ACA Promise 6: We will enjoy feeling stable, peaceful, and financially secure.
(Adult Children of Alcoholics/Dysfunctional Families)
At first, when I read this promise and heard it read aloud in meetings…. I wondered a great deal how becoming a recovering Adult Child would make me more financially secure.
This didn't seem to connect. I thought it was a lovely-sounding dream. (Yet unrealistic)
I wondered a great deal how becoming a recovering Adult Child would make me more financially secure. This didn’t seem to connect. I thought it was a lovely-sounding dream.
Today, I am having this effect.
Through my first year of ACA program work, I've been going to therapy, and I used an online therapy service and paid service for text/voice messaging and weekly video calls. And the billing was significantly delayed (more than six months' late') and then at odd frequencies.
I tried several methods for reconciling the charges on my own. Frankly, they don't make sense, and there was something wrong with their billing practices.
Because of anxiety, I had stopped spending money for a long, long time (more than two years). I held off on getting counseling…until I reached a crisis point. I didn't want to spend the 'extra' money. And so, this billing confusion seemed like my worst nightmare come true.
Because I've been attending ACA meetings regularly and also doing recovery work through CoDA (Codependents Anonymous), I now know two things:
1. I am worth it. I am worth the expense of counseling services. My mental and emotional health is worth the money, effort, and time.
2. I am powerless, and I can turn this situation over to my Higher Power
I am powerless over this counseling service's poor, confusing, and frustrating billing practices. I don't believe that it is my fault that I seem to be overcharged, and I can't get clarity. There was nothing I 'didn't do enough of.' And I've done my best (and my part) to try to solve the problem.
There was nothing I ‘didn’t do enough of.’ And I’ve done my best (and my part) to try to solve the problem.
Because I am willing to turn the situation over to my Higher Power, I've been inspired to do new things:
1. I've requested a detailed list of all charges – for the year I was using that service
2. I know that I have the option of reporting this company to the Better Business Bureau
3. I am being patient, asking questions (repeatedly), and staying in dialogue with the company to try and solve the billing discrepancies together.
I've been communicating with this company since December about all this confusion. Today I spent an hour going through the detailed notes they sent me (the billing STILL doesn't make sense).
I know my Higher Power has this situation and is taking care of it…
Because I know my Higher Power has this situation and is taking care of it…all I need to do is keep showing up, taking the next right step, and practicing emotional sobriety (acknowledging the frustration feelings, accepting them as valid, and then finding ways to let them go).
Without 12 Step Recovery, I would be wound up, uptight, angry, highly anxious, and taking furious action to try to resolve this. Instead, I find myself acting from a place of love (for myself and my emotional health) and a place of calm, patience, and willingness. I release control.
I find myself acting from a place of love (for myself and my emotional health) and a place of calm, patience, and willingness. I release control.
If needed, I'll report this issue to the Better Business Bureau. I've already disputed several charges through my bank and my insurance company, and I've canceled future services with this company, and that's all I can do…be patient and wait.
I have not been placed in a position of scarcity or crisis because of this ongoing issue. That’s my Higher Power at work.
Fortunately, I've received the money in other ways – through family and my employer – and I can see that I have not been placed in a position of scarcity or crisis because of this ongoing issue. That's my Higher Power at work.
ACA Promise 6: We will enjoy feeling stable, peaceful, and financially secure.
I will Keep Coming Back.
Because It Works If I Work It (the ACA program)
and I AM WORTH IT.
In-Service,
A.H.
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