Spirituality in Addiction Treatment

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Spirituality in Addiction Treatment
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Body Mind Emotions Spirituality Holistic
Understanding of Empowerment Spirituality is
being positive and creative.
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Key 1 - The Power of Spirituality

• Spirituality is not the same as religion.
• Healing religious abuse is the key to discovering
  empowerment
• Often religious abuse is the trigger for
  codependency issues, shame, guilt, eating
  disorders and sexual addiction/abuse
• Important to have a personal definition of
  spirituality that works for you e.g.
  spirituality being positive and creative
• Physical, Mental and Emotional empowerment is all
  an aspect of spirituality spirituality is not
  only about prayer and meditation!

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Key 2 - Getting Honest

• Fear Shame often keep people dishonest.
• Look at Family Personal Issues
• Addiction
• Adult Child symptoms
• Beliefs about self God
• Co-creation - God as a partner.
• Being Real

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Key 3 - Focusing on Family of Origin Issues

• Addiction Issues - Alcohol, Food, Sex
• Codependency, Religious Abuse, Poverty, Violence,
  Racism, Sexism, Homophobia
• General Characteristics
• Dont Talk
• Dont Trust
• Dont Feel
• Start Therapy healing the freeze

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Key 4 - Challenging Unhealthy Beliefs Attitudes

• Im not good enough a sinner.
• Sex is dirty.
• Dont doubt, think, or question.
• God is in Charge.
• Jesus is the Way, Truth Light.
• Religion is above Science, Medicine and Therapy.

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I suggest you write a personal prayer or
affirmation. (e.g. in The God Game I
reinterpreted Psalm 23 and created a new
prayer) God is my friend. What more could I
want? God sits with me in the quiet times of my
life, God explores with me the meaning of my
life God calls me forth as a whole person Even
though I walk along paths of pain, prejudice,
hatred And depression, my fears are quieted
because God is with me. Gods words and thoughts
challenge me. God causes me to be sensitive to
the needs of mankind, Then lifts up opportunities
for serving. Gods confidence stretches
me. Surely love shall be mine to share throughout
my life, And I shall be sustained by Gods
concern forever.
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Oh God, you have given me the power to determine
my life. May I remember to include myself in my
amends. May I never be afraid to reveal my
anger or concern to those who have abused me.
Today I know that I can never love you or others
fully and healthily until I begin to love myself.
With you as my Partner and Co-Creator I am
discovering all that is loveable and powerful
within me. Thank you for guiding me as I
reclaim myself.
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Key 5 - Listen to your Feelings

• Be still and know that I am God
• Meditation technique
• Stopbe still
• Be quiet
• Feel
• Utilize music, movies, art that evoke in your
  feelings
• Often the pathway into our feelings is through
  the Mind / the Body

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Key 6 - Sharing and Honoring your Feelings
God is discovered in the risks we take. So, God
is at work in a hug. We become vehicles for
Gods grace and love when we physically
demonstrate our caring for each other. Religious
teachings which tell us to avoid physical contact
miss an important point God took physical form
in order to talk to us through the burning bush,
through Jesus and other holy teachers. God also
talks to us in a hug. In a hug, we re-create
Incarnation. Many addicts and other compulsive
people feel so worthless and unlovable this is
what feeds their dysfunction. Hugs are tangible
signs of self-acceptance and self-love. Hugs
embody the healing miracle of risk. Hugs
Demonstrable humility. They say I need
you. Need your touch, Need your warmth, Need
your strength. They say I need you.
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A stranger came to a support group. He was
covered in black leather With chains and sharp
studs, Had a mustache and beard, Many tattoos
The uniform of machismo He sneered, Scowled And
occasionally grunted. Everybody stared. His
presence was alarming. The woman who had been
sharing Abruptly fell silent. The empty pause
stretched on for a long minute. It seemed an
eternity. I wanted to fix the awkwardness With
magic words Thats priestcraft
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Then an old Jewish lady got up, Put her coffee on
the table And walked over to the man. She looked
at him, Smiled And hugged him. Welcome, she
said. She held him, Touched him, Felt his
pain. Then he began to talk. His name was
Henry. He was a recovering heroin addict. He was
very depressed. He was lonely And afraid. He
needed to be held, Touched And hugged. He did not
need magic words.
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His clothes were a mask. They covered his
pain, Loneliness And fear. The hug was the
miracle. The old woman risked rejection. She
loved unconditionally Spirituality. (from
Meditations for Compulsive People, Fr. Leo Booth)
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Sharing Honoring Your Feelings (continued)

• Only when I know you can I love you.
• Exploring your feelings allows me to know you!
• You can learn to feel. Attend therapy groups or
  Twelve Step where people feel safe enough to
  share their feelings. Notice how it affects you.
• Remember, your feelings are not good or badthey
  are real. Honor them!

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Key 7 - Letting Go

• Stop You cannot plan and reorganize your lifes
  goals if you are too busy to think.
• Look
• What needs to change?
• Who needs to go?
• How are you to create a better life?
• Joseph Campbell, The Creation of Bliss
• Change Implement (no more thinking or
  procrastination) the Plan.

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God is not a Codependent Here is a prayer that
explores this theme God, sometimes I want You
to come and fix my life, remove my problems, and
make my path straight and clear. But in my
better moments, I know it is in the challenge and
effort of life that my glory and power are made
manifest. (from The Wisdom of Letting Go, Fr.
Leo Booth)
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Key 8 - Co-creativity

• God invites us to create
• Understand the difference between Miracle and
  Magic.
• Interesting question Does unhealthy religion
  make us codependent? i.e. Prayers that begin
• God help us
• God save us
• God show us
• God give us

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What is our part? Not to discount Gods grace,
but we need to acknowledge our part. A young man
went daily to his fruit tree and lay beneath it
with mouth wide open. The gentle breezes stirred
the tree, and the fruit would drop down into the
young mans mouth. He loved his fruit tree for
the way it dropped the fruits so abundantly to
him. One day, he went to the tree and lay down
as usual with his mouth open, but nothing
happened. The breezes did not blow, so no fruit
fell. He lay there for many days, with his mouth
open, and still the winds did not blow the fruit
down to him. He began to curse and cry because
the tree did not give him fruit.
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A wise old man happened by and saw the young man
lying there with his mouth open, crying and
tantruming. Whatever is the matter with you?
The old man asked. Ive been lying here for
days and my fruit tree will not drop fruit. Im
so hungry, cried the young man. Well then,
why dont you just get up and shake the tree?
Then you can get all the fruit you need! The old
man exclaimed. So the young man got up and
shook the tree, and sure enough, down came the
fruit. From that day forward, he stopped waiting
for fruit to drop down. Instead, he shook the
tree to get his fruit and never went hungry again.
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Key 9 - Healthy Relationships

• Creative and intimate friendship
• Trust
• Honesty
• Communication
• Humor

• Boundaries
• Patience
• Compassion
• Spontaneity
• Understanding
• Forgiveness

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Key 10 - Moving toward your Hearts Desire

• Do you have Dreams?
• Can you see where you want to be?
• Can you see what your Bliss looks like?
• Do you have a plan that takes you into health,
  happiness, and prosperity e.g. Twelve Steps,
  Master-Plan Program?