrough that is working for us. It is a missing link, because too many of us find other Twelve Step fellowship meetings bewildering, anxiety-provoking experiences difficult to endure. It also provides an environment to the newcomer in which issues of medication and mental disorders can be dealt with openly. It encourages recovery instead of active addiction and hospitalization.

A common thread in self-help is how peers help people grow toward self-identity and self-purpose. That is closely linked to a need to attain social competence. The type of environment and structure offered to the member can help toward a higher level of functioning. Peers teach each other concrete social skills and return a person to a feeling of confidence and self-respect and not a denial of one’s own subjective reality.

I have had the pleasure of meeting other recipients who have taught me through their bravery that stigma can be redefined as the repression of spirituality. God bless you, Andy, because you leave us all asking, "What is stigma?" It doesn’t explain the internal suffering of stigma. In the words of recipient Sally Clay, who was inspiring to me, "I have come to realize that the shame of stigma comes from the repression of the subjective reality within madness that deserves not contempt, nor pity, but respect."

In truly defining stigma, we must recognize this reality and define it as a spiritual one.

Part of the process of liberation is freeing our minds, breaking internal and external bonds. Stigma and discrimination prevent us from returning to the community. It becomes the most debilitating handicap and is something that must be changed. DTR is not the panacea or the cure-all. It is not an end; it is a new beginning.

To all my brothers and sisters in recovery who have helped me create this manual, by sharing their strength, hope and experience… Thank You.

* (Reprinted from OMH News)

Double Trouble in Recovery (DTR) is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other so that they may solve their common problems and help others to recover from their particular addiction(s) and mental disorders.

DTR is designed to meet the needs of the dually-diagnosed and is clearly for those having addictive substance problems as well as having been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder.

We also address the problems and benefits associated with psychiatric medication as well as other issues crucial to mental health; thus we recognize that for many, having addiction and mental disorders represents double trouble in recovery.

There are no dues or fees for DTR membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions.

Self-help aids the process of recovery in five ways:

 

1. Self-help provides a social network based on commonly shared experience. Recipients of mental health services are often isolated due to stigma and discrimination within and outside the mental health services system. In this context, socialization becomes an acute problem. When recipients come together in a self-help setting, they share common experiences which lead readily to the formation of social relationships.
   
   

2. Self-help facilitates people’s move from help-recipient to helper. Always being helped makes one feel helpless. It is a demeaning role in our society, leading to low self-esteem and a negative self-concept, in turn increasing the likelihood of more frequent feelings of anxiety. In contrast, the role of helper is highly valued in our society, leading to high self-esteem and to a positive self-concept. This provides a buffer against anxiety and repeated crises.
   
   

3. In self-help groups, people share specific ways of coping based on experience.
   
   

4. Those who cope successfully serve as role-models for individuals with less successful coping strategies.
   
   

5. Self-help provides people some meaningful structure which is not imposed by the outside but rather self-generated by the members themselves.

• Traditional 12-step groups are single-focus organizations based on the "one-disease - one-recovery" model. This specialization is largely what bonds members together. However, recovery needs which do not fall within that singular parameter are ignored, misunderstood or stigmatized. Dually-diagnosed clients need and want to address their dual recovery integratively and holistically.

 

• Dually-diagnosed clients suffer the double stigma of mental disorder and of chemical dependency, with associated social prejudice. These negative attitudes are ubiquitous and are as present the single-focus self-help groups as they are elsewhere in society. These negative attitudes are the antithesis of the mutual acceptance and honesty on which rests the essence of the 12-step recovery program. For the dually-diagnosed, these negative attitudes can be devastating to the dual recovery program.

 

• Many of the dually-diagnosed are on a prescribed regimen of medication which is as crucial to their total recovery as is abstinence from drugs and alcohol. Traditional 12-step groups often have an unspoken bias against medication. In that context, the dually-diagnosed receive misguided advice which can lead to non-compliance with medication, increased psychiatric symptoms and substance abuse relapse. For the dually-diagnosed, this bias can be devastating to the dual recovery process.

 

• Single-focus 12-step groups cannot offer the dually-diagnosed the honesty, acceptance, emotional support and shared experiences they deserve and need, and which are the most critical elements of the mutual aid process. Where they find these elements, it is often for one aspect of their recovery only: they may not feel comfortable sharing honestly their experiences and cannot relate totally to those who share theirs. They may feel shamed, judged and stigmatized. They may downplay, neglect or hide one side of their recovery needs to other members and to themselves. That is the antithesis of the mutual acceptance and honesty on which rests the essence of the 12-step recovery program. For the dually-diagnosed, this lack of complete mutual acceptance and honesty can be devastating to the dual recovery process.

Thus while there exist many self-help groups, they are single-focus and cannot provide adequate support to individuals dually-diagnosed with a mental disorder and a chemical addiction (alcohol and/or drugs). DTR is intended to overcome the problems encountered by those suffering from both substance abuse and mental disorders. DTR creates a safe environment where clients can discuss the issues of mental disorders, medication side-effects, psychiatric hospitalizations and experiences with the mental health system openly, without shame or stigma.

For many persons with dual-diagnoses, DTR is a vital link between being hospitalized and entering society. It provides an ongoing means of support for pursuing recovery, maintaining sobriety and living life in the community.

As one DTR member put it, "for me, coming to DTR was like coming home."

DTR follows a twelve-step approach to recovery, which has evolved from the original Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.

In DTR groups, we band together to help ourselves recover from our addictions and mental disorders. We share our experiences to help ourselves become honest, open-minded, and willing. Sharing helps all of us to remember how it was and how we arrived at where we are today. We live one day at a time and practice the Double Trouble in Recovery Twelve Steps.

 

• DTR can help you realize that you are not alone; that there are others who understand what you have gone through.

 

• DTR can help you believe that you can recover from the dual problems of addiction and mental disorder.

 

• DTR can give you an opportunity to be helped by helping others who have had similar experiences.

 

• DTR can help you learn how to take responsibility for your recovery.

 

• DTR can help you overcome secrecy and be more comfortable about having a mental disorder and taking prescription medications.

 

• DTR can help you deal with a variety of recovery needs, including mental disorders and forms of substance abuse.

 

• DTR can help you develop a stronger self-esteem and a clearer sense of who you are.

 

• DTR can strengthen your ability to cope with daily life.

 

• DTR can help you challenge stigma and loosen its grip.

 

• DTR can help you make choices and have more control over your life.
  
  

• DTR does not provide treatment other than the support mutually shared by its members.
  
  

• DTR does not make diagnoses or dispense medication.

 

• DTR does not take attendance, keep client records or do case management.

 

• DTR does not provide advice, advocacy or training.

 

• DTR does not provide religious guidance other than the spiritual experience members derive from working the program.

 

• DTR does not affiliate with social agencies or other institutions.

How to Start and Run a DOUBLE TROUBLE in RECOVERY Group

It is strongly suggested that the chairperson of the group has been out of the hospital for one year and needs to have had at least one year of freedom from the use of alcohol and/or non-prescription drugs. If there is no such person in your core group, you can count backwards to 11 months, 10 months, etc., and pick as chairperson the individual who has the longest time clean and sober.

The chairperson also needs to demonstrate an ability to:

• Listen
  

• Be accepting and tolerant of others
  

• Understand his or her own alcohol and/or drug addiction
  

• Understand his or her own mental disorder
  

• Run a Twelve Step meeting (or be willing and able to learn how)
  
  

The chairperson’s role is to provide direction and mutual support, to focus for the group, to keep things running smoothly and to provide an atmosphere of recovery, so that our personal recovery comes first.

The group will need to come up with its own policy about rotating the chairperson. As a suggestion, a chairperson should be out of the hospital for at least a year and to have one year clean and sober. But this is not written in stone and if you have to, count backwards (11 months, 10 months, 9 months, etc.) and pick the person who has the longest time clean and sober.

_________________________

Let’s not louse it all up with indulging in people’s complexes and things that are interesting to the mental health mind and have little to do with our actual DTR work. For if we ought to look at our program, when simmered down to the last, it resolves itself to the words Love and Service. Let us as chairpersons remember to use our direction with kindness, consideration and tolerance. And remember, none of us would be here today if somebody hadn’t taken the time to explain this to us, to give us a little pat on the back, to take us to a meeting or two, to do innumerable little kind and thoughtful acts on our behalf.

We are living proof that DTR works as long as we work the program. We owe it to the newcomer to be there. Remember "faith without work is dead." And always remember, our fellowship is founded upon equality; even though you sit in front of the room, it is still one dually-diagnosed person helping another. We are fellows in our program, we don’t play politics, we don’t listen to gossip and we always give the next guy the benefit of the doubt. Be quick to praise and slow to condemn, and if the speaker doesn’t say exactly what you think he ought to say, don’t criticize, he may be saying exactly what the guy in the last row wants to hear.

Another thing that is difficult, and probably none of us do it well yet, is a matter of tolerance, for ourselves as well as for others. We are inclined to have closed minds, and that’s the reason why we find our spiritual teaching difficult. From our group experience, we have learned kindness and consideration for the man or woman who is just beginning to walk along a spiritual path.

If possible, try not to run the group alone. Starting a group may be stressful and demanding at times, and no one should attempt such a project at the expense of one’s self or well-being. By sharing responsibilities and tasks with others, you can prevent burnout. Seek out two or three others who are interested in starting a group. This core group can work together in getting the DTR group off the ground.

The group has one primary purpose, to carry its message to the dually-diagnosed person who still suffers. Membership is the desire to stop drinking and drugging and to take care of one’s mental health.

_________________________

Getting In Touch With

If you and a few others (we suggest no less than 2 or 3 people to start a group) think you may want to start a Double Trouble group, the first thing you need to do is to find out more about Double Trouble:

Experience Double Trouble: Attend as many different existing groups as you can and attend each more than once. Get involved with the group. This way, you will gain a sense of what it is like to be an active participant in the fellowship of Double Trouble; you can not only find out if it is for you, but also what is involved in running the group, what to expect.

Contact us by mail, telephone or fax. If feasible, we will give a presentation about Double Trouble, including the history and goals of the fellowship, as well as run a mock group so that you can experience Double Trouble first hand. Alternatively or in addition, we will be glad to send you a package of materials about Double Trouble including how to start and run a group; we can also provide your group with information pamphlets for consumers and for providers, as well as Double Trouble coins and posters.

In sum, before taking any other steps toward starting a group, experience the Double Trouble fellowship and inform yourself as much as you can.

It is a good idea to maintain positive working relationships with organizations in the community, since you may want to ask them for the use of their space to hold your regular meetings.

The types of organizations that frequently allow self-help groups to meet in their spaces are:

• churches/synagogues
  

• community-based organizations
  

• schools
  

• libraries
  

• psychiatric hospitals
  

• community recreation centers
  

• local mental health associations
  

• local community mental health centers
  

• local clubhouses run by consumers
  

• even someone’s home if no other space is initially available.

When you meet in one of these settings, please keep the group anonymous and confidential.

You will want to work out agreeable terms for the use of space, such as length of time the space is available each week and cost. (Sometimes the host organization asks for a modest donation for the use of the space and group members chip in what they can to defray the cost; donations from group members should be voluntary.)

Be sure to clarify in advance who is responsible for letting people into the building before the meeting and who is responsible for unlocking and locking the doors, if you meet after business hours.

The place where the group meets should be safe, properly lit and heated, provide enough seating and adequate space, and afford a fair level of privacy.

The space should be free of noise and other distractions such as phones ringing.

It is important that group leaders prepare the space before the meeting starts.

Consistent with the basic principles and benefits of self-help groups, it is strongly suggested that providers do not start or run DTR groups. However, providers are encouraged to and can work in partnership with consumers to support the recovery process. To that end, providers can:

 

• Find out more about DTR, learn about how self-help complements formal treatment, provides a bridge for the aftercare transition and a stable source of support for clients in their life-long struggle to recover.
  

• Refer clients to DTR meetings
  

• Encourage regular attendance
  

• Support clients’ initiatives and efforts to start a DTR group meeting at their facility or in the community

In addition and in the spirit of partnership toward recovery, it is suggested that providers:

 

• Understand consumers’ efforts to develop their own way of relating their experience
  

• Find out about and respect consumers’ values, perspectives, needs and goals
  

• Understand consumers’ ability to recognize what works and what doesn’t

Let health care providers know about the existence of the group. Provide them with the day, time, location and other essential information about the group meeting.

If possible, have a flyer made up announcing the group. Sometimes an organization will agree to make up a simple flyer and provide you with free photocopies. Good places to post flyers include churches and synagogues, community-based organizations, schools, libraries, community recreation centers, local community mental health centers and psychosocial clubs.

You might want to consider using the Double Trouble brochure as your publicity tool and add the day, time and location of your meeting to it.

There also might be an opportunity to place an announcement in a local newspaper. Keep your announcement simple and in the spirit of anonymity use the group’s name only, not any single individual’s name.

Sample copies of a publicity flyer, a news release and the DTR brochure follow this section. They can be used as master copies for making photocopies. Be sure to ask permission before hanging up flyers.

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

If at all possible, contact an existing DTR group for help in getting started. Go to and participate in an established meeting. Invite the group chairperson to come and help the group get started and run.

Avoid expecting too much too soon. It takes time to get a group going and for the members to feel comfortable and willing to participate.

Meetings may be disorganized at first, but don’t give up. One group leader was the only person at his meeting most of the time for many months. He went faithfully and, if no one showed up, he would read recovery books alone for the time allotted for the meeting. After nearly a year, others joined him. As a result, there is now a thriving, caring group in that community.

Only do what is necessary and don’t promise more than you can deliver. Everything does not have to happen at once. Allow time for things to evolve.

From time to time, people may slip from sobriety or not take care of their mental health. This is to be accepted. Be patient with one another and do not judge.

The group will develop in response to its members’ needs and will take on a special flavor all its own -- a group conscience. Pay attention to the special nature of the group and do not try to force it in one direction or another.

Keep it Simple

Let your primary purpose be to carry out DTR’s message of hope, acceptance and experience.

Be Open-minded

In the DTR fellowship, we band together for common good and recovery. With open-minded understanding for each other, we honestly expose our problems and our weaknesses; we also acknowledge our strengths. While we each experience our own suffering, problems and weaknesses in different ways, we focus and build on our shared experiences to gain and embrace our fellow DTR members for who and what they are. We are individuals, not labels or diagnoses, and we treat others as each of us wants to be treated.

Don't Give Advice About Prescribed Psychiatric Medications

Never suggest that a person stop taking medications prescribed by his/her physician. This could be dangerous. Refer the person back to his/her physician for help.

Looking for Support with Mental Health and Substance Abuse?

Double Trouble in Recovery gives people an opportunity to get together and support one another in recovery.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Membership is open to anyone who is currently experiencing or has formerly experienced dealing with mental disorders and chemical addiction.

DOUBLE TROUBLE IN RECOVERY NEWS RELEASE

will meet __________________________ at  _____________________________

(Weekly or Monthly)

at  ______________________________________

(Place)_______________________________________

(Address)

Double Trouble in Recovery gives people an opportunity to get together and support one another in recovery. Membership is open to anyone who is currently experiencing or has formerly experienced dealing with a mental disorders and chemical addiction.

DOUBLE TROUBLE in RECOVERY

Meeting Format

DTR Meeting Format:

DTR meetings follow a traditional twelve-step format.  An outline of a meeting format is provided below.

Welcoming

Before the meeting starts, it is important for the group chairperson and co-chairs to welcome people as they come in. This helps create a climate of warmth and hospitality.

The group chairperson introduces himself or herself by first name only and welcomes everyone to the meeting. The chairperson also identifies himself or herself as having a dual-diagnosis. At this point, it is especially important to welcome back those who have been absent or coming back after being in the hospital or after a slip or relapse. They need to be greeted with acceptance and never judged.

The chairperson invites everyone to observe a moment of silent reflection for members who are absent, hospitalized or still suffering with addictions and mental disorders. The group is then invited to recite the Serenity Prayer.

The chairperson asks various members to read different parts of the DTR mission as follows:

 

1. DTR Preamble
   DTR How It Works / Twelve Steps of DTR
   
   

2. The Promises
   
   

3. On Recovery
   

Next, group members have an opportunity to introduce themselves, using their first names only, and to identify themselves as having a dual-diagnosis. This step gives everyone a chance to be welcomed by the group and to feel accepted. Group members greet each one with a simple "Hi" or "Welcome."

Most groups meet for an hour to an hour and a half.

• Announce the location of refreshments, rest rooms, etc.
  

• Ask others for their announcements.
  

• Take care of other group business as needed.

Members are reminded of the group guidelines or norms for behavior. These include the following:

1. Ask members not to bring alcohol, non-prescription drugs, drug paraphernalia or weapons to meetings. This is to protect the group, the meeting place and DTR as a whole.
   
   

2. Ask members who may have taken alcohol or non-prescription drugs in the last 24 hours to refrain from sharing during the second part of the meeting. This is to ensure that we hear from you and not the drugs. Suggest that they speak to the group chairperson, to the speaker or to anyone else in the room with whom they are comfortable, at the end of the meeting.
   
   

3. Remind the members that this is an anonymous program, which means that what takes place during the meeting stays in the room when the meeting ends. All who were at the meeting and what they said or did remains confidential. This protects everyone and helps engender a feeling of trust and comfort in the group.
   
   

4. Ask members to limit their comments during the sharing time to five minutes to ensure that all have a chance to share and that the meeting ends on time.
   
   

5. Recall for the group that after a member shares his or her feelings there is no cross-talk or lecturing of the person who has spoken. Encourage members to express their own experience and feelings in response to others.
   
   

6. State that sharing is voluntary.
   
   

7. If the group needs to take up a collection to pay small expenses associated with running the group, remind the group that you traditionally pass a basket to remain self-supporting.

Allow 15 - 20 minutes for a speaker to share his or her experience dealing with dual-diagnosis.

Invite group members to share briefly their experience in response to the speaker (5 minutes maximum). This needs to be voluntary and some people may choose to "pass."

Invite group members to recite together the Serenity Prayer as a closing. You can include here again a moment of silence for those still struggling with addiction and mental disorders, and still on the street.

Following is a scripted format for use in conducting a DTR meeting.

Also included here are copies of the Serenity Prayer, the DTR Preamble, How it Works, the Twelve Steps of DTR, The Promises and On Recovery. These pages can be used as master copies for making photocopies.

Chairperson Format

 

1. Hi, my name is (chairperson’s name) and I am dually-diagnosed. I’d like to welcome everyone to this meeting of Double Trouble in Recovery. We meet here every (day and time).
   
   

2. Please help me open this meeting with a moment of silence for those still sick and suffering dually-diagnosed persons in and out of the room, followed by the Serenity Prayer for those who care to join me (Serenity Prayer).
   
   

3. I’ve asked (first name) _______________ to read the "Preamble."I’ve asked _______________ to read "How it Works" and "The Twelve Steps of DTR."

   I’ve asked ________________ to read "The Promises"

   I’ve asked ________________ to read "On Recovery"

   I’d like to thank my readers.

    

4. I’d like to extend a warm welcome to any newcomers and anyone who’s just coming back. Just sit back, relax and listen.
   
   

5. Is this anyone’s first meeting, or are there any newcomers?
   
   

6. Would anyone like to introduce themselves (stating addiction and/or dual-diagnosis is optional)?
   
   

7. This is an anonymous program, which means that who you see here and what you hear here stays here in this room. This is so we all feel comfortable with what we say.
   
   

8. When the speaker speaks, we suggest that you do not compare stories, but identify with the feelings. We all took different routes to get here, but the feelings are the same. The speaker ____________________ is here to share his/her experience, strength and hope.

   (SPEAKER)

    

9. We will now open the meeting for sharing. We ask that you limit your sharing to 5 minutes to give everyone who wishes a chance to speak.
   
   (SHARING)
   
   

10. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all traditions, ever reminding us to put principles before personalities… which means who you see, what you hear, please leave it here when you leave.
    
    

11. We have a nice way of closing (moment of silence). Please join together in reciting the Serenity Prayer.

Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Preamble

Double Trouble is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other so that they may solve their common problems and help others to recover their particular addiction(s) and mental disorders.

DTR is designed to meet the needs of the dually-diagnosed and is clearly for those having addictive substance problems as well as having been diagnosed with a mental disorders.

We also address the problems and benefits associated with psychiatric medication as well as other issues crucial to mental health; thus, we recognize that for many, having addiction and mental disorders represents Double Trouble in Recovery.

There are no dues or fees for DTR membership; we are self supporting through our own contributions.

DTR is not affiliated with any sect, denomination, political group, organization or institution.

Our primary purpose is to maintain freedom from our addiction(s) and to maintain our well-being.

We band together to help ourselves recover from our addictions and mental disorders. We share our experiences in order to help ourselves to become honest, open-minded and willing. Sharing helps all of us to remember how it was and how we arrived at where we are today.

We live one day at a time and practice the following Double Trouble Twelve Steps.

 

1. We admitted we were powerless over our mental disorders and substance abuse -- that our lives had become unmanageable.
   
   

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
   
   

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
   
   

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
   
   

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
   
   

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
   
   

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
   
   

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
   
   

9. Made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
   
   

10. Continued to take personal inventory and, when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
    
    

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
    
    

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other dually-diagnosed people and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are halfway through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past or wish to shut the door on it.

We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experiences can benefit others. The feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear.

We will gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook on life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We shall suddenly realize that our Higher Power is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Adapted from the A.A. Big Book, pp. 83-84.

We who are dually-diagnosed are compelled to walk a long and narrow path. When we go out of control with our substances of choice, we become lost. If we ignore our doctors, our therapists, and misuse our medications, our path becomes very dark indeed.

In our fellowship, we band together for common good and recovery. With open-minded understanding for each other, we honestly expose our problems and our weaknesses. The humility we show shall never mask the courage it takes to admit who we are as together we find the hope and strength that makes our narrow path into a wide road that leads to peace, serenity and a meaningful life.

Therefore, working the Double Trouble Twelve Steps and regular attendance at Double Trouble and other appropriate self-help groups will help us gain the rewards of sanity, serenity and freedom from addictions.

Double Trouble invites you to join us and continue or begin your mental, physical and spiritual recovery.

Additional Group Aspects To Consider:

How is the Group Doing?

To assess how the group is doing, try asking some of the following questions:

1. Does the meeting start and end on time?
   

2. Is the chairmanship shared?
   

3. Are responsibilities shared by more than a few members?
   

4. Do most members come regularly?
   

5. Do group members participate?
   

6. Do new members feel welcome?
   

7. Do members easily offer support to one another?
   

8. Do providers make referrals to the group?
   

9. Is the community aware of the group’s existence?
   

10. Does the group make use of outside resources to revitalize interest?
    

11. Are providers running the group?
    

12. Are decisions about the group as a whole opened up to the group membership?
    

13. How is the level of comfort and trust in the group?

Sometimes the groups begin to drag and interest wanes. Try to discover the reason by answering the above questions. Pose questions to the group membership and gather their input. Ask for their suggestions on how to revitalize the group.

1. Avoid the type of thinking that says, "When I’m doing well, it’s due to the group," and "When I’m doing poorly, it’s my fault."
   
   
   

2. Avoid over-dependency on the group. A self-help group is designed to help you get on with your recovery and with living your life in an effective way. It is not intended to make you dependent so that you cannot function without the group.
   
   
   

3. Avoid the type of thinking that says, "Only by staying in the group can I stay healthy." This is dependency and it can undermine your recovery, your capacity to make choices and, ultimately, your sense of self and who you are.
   
   
   

4. Avoid letting the group get co-opted by providers.

The tradition of self-help includes equality, freedom and the opportunity to be helped by helping your peers. This is a sacred trust. Don’t compromise it.

_________________________

As in any human endeavor, problems and challenges can arise in the group. Here are some common challenges you might face.

Try to find a central location to meet. If your location is too remote or is perceived as unsafe, people will be deterred from attending. Also, if it is too crowded or lacks privacy, people might be put off.

Lack of public transportation, especially in more rural areas, can make it very difficult for people to attend self-help meetings. If possible, find a meeting place which provides maximum accessibility.

Contact your local Mental Health Association or mental health treatment program to see if they are willing to transport people in their vehicles to and from self-help meetings. Check with your local volunteer center about the possibility of volunteers providing transportation. Be aware that insurance coverage can become an issue when volunteers are involved in transporting people in their own personal vehicles.

Self-help is not the same as therapy. Self-help group chairpersons do not act as therapists or as "experts." All members are on the same level in the group, and every individual is an "expert" about his or her own experience in dealing with a dual diagnosis and with life in general. Avoid acting like therapists when you are in a self-help setting.

Sometimes one or two members will tend to monopolize the group’s time and dominate discussion. One way to control this tendency is to set time limits on how long individuals may talk (a suggested limit used by many groups is 5 minutes).

If some individuals are not constrained by time limits, speak to them privately and ask them to respect others’ need for time and recognition. If this does not work, you can use peer pressure and ask the group to address the issue with the individual(s). Usually, when several members of a group let the person know that monopolizing is interfering with group process, the behavior will stop.

In rare instances, the group chairperson may need to request that the person remove himself or herself from the group temporarily until they can get a handle on their monopolizing behavior.

On rare occasions, a crisis can erupt in a group meeting. Should this happen, the group chairperson needs to take decisive action to deal with the crisis. Be aware ahead of time of how to get help should a crisis develop. Find out where to call for a mental health crisis team or for other community services which might become necessary.

The Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous

 

1. "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends on AA unity."
   
   

2. "For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God, as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern."
   
   

3. "The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking."
   
   

4. "Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or AA as a whole."
   
   

5. "Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers."
   
   

6. "An AA group ought never endorse, finance or lend the AA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose."
   
   

7. "Every AA group ought to be self-supporting, declining outside contributions."
   
   

8. "Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers."
   
   

9. "AA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve."
   
   

10. "Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the AA name ought never be drawn into public controversy."
    
    

11. Our public relations is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films."
    
    

12. "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities."

The Twelve Traditions of Double Trouble Trouble in Recovery

 

1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends on DTR unity.
   
   

2. For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God, as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
   
   

3. The only requirement for DTR membership is a desire to stop drinking and drugging, and to work on one’s mental health.
   
   

4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or DTR as a whole.
   
   

5. Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the dually-diagnosed person who still suffers.
   
   

6. A DTR group ought never endorse, finance or lend the DTR name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
   
   

7. Every DTR group ought to be self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
   
   

8. Double Trouble in Recovery should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
   
   

9. DTR, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
   
   

10. Double Trouble in Recovery has no opinion on outside issues; hence the DTR name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
    
    

11. Our public relations is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films.
    
    

12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

Introductions to the Twelve Traditions

Double Trouble in Recovery came into existence in New York State in 1989 through Howie Vogel. It had its humble beginnings at a city hospital in Brooklyn, New York. Howie, who is dually-diagnosed was, at the time, working in a dual-diagnosis day treatment program. Howie met Dr. Ed Knight, who openly discussed his diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, boldly took from his pocket his vial of medication and held it up before the professional audience to which he was presenting on self-help. Ed, as Howie affectionately calls him, told of Double Trouble. Howie went frantically searching after this mystical group who works with those of us with a mental disorder (on or off medication) and substance abuse problems. After attending many groups in New Jersey and then following up by going to Philadelphia, PA, Double Trouble started in New York State. After three years, it became Double Trouble in Recovery, Inc, because of the differences amongst all the Double Trouble groups, their steps and traditions. This was done to help promote autonomy and independence for those of us who are dually-diagnosed and to not be taken over by the professional community. This is mentioned as the recorded history of DTR.

Over the following years, the struggles to get groups started and keep them running were many, facing resistance not only from the professional community but from consumers also. Groups run by clinicians, therapists and recovering alcoholics and addicts who work in the field blocked our path to recovery from dual-diagnosis. These people are no doubt well-intentioned; but, we who are dually-diagnosed can think, can behave, and do feel, contrary to what popular opinion would have us be. It has been like this now for the last 8 or 9 years; groups have started, groups have failed but yet we struggle on. The struggle has continued over the years; we’ve come now to a place in our growth where we can set down on paper our steps and traditions. This manual and the traditions are how we can keep DTR running autonomously.

The principles that will be set down will take care of business. For our fellowship to stay alive, we need to set the Steps and Traditions down on paper. Many of us follow the AA 12-steps as well as other 12-step programs. We will soon have our own set of spiritual principles. To all of us who follow the spiritual path of our program, only honesty, open-mindedness and willingness will help recovery from our dual-diagnosis.

Up to now, we have proven that we are beginning to stand on our own. Under any condition, we are outgrowing our dependence on the system that we first came into to retrieve our brothers and sisters from learned helplessness. We have reached this point of our spiritual maturity and the traditions that follow will help us depend on a power greater than ourselves. As we make spiritual progress, we will feel more emotionally secure, we will work in partnership with all those around us and we will work at separating ourselves so that our groups become independent and autonomous. This will only work if we give of ourselves to the task without repayment. When we persistently do this, our program of attraction and suggestions will bring many newcomers. The unity of effectiveness will insure our survival as long as we give of ourselves and let go of our personal ambitions and desires. Our aim is the common safety and welfare of the group. We must think deeply of all those dually-diagnosed fellows who still have to come to Double Trouble. They will make their return to faith, to life and to spiritual strength on the day of their homecoming to Double Trouble. When any brother or sister reaches out for help for their dual-diagnosis, our hearts will be open to them and we will lend a hand along the road.

The traditions are neither regulations, rules nor laws. They are accepted and used willingly. Their power lies in the fact that these life-giving communications spring out of living experience and are rooted in love. How can the community of dually-diagnosed people function having double trouble? We need in our group life to follow what expresses itself in the group conscience. As is stated in the 3^rd Step, we turned our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him, and that is the same theme that runs through the traditions, to help guide us in our fellowship. As what was discovered in the principles by which the individual with mental disorders and substance abuse could live, so we had to have the traditions by which the individual groups and Double Trouble as a whole can survive and function effectively. No dually-diagnosed man or woman can be permanently excluded from our society. Our leaders serve but never govern. Each group is to be autonomous. There is no professional class of therapists. There are to be no fees or dues. Expenses are to be met by our own voluntary contributions. We need to have the least possible organization, even in our service centers. Our public relations are to be based upon attraction rather than on promotion. All members ought to be anonymous at the level of press, radio, TV and films.

In no circumstance should we give endorsements, make alliances or enter into public controversies in the name of Double Trouble.

The common welfare of the group comes first. Each member is a part of the group. For Double Trouble to continue to live, we must look at our own self-centeredness and learn to rely on the group conscience. As we look closer at our road to the principle of recovery and our dependence on spiritual principles, the realization dawns upon us that we are a small part of a great whole. As painful as that ego deflation may be, recovery is what takes its place. We learn to live and work together and the continuation of Double Trouble is the primary reason for the group. We learn to work together, and live together, and love together. It’s a wonderful new experience. By faith and work, we will learn the lessons necessary to increase and sustain the unity of our program. Hence our common welfare will come first and personal recovery depends upon Double Trouble unity.

TRADITION TWO

Those of us who become group members become the voice of the group conscience. It is longer and wiser than any single leader could be. All individuals need to be heard but the group conscience is the decision-maker; the ultimate authority is a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. The expression of a loving God and what will happen in our group as we elect treasurers and as the hat is passed, as we elect the chairperson is our responsibility.

There is no absolute authority, just a loving God. That will take the control out of one person’s hand and place it squarely into the group.

Our membership includes all of us who have a mental disorder and a substance abuse problem, no matter how long you have gone, no matter how grave your complications, even your crimes cannot deny you membership or keep you out. with your desire to stop using and to work on your mental health, you meet our sole requirement. You can get the same chances as any of us has had. We have no membership regulations. The newcomer decides for him or herself if he or she should join. We never force anyone to put anything in the basket, believe anything or conform to anything. As we were freely given the grace to recovery, so shall anyone who crosses our threshold be given assistance freely.

Each group will manage its own affairs, except when DTR as a whole is threatened. The group is responsible to no authority other than its own conscience, except when its plans concern the welfare of neighboring groups also. Then, those groups ought to be consulted and no group, regional committee, or individual should ever take any action that might greatly affect DTR as a whole without conferring with the trustees of the DTR board on such issues. Our common welfare is first.

Remember that every group starts with two or three dually-diagnosed people gathered together for recovery. They can call themselves a Double Trouble group provided that as a group, they have no other affiliation and are not run by professionals. It is the efforts of a single man or woman and his or her friends that start a group. There is no other way. After the group has started, the original leaders have to foster democracy which springs up from the grassroots. This democracy will eventually sweep aside the self-chosen leadership.

The group will eventually take over and declare itself strictly reliant on its own conscience as a guide to action. A group should not do anything which will injure DTR as a whole. It should not affiliate itself with anything or anybody else. Recovery from mental disorders and substance abuse has to be its sole purpose.

We elect new trusted servants by majority vote, and all plans for group action have to be approved by the majority. This means no single individual can appoint him or herself to act for the group as a whole.

Let us remember that any group of men and women that cannot correct its own faults will fail. Either grow or fail. Just as each member must continue to take his or her own inventory and act upon it, so must our whole group. If we are to survive and to serve usefully we must take our own inventory as a group.

It’s been proven that DTR an stand on its own feet under any conditions. It has to outgrow dependence on the professional community which helped it begin. It should outgrow dependency on the efforts of the older members also. New, able and vigorous people keep coming up to the surface, turning up where they are needed because DTR has reached enough spiritual maturity to know that its final dependence is upon God.

Each group ought to be a spiritual entity, having one primary purpose - carrying it’s message to persons who still suffer from mental disorders and substance abuse. We must carry the message, or else we ourselves cannot recover and stay recovered from the spiritual malady of mind and body. This message has to be carried on for those of us who have yet to sit in the chairs in our groups. Faith is our greatest gift; sharing with others is our greatest responsibility. May we continually seek the honesty, open-mindedness and willingness that shows in the truth of our experience, both before and now. May we fulfill the immense trust which has been placed in our hands. No satisfaction is greater and no joy deeper than carrying the message to a person who still suffers. To be able to share in the miracle of watching the eyes of men and women open with wonder as they move from darkness into light, to see their lives fill with purpose and meaning, and above all to watch them awaken to the presence of a loving God in their lives. This is what we receive as we carry the message.

Our primary purpose is to think of the ones still to come to DTR, as they try to make their return to faith and to life. We want them to find everything that we have found and more, if that be possible. We have come to realize how little we know and that more will be revealed by our Higher Power. Ask in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man or woman who is still suffering; the answer will come if your own house is in order. It sounds like a big order. Easy does it. Obviously, to carry this message, we ourselves must be clear. See to it that your relationship with your Higher Power is right and great events will come to pass for you and for many others.

Problems of money, property and authority may easily divert us from our primary spiritual aim. Therefore, any property to be genuinely used for DTR should be separately incorporated and managed, thus separating the material from the spiritual. A DTR group, as such, should never go into business. Mental health facilities or hospitals or clubs ought not to have the use of the DTR name given to them. Their management should be the sole responsibility of those people which financially support them. For clubs, DTR members may be preferred as managers or employees. While a DTR group may cooperate with anyone, such cooperation ought never to go so far as affiliation or endorsement, actual or implied. A DTR group can bind itself to no one.

Probably no DTR tradition at this present time in our growth is more painful. The group ought to be self-supporting by voluntary contributions of its own members. We need to realize that for DTR to function, we can contribute to a facility, the meeting place, the clubhouse, the hospital that lends a room even if the amount is only a dollar. There might be a dislike of dropping money into a meeting place hat for group purposes. We are quite tight with our money. We know that members live on a fixed income. We are not asking for money to make ourselves rich. We are solely trying to keep our groups self-supporting so that they are autonomous. Whichever way your group can work that out, please do it for the safety and future of your group. Keeping your group self sufficient will keep the focus on spirituality.

Each group will achieve its own ideals and any public solicitation of funds using the DTR name is highly dangerous, whether by clubs, groups or other outside agencies. Acceptance of large gifts from any source carrying any obligation whatever is unwise. Experience has shown us that nothing could destroy us more than disputes over property, money or authority.

"Double Trouble in Recovery should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers" Double Trouble in Recovery should remain non-professional. Many of us have struggled through the mental health community and successfully become peer specialists or service providers, have gone back to school and in one form or another have become professionals in our own right. This is good. However, DTR should never have a professional class. Professionalism is the occupation of counseling alcoholics, drug addicts or those of us dually-diagnosed for a fee. Carrying the DTR message and doing Service (12^th step work) must remain a grassroots effort, one dually-diagnosed person to another, never to be professionalized. The service of carrying the DTR message is the key ingredient of our recovery program. It must be free to be effective. Freely we have received, freely shall we give. We have learned that professionalism, money and spirituality cannot mix.

There is however a great need for DTR members to assume the responsibilities associated with administering and the everyday managing of DTR, of DTR groups and assisting our dually-diagnosed brothers and sisters in their struggle through the system and into their recovery. These are duties where our dually-diagnosed fellows perform which would otherwise be fulfilled by persons not dually-diagnosed. These duties do not in and of themselves constitute service but rather fall within the confines of administration or clinical work. In these capacities, members can and should receive compensation without detriment to themselves, others or to the fellowship. Thus, such duties as maintaining DTR meeting sites, answering phones or coordinating meetings regionally can be compensated. At the DTR office in Albany, staff members work at managing correspondence, sending packages of information and working on problems ranging from assisting someone getting housing to finding out where meetings are and keeping the fellowship going nationwide. These staff members are hired, paid and earn what they are paid. Further, duties associated with advocating for and assisting clients within the system does not constitute Service and can be performed as a paid position.

In sum, our Twelfth Step is never to be paid as it is its own reward. But those who labor in our community mental health system and other areas should always receive fair compensation for their work.

When Tradition Nine was first written, it is said of AA "the least possible organization is needed." In years since then this has changed. Today we are able to say with assurance that AA as a whole should never be organized at all. Then in seeming contradiction, we proceed to create special service board and committees which in themselves are organized. How then can we have an unorganized movement which can and does create a service organization for itself? What do they mean, no organization? Doesn’t every society on earth give authority to some of its members to have authority over the rest and to punish or expel offenders? Therefore every nation in fact, every form of society has to be a government administered by human beings.

Each DTR group needs the least possible organization. Rotating chairmanship and leadership is the best. The small group may elect its secretary and chairperson, the large group its rotating committee, and the groups of a large metropolitan area their central or integral committee, which often employs a full-time secretary. The trustees of our yet-to-be Service Board are in effect our DTR General Service Committee. They are the custodians of our DTR traditions and the recipients of voluntary DTR contributions by which we maintain our DTR General Service Office in Albany. They are authorized to handle our overall public relations and they guarantee the integrity of our work. All such representatives are to be trusted and experienced servants of the whole. They derive no real authority from their title, they do not govern. Universal respect is the key to their usefulness.

Each of our members follows to the best of his or her abilities our suggested Twelve Steps to recovery. Drugging and drinking are not penalties inflicted by people in authority. They result from not following the spiritual principles. The same idea applies to the group itself: unless we approximately conform to DTR’s Twelve Traditions, the group too can deteriorate and die. We members of DTR follow the spiritual principles, first because we must and ultimately because we love the kind of life such obedience brings. For great suffering from dual-diagnosis and great love are our disciplinarians, we need no others.

No DTR group or member should in any way implicate DTR or express in the name of DTR any opinion on outside issues, particularly those of politics, mental health reform, medication, alcoholism or sectarian religion. We in the name of DTR oppose no one. Concerning such matters, as DTR we express no view whatever. We as DTR do not enter into public controversy for we would perish if we do. The survival of DTR and spreading our message is of far greater importance than any other cause. Since recovery from dual-diagnosis is life itself to us, we put all our means of strength into that survival: for our sake, we learn to work together, to live together and to make DTR more effective to do the most good for those dually-diagnosed. We learn from our predecessor, AA, and its humble beginnings, to keep our society out of public controversy. And the cornerstone of Tradition Ten is that DTR has no opinion on outside issues, hence the DTR name ought never be drawn into public controversy.

DTR started by word of mouth, bringing together dually-diagnosed fellows from hospitals, prisons, day treatment programs, institutions and homelessness. However it was not word of mouth alone. Without help from the community mental health system, it could never have grown as it has. Many of us have come to DTR through such channels. The concerns and interests did not all come from other dually-diagnosed fellows or their families. Doctors, social workers and counselors read about DTR and called for more information. Articles were written and inquiries made. Therefore, a great responsibility falls upon us to develop the best possible public relations policy for DTR. Through many painful experiences and from what we have learned from other fellowships, we think we have arrived at what the policy ought to be. We have come to rely mostly on the principle of attraction rather than promotion and to elect anonymity when dealing with the public.

Attraction and promotion are two contrasting ideas. Organizations promote and advertise the virtues of their leadership to draw attention in order to obtain new business or funding. Attraction, on the other hand, starts with the person receiving the message and happens only if the message is relevant to that individual. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion. We have nothing to sell; we live our spiritual program of recovery to the best of our ability and we attract by example. The message comes through to those dually-diagnosed to come to meetings and freely choose whether or not to embrace DTR as their program of recovery. If you identify with our stories and would like to have what we now have, then you are ready to join us on our path to recovery. That is the attraction on which rests DTR’s public relations policy.

Many of us come to DTR however because of the media and mental health system. Now, as to anonymity when dealing with the public and the media, we have learned in DTR that the public eye can be hazardous, especially for us. We realize that to reach our fellows, the understanding of DTR and public goodwill towards DTR must go on growing everywhere. Nothing matters more to our future welfare than the manner in which we communicate. This must be done without using our full names. Because in the nature of anonymity, we give up our natural desire for personal distinction as DTR members, both before our fellows and with the general public. As each of us takes part in letting go of our human aspirations, we weave a protective fence around our society when we grow and work in unity.

Yet it is necessary for some of us who speak in public to inform and educate about dual-diagnosis. We have no fear to discuss this matter as long as we do not put our program in jeopardy. Clearly we need to publicize and promote our work. And letting our friends in the system do this for us would be a great help to our anonymity. To those of our friends who have written about us to make us known in the community, we thank you for having carried our message. We are more than good stories, we are miracles. But it is best to understand that if we refuse personally to go public because of our anonymity it doesn’t mean that we don’t want to pass on the message. We want our message, our program and its principles to be carried and we wish to publicize its principle and its work but not its individual members.

Anonymity has an immense spiritual significance; it reminds us that we have to place principles before personalities, to practice genuine humility and to give up our personal gains for the common good of our fellowship. We work toward sacrifice and the willingness to make the sacrifice gives people hope and confidence for the future. Keeping in the spirit of anonymity means sacrificing one’s desire for power, prestige and money made from DTR and must become a general practice in our fellowship lest our whole program be destroyed. Clearly, every member’s name and story needs to be confidential if that person wishes for it to be so. And again for those of us who work to life the stigma of mental illness, squarely there is but one question to ask: How anonymous should our members be? Too much publicizing or too much secrecy? Between these two extremes, where is the middle ground? Our disclosures help dispel the fears about mental disorders and substance abuse. And those of us who have helped carry this message in our conversations and in our education of the public have helped many.

So let us not be too strict or bring our program into controversy. Experience has taught us that the word-of-mouth method is limited; our work needs to be publicized to reach those who need it. Our work has received public approval and recognition in the community mental health system as well as in newspapers and magazine articles. It is important to know how this will be channeled; members must not present themselves as "the" message. We are speaking for ourselves and not for the whole fellowship of DTR. There is a very thin line between doing great good and great harm. There have been times where our trusted servants have gone back to drinking and drugging and without their anonymity, the fellowship of DTR would suffer.

These experiences have taught us that anonymity is really humility at work; it is a pervading spirituality so that hopefully we are moved by the spirit to give up our natural desire for personal distinction as DTR members, both before our fellows and the general public. We protect our fellowship so we may grow. And that is the greatest safeguard that we can have.