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Combination of private and CGL

Posted By Nadwt75

"Combination of private and CGL"

About: CGL Birmingham

(as a volunteer/advocate),

CGL has helped me however their 'gradual reduction' method did not work for me. I began to feel suicidal and for this reason I made the decision to get help privately. At that time I was waiting to start my degree in education and if I stayed with the help of CGL alone, then I would have missed starting my first year at University, I just needed more support than CGL gave.

The private recovery service I joined was really good; it belonged to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). They took care of me till I was ready to go home. They even have support groups where i'd go in every week. 

However, I want to say that Joanne is a great point of call and always has been. Even now she gives me advice. I hope CGL has rehab available someday rather than just detox.

I have now been in recovery for a year and a half, i'm in the second year of my degree and using private in combination with CGL has worked well for me. My education keeps me going and keeps me determined. 

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Responses

Response from Lydia Broom, Service User Involvement Lead at Change Grow Live Birmingham, The Service User Involvement Team, Change Grow Live Birmingham nearly 2 years ago
Lydia Broom
Service User Involvement Lead at Change Grow Live Birmingham, The Service User Involvement Team,
Change Grow Live Birmingham

Submitted on 26/05/2022 at 12:05
Published on Care Opinion at 12:05

picture of Lydia Broom

Dear Nadwt75

Thank you for sharing your feedback with us.

I'm Lydia and I'm part of the team who is responsible for responding to people who get in touch with us via Care Opinion.

Firstly, its amazing to hear that you have been in recovery for a year and half. I understand how staying in recovery is just as, if not even more challenging than becoming abstinent in the first place. I hope you feel incredibly proud of yourself, as I appreciate that it takes a lot of hard work and commitment.

Thank you for being so honest with us about your experiences of using our services.

It was really nice to hear that Joanne has been a great person who you could call upon in your recovery, and we will make sure she and her manager are informed about your feedback.

I was sorry to hear about your experience of attempting to reduce down your alcohol use. Your experience highlights how trying to overcome an alcohol dependency, is very personal to each individual. For some, the 'drink down' approach works very well, but for others it doesn't. It must have been very scary to have experienced suicidal thoughts during this time, and I'm glad you were able to source some support through a private option. It sounds like you had a great experience there and I hope you are still in touch with the AA network, as I am aware they provide amazing ongoing peer support to people within local communities.

Your story highlights how opportunities for detox and rehab have most definitely been limited for Birmingham residents for quite some time. Recently this has been acknowledged by the bodies who work together to fund our services, and as a result, the people who need access to detox now have many more options, with the opportunity to move onto rehab support if they feel they need it. If you or anyone else who reads your story wants to visit the part of our website that helps people from Birmingham to decide if detox is the right option for them, it can be found here:

https://www.changegrowlive.org/west-midlands-framework

I'm just sorry that these new options were not available to you when you needed them.

However although this was the case, all credit to you for showing so much personal commitment to your recovery and succeeding despite your limited options at the time.

Your determination has led you to where you are now and I hope that this personal attribute leads you to just as much success in your studies, as it has in your recovery.

Thank you again for getting in touch with us.

Take care, best wishes for the future and the completion of your degree,

Lydia

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