A.A., C.A., N.A. member Bill Chase

I'm not your typical counsellor. I come from a definite dysfunctal family; my mother was addicted to Prescription drugs, which she obtained legally through her doctor. My father, or should I say Fathers as in plural were all alcoholic. My biological father was a prison guard; Due to early childhood trauma have very little memory of the man. I was farmed out to live with friends of the family, a year at a farm, then moved to another friend of the family with my half brothers and sister. Well after another few years my mother was back to pick me up to go live with her and my “new father" who was a workaholic and weekend alcoholic. So went home to a new home complete with continuous domestic violence on both sides. This lasted 5 or 6 odd years. A year or so comes daddy number three an out of work alcoholic. By this time I had discovered alcohol, drugs and women. Let’s skip ahead a little here; by the age of 18 I had had sex with numerous women (including my mother, sister at age 13} . I was married, had a daughter and frequently in trouble with the law. I had also already served time. I was a raging alcoholic and drug addict mostly pot, hash, and hallucinogens, LSD, Mushrooms, Peyote, STP, and speed. By 20 was separated, had gone through more jobs amazingly supervisory positions, and of course another jail term. By thirty two had been up and down the East coast as A Carnie, (carnival worker) more prison time, and mostly into full time crime, cocaine, heroin, speed and alcohol.

In mid 1992, at age 32 ended up in a recovery house. After the fog clearing and by the Grace of a Higher Power was in a place where the guys were being "real". However late in 1992 I had to try it one last time. Luckily it only lasted a few days. On Boxing Day 1992 I sobered and cleaned up for the last time. By 1993 I was working on creating my own recovery house and attending The Justice Institute of British Columbia, attending classes with police officers, lawyers, sheriffs, Psychologists and counsellors. From there it has been a journey to share. THAT there is a way out. I could go into a lot more detail however then I'd be writing a book or two.