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Co-Creative
Process of Life Recovery
Over the
past few months, I have been working diligently with Patrick Meninga, the
creator of www.spiritualriver.com.
Patrick and
I both have a common concern about the low success rate that addicts in
recovery have. I also strongly believe that people who do not have a life that
they are truly happy with share many of the issues people with addiction have.
Patrick has
worked hard at developing a “Creative Theory of Recovery” Together, we are
working at creating a process that will utilize programs currently available
(including 12 step and rehab), but take them to an expanded level; a holistic
approach that may up success rates for others, and indeed, for people, in
general, who are struggling with life.
I know
today that although I have addictions (I accepted that years ago), the
addictions became very active because I did not have a balanced life I was
happy with, \In journeying for years to get a balanced, abundant and joyful
life, active addictions left. They would not allow me to achieve the life I
wanted.
The
“Co-Creative Process of Life Recovery” is work in progress. The experiences of
others in achieving a life they want are factored in and any and all are
invited to go to www.hopeserenity.ca to share experience that will help our
evolutionary process. You are also free to blog on this site.
Here is a
post from Patrick that is on track, and for my friends recovering from
addiction, note the FREE offer at the bottom!
“The Solution is
Not Spiritual, it is Holistic
Posted: 20 Nov 2008 07:41 PM
CST
Very simple idea here: the solution
is not spiritual. It is holistic.
Traditional recovery programs
today tend to have a very strong emphasis on the spiritual solution. The
problem with this is that it neglects so many other aspects of the recovering
addict’s life.
Consider all the ways that
addiction or alcoholism can affect a person’s life.
Addiction affects us:
1) Physically - our health can deteriorate, poor nutrition, no exercise,
unhealthy habits (such as smoking), and so on.
2) Mentally - we stop learning, abandon school and education, we don’t
exercise mentally, or challenge ourselves, etc.
3) Emotionally - we stop maturing emotionally in active addiction. This is huge.
4) Socially - we reorganize our friendships according to those who consume
drugs and alcohol like we do
5) Spiritually - our connection with our higher power suffers. We experience
separateness from other people in our lives. Extreme self centeredness.
And so on. There are even more
examples than what I’ve listed here.
So it doesn’t make sense to use only a spiritual program
to treat a problem like addiction. Doing so leaves the other areas of our lives
in disarray.
Some people argue that if you
focus on spirituality, then the other things will naturally fall into place. I
have found this to be false in my experience, and I have seen it cost many
people their recovery. For example:
* I have seen many people who put
spirituality first in their life, with a strong devotion and a much stronger
enthusiasm for spiritual matters than what I had. Yet all of these people ended
up relapsing. It would seem that balance is more important in this case.
* Close friends of mine have
suffered and even died because they focused only on a spiritual solution
instead of a holistic approach that might have saved their life. Physical
health is important too. Without that, the body dies, and then spiritual growth
becomes a moot point.
* Traditional programs (such as
12 step models) cannot necessarily treat mental illness by themselves, though
many in the fellowship claim that it can if people “have the capacity to be
honest with themselves.” While this has worked for some, many others need to
address their mental health separately from their recovery efforts.
Remember that the holistic
approach includes spiritual growth, but does not emphasize it as being the
ultimate solution. A healthy balance is emphasized and the recovering addict is
encouraged to grow in all areas of their life, not just spiritually.”
![http://feeds.feedburner.com/%7Ef/SpiritualRiver-Overcoming-Addiction?i=OkvBN]()
We hope that
there are many who can relate to the work we are doing. It is done with the
hope that others can find what we have found, one person at a time!
Posted
Nov 22 2008, 07:31 AM
by
keithbray
