Early recovery can be overwhelming, so I have attempted to simplify my approach to beating addiction by drawing it on the back of 5 business cards:
1) Abstinence first
Recovery starts with a clean slate. Physical abstinence from drugs and alcohol is the number one priority. Without this, everything else fails. Without sobriety, everything you work for in recovery is instantly sacrificed and destroyed. Therefore, physical abstinence from chemicals must come first.
I have seen many recovering addicts and alcoholics lose their sobriety by placing many different things in front of this priority. Usually it is a relationship problem that ultimately triggers a relapse.
The success stories in recovery have a “zero tolerance policy” with themselves. They make a firm decision each day that they will not use drugs or alcohol no matter what. The rest of their recovery efforts are simply to help them deal with this decision. This is how I have found success in my recovery as well: by putting my sobriety first, every single day.
2) Creative approach
Anyone can quit drinking and using drugs. The key is in staying stopped.
What do you do when the drugs and alcohol have been stripped out of your life? If you want long term sobriety, then you have to replace them with a creative new life in recovery. That means living with purpose and passion and actively setting and reaching goals. That means that you find meaningful ways to help others and find purpose in doing so. This is the creative approach to recovery. You build a new life for yourself in order to overcome addiction.
Most of us pursued drugs and alcohol with a certain amount of passion. In recovery, we need to find that same passion again, but direct it towards positive efforts. With this passion and energy we can create an awesome new life for ourselves.
3) 3 Strategies
The 3 strategies are simple, effective, and complete. There is no extra fourth strategy because these 3 are broad enough to cover all of your recovery efforts.
1) Caring for self - This starts the moment we decide to surrender to the disease and make a change. Later on it can mean other things such as diet changes, quitting smoking, or even avoiding hanging around dangerous people. In any given situation we can ask if we are truly caring for ourselves with this decision. Over the long run, this strategy builds up the necessary self esteem to allow us to flourish in recovery. This self esteem is also necessary to fight off a potential relapse.
2) Networking with others - we need to reach out to other recovering addicts and alcoholics, especially in early recovery. This is necessary for support through the rough times, but also can boost our own recovery when we reach out and help others. Building this network in recovery is also important simply to replace the old “friends” that we use to use and drink with.
3) Personal growth - We push ourselves to grow holistically in a number of different areas, further building self esteem and helping us to care for ourselves even further. The sense of accomplishment with this type of growth is also critical for successful recovery. When combined with the other 2 strategies, personal growth becomes part of a positive feedback loop, allowing us to care for ourselves and build more self esteem as part of an ongoing cycle. Success breeds success.
4) Spiritual Growth
Spiritual growth is the backbone of the creative approach. This is because it allows us to tap into something that can guide us and assist us in achieving our goals in recovery. Spiritual growth can encompass:
1) Connecting with a higher power
2) Increasing our awareness
3) Expanding consciousness
4) Shift from self-centeredness towards helping other people
Spirituality is not a fourth strategy; instead it is a direct part of the 3 strategies. Pursuing spiritual growth will provide the intuition necessary to make better decisions and help care for yourself. Spiritual growth will also push you to reach out and form connections in recovery through trying to help others.
5) Holistic approach
The creative theory of recovery advocates an holistic approach to recovery. This means that instead of focusing on only a spiritual solution (as in some programs), we focus on treating the whole person in recovery.
Addiction is complicated. It is more than just a spiritual malady or a physical allergy. It affects us socially, emotionally, mentally, physically, and so on. Therefore, it makes sense to treat it with a holistic approach that addresses all of these areas.
Simplicity itself
So that’s it. This the philosophy of recovery that has kept me clean and sober and growing for the past 7 plus years. We addicts tend to complicate things, so it is refreshing to see that I could squeeze it all onto 5 business cards.
If you found this useful, please share it with others.
Recommended Reading
- Overcoming Addiction
- 5 Ways to Supercharge Your Recovery, Avoid Relapse, and Dominate Your Addiction Over the Holiday Season
- 10 Ways to Embrace Creative Recovery and Take Your Sobriety to the Next Level
- Warning: Taking Massive Action in Drug Addiction Recovery Could Result in Creating an Awesome Life that You are Genuinely Grateful For
- Holistic Addiction Treatment Center
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Creative approach. I really enjoyed it. I will link to your post on my BH blog.
Thanks,
Mike
YES! It happens so often that we, myself included can complicate such a simple program, so thank you I will pass it along!!
I found this site 2 days ago. It is precisely the model I have used. On Tuesday, I will have 28 days of sobriety under my belt. : )
I am quite happy- I feel wonderful physically, mentally and spiritually. It really has been a lot easier than I imagined. It is a wonderful thing to remember what you did and said the night before. : )
hi im Teresa, my clean date is march1, 1998. daily gratitude lists are part of my defense against picking up the drug.and giving me balance when writing about the painful past.thank you for your share.
I represent Women for Sobriety, a program created specifically for women. WFS support group meetings offer women an alternative approach to AA’s. Our belief is that women need to build their self-esteem and self worth, and to take responsibility for their own lives. We believe humiliation can do great damage to an alcoholic woman who drank to overcome those same feelings of guilt, humiliation, and shame.. Many women are put off when they are told at AA meetings they must rigidly adhere to certain ‘steps’; i.e., repeatedly reliving their drinking past and acknowledging they must give up control of their lives to some ‘higher power’. WFS believes women need to become empowered, to learn that they are capable and competent; and they need to learn that their power comes from within themselves -from their own mind, body and spirit. WFS believes it’s crucial for women to learn they don’t have to rely on any outside source again -whether husband, their physical appearance, or a higher power.
I’m quite dismayed at the number of treatment centers, addiction specialists and therapist still refusing to recognize any other support group than 12 Step. I was therefore feeling very encouraged reading from your site, particularly your holistic concepts, which very much echo those of WFS. When I read further, under relapse prevention, where you state quite adamantly that without their developing a higher power concept, recovering alcoholics will relapse, I would like to ask you for clarification. As I understand what you’ve written, you are a strong proponent of the 12 step approach, and any recovering alcoholic who is relying solely on a secular approach, including cognitive behaviors and positive thinking, and who eschews using the concept of a higher power, is doomed to fail. Have I understood you correctly ?
Thank you for taking the time (if in fact you have gotten this far), to read this.
Sincerely,
Michaelyn Fidone
Hi there Michaelyn
We need to talk!
Seriously, I stumbled on WFS a while back and wrote a post about it then:
http://www.spiritualriver.com/very-impressed-with-women-for-sobriety/
Yes, I noticed huge parallels between my approach and the WFS program.
And yes, I agree that 12 step recovery, while it dominates the treatment industry, leaves something to be desired.
Oh, and to clarify, my definition of spirituality has broadened a great deal. “Higher powers” as they are understood in AA are not a necessary component of what I see as being spiritual growth. In other words, I believe in the individual and the concept of empowerment and personal growth as a means to recovery…..
Let’s keep up the dialogue, maybe we can help each other!
Hello Everyone:
Today and with the aid of Patrick’s articles and life changing experience I will take massive action in my sobriety. It’s enough and if I don’t make it happen I will lose everything. Wish me luck and keep your posts coming!
Great site. Just got finished reading Michealyn’s post and your comment. I would agree with both of you. However, I teach my girls that it is a power within themselves as well as outside of themselves. It is a source of power that has no borders. Quantum physics proves this, so I don’t need to worry about what it’s called: HP, Source, G*d, it doesn’t matter, because whatever it is, it just IS!
Thanks for giving people some alternative reading
Lisa Neumann
Founder
OGEL Coach
Ordinary Girl-Extraordinary Life
Good reading material
Patrick I am more than impressed with your site. Honestly, it seems pretty non-judgmental in its approach to sobriety and offers more than JUST AA. I am not knocking them as I met a lot of good people there, but it is all about balance as you frequently point out. Thanks.
I start treatment in a couple of weeks and I have enjoyed reading everyone’s input.
Sounds a lot like the first 164 to me, which is just great. Whatever it takes to work sounds good to me. A couple of the many things I like about the good ole Big Book are:
200 meetings a week in my county.
An abundance of new friends, all working for the same goal.
Those of us who are constitutionally capable fix what kept us drunk rather than building over top of it (foundations and all).
Michaelyn, I hope that you’ve got what you need and I’ll pray for you… I need the practice, so you’d help me by accepting it.
You’ve got AA wrong though, sadly we don’t shun the bleeding deacons so it’s possible that you may have met one who misled you… “i.e., repeatedly reliving their drinking past and acknowledging they must give up control of their lives to some ‘higher power’”.
We don’t “relive it”, we fix the defects that created that past. The Higher Power, God solution isn’t for everyone, it just makes it a lot easier for all of the folks I run with.
Jim
11-18-1992
PS. Great post, brother.
Glad to have read it. I’m forwarding the link to all of my buds.
Good on ya.
Hi there Jim. Thanks for your support and comments. Sounds like you have a very active life in recovery, and try to help others too. God bless….