Caduceus meeting

The Caduceus Symbol

Caduceus is the symbolic staff surmounted by two wings and entwined with two snakes. Among the ancient Greeks, heralds and ambassadors carried the Caduceus as a badge of office and a mark of personal inviolability.
The Caduceus was the staff of the Greek god of healing.
The staff of Aesculapius, the Greek god of healing, which was entwined by a single snake, was also called a Caduceus. The Caduceus has been adopted as a symbol by the medical profession; it is also the emblem of the medical branches of the United States Army and Navy.

The Caduceus Group
In 1973, the Caduceus Group was initiated in Georgia as a component of the Georgia Impaired Physicians Program. A Caduceus Group was formed in Casper in 1983. The two most evident and valuable results of the Caduceus Group have been the number of impaired professionals who have been able to get into treatment by intervention or self-realization, and the large number of impaired professionals for whom the Caduceus Group has provided a bridge into "Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous". The Caduceus Group can be looked upon as a bridge. A bridge between effective treatment and continuing care and a bridge into the twelve step recovery programs and recovery. It is important to note that the various Caduceus Groups are regarded as both educational and therapeutic centers for recovering professionals. In turn, the recovering professionals provide a * ripple effect * into their community with their attitudes, views, influence, and teaching going out into the families, schools, service organizations and to other professionals.

Meeting Guidelines:

Caduceus (Recovery Support Meetings) Caduceus is a twelve step recovery meeting for licensed healthcare professionals. Since it is a specialty group it is not advertised in the AA or NA meeting list and cannot call itself as AA or NA however this meeting closely follows the 12 step format.
Caduceus meetings are conducted using the following guidelines:
Although Caduceus was begun as a support group for healthcare professionals, it is now open to recovering professionals from all fields. Unlike traditional twelve-step groups, one member should be appointed to facilitate the meeting.

SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION AT THE MEETINGS: 

1. The Twelve Steps Some groups discuss one Step a week. If there is a newcomer attending for the first time, the group may change the topic to focus on the first three Steps.
2. The Twelve Traditions following the conclusion of the Step meetings, some groups will discuss the Traditions so that, every thirteenth meeting the group focuses on a Tradition.
3. The Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous
some groups discuss one chapter from the Big Book each week. Other groups read from the Big Book weekly and discuss each chapter as they go along. 
4. Readings from As Bill Sees It can inspire sharing on discussion topics.
5. Living Sober also has many topics used by groups.
6. Some AA slogans can be used as topics such as:
“Live and Let Live,” “Easy Does It,” “First Things First,” and “HALT.”
Don’t get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired (HALT).

Getting help: 

AA Meeting-locator: 

Meeting location info:

Sobriety Calculator: 

Speaker topics:

Caduceus Newsletter Template:

Guidelines for recovering healthcare professionals: 

High risk situations to be aware of and to avoid

Some common high-risk situations that may trigger your use

      Hungry, Angry, Loneliness, Tiredness, remember as HALT!!!

People: People whom you use with or who are related to your use. People with whom you have conflicts with and who would make you want to use. People whom you celebrate using. People who encourage you to use.

Places: Places where you use or where you get your drugs or alcohol.

Things: Things that remind you of your using.

How can you avoid high-risk situations?
Recovery isn't about one big change but It's about making lots of little changes.                          Avoiding those high-risk situations helps you create a new life where it's easier to recover. Of course, you can't always avoid these situations. But if you're aware of them, they won't catch you off guard, and you can prevent little craving from turning into major urges.

AVOID

Avoid drinking friends, going to the bars, and having alcohol in the house.
Avoid driving by your drug dealer's neighborhood or any risky location that provokes your urges.

Making a list of  high-risk situations:

Make a list of your high-risk situations and keep it with you. Go over the list with someone in recovery so that you can spot any situations that you might have missed. Some day that list may save your life.

Addiction is sneaky. Sometimes you won't see your high-risk situations until you're right in the middle of one. That's why it's important that you need to be aware of them and avoid. 

Addiction and Lying: 

You have to lie about getting your drug, using it, hiding its consequences, and planning your next relapse. An addiction is full of lying. By the time you've developed an addiction, lying comes easily to you. After a while you get so good at lying that you end up lying to yourself.  The other problem with lying is that you can't like yourself when you lie. You can't look yourself in the mirror. Lying traps you in your addiction. The more you lie, the less you like yourself, which makes you want to escape, which leads to more using and more lying.

Nothing changes unless we change our life styles.

Ask yourself this: will more lying, more isolating, and more of the same make me feel better? The expression in AA is – nothing changes if nothing changes. If you don't change your life, then why would this time be any different? You need to create a new life where it's easier to not use.

Doing same thing and expecting different results is insanity....Albert Einstein

Taking care of ourselves:

Eat a healthier lunch so you're not as hungry at the end of the day. 

Learn to relax so that you can let go of your anger and resentments. 

Develop better sleep habits so that you're less tired.

Join a 12 step group so that you don't get isolated.
Maintain a healthy life style.
Remember!!! Your habits and your lifestyle make you what you are. 

Recovery requires complete honesty: 

We must be one-hundred percent completely honest with the people who  support us such as: family, family doctor,  therapist, the people in the 12 step group, and  sponsor. If you can't be completely honest with them, you won't do well in recovery. When you're completely honest you don't give your addiction room to hide. When you lie you leave the door open to relapse. One mistake people make in the early stages of recovery is they think that honesty means being honest about other people. They think they should share what's "wrong" with other people. But recovery isn't about fixing other people. It's about fixing ourselves. Stick with your own recovery. Focusing on what you don't like about others is easy because it deflects attention from yourself.

Addiction is a disease just like any other medical illness.

Not everyone is your best friend. And not everyone will be glad to know that you have an addiction or that you're doing something about it. There may be some people whom you don't want to tell about your recovery. But don't be reluctant to tell the people close to you about your recovery. You should never feel ashamed that you're doing something about your addiction. 

Why do we use drugs and or alcohol?! 

We use it to escape, relax, and reward ourselves. In other words, we use drugs and alcohol to relieve stress, tension and pain. Everyone needs to escape, relax, and reward themselves. Those are essential coping skills for a happy life. But being addicts we don't know how to relax without using.

The first rule of recovery is that you must change your life. 

What do you need to change?
If you understood the previous paragraph, then you need to change the way you relieve stress. 

If you manage to stop using for a while but don't learn how to relax, your stress will build up until you'll have to relapse again. 

Stress and the inability to relax are the most common causes of relapse.

There is only one reason why people don't relax – because they think they're too busy to relax. It goes something like this, "I know it makes sense, but I've got so many other things I have to do."Ask yourself how much time you spend on your addiction. If you add up all the time it takes to get your drug, use it, deal with its consequences, and plan your next relapse, you'll realize that relaxing for twenty to forty minutes a day is a fraction.

Relaxation is not an option but it's essential part of  recovery. 

There are many ways to relax. They range from simple techniques like going for a walk, to more structured techniques like meditation. Meditation is an important part of that mix because the simple techniques don't always work. If you're under a lot of stress, you may need something more reliable like meditation. Use any of these techniques, or any combination. But do something every day to relax, escape, reward yourself, and turn off the chatter in your mind.

Numerous studies have proven that relaxation reduces the use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana.

Signs and Symptoms of Recovery

• Attending 12-step and caduceus meetings on a regular basis (Action)
• Willingness to talk about significant recovery issues (Honesty)
• Applying the steps in everyday life (Action)
• Actively working with a sponsor (willingness)
• Taking good care of health
• Following monitoring instructions and guidelines 

Topics that need to be understood and practiced. 

1. Acceptance
2. Attitude
3. Trusting  Higher Power
4. Gratitude
5. Honesty
6. Serenity: Don't sweat on small stuff, focus on things that you can change.
7. Humility, Patience and tolerance
8. Resentments: Getting rid of resentments.
9. Forgiveness: Making amends whenever possible and do not hurt others.
10. Open-mindedness
11. Letting go the ego and anger
12. Identification and self realization:
13. Personal Inventory: Analyzing ourselves every day.
14. Staying away from the first drink or  first use depending on the user's choice.
15. Living sober one day at a time
16. Freedom through sobriety
17. Participation and Action
18. Meditation and Exercise
19. Service: Social service, volunteering etc.,
20. Sponsorship: Helping others towards sobriety
21. Keeping it simple
22. One is too much and a thousand is never enough.
Its now in this state of contemplation that I truly understand the meaning of "ONE IS TOO MUCH AND A THOUSAND IS NEVER ENOUGH" What is it about this "disease" that makes us believe that we are in control  and then once we jump into the flames we allow ourselves to tolerate the pain knowing deep down that we are slowly turning into ashes!!!! .The more we do the more we want...the more we want the greater our fears become...