Pat Ritter. Books

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'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 130:

‘Can I bring the drinks – I mean soft drinks not alcohol?’ Glen said, the members ed at Glen mentioning alcohol.
Bundy felt strange on the final day when he attended his last session with the group. He felt a little awkward, he was no longer needed, but thought of the adhesiveness the group members had formed, for it to be a success at which it was.
‘Glen, you should feel proud of the way you first thought of the idea of the group, and building it from nothing. There are no reasons why this group cannot go on to help others in a similar situation.’ Bundy said.
‘You gave me the encouragement in the first place when you asked me to think about what I wanted. This is what I’ve wanted to do. You know I haven’t drank alcohol since I got out of detox a month before I first seen you. That’s probably the longest time I’ve been sober.’ He replied.
‘Congratulations again, I’m proud of you.’ Bundy replied shaking hands in a friendly gesture of gratitude. On the day of the barbecue lunch, Bundy never realised these people had never before, ever enjoyed one another’s company as much as they were enjoying themselves at this time. They never before celebrated any event without drinking alcohol and becoming intoxicated.
Their comments about never cooking meat on the barbecue before when sober surprised Bundy. Often they’d seen many families and joke together; standing around the barbecue, but this was their first experience of actually doing it themselves. Some of the members were nervous, whilst others stood by themselves and soaked up the atmosphere of what was happening. It was great to witness changes people actually made through a little encouragement and friendship.
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'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 131:

On occasions when a client presented to Bundy who thought they didn’t need counselling, he suggested they about join the ‘Friday Group’ and refer them to Glen.
Bill returned with his wife for his next appointment handing Bundy a letter from his doctor explaining his ‘liver count’.
‘Has you doctor explained to you about what he has written in this letter?’ Bundy said.
‘Yes, he told me I have slight liver damage. I haven’t drunk alcohol since he told me. He gave me some tablets to settle me down. I was a bit shaky and sweating a lot.’ Bill replied.
‘You have probably experienced withdrawal symptoms. How are you feeling now?’ Bundy asked.
‘They’re all gone now, the shaking and sweating. I feel fine. I’m never going to drink again. My wife and I have got back together again and she’s supporting me all through this and now I think I should be okay.’ Bill said.
‘If at anytime you think you need to return to see me please do so.’ Bundy replied.
‘Thank you.’ Bill replied as he and his wife left the office.
Bundy’s workload became more than he’d ever expected. He’d often say to himself, either there is more people having issues with alcohol and drug problems within this community, or I need to look at seeking another person to help me. He was counselling almost seven clients per day five days a week and feeling a little worn down.
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'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 132:

Each fortnight, he left his office, and walked to an isolated area where by himself. He needed to download from his mind, all of the stories and problems, people had burdened upon him during their counselling sessions. If he didn’t constantly follow this rictal every fortnight, unloading the burden of counselling people, he would be of no use to his clients. It would, in the long term, affect his personal health.
Bundy screamed at the top of his voice, with a wide-open mouth, roaring his frustrations, expressing volumes of air from his lungs and data from his mind. It was such a good feeling to clear his mind of all useless data, making room to replace more important data. He was once again on top of the world after this experience.
His workload continued when the Prisons Department approaching him to counsel their inmates. Close to Bundy’s office was a halfway house for prisoners. These people had almost served their term of imprisonment for crimes they’d committed awaiting their final release.
They’re different to other clients because, these clients are told to attend counselling before they are released on parole. They were treated the same as any other client. One important aspect about these clients was they were sober and able to speak to someone without knowing they were being spied upon.
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'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 133:

Another issue Bundy considered was these clients were institutionalised; some served many years in prison. They were used to being told what to do and when to do it, seven days per week and twenty-four hours per day.
Bundy treated these clients the same as he did any other client, sharing his story, building a rapport and trust to share other stories in the hope to empower them to ‘look at themselves’ in developing personal belief.
Each client attended a weekly one-hour session. They each had a different story to tell. It didn’t take long before one of these clients clicked Bundy used to be a ‘copper’, which Bundy never denied. They accepted him for himself continuing to attend counselling. At least Bundy understood their concerns, because after building such a trust and rapport with each client he was pleased to be truthful with them. Some clients failed to complete their total program others remained to the end. One client continued attending counselling even after he had been released from prison. He wanted to complete Bundy’s course.
By this time, Bundy counselled clients in his community for almost three years. Over this time, his ability to counsel people with alcohol and drug counselling had made him popular. He never believed in all of his wildest dreams he would one day be able to ‘spread the word’ of his own life experience with alcoholism with many people and personally believed after counselling so many people many of them had lived a similar lifestyle to himself, experiencing many of his stories which had happened with him.
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'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 134:

He was grateful to acknowledge clients accepted him as their counsellor. He ‘walked a mile in their shoes’ knowing what they had personally experienced with alcoholism. Unfortunately, he was only one person doing the best he could do, for as many people, as he could for the time being. Work was slowly increasing daily. Bundy had to think of ways of improving his counselling sessions to better suit each client.
Whilst he was happy to have forged such a following of clients, who after completing their counselling sessions, continued to keep in contact appreciated, what he had done to help them change their lives. Bundy’s constant reply when asked about ‘what he did to change people’s lives?’ was ‘I suppose because I’ve travelled along the same pathway as many of my clients, I can relate to what they’ve gone through. It’s up to the individual to change.’
Apart from clients ‘walking in off the street’ some of the clients were referred to attend alcohol and drug counselling by the courts, mainly the Magistrates Court. The Magistrate had given an order to the offender to undergo alcohol and drug counselling sessions before he past punishment on them.
One important fact, which Bundy discovered by accident one day, was when he analysed data he gathered about male clients, was their age when they first presented to him for counselling? The average range of ages for male clients was from twenty-seven years to twenty-nine years. Bundy was twenty-eight years old when he himself stopped drinking alcohol. He was fascinated to learn this information gave him proof; he’d stopped drinking alcohol at a similar age bracket. He was astonished by this discovery. He had always wondered why suddenly at the age of twenty-eight years he stopped drinking alcohol. It also had much to do about his promise to Ada and her actions at the time.
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'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 135:

In his findings of females, the average range of ages of a woman, who presented to him for counselling, was from aged between thirty years and thirty-four years. Another factor he discovered whilst collating this data was there were many more male clients presented than female clients.
Although each client who presented used the drug of their choice, in this instance alcohol, some of the clients drinking habits differed when choosing their alcohol drink. Whilst some drank beer other drinks ranged from spirits and wine. Most of the clients at the time of presentation to Bundy were very dependent on alcohol also having a high tolerance level.
Alarmingly though, as each client continued attending their counselling sessions, their desire for drinking alcohol decreased considerably, identifying each client’s behaviour change toward self improvement.
Bundy was dumbfounded to find when a client presented for their initial counselling session, and after their fourth session, he compared their personal growth during the period. It was amazing to witness each client; full of ambition for success talked about how ‘wonderful’ they felt about their changes they each had made with their lives.
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'Confessions of an alcoholic' - Page 136:

What was the secret? His role to be there for his clients, listen to their issues, NOT RESCUE THEM, but empower them to ‘have a look at themselves’, at the same time walk beside them to wherever they wanted to go. He had no control over their future or their life, but he was there for them when they needed his services.
Whilst he walked beside them along their journey of life improvement, he noticed many similarities he experienced, when he was growing through his own self-improvement. His mind rushed back to when different events in his life suddenly changed his out-looks on life.
Over the following couple of years Bundy gathered information about ‘how to make the journey for his clients more understanding for them’. Although he’d travelled the highway of destruction many times himself, before he eventually stopped drinking alcohol, now was his opportunity of mapping a brand new highway leading in the opposite direction?
Initially, there had to be a catalyst for the client to stop doing what they were doing and to seek counselling. Sometimes they were forced to attend counselling by their partners, wives, family members, doctor, court order, or imprisonment. Always at their initial session Bundy ‘told his own story’, which over the many times he’d told it, nothing had changed from the original story. One can only imagine what each client was thinking as Bundy unfolded his story in detail when he explained how he drank alcohol until it flowed out of his earlobes. He’d tell how he became so drunk he’d shit himself and vomit most of what he’d drank the night before at each morning daily rictal until Ada said, ‘enough was enough.’ He proudly told them how he had made a promise to Ada of never to drink alcohol again.
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