After facing down alcoholism, Art Van Elslander sets ambitious goals for company

Van Elslander forced himself to face the fact that he is an alcoholic and sought treatment so that he could quit.

“I am not at all ashamed. I have come to realize that it is a disease, and with proper treatment — like diabetes, or other diseases — it can be treated,” Van Elslander said in an interview on Wednesday.

Van Elslander spoke about his battle with alcohol for the first time Nov. 13 on Jack Krasula’s “Anything is Possible” show on WJR 760 AM. Last week, Van Elslander told Crain’s that he thought carefully about his decision to discuss it in public.

“First of all, I asked all of my children — you know I have 10 — if I would cause any embarrassment to them or to my grandchildren, and they said ‘absolutely not, Dad,’ ” Van Elslander said.

He also said that he came forward because he is hoping that he will influence others to seek help. In fact, he said several business colleagues have sought treatment after finding out about his problems.

“Alcoholics drink because they like to drink,” Van Elslander said. “And you can always make excuses to drink — business is bad, business is good. Life is bad, life is good — there are a million excuses.”

Van Elslander said AA’s 12 steps that he has lived by for the past four years have worked well for him. He says the principles are good for virtually everyone and said they also complement his religious beliefs.

The steps require alcoholics to acknowledge their alcoholism, make amends to those they’ve harmed and turn their lives over to “the care of God as we understood him.”

Dr. Garrett O’Connor, chief psychiatrist for the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., applauded Van Elslander’s decision to talk publicly.

“We really love to have people who have had good recovery speak about it, because that gives confidence to other people,” O’Connor said. “There is a saying among alcoholics: ‘We are only as sick as our secrets.’ ”

O’Connor, who does not know Van Elslander, said it is often difficult to get executives to admit their alcoholism because the people around them are unwilling to push the issue.

Van Elslander said he knew for a long time that he had a drinking problem, but, like many alcoholics, lived in denial for years.

“I think I probably crossed the line — and none of us ever really knows — maybe about 10 years before,” seeking treatment, he said.

Van Elslander said he became an alcoholic by drinking frequently at social and business events and eventually began drinking at home and at work.

“I never went to bars. My bar was either my conference room or my bar at home,” he said.

While it often takes an intervention by friends, family or loved ones for an alcoholic to realize treatment is needed, Van Elslander said he came to the conclusion on his own. He researched treatment and checked into a 30-day program called Sierra Tucson Inc. in Arizona. Afterwards, he attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings every morning except Sundays at 7 a.m. for three years, and continues to go frequently.

“First of all, it’s a wonderful way to start the day out,” Van Elslander said. “What you find (is that) there are people who have the very same problem, and regardless of the walk of life, regardless of color, you find people are really friendly, very open.”

Looking back, Van Elslander says he now believes that there were alcoholics on his father’s side of the family. In part, Van Elslander said, he decided to seek treatment because he recognized that alcoholism can be genetic and he wanted to set a good example for his children.

“I think it’s not the hand that you get dealt in life, I think it’s the way you play the hand, and I’ve said that for many, many, years. And I think doing it by example is certainly better than talking about it.”

Crain's Detroit Business~ December 12, 2005