Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1203.
Completing a Drug Alcohol Rehabilitation Program.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1203.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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This episode is a dialogue between John and Lindsay about someone who has had a problem with drugs or alcohol and wants to get better.
Let's get started.
I'm glad to see you're back and looking so healthy.
Thanks.
Rehab wasn't easy.
But getting treatment for my addiction saved my life.
I'd hit rock bottom.
Recovery from substance abuse isn't easy. but I'm happy you got the help you needed.
I'm glad I checked into an inpatient program.
I was able to detox and I'm now getting the medication and counseling I need.
I thought you were done.
No, I'm now in their outpatient program with a plan for staying sober so I won't relapse.
And you're staying away from temptation?
Absolutely.
I'm only going clubbing two nights a week instead of every night.
Uh, is that wise?
It will be a good test of my self-control.
That doesn't sound... That doesn't... Sorry, there's my ride.
We're checking out a new club tonight.
Yikes.
John begins our dialogue by saying to Lindsay, I'm glad to see your back and looking so healthy.
Lindsay says, thanks.
Rehab wasn't easy, but getting treatment for my addiction saved my life.
I'd hit rock bottom.
Rehab, R-E-H-A-B, is short for rehabilitation, R-E-H-A-B-I-L-T-A-T-I-O-N.
Rehab or rehabilitation is a program that you go through when you have a problem, usually related to some sort of addiction.
A D D, I C T I O N.
An addiction is when you do something or use something so much that you lose control of other parts of your life.
You may, for example, be addicted to alcohol, where you drink alcohol so much that you aren't able to have a job or have a family.
Some people try to stop having these addictions by going to a special program called rehab.
Often these are programs that are located in other places.
You actually go and stay in a separate building or house.
Lindsay has gone to rehab. and she got treatment for her addiction.
Treatment is medical care that a doctor gives a patient, but it could also be care given by a psychologist or other counselor to help someone, in this case, break or get rid of one's addiction to a certain drug or a certain behavior.
You can be addicted to certain behaviors, just as you can be addicted to certain physical substances such as alcohol or drugs.
Some people are addicted to gambling, to going out and spending money on cards and other games to try to win more money.
Notice the use of the preposition to.
You are addicted to something.
Lindsay says the treatment for her addiction saved her life, meaning if she had not gotten the treatment, she might have died.
She says I'd hit rock bottom.
Rock bottom is the lowest, worst point in your life or in the particular addiction that you have to hit rock bottom is to be the worst you could possibly be.
Some people say that people who have addictions need to hit rock bottom.
They need to be at their lowest point before they can get better.
John says recovery from substance abuse isn't easy, but I'm happy you got the help you needed.
Recovery R-E-C-O-V-E-R-Y is getting better from some illness or some disease or some medical problem.
We also use this word recovery when we are talking about the economy getting better after it has been in a very bad state or poor condition.
Here we're talking about a person getting better.
In this case, recovering from substance, S-U-B-S-T-A-N-C-E, abuse, A-B-U-S-E.
Substance abuse is when you use drugs or alcohol in such a way that you become addicted to them.
John says recovery from substance abuse isn't easy, but I'm happy you got the help you needed.
Lindsay says, I'm glad I checked into an inpatient program.
Inpatient I-N-P-A-T-I-E-N-T refers to a situation where you go and you stay at a hospital or a clinic for a long time, or at least overnight.
In the hospital, we talk about people who are getting inpatient treatment and outpatient treatment.
Outpatient treatment is when you go to a hospital or a clinic but then you go home at the end of the day.
You don't stay there.
Lindsay went into an inpatient recovery program where she went and actually slept there for stayed there for a certain period of time.
Maybe it was a week or perhaps a month.
Lindsay says she was able to detox, D-E-T-O-X.
To detox means to go through the process where the chemicals in your body, from the alcohol or the drugs are, are able to leave your body and therefore no longer affect you physically.
Some people use this same term when they are trying to get rid of what they consider bad chemicals from the food they eat.
But here we're talking about someone who has been abusing drugs or alcohol.
Detoxing means to wait until those chemicals are out of your body, or at least that's the general idea.
She says, I'm now getting the medication, that is other drugs, and counseling I need.
Counseling is professional guidance from someone who is trained to help you with this particular psychological problem or this particular addiction.
John says, I thought you were done, meaning I thought you were finished.
I thought you didn't have to go to any more programs.
Lindsay says, no, I'm in their outpatient program.
We just defined outpatient, O-U-T-P-A-T-I-E-N-T, a few seconds ago.
It's when you go and get medical treatment, but you don't stay at the clinic or hospital.
You go back to your own house at the end of the day.
Lindsay says that she's in an outpatient program with a plan for staying sober, so I won't relapse.
To be sober, S-O-B-E-R, is to not be drunk.
To be sober is the opposite of being drunk or being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Lindsay doesn't want to relapse, R-E-L-A-P-S-E.
To relapse means to go back to your former poor condition.
If you have cancer, for example, and you get rid of the cancer for a certain amount of time and you're feeling better, but then the cancer comes back.
We would call that a relapse of the cancer.
The cancer returned.
People who go through drug rehabilitation programs sometimes get better, they feel better, but then they relapse.
They go back to being addicted to the chemical, the drug or alcohol to which they were addicted before.
John says, and you're staying away from temptation?
Temptation T-E-M-P-T-A-T-I-O-N is something that makes you want to do something or want to have something that perhaps you shouldn't do or have.
If you are trying to lose weight and you have a big piece of chocolate cake sitting in front of you, that chocolate cake is a temptation.
It is something that makes you want to eat the cake, in this case, and do something you shouldn't do, at least if you want to lose weight.
Temptations for a drug addict would be situations in which they could use drugs again.
You want to stay away from those situations.
This is common sense, or used to be common sense.
Everyone used to know that if you don't want to do something, you should avoid situations where those things are present or there are temptations to do those things.
Lindsay says she's staying away from temptations, situations that might cause her to want to drink or take drugs again.
She says, I'm only going clubbing two nights a week instead of every night.
To go clubbing, C-L-U-B-B-I-N-G, means to go to bars or nightclubs where people drink and dance.
Sometimes we just use the verb to club instead of to go clubbing.
Here in Los Angeles there are lots of young men and women who go clubbing up in Hollywood, which is a neighborhood in Los Angeles where there are lots of bars and clubs, dance clubs.
When I was a younger man I went to some clubs here in Los Angeles, but I was never very good at dancing, so clubbing wasn't a good place for me.
Besides, none of the good-looking women wanted to dance with me anyway.
Lindsay says she's going clubbing two nights a week.
John doesn't think that's a good idea.
He says, uh, is that wise?
Wise, W-I-S-E, means intelligent.
Is that a good idea?
Lindsay says, it will be a good test of my self-control.
Self-control is your ability to control your thoughts, words and actions, especially when you are in a difficult or tempting situation.
If you are sitting with your girlfriend or your wife and another beautiful woman walks by you, you must have self-control.
You don't want to be looking at another woman, especially when you are with your own beautiful woman.
That is an example of self-control, gentlemen.
Lindsay thinks that going to a club where there are other people drinking will be a good test of her self-control.
She'll be able to see whether she can really resist drinking again.
John begins by saying, He's trying to say that doesn't sound like a good idea.
But then we hear the sound of a car horn.
That part of the car that makes a very loud noise to warn other drivers of something.
Lindsay says, sorry, there's my ride.
Meaning, there is the person who I am going to go with tonight.
Someone who is going to drive me somewhere.
She says, we're checking out a new club tonight.
To check out means to investigate or to go to for the first time to see if it's any good.
John ends our dialogue by saying yikes.
Y-I-K-E-S.
Yikes is a word we use to express our surprise, usually at something bad.
Sometimes we say yikes to be funny, but it is normally used to express your surprise or shock at something.
John is surprised that Lindsay is going to this new club.
He doesn't think it's a very good idea.
It will be too much of a temptation for her with all that alcohol around her.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I'm glad to see you're back and looking so healthy.
Thanks.
Rehab wasn't easy, but getting treatment for my addiction saved my life.
I'd hit rock bottom.
Recovery from substance abuse isn't easy, but I'm happy you got the help you needed.
I'm glad I checked into an inpatient program.
I was able to detox and I'm now getting the medication and counseling I need.
I thought you were done.
No, I'm now in their outpatient program with a plan for staying sober so I won't relapse.
And you're staying away from temptation?
Absolutely.
I'm only going clubbing two nights a week instead of every night.
Uh, is that wise?
It will be a good test of my self-control.
That doesn't sound... Sorry, there's my ride.
We're checking out a new club tonight.
Yikes.
We want to thank our wise script writer, Dr. Lucy Say, for her wonderful script.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2016 by the Center for Educational Development.
