I was back in Retorno’s lecture hall. But instead of being a fly on the wall in yet another prevention seminar I was now officially registered in a course. For 22 weeks I and 19 other women would learn all about the 12 steps and the many other therapeutic tools used by Retorno.
The opening lecture given by Shimon describes the first of the 12 steps: “We admitted we are powerless over our addiction that our lives had become unmanageable.”
He explained “We all use something — either substances or behaviors — in some way. Let’s take an example. Your married daughter is coming to you for Pesach. Three days before she calls and cancels says they’re going to her husband’s family. You can’t argue without playing with her shalom bayis so you swallow your hurt and hang up. But you are hurt. And angry and bewildered. Maybe you feel betrayed.”
Heads nodded all around. It wasn’t hard even for the unmarrieds to relate.
