53 - Matthew the Musician

Our Guest today is Matthew the musician. He has never been to treatment before and is 1 day clean. he is going to share his story and what his expectations are. Since he has never been to treatment before this is going to be a learning experience for him.

In this show, he gets the opportunity to ask us questions and we get the opportunity to ask him questions. This show is a good Insight on the perspective of someone who has never done this before and is 1 day clean. Rene and Benjamin join Tom today in this special show with Matt.

Show Notes

• [03:11] Matt has a twin brother and life has been pretty great. He moved from Connecticut to Westchester, New York when he was about 10.
• [03:26] He started using pot when he was 11, and then moved on to psychedelics, heroin, and benzos.
• [04:26] He used substances for about 22 years.
• [04:47] When he was 11, he took a cigarette out of the ashtray that turned out to be pot. Age 15 and 16 were formative years for his drug use.
• [06:36] When he was around 12, he started playing guitar and got into music.
• [08:00] Matt wants to get sober and take his music career further.
• [09:06] Matt hasn't seen his child in five years, and he believes it's due to his lifestyle choices.
• [12:15] Matt is interested in finding out why he took such comfort in changing his state of mind when he was younger.
• [13:39] His motivating factor in seeking treatment is that he's just really tired.
• [17:27] Matt knows he needs help and can't do it alone. That is why he is here.
• [19:23] He hopes that life is different in a more positive productive way when he is done with treatment.
• [20:48] Matt tried AA last year.
• [22:27] The recovery culture and 12-step meetings in South Florida are amazing.
• [24:02] AA and NA give us an opportunity to devote time to our recovery.
• [24:24] Matt is going to be here in treatment for the next 30 days.
• [25:01] Being open to suggestion is the best place someone can be when they choose to go to treatment.
• [25:47] Matt doesn't know how he'll feel at the end of the 30 days, he's not sure if he'll be completely cured.
• [26:22] The most important thing for Matt is getting better.
• [27:08] After 30 days of treatment, people rarely go back to life like nothing has happened.
• [29:48] Doing it alone is impossible.
• [29:52] It's a daunting task to cure people in 30 days. It takes about three weeks just to get a feel of how a person is.
• [32:04] People like Matt need people like Ben and Rene and Tom who devote their time to helping people.
• [33:34] It's refreshing to see someone with Matt's attitude.

Links and Resources:

• AA
• Narcotics Anonymous