The Psychiatrist Who Said He Wasn’t Ready for AA Yet – Dick M.

About This Speaker Tape

5th Pockets of Enthusiasm - 1998

A coat and tie are the armor Dick M. wears to honor the program that saved his family. After nearly two decades of drinking—often in high-end watering holes like the Mayflower Hotel—he found himself trapped by a mental obsession that no psychiatrist or minister could touch. He describes the 'spring' of craving that builds until it threatens to explode a tension only relieved by the first drink. Now a long-term sober resident of Bellevue Nebraska Dick M. emphasizes the necessity of a home group and the danger of 'AA bums' who linger in clubhouses without working the steps. He views the Big Book not as an old-fashioned relic but as the essential map for survival arguing that spiritual growth is a slow imperfect process of acting better than one feels and fanning the embers of others to keep his own fire lit.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:45 Discussion on the only requirement for membership and the primary purpose of AA.
• 6:12 Dick M. discusses the history of the Big Book and the influence of Texas and Oklahoma members on GSO.
• 11:30 Laughter: Discussion on 'magnificent magnifying minds' and the nature of clinical depression.
• 15:45 Reflections on Bill W.'s struggles with depression and the influence of Harry T.
• 21:10 The 'spring' metaphor: describing the physical and mental pressure to drink.
• 26:30 The importance of the home group and the Tuesday night Foxhole group in Bellevue.
• 32:15 Advice on using a sponsor and the concept of 'fanning the embers' of others.
• 38:40 Humor: Peggy's inventory of his whining about heart surgery.
• 42:10 The necessity of working the steps versus the 'grizzled old timers' who didn't.
• 46:50 The significance of wearing a coat and tie to honor the program.