Recovery International Testimonials
Here's what our participants have to say about the Recovery International Method.
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“I have been using the Recovery self-help method for over forty years!!! Even though many medications and therapies have developed over the decades, I still use Dr. Low’s RI method to help me in all aspects of my life!! I don’t like to think of what my life would have been without it. Some of the helpful tools I use everyday: Change insecure thoughts to secure thoughts. I cannot control the outer environment. It’s not important what other people think of me, only what I think of myself. Nervous symptoms are distressing but not dangerous.”
“I have been with Recovery for over thirty years. It has helped me keep my marriage together for 43 years and, along with my husband, we raised our sons now 36 and 39. I shared my story in two newspapers years ago. I do not have the stigma of telling people about my anxiety and depression. I have dropped the belief that “everything must be perfect.” I strive for averageness. Along with the trivialities in life, it also has helped with the tough situations life throws at you. This Method is simple but not easy.”
“I have had setbacks, but when I read one of Dr. Low’s books, I realize my setbacks are average, that everyday life is full of irritations, disappointments, and frustrations and that feelings are not facts.”
“One of the things RI is helping me with is patience and how I react to certain situations. I struggle with people who have authority over me, and I have performed acts of sabotage toward people in authority over me (teachers, bosses, etc.) when they said things to me I didn’t like or didn’t want to hear. One particular teacher forgave me after I sent him a long email basically confessing and telling him about Recovery (not that that makes it okay, but it definitely cleared my conscience slightly). I still struggle with authority, but I’ve found a helpful method in RI to work it down when I’m faced with things like this. I’ve regained my mental health thanks to this program and now I’m helping others as a leader and I am forever grateful.” (unedited)
“I have found that through RI I have a very different outlook on not only the way I see other people’s actions but also my own. I can affirm myself for my actions in life and I have found a peace that I never had before. I struggle with Bi-Polar as well as Major Depressive Disorder and both have gotten so much easier to deal with through Recovery International.”
“My counselor made me go to Recovery Inc. meetings over twenty-five years ago. She commented that it would make her job more manageable. My life consisted of symptoms: anger, panic attacks, negative thinking, addiction, dissociation, and of all things, a mall phobia. I had no tools to deal with life. Entering my first meeting in Moorestown, NJ, I was welcomed by John Durkin, who was trained in Chicago by many of the people mentioned in “Mental Health Through Will-Training.” Thirty people were there, and they spoke a different language. I bought the book and started reading and attending meetings. It was not long before I gained insight into Dr. Low’s philosophy of having a choice about changing thoughts. They told me that there are only two things we do in RI: change our thoughts and command our muscles. This was a novel idea because my brain just went on its own. After about three months in the RI program, I gave an example, and my symptoms went poof. This was indeed a miracle. Forty-six years old, and it was the first time in my life I felt symptom-free. I now had hope. Early on, I made up 3×5 cards with my favorite spots and carried them everywhere; some of them were: “my symptoms are distressing, not dangerous,” “my thoughts are lying to me,” and “my mental health is my supreme goal.” Making “five-minute phone calls” was the most remarkable tool that I received from RI. Reaching out to another person that understood my mental illness, and did not condemn me, broke the vicious cycle. Moving the clock forward, I have been the Friday 10 AM Zoom meeting leader for the past 18 years. The Area 155 Treasurer for 20 years and facilitated a monthly panel at Inspira Hospital Day Center, Woodbury, NJ, for 12 years.”