RECOVERY WORKS Judy Redding “The freakin’ fires we’ve been through”

Editor’s Note: September is National Drug and Alcohol Addiction Recovery Month. To celebrate the success of treatment and recovery programs, and to inspire people struggling with substance abuse and addiction, a dozen Mainers agreed to share their personal stories. “Recovery Works” features these profiles each Thursday in the Well-Being section, replacing the “Finding a Fix” column today and through September.

Judy Redding doesn’t like the term “co-dependence.”

“It pathologizes the family,” she insists. But Judy, a licensed drug and alcohol counselor with a long career in the treatment field and a recent master’s degree in anthropology, is quick to admit that when her husband, Rod, was finally ready to get help for his longtime drinking problem, “My first response was, ‘Great! But … I don’t have to quit drinking, do I?'”

It was Rod’s long climb toward sobriety that fueled Judy’s professional interest, as she and the couple’s children participated in 12-step programs and group counseling sessions for the families of alcoholics. In time, she opened a private counseling practice and then became a consultant and a political lobbyist for treatment providers.

“But I continued to drink,” she said. “I was living a dual life. I was going out and working in the field, then coming home and drinking by myself.” One evening in the winter of 1985, after a glorious day of downhill skiing with her husband and their youngest daughter, she found herself crouched behind the kitchen counter, secretly chugging down enough cheap wine to get her through the evening ahead.

“I had a spiritual awakening,” she said. It was the last drink she ever took.

Of her own progress in treatment and the support of the 12-step community, she says simply, “The loving kindness and compassion of people in recovery is boundless.”

Judy Redding seems poised for a happy, productive and creative retirement. She has a loving family, a pretty antique farmhouse with a view of the Kennebec Valley, a new motorcycle and opportunities to travel.

“You look at us now, and we look pretty good. And we are good” she said, reaching to take her husband’s hand. “But, oh my God, the freakin’ fires we’ve been through.”