Pat Ritter. Books

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'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 144:

“Yes, I’ll have a go at it - it’s sounds foolish but I’ll do it.’ She replied.
When the young girl attended her next counselling session she couldn’t wait to tell Bundy everyday she looked into the mirror saying - I LOVE YOU. She’d overcome the thought she didn’t like herself and now she did like herself. Bundy’s idea worked.
It was nearing the final sessions for each client. For them to complete this final stage, clients needed to focus on setting their own personal goal for their future. Bundy insisted each client think about their future after counselling, planning to accomplish whatever they wanted in life. It was the cream on top of the cake after they’d attended all of the sessions.
Each client was asked to write down his or her personal goal onto a piece of paper, specifically stating a date when this goal was to become reality. Working with each client, Bundy spoke about strategies of how to achieve their personal goal and to keep working at the goal until they reached it. By the final session it was difficult to know who was the more excited about the progress of each client, whether it was the client or Bundy.
Personal growth within an individual can induce many feelings, particularly emotional ones, when an individual has progressed to a point in their lives where they had never been before. At his or her final session, Bundy presented to each client a certificate outlining each session. He also gave them a small booklet he had written; outlining each topic they’d spoken about during each session. It was their road map for their future. They could look back on their journey, and reflect on how each of them travelled their highway of recovery to live a better life.
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'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 145:

Some of the clients who failed to complete Bundy’s total programme, there were many who relapsed back to drinking alcohol. It’s not the end of the road for them; they just need to start again from the beginning when they’re ready to do so. Bundy had many clients whom stopped drinking alcohol. Like they said at the time, ‘I’m giving my body a bit of a rest.’ They were not ready to STOP DRINKING PERMANENTLY – THE PENNY HADN’T DROPPED or on the other hand they switched addictions. Instead of drinking alcohol they turned their addiction to another drug of their choice or another addiction of their choice.
For many clients whom stopped drinking alcohol after completing Bundy’s counselling sessions, most of them didn’t return to drinking alcohol. Of the ones whose drinking habits returned, at times it was when their mind triggered a reminder of ‘those good old days’, unfortunately, those ‘good old days’ were never the same as they used to be. One of the major triggers to remind a client about returning to drinking alcohol was an anniversary, birthday or celebration. Either it was the time when they had their last alcohol drink or the death of a loved one or any time they celebrated with friends or family at festive times.
It didn’t matter as long as there was an excuse to ‘fall off the wagon’ and start drinking alcohol again. Glen was a typical client who always fell off the wagon until he realised his dream of forming the ‘Friday Group’. It was a realisation and dream of Glen’s to help other people.
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'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 146:

Fortunately for Bundy he never ‘fell off the wagon’ because of his promise he made to Ada. Anyway, after many years of not drinking alcohol he didn’t want to drink alcohol again. His anniversary was the thirteenth of January 1977 when he made his promise to Ada that reminded him of how ‘lucky’ he was to have made that promise on that particular day.
He didn’t want to return to the days when he drank alcohol until it run out of his ear lobes and he had to put corks in his ears to stop it from coming out of his nose. He was completely satisfied with his life after he stopped drinking alcohol. His life now was much more enriched with love and affection for Ada and the children. He would never ever have had this type of relationship with his wife and children had he continued along the destructive highway of alcoholism.
After many years working as an alcohol and drug counsellor and sharing his story with his clients, he felt life had dealt him a good set of cards to play his game of life.
His thoughts returned to when he worked in the ‘Detoxication Unit’ at the beginning of his career, trying to understand some reasoning why people intoxicated themselves to the degree of almost death, when he tried to ‘RESCUE’ his client whom was an engineer, feeling angry he couldn’t help the person. He remembered being told by his fellow workers his client only wanted help ‘when the penny dropped’. It was frustrating at the time but since then he now realised how important those words – ‘when the penny dropped’ – were so important.
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'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 147:

Bundy’s journey of life as an alcoholic had not been a good one for everyone to enjoy, especially himself, but he admits knowing, what he now knows, he wouldn’t want to travel a similar pathway again. It was quite an experience for him but if he hadn’t travelled that particular pathway he wouldn’t have been able to discover his personal experiences of alcoholism.
These personal experiences were the catalyst in supporting and empowering similar people to him to succeed, giving them a similar opportunity of walking a similar pathway to himself than that of an alcoholic. Bundy also realised whilst walking this pathway he always would be an alcoholic. He never understood whether it was in his genes or what ever the case was to make him drink alcohol, but he knew if he took one drink of alcohol then one alcoholic drink would be too many and a thousand not enough! He didn’t want to take the risk of not knowing where it was going to lead.
How could he ever forgive himself if he again tasted the bitter taste of the drink, which changed his life forever? That taste of white froth, covering his upper lip as he swallowed the contents of the alcohol.
His mind rushed back to when he first tasted alcohol at the age of twelve years and the first taste of alcohol when everyone was happy and enjoying himself or herself at Christmas, again reliving the rush in his mind. What would his life have been like had he not had that first drink of alcohol at that age?
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'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 148:

Would he have drunk alcohol later on in his life? He would never know because what happened – happened at the time. He often thought of why he was constantly drawn to people who drank alcohol – like the times during his youth growing up. Why didn’t he heed the notice, his friend Malcolm gave to him during those adolescence days? Why did he join in with others who drank alcohol? Was it to make he feel comfortable and belonging with his drinking friends? Did he feel that he belonged to that type of group and felt comfortable in their presence?
He tried to escape and get as far away from his lifestyle with his drinking mates as he could by working on a sheep and cattle station one thousand kilometres away from his home. Did that make any difference? No - it wasn’t long before he met up with some other, so called mates, drinking alcohol all through the Christmas break not being concerned about his health or well being or his future. Even placing his employment at risk when he knew the policy of ‘no alcohol was to be consumed on the property’ was part of his employment charter.
Even when after his conversation with a Law Enforcement Officer did he change his drinking behaviour? Not likely. After joining the police force his drinking became far more serious than it had been before. He was placed into a role of working as an undercover agent allowed frequenting hotels and drinking alcohol all day. What a pathway to follow for an alcoholic.
His transfer to another town to serve as a Law Enforcement Officer didn’t stop him from drinking alcohol. He always found a way or excuse to join in with any drinking group. Then he met Ada his future bride to be. Did that stop him from drinking alcohol? No - he wanted to impress his future father-in-law by showing him HOW MUCH he could drink alcohol. That didn’t work either. After their marriage and transferring to another town didn’t slow the process down of Bundy’s drinking habits. He again sought out another drinker and continued on his merry way of alcoholism.
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'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 149:

Even with the birth of his first child, Nicole responsibility of becoming a parent did not slow him down at all? No - being a dad did not alter his behaviour to drinking alcohol. As Bundy remembered that period of his life, he felt within himself a deep disgust to remember how he was so drunk at a friend wedding him and Ada attended. He couldn’t even remember the name of the bride and groom. He remembered how he shit himself where they were camping on the outskirts of the town and a stranger almost walked in his shit as he was asking about the canopy on his car.
At the time he wanted to fulfil his greatest desire to work as a detective, didn’t stop him or slow his progress toward alcoholism. Time after time he’d have a break from drinking alcohol for about four months, then as soon as he was encouraged to ‘have one drink’ away he was gone again upon the same destructive highway to alcoholism.
His desire to escape to another town did not stop his progress to his drinking alcohol. Even when Ada gave birth to a son, did he stop to recognise he had more responsibility with two children? No - Bundy’s problem with drinking alcohol started to sky rocket out of his control starting to take effect with his work, social life and most importantly his family life when he stayed at the hotel drinking and not coming home.
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Thank you dub: here is the page for today: 'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 150:

Alcohol had total control over him and he couldn’t see what it was doing to him and his family. His drinking alcohol became almost a daily event not knowing how he arrived home after a night of drinking. His main concern at this time was his memory. He couldn’t remember how from eight o’clock at night he’d be at the hotel and look at his watch, suddenly two hours later all he heard was the barman calling out, ‘last drinks gentlemen’. He was experiencing blackouts.
At twenty-eight years of age, his saviour was his wife Ada who, on the thirteen day of January 1977 gave him an ultimatum she was going to leave him and take their children, if he didn’t do something about his drinking. If there was ever an event in Bundy’s life to shape up or to ship out, it was this event. At that moment he made a solemn promise to Ada he would NEVER drink alcohol again. He kept to his promise. At that moment, he realised alcohol had control over him and was completely dependent upon drinking alcohol and over the time he had been drinking which at that time would have been almost half of his life.
He’d built up a tolerance to drinking it because he had to drink more each time to feel the same effect. For Bundy to have control over alcohol he had to throw it away and not have anything to do with it again.
Fortune was sitting on his shoulders when he discovered an alternative drink, claytons tonic mixed with water, to substitute for drinking alcohol. This drink was his savour.
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