In this week’s Chats With Charles, we hear about staying sober during the Holidays

Here’s the transcript of the video!

Hey, everybody. I’m Charles O’Dell. I’m the chief executive officer and president of Dilworth Center and your host for these little chats. Glad to be here. Gives me the opportunity to talk about some things that may be on my mind and perhaps on yours as well. We are entering the holiday season and a lot of times here in treatment our patients express concern about the holidays.

I think they may be perhaps experiencing some discomfort with their families, maybe because of things that have happened in the past. For many of these folks, it’s their first sober Christmas in many years, and it creates unique challenges, particularly given the fact that so many people spend so much time with their families during the holidays. So we’re always offering a lot of tips to our patient population about the holiday season.

And one of the most important things that we always bring up, and I think they always have questions about, is how to practice their program of recovery during the holidays. How is that different from any other time? And the short answer is it’s not really that much different. But with that said, it is important to stay extra close to your support systems throughout the holiday season for many people in treatment.

This means going to more meetings than usual, talking about it with other folks in recovery. If you have discomfort associated with the holidays, don’t keep it to yourself. Talk to folks about it. Use your support system, whether it’s in treatment or the recovery community. There are a lot of resources out there where people can provide assistance and support during these challenging times.

With that said, my hope is, is that everyone can enjoy the holiday season for what it is, which is a season of gratitude and perhaps opportunities to be of assistance to other people. There are always folks out there who are in greater need than you are. And although you may be experiencing challenges during the holidays, maybe take this opportunity to focus on the needs of someone who may have more needs than yourself.

Get out of yourself. Do something to help somebody else. Stay close to the holidays and a productive way. I look forward to talking to you all in the future. Thanks for tuning in.