H&I Meetings

We host H&I meetings at Briarwood Detox Center in Houston and Austinonce daily, although sometimes they may occur twice in a day. Speakers come to our facility on their own or with a small group and use their visit to talk to our clients about recovery. We host male and female speakers of various backgrounds, ages, and cultures, so all our detox clients have someone they can relate to.

During the meeting, the speaker(s) share their own personal recovery experience with detox clients: what it was like when they were addicted, what happened, and what life is like now, all while highly emphasizing recovery. In sharing their personal story, they are able to bring hope and strength to individuals who may have none. Some of our H&I meetings also include live music or poetry, performed by the H&I speakers themselves.

Hearing about recovery and sobriety for the first time is often a powerful thing. Our detox clients all have diverse life experiences and histories with addiction. Some may be fighting an ongoing battle with chronic relapse while others may be trying to get sober for the first time. H&I meetings not only introduce them all to the 12-Step Program, but they plant a seed of hope and show people what’s possible in recovery, despite what has happened in the past.

Drug and alcohol detox can be a challenging and difficult time for some clients, but there is therapeutic value in one addict helping another. Sharing a personal story of addiction and recovery can provide a glimmer of hope that there just might be a better way to live on the other side of addiction. As detox clients watch other people who once struggled like them radiate with the desire to change, they may find themselves inspired and ready to ignite that same change in their own lives.

The overall purpose of H&I meetings is rooted in the principles of the 12-Step Program, particularly step 12:

“Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.”

This final step reinforces the idea that people in recovery are supremely qualified to help others who are struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. They can help people in detox begin to establish some confidence that they are capable of getting sober and living a happy life without drugs or alcohol.

Clients who want to prepare can review our Step 4 AA worksheet and moral inventory guide to understand what the personal inventory involves.