Question about small group therapy

[banannabag]

I have a question about small group therapy which is a part of my requirement for PNAP. It states in my contract that I must complete at least 6 mos of group therapy but not necessarily more than that unless deemed necessary by my therapist i/e family or work or recovery problems. Now lets talk about my therapist and his small group. First off, I am certain that his main purpose in life is to suck all the money out of us poor nurses and doctors and our insurance companies for as long as he can. I am in the program for smoking some pot on vacation and drinking 3-4 beers on my nights off of work, NEVER had a work issue and in fact have been considered an excellent employee all of my 20 years of nursing. My home life is very stable and I am 8 mos strong into my recovery, so I didn't think i would be required to do more than the minimum 6 mos. Anyway, in this group we talk about such all important issues as joining netflix, taking ski trips to vermont, going to church, etc. I pay 25$ /week plus my insurance kicks in 65$/week to this guy who nods his head and says absolutly nothing that has helped me in my recovery in any way whatsoever. I go to celebrate recovery and it has a small group that is free and i get MUCH more out of that. My question is, can I request a new therapist and do you think it is worth it at this point in the game or do all small groups run like this? This guy I am going to now says that his group runs for the full 3 years of my contract even though it is not required and how long it runs has nothing to do on my progress in my recovery, everyone gets the same duration of treatment. Can anyone relate with this situation?

[lifeistweet]

Bannabag, I can sooooo relate. My group therapy is a joke. The "therapist" tries to bring out issues that I can't even understand what he is talking about. He himself is an addict and has tons of issues. Our group is full of relapsers. He doesn't encourage our group members to attend 12 stepor caduceus "because they won't go anyway." I think he wants us to attend only his meeting so he can make money. ($50/wk cash) We go weekly for 2 years and then monthly for the last year. It's discouraging to me because I am almost 2 years clean and sober , attending all my meetings and more and I go to these meetings where people aren't following their HPRP contracts and are out there using and they are out working!! When the board won't release my restricton to work. It's all I can do to sit through these meetings. These meetings are the HPRP's way of monitoring us out in the field since they never meet with us in person. Our "therapist" allows all this using and non compliance because if he gets us kicked out it's loss of money for him and the relapsers get extensions to their contract which is good for the therapists pocket. We mostly discuss how horrible the BON and HPRP are. I just hope all this pays off in the end. It's interesting, the docs only have to attend for one year and some not at all. jen

[lifeistweet]

Bananabag, My caduceus group that is free is very helpful. I feel this "therapist" doesn't want the others from our group to attend this meeting because they will quit attending his meeting. (or decrease their attendance) I put therapist in parenthesis because I really don't know his credentials and I'm sure he could never work in a traditional setting. I actually was instrumental in getting a second caduceus meeting started in our area. I try to encourage others in our group to attend caduceus but he shuts me down. They say his group, since it's all medical professionals, counts as both. Hence, one less meeting to go to. There is no other group in our area, so we're stuck. jen

[elkpark]

If you do not feel you're getting significant benefit from the group and therapist you're with now and are interested in another option, I don't see how it could hurt to ask about that.