Twelve Steps Forward

Chapter 18

Aurora's Pov:

  "Thank you for agreeing to meet us here to talk", Eros says. Dr. H sits across from us with a smile.

  "It's no problem", she says, "I brought a list of options for us to discuss". After the commotion of Diana waking up, we decided to have a conversation amongst the three of us. We decided to meet at a cafe because Dr. H thought it would be a good neutral place. Eros takes my hand under the table and gives it a light squeeze. He's too good to me. She sets some pamphlets on the table and starts to go through the options.

  "Most of these programs will include things like one-on-one counseling, gender-specific process groups, cognitive behavioral therapy, contingency management, dialectical behavior therapy, educational classes, community assimilation outings, strength-based therapy, and bibliotherapy", she says. I fidget with my and Eros's fingers under the table.

  "I'm not sure what all of that stuff is", I say.

  She smiles at me in her usual disarming way, "that's okay I know this is a lot so I'm going to go through it with you".

  "Now for one-on-one counseling, you'd be sitting down with a professional to talk through your feelings and how you're coping", she says, "it may be hard to find someone you click with but, it's a very effective tool".

  I nod, "I think I've done that before".

  "Really?", she asks, "when?".

  "Well sometimes my caseworker used to have me talk to someone when I was being sent to a new placement", I say.

  She nods, "that's good to know, I'll see if I can get those records".

  "I think that a gender-specific process group would be really beneficial for you given your history", she says, "its a kind of group therapy that will only have other people of your gender with so you can talk about your shared experiences and not feel any kind of judgment of pressure from the opposite gender".

  "I would like that a lot", I say smiling. I had been worried about having to talk about my history with other men. I'm starting to feel comfortable with Eros but, I don't think I could trust any other guy for a while.

  "Cognitive behavioral therapy is a kind of social therapy that helps teach you how to better fit into and interact with your environment", she says.

  "What do you mean by my environmental?", I ask.

  "Well", she says, "it's hard for a lot of people to socially interact with those around them and it can hold you back. This is just a way of helping you learn to better navigate those kinds of situations".

  "Contingency management is mostly just a way of keeping you on track with your goals by providing motivators to ease you along in your recovery", she says.

  "What kind of motivators?", Eros asks.

  "Well it can be different for everyone but, the idea is just to give Aurora something to look forward to with her milestones", she says.

  "Dialectical behavior therapy Is a combination of things but, it mostly seeks to help you cope with interpersonal conflicts".

  "The educational classes exist to help you do things like getting your GED", she says, "I know you weren't able to go to school much and I think this would open a lot of doors for you".

  "Community assimilation outings are basically just field trips out of rehab to help you learn to interact with your community in a safe and controlled environment", she says.

  "What's strength-based therapy?", I ask, "does that mean like working out?".

  "No, strength-based therapy is a means of findings your own personal strengths and building off of them in a productive and helpful manner", she says.