An Oasis in the Wilderness

The book captures Tony as an ironworker at the Department of Transportation (DOT) of the City of New York. With 25 years of public service, 10 with the NYC Transit Authority and 13 at the DOT, he is injured and retires on disability but not after hiring an attorney and spending about 2 years not knowing if he would receive a pension. However, after being turned down once, the case was appealed and this time it was successful. Unfortunately, the stress and anxiety had taken its toll. Having thought he would be happy once he got out proved differently. He started to develop debilitating symptoms that frightened him and which at times would seize him from functioning. Panic attacks and fears of collapse took over his everyday routine. It was now time to see a doctor and when he did the doctor told him he could not find anything physically wrong. It was suggested he see a therapist. He attended weekly sessions and while taking medication he received a call from a cousin who told him of a weekly self-help group that she had attended many years ago. She said that out of all the doctors she saw, all the medications she took and all the money she had spent, the one thing that helped her the most were these weekly self-help group meetings run by Recovery Inc., now called, Recovery International (RI). Tony went to several meetings and soon started feeling he no longer needed the therapist and medication. He learned the Recovery Method at these meetings and read the main book, “Mental Health Through Will Training,” which was also being read chapter by chapter each week at these panel meetings. Now feeling pretty good and back to his old self, he attended many other Recovery group meetings and was soon asked to be an Assistant Leader. Tony accepted the job and not too long after, became a Group Leader at his home parish. After a couple of years he was asked to be the District Leader of Brooklyn and Queens and, after that, he was asked to be Area Leader for all of New York City and he graciously accepted it knowing it was going to take quite a bit of work. Within in a one-year period Tony was recommended to join a committee. He accepted and within another year, he became the chairman of that committee and also joined another committee. Again, in a short period of time, he received a call from the president of RI to join with him and others on the Board of Directors, and of course, he accepted. He went at it with great vigor, always glad to help wherever he could. In the years 2005-2006 there were so many changes going on within the RI organization causing some and mainly Tony to disagree on some issues. As a result of the dissention, he soon began to feel some of the old nervous symptoms returning, so he thought it best to reduce his work load. He resigned from the board and one of the committees. In his local (NYC) area, he chose to reduce some of the work load also in the hope of regaining his mental health. His mental health would have to be his main concern. When Tony began to regain his mental health, he thought of writing a book. He knew he was no master at writing books; he was a blue collar worker. He also had a very deep passion for wanting the world to know that it was Dr. Abraham Low (founder of Recovery Inc.) who, with his development of the Recovery Method, ushered in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. There were others such as Albert Ellis, Aaron Beck and a few more that were given the credit; however, what about Dr. Low? Tony believed had Dr. Low been credited with CBT, his Recovery Method would have been widely known and therefore many more people would have been helped. Hopefully, with this book, “An Oasis in the Wilderness,” many others can learn to stop the vicious cycle of fear and lead productive lives.