A National Directory of Drug Treatment Centers and Alcohol Treatment Centers, Therapists and Specialists. A free, simple directory providing assistance and guidance for those seeking help regarding alcohol addiction, drug addiction, dependency and many other conditions that affect the mind, body and soul.
Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Sobriety leads to new role as a guide

Marilu Thornburgh’s outgoing personality has been built upon a survivor’s instinct.

There was a time when her world was perilously close to collapse. A time when co-dependency and her subsequent descent into alcoholism prevailed.

But Thornburgh did survive, she got help to overcome her problems and has been sober since the 1990s. Now she readily accepts her role as a guide for women who suffer from the same problems.

Co-dependency is “an emotional and behavioral condition”> that affects an individual’s ability to have a healthy, mutually satisfying relationship,” according to a report in Mental Health America. People with co-dependency issues, also known as “relationship addiction,” often form or maintain relationships that are one-sided, emotionally destructive and can ultimately become abusive.

It was an all-too familiar pattern for Thornburgh. “When I got sober, I could see life far more clearly because I had a support system with Alcoholics Anonymous,” she said. “My sponsor told me about CoDependents Anonymous CoDa and through their help, I realized what my life had been. I was afraid to stand up for myself. The CoDa program helped me overcome that and come to terms with my ex-husband’s demeaning attitudes.”

As a consequence, Thornburgh’s spiritual beliefs were reawakened. “My parents were Baptists, but back then it was a strict, suffocating religion,” she said. “At a young age, I simply walked away from the church.”

Years later, Thornburgh rediscovered her faith. “I started to believe there’s a power and that power restored me to sanity,” she said. “Because when you’re an alcoholic, you’re insane.”

Now happily remarried, the Kentucky native conducts a women’s-only CoDa meeting every week at the Unity Church in Sarasota.

“It’s a passion of mine,” she said. “The minister here, Nick Griffin, said to me, ‘This is your ministry. It’s so obvious this work is your calling.’

“My classes are about self-help and self-discovery. We are real people and in our meetings we identify with someone who shares our problems. We’re a sisterhood.”

A feeling of self respect and awareness of her beliefs have offered Thornburgh an insight into the frailties of many women’s lives; she knows too well the precipice many walk. But her advice is simple.

“When I discovered CoDa, my ex-husband said I was being brainwashed,” she said. “And I said, ‘Of course I am. My brain needs to be washed and hung out to dry.’ I needed to start a new way of living and I did.”
møøs

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Children and alcohol: even France is no longer immune

While Britain tries a new approach to curb underage drinking, teenage binges are on the rise across the Channel If there is one country that might be expected to greet the chief medical officer’s words on not mixing children and alcohol with a loud cough and splutter, it is France. In the land of rolling….

Continue reading

Exercise ‘does not compensate’ for drinking too much

Sweating off alcohol does not work even though some believe exercise helps you get over a hangover, ministers have said. Research published by the Department of Health suggests more than 3.8 million adults in England try to exercise to clear a hangover. A survey by YouGov found that one in five people admit to playing….

Continue reading

Underage drinking

Here are some sobering statistics for Madison County parents. # Madison County is in the top 10 counties in the state for underage DUI risks, says Patsy Hillard of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence of Central Mississippi. # While the national average is age 13 for children to start using alcohol and….

Continue reading

Doctors sound alert over binge drinking from age eight

Children as young as eight are being brought into hospitals unconscious after getting drunk on cheap cider, spirits and alcopops such is the ease of access to cut-price alcohol, according to doctors. The problems of binge-drinking are now so serious that small hospitals that used to treat one intoxicated child a month are now receiving….

Continue reading

Say No to alcohol

The alcohol problem in Mauritius is a serious one and is considered as a burden for the Ministry of Health. A survey carried out recently reveals that 50% of male adults and 28% of women adults consume alcohol while there were 15% young adults who take it more than once a week. Moreover, around 45%….

Continue reading

Where do calls go?

Calls to numbers on a specific treatment center listing will be routed to that treatment center. Calls to any general helpline will be answered or returned by one of the treatment providers listed, each of which is a paid advertiser: ARK Behavioral Health, Recovery Helpline, Alli Addiction Services.

By calling the helpline you agree to the terms of use. We do not receive any commission or fee that is dependent upon which treatment provider a caller chooses. There is no obligation to enter treatment.

I NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE NOWI NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE NOW 888-647-0579Response time about 1 min | Response rate 100%
Who Answers?