Tiger Woods pauses during a news conference Friday, Feb. 19, 2010, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

How would you do stepping into the world’s largest confessional booth, looking at the camera and making a public admission of your wrongdoings?

What Tiger Woods did today was courageous.  In fact, some people would say that his confessional served as the official steps No. 4 and No. 5 of the 12-step program to deal with addiction.

Step No. 4: “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”
Step No. 5: “Admitted … to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.”

Yet, in spite of his blunt confession, ”My failures have made me look at myself in a way I never wanted to before…I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated,” many people have responded by describing his speech today as choreographed and lacking in emotional sincerity.  Really?  Do we need a Public Figure 101 lesson here?  Tiger Woods, like any other public figure, does not have the luxury of giving a 13 minute and 32 second heart-to-heart, off-the-cuff speech about his extramarital affairs!  His words, mannerisms, voice inflection and facial gestures are historically recorded on the world’s most trafficked websites with play-back capabilities, translated into different languages, critiqued and dissected by millions of viewers.

I’d like to say BRAVO! Tiger Woods for 1) being wise enough to admit you needed help, 2) being willing to seek inpatient treatment, 3) admitting & staying in a 45-day length of stay program, 4) making the daily choice to struggle through your issues in a therapeutic setting and 5) addressing the public about your life process.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Cesar G. Gamez holds a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Counseling and is a doctoral student at Arizona State University. He is the founder and director of Family Insights™ and is a sought-after speaker and workshop trainer. He is also a therapist at an inpatient treatment center for anxiety and eating disorders. You can follow Cesar on Twitter.

Copyright © 2010 Cesar G. Gamez, All Rights Reserved Worldwide.