Assessing Clients With Addictive Disorders

Levy Family: Episode 3

Program Transcript

JAKE LEVY: We’d be out on recon in our Humvees, and it would get so hot. We

used to put our water bottles in wet socks and hang them right outside the

window just so the water would cool off of a bit, and maybe then you could drink

it.

Man, it was cramped in there. You’dbe drenched, nowhere to breathe. It’s like

riding around in an oven. And you’d have your helmet on you, 100 pounds of

gear and ammo. I swear, sometimes I feel like it’s still on me, like it’s all still

strapped on me.

FEMALE SPEAKER: How many tours did you do in Iraq?

JAKE LEVY: Three. After that last recon, I just– There were 26 of us. Five

marines in the Humvee I was in. I remember I was wearing my night vision

goggles. We passed through a village and everything was green, like I was in a

dream or under water.

And then there was a flash, bright light just blinded me. There was this explosion.

Ican’t– Ican’t–

FEMALE SPEAKER: It’s OK, Jake. Take it easy. I understand this is difficult.

There’s something I;d like to try with you. It’s called exposure therapy, and it’s a

treatment that’s used a lot with war veterans, especially those struggling with

anxiety and PTSD.

JAKE LEVY: Exposure therapy?

FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes. It’s to help someone like yourself to confront your

feelings and anxieties about a traumatic situation that you’ve experienced. It’s a–

It’s meant to help you get more control of your thoughts, to make sense of what’s

happened, and to not be so afraid of your memories.

JAKE LEVY: Put that in a bottle and I’ll buy 10 cases of it.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Well, one part of it is learning to control your breathing. And

whenyou practice that, you can learn to manage your anxiety, to get more

control of it, not let it control you, to protect yourself. Do you want to try it?

JAKE LEVY: Right now?

FEMALE SPEAKER: Sure.

JAKE LEVY: Why not?

 

Levy Family: Episode 3

FEMALE SPEAKER: OK. Well, I know this sounds crazy, but a lot of people don’t

breathe properly. And it really comes from bad habits. When they inhale and

exhale, all the effort is here in their chest and shoulders. And the problem with

that is you get a really short, shallow breath. And that really increases the stress

and anxiety in your body.

Instead, a more natural breath should always involve your diaphragm, right here

in your abdomen. When you breath in, your belly should expand. And when you

breath out, your belly should fall. OKJAKE LEVY: OK.

FEMALE SPEAKER: So, let’s practice. Close your eyes. Now, I want you put one

hand on your abdomen and the other across your chest. Good. Good. Now, I just

want you to take a few breaths, just like normal. What are you feeling?

JAKE LEVY: I feel my chest moving up and down. But my belly, nothing.

FEMALE SPEAKER: OK. So that’s what I was just talking about. That’s OK. Let’s

try this. I want you take a breath. And this time, I only want you to allow your

abdomen to expend when you breathe in and to fall when you breathe out.

OK, let’s try it. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

You feeling better? More relaxed?

JAKE LEVY: Yes.

FEMALE SPEAKER: And the more you practice it the easier it will become. So

when you find that stress and anxiety coming on, just do your breathing. You can

keep yourself from getting swept by all those bad thoughts. OK?

JAKE LEVY: Yes. Thank you.

FEMALE SPEAKER: So, do you want to try to go back to what you were telling

me about before?

JAKE LEVY: I can try. It was night. We were out on recon. It was my third tour in

Iraq

 

 

© 2016 Laureate Education, Inc. 1

Levy Family: Episode 5

Program Transcript

FEMALE SPEAKER: It was such an intense story. I just kept seeing things the

way he did, you know. The weird green of his night-vision goggles, his sergeant

screaming for Jake to kill him. I just keep seeing it all in my head.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

MALE SPEAKER: Why, do you think?

FEMALE SPEAKER: Why what?

MALE SPEAKER: Why do you think you keep thinking about this story, this

particular case?

FEMALE SPEAKER: I don’t know, maybe because it’s so vivid.You know, I went

home last night, turned on the TV to try to get my mind off it. And a commercial

for the Marines came on, and there was all over again– the explosion, the

screams, the man dying. Such a nightmare to live with, and he’s got a baby on

they way.

MALE SPEAKER: Could that be it, the baby?

FEMALE SPEAKER: Maybe. That’s interesting you say that. I mean, the other

vets I work with are older, and they have grown kids. But Jake is different.

I just keep picturing him with a newborn. And I guess it scares me. I wonder if

he’ll be able to deal with it.

Levy Family: Episode 5

Additional Content Attribution

MUSIC:

Music by Clean Cuts

Substance Abuse Addiction. In Their Own Words

Program Transcript

NICOLE: My name is Nicole. And May 30, I will have five years in recovery.

RICKY: My name is Ricky. I’ve been in recovery for 10 years.

GRETCHEN: My name is Gretchen. And I’ve been in recovery for about three

years.

JASON: Myname’s Jason, and I’ve been in recovery for five months.

ODESSA: My name is Odessa, and I have been in recovery for six years.

SHANE: My name is Shane, and I have 11 years clean.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Six addicts, six remarkable stories of addiction, treatment,

and recovery in their own words.

GRETCHEN: My addictions are prescription pain pills and alcohol. I’m a survivor

of childhood sexual trauma, so that’s– and my parents are addicts. And my

parents always used around me. Their friends always used around me.

I grew up thinking that was normal. I grew up thinking chaos was normal and

negative type behaviors. My mother had breast cancer, and my mother has other

health issues. And she’s addicted to her pain pills.

I would try and reach out to her for help, and she would just say, you know, go

get me a bottle or go get me a beer or go get this. And she would take those pain

pills with that alcohol. When you sit there and you watch your mother do that and

not help you and not support you and not listen to you, and the whole time I was

there I was telling her I needed to get help.

I needed help. I needed counseling. I needed treatment. I needed something.

In the worst stage of my addiction, I just kind of went off the deep end with it all. I

just realized that I couldn’t handle it anymore and I didn’t know how to fix it. So I

just self-medicated and drank, and drank, and drank, and took pills and drank.

And some things happened that just caused me to realize that I was going to die

if I didn’t reach for help.

JASON: I snuck into a Casino with a fake ID at 14 and won $1,000 playing

Blackjack, and then it was like my whole life went this way. It was like college,

that all can wait, because there’s no way I can make this much money. So it was

just off to the races from then.