Five Portraits of Men in Recovery
The DVD centers around five short films, each one presenting the story of one man's recovery. Each man tells his own story in first person narrative, describing the events that led to his addiction and, more importantly, how and why made the transition to sobriety.
You Can't Beat the Cheat
A gentleman with over 70 incarcerations shares his story of hope and life after drugs, exploring the challenges of criminal behavior, incarceration, and reentry into society. His life is a testimony to the power of justice, mercy, and the willingness to accept second chances. running time 12:28
Like an Afterschool Special
A young man growing up in the suburbs is married with a child, and addicted to alcohol and drugs before the age of twenty. Years later, the threat of his wife leaving and a resulting suicide attempt spark his initial attempts at recovery. After 15 years of sobriety he looks back on what has worked. running time 22:21
Side Saddle on the Expressway
"My alcoholism was much more devastating than the HIV," recounts a former police officer who contracted the virus while in his addiction. After struggling to get honest and get clean, he shares how he has learned to manage both diseases. running time 15:36
Shaggity, Raggity, Draggity
A child of the sixties joins the Navy and comes home with an honorable discharge and the disease of alcoholism. After falling back into the lifestyle he lived as a teen, getting arrested for a DUI, and court mandated into treatment, he eventually gets sober, only to be confronted with divorce and the ups and downs of life in recovery. Friends now describe him as "self-correcting" as he works to rewrite the limiting stereotypes often placed on men. running time 17:26
Uncertainty
A young man grows up in the projects, bouncing around between his mother and grandmother. As a young adult he finds himself living on the streets navigating the social service network, struggling to survive and find his true spiritual self. A turning point comes when someone else believes in him and won't let him settle for the contentment of his own misery. running time 26:39
The Extras
The DVD also contains several extra features focusing on men's issues. These include short films, audio journals, and discussion questions. Most of these features can be used independently of the Five Portraits to highlight different aspects of the issues men struggle with. It is also worth noting that many of these features are not addiction/recovery specific, but relate to men's issues in general.
Bob Carty: Men's Issues
Noted clinical trainer and consultant, Bob Carty (LCSW, CADC) talks about many issues men face, not only in recovery, but in our culture generally. The interview is broken up into segments that focus on topics such as difficulty showing emotion, wearing a suit of armor to protect oneself, respect, unaddressed grief issues, male friendships, and toxic masculinity.
Messages
In this short film a young boy comes home from school and listens to the phone messages on the answering machine. The messages from Mom and Dad start out fairly benign but slowly morph into poignant examples of the messages that we often send to young boys about masculinity and what it means to be a man.
Wounds
In this set of audio journals, three men discuss losses or wounds they have suffered as a result of our cultural participation in toxic masculinity. Two of the stories revolve around fathers and sons, while the third relates to insecurities many men and boys experience but seldom talk about. Even though these stories are only audio, you listen to them on your DVD/TV system or computer just like all the other features on the DVD. They are not playable on a CD player.
Discussion Questions
Every segment on this DVD, including the Five Portraits and all the Extras, come with a set of discussion questions for use in group counseling, retreats, personal reflection, or in any other way the viewer sees fit. It is the equivalent of an entire workbook built into the DVD. You access the discussion questions on your TV or computer screen, through the menus. The questions were written by a licensed, certified addictions counselor and are generally based in solution-focused theory, narrative theory, and Motivational Interviewing. There are over 150 discussion questions throughout the disc.