Alumni Connection
This summer is all about #AshleyEverywhere! As the weather begins to break, we hope to see you on campus or in the community. Check out our upcoming events below:
Let’s get Back to the Basics of Recovery….Take all 12 Steps in one day. Join us on campus Saturday, May 19th with Wally P. and Carver B. to dive into each of the 12 Steps.
Wednesday, May 23rd we will be down at All Saints Church in Chevy Chase, MD for a Strengthening Our Recovery seminar to discuss the building blocks for wellness in early recovery with James Ryan.
Recovery Night at Camden Yards
Join us for a fun filled night at Camden Yards on May 31st. Game time is 7:05 pm and Ashley Alumni, Family and Friends will be cheering on the O’s as they take on the Yankees. Tickets are still available – we hope to see you there!
Recovery Night at Nationals Park
Head on down to Nationals Park to watch the battle of the beltway. The Nationals will battle the O’s on June 19th at 7:05 pm. Who will you be cheering for? Tickets still available – we hope to see you there!
Monday, June 18th we will be at Rolling Road Golf Club in Catonsville, MD for our annual Alumni Golf Outing. There are still foursomes to fill and sponsorship opportunities available!
Development
Nearly 200 alumni, donors and friends gathered in NYC for our annual fundraising event on April 19th. The Yale Club set the scene for the Annual NY Dinner, sponsored by the Ashley NY Leadership Council and featured keynote speaker, Cris Carter, who spoke passionately about his struggle with addiction and how treatment has greatly impacted his life.
The event was in support of our scholarship funds which include Young Adult Scholarships, Women’s Scholarships, Family Program Scholarships, Military Scholarships (both active duty and veterans), and more. Ashley Addiction Treatment will award 3.6 million dollars in treatment scholarships this year alone which will benefit one in every four patients that receive treatment at Ashley.
John and Louise Finnerty were presented with the 2018 Greater New York Community Service Award. John and Louise established and funded an Endowed Scholarship for Young Adult Extended Care. This scholarship assists young adult males entering into Ashley’s Extended Care Program. The program uses innovative clinical modalities, training in life skills, and 12-Step recovery immersion, to motivate and guide young men to become strong, active family and community members.
The 2018 Greater New York Community Service Award is given each year to an individual in the NY region that demonstrates a commitment to Ashley and a passion for treatment & recovery services.
Clinically Speaking
Congratulations to Dr. Solounias on her Career Achievement Award
On Thursday, April 19th Dr. Solounias was honored with a Career Achievement Award at the Tuerk Conference in Baltimore for her significant contributions to Ashley Addiction Treatment. Dr. Solounias joined Ashley in 1995 and will be retiring in August after more than twenty-three years of stellar service. She was previously associated with the Division of Drug and Alcohol Abuse at University of Maryland Hospital where she directed the Alcohol and Drug Consultation Service, and also taught medical students and psychiatric resident physicians. Dr. Solounias is a member of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatrists, the American Society of Addiction Medicine and the Maryland Psychiatric Society and is a speaker on the topics of dual diagnosis and women and addictions. Thank you Dr. Solounias for all that you have done and continue to do.
(Pictured left to right: Rebecca Flood, President & CEO, John Winslow, NCADD Faculty, Greg Hobelmann, CMO, Bernadette Solounias, Medical Director Emeritus)
Month 5 – Step 5
May represents the next in a year-long series of articles focusing on the 12-steps. We’re taking one step per month and sharing some insights and experiences to help others with their program, as well as those working with sponsees.
Last month, we discussed Step 4 – making a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Now having enlisted some help, we are ready for Step 5:
“Admitting to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.”
Step 4 takes us inward – helping us to look at ourselves and look beyond the drinking and the drug to help prepare us for a life of sobriety. Step 5 calls us to admit those wrongs to God, ourselves and another human being.
This next step takes humility and it is often said that the value of Steps 4 & 5 comes only after they are done. Being that this step can be so difficult, we can sometimes fight it and put it off, usually because of fear. We admit to God, who established the moral law, and already knows of our actions. We admit to ourselves, which gets a bit more difficult because we have to look to ourselves and admit who we are. Finally, when we choose someone we trust to listen to our Step 5, we are choosing to let that person know who the real me is.
Father Martin said, “The purely psychological part of bearing ones soul to another human being somehow or other has a great cleansing and healing effect to it, but the doing of it is horrible.” This step allows us to clean up our wrongs, cleanse our souls and prepare for the next step to come.
There is no “correct” or “proper” way to work the steps. Different sponsors may take different approaches. The key is to find a way that works best for you and leads to long-term, healthy sobriety!
Next month: Step 6 – We’re ready to have God remove all these defects of character…!