Spirituality: its starring role in recovery from addiction
Abstract; The recovery experiences of professionals and volunteers in the alcohol and drug addiction recovery field serve as a glimpse of the role spirituality played in transforming them from substance abusers into abstainers from their drug of choice.
Study participants include former addicts who now serve as outreach workers, mentors, peer and professional counselors to people with addictions.
The paths and forms of spirituality are varied and, for some, changing but from the participants’ experiences two aspects of spirituality emerge.
- The first is the notion of community, which the author calls ‘we-ness’.
- The second aspect is the desire to be of service.
This paper presents the participants’ definitions of spirituality. It also describes how, for the participants, spirituality serves as a catalyst for compassionate service to people still in active addiction.
Correspondingly, one’s own abstinence from drugs and alcohol is cultivated and maintained by helping others.
Research; Victoria Marie. Spirituality: its starring role in recovery from addiction. Spirituality and Health International. Volume 8, Issue 3 , Pages 148 – 156.
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4 Comments
“The first is the notion of community, which the author calls p_image001we-nessp_image002″?
I believe you need to change that to “we-ness” to avoid confusion.
I work in mental health, primarily with those who have coexisting substance abuse issues.
I fail to see how talking of my recovery experiences shows how spirituality played any part in my recovery. In fact, I don’t talk about my spirituality at all, because the majority of people do not see any difference between spirituality and religion. I am an atheist, I’m not there to push my concept of spirituality on anyone.
Mel B., in “New Wine: The Spiritual Roots of the Twelve Step Miracle” (Center City, MN: Hazelden Foundation, 1991), states on page 5: “AA members have always issued disclaimers when discussing God: typical is, ‘Our program is spiritual, not religious.’ If pressed for what the program’s actual definition of ‘spiritual’ is, however, it is doubtful that many AA members could explain.”
Hi raysny,
Thanks again for your comments. They are valuable and always thought provoking.
‘We-ness’ is expanded upon in this article Me, Myself and I.
I once met a card carrying member of the Communist party who said he was very spiritual, atheist, sober 10 years and used as his higher power the precepts of the party. This seemed to me to be a cognitive-behavioral approach to achieve and maintain spiritual change in his thoughts and actions.
What do you think?
I think that it is near impossible to claim spirituality as anything but religious belief in AA and be accepted, and that people who attempt to do so somehow manage a level of cognitive dissonance that I cannot.
People in AA may call their Higher Power whatever they like, but it must be a micro-managing, favor dispensing, personal deity that is described in the literature. As a sponsor once told me, “It’s “WE” came to believe, not “I” came to believe.”
Trying to use anything else, like nature or the often-claimed motorcycle, do not fit the framework of the program. How can anything but a god respond to prayers and remove character defects? How can one have conscious contact with a light bulb? Or turn my life and my will over to an inanimate object or concept? On page 29 of the 12 & 12, Wilson describes how using the group is a sort of starter god, something to get one in the habit of prayer, that once things start to turn around, the new member will see that it can only be the True God.
There is no way around a Higher Power as anything but a god in the literature.
Thanks raysny,
Thought provoking as always and somewhat one of the continuing controversies about spirituality/religion.
One of the things I have learned is that I can change my religion but my underlying spirituality remains constant. The key was on page 55 of the Big Book. See ‘Where is the Higher Power’.
I’m may be a slow learner but it took me 21 years to understand this vital point.