PCN-373 T2 DQs Developing Basic Life Skills

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PCN-373 T2 DQ 1 Review the 12-steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). How can recovering addicts and their families use the 12-steps of AA to assist with the recovery process? How can the role of God assist in recovery according to the 12- steps? The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous are a series of spiritual principles and practices that have the goal of reforming the alcoholic rather than curing alcoholism. The word "spiritual" is crucial here. Although AA's explanatory model of alcoholism is that it is an incurable and progressive disease of the body, mind, and spirit, the fellowship and program place a strong emphasis on the spiritual side (Swora, 2004). The Twelve Steps are so significant to AA that they are read aloud at the beginning of meetings and are frequently displayed in meeting rooms. The 12 steps of AA aren't just a list of activities to complete. They aren't a to-do list that you can cross off as you go. They are a guide for living and being in the world, and they have become a way of life for many people (Swora, 2004). These steps can also be helpful to the families of the addict, steps 5, 8 and 9 in particular. Step 5 - Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others (Alcoholics Anonymous, 2018). The role of God also assists in recovery according to most of the 12-steps, listed below (minus the steps already mentioned). Step 1 We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable. (Admitting that we do not have the power, which leads us to the next step) Step 2 Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. (Since we are powerless, we realize that only a power greater than us could restore us, which leads to the next step)

Step 3 Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. (Surrendering ourselves, our lives, to God) Step 4 Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. (Notice the word moral) Step 6 Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. (Again, mention of God and his power) Step 7 Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. (Asked God, since we are not capable alone) Step 10 Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. (Continuing the component of owning up to our mistakes) Step 11 Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His Will for us and the power to carry that out. (Staying in relationship with God to continue sobriety) Step 12 Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs (Alcoholics Anonymous, 2018). (Spiritual awakening – God) Reference: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. (2018). The twelve steps, illustrated. New York, NY www.aa.org Swora, M. G. (2004). The rhetoric of transformation in the healing of alcoholism: The twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Mental Health, Religion & Culture , 7 (3), 187–209. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/13674670310001602445

DQ 2 How can the incorporation of spirituality into the recovery process assist a recovering addict in achieving long-term, quality sobriety? AA has been found to work by enhancing spirituality, which helps people reframe and take a fresh perspective on stress, so that rather than being perceived as a negative, it is viewed as the fuel that nourishes personal growth (Segal, 2020). Numerous studies have been conducted that show that increasing 'spirituality,' as defined in various ways, has or can play a role in AA recovery. By enhancing spirituality/religiosity and diminishing negative affect, AA resulted in improved outcomes ( Kaskutas, Turk, Bond & Weisner , 2003). According to (Segal, 2020), when people have relapsed while believing they were following the steps and are ready to investigate what went wrong, Segal and others have always been able to pinpoint a single step or stages that were not being followed correctly. A good sponsor will do this to assist a sponsee who has relapsed with comprehensive step work to return to recovery (Segal, 2020). Reference: Kaskutas, L., Turk, N., Bond, J., Weisner, C. (2003). The role of religion, spirituality and Alcoholics Anonymous in sustained sobriety. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 21 (1), pp. 1-16, 10.1300/J020v21n01_01 Segal, G. (2020). Alcoholics anonymous “spirituality” and long-term sobriety maintenance as a topic for interdisciplinary study. Behavioural Brain Research , 389 . https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112645 This week’s references Heinz, A. J., Disney, E. R., Epstein, D. H., Glezen, L. A., Clark, P. I., & Preston, K. L. (2010). A Focus-Group Study on Spirituality and Substance-User

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Treatment. Substance Use & Misuse , 45 (1/2), 134–153. https://doi- org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.3109/10826080903035130 May, G., M.D. (1988). Addiction and Grace: Love and spirituality in the healing of addiction. HarperCollins Publishers. Sellman, J. D., Baker, M. P., Adamson, S. J., & Geering, L. G. (2007). Future of God in recovery from drug addiction. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry , 41 (10), 800–808. https://doi- org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/00048670701579074 Swora, M. G. (2004). The rhetoric of transformation in the healing of alcoholism: The twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Mental Health, Religion & Culture , 7 (3), 187–209. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/13674670310001602445 Tonigan, J. S., Miller, W. R., & Schermer, C. (2002). Atheists, agnostics and Alcoholics Anonymous. Journal of Studies on Alcohol , 63 (5), 534–541. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.15288/jsa.2002.63.534 Weekly Encouragement from Professor Anne Smith Edgar A. Grant stated that “I’d rather one should walk with me than merely show the way.” This is a great reflection of what we do as counselors – as a guide for our clients. Walk through the hard parts with them, after all if this was something they could do on their own, they would not need our help. 1

John 1:7 reads ”…if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another…” Make sure that you are focusing on how you would incorporate the theories we are reviewing in this course. Have a wonderful week. Assessments from Professor to respond to from DQs #1 Hi All, This is such a great model for counseling in the field – a foundation. Understanding the concepts of the 12-step process can help you and your client follow along in the process of recovery: “ GREAT stuff from Bob D. at an AA speaker meeting earlier this year! He is one of my favorite AA speakers and in this tape he shares on the topic of the first two steps. I LOVE the stories he tells as he recounts his personal experience, and also uses vivid and powerful metaphors to describe suffering from alcoholism. He then goes on to talk about the second step, and how he "Came to believe a Power Greater Than Himself could restore him to sanity." AWESOME share on steps one and two! Enjoy! :) This tape is part of a workshop.” https://www.youtube.com/user/OdomtologyBooks You want to make sure you are very clear on the concepts. If you had to summarize one aspect of each that a new counselor needs to know, what would it be? Professor Smith, Thank you for sharing this video. At first I saw the length and thought, that is too long. However, I listened anyway, and it was over before I knew it. That man is an excellent speaker and said so many things that made sense. An entire page of notes was almost not enough. A few key points that he made really made sense to me was about surrender. This man, Bob, does not even believe in God yet he still surrendered. What he surrendered was his ego. He said that what he had to give up was his ego, his opinion or judgment. When Bob kicked enough of himself out of the way he could hear God and he could hear others. The ego, Bob said, is only concerned with being right and does not want to listen to anyone else. I really liked the story he told about the man with the horses and his son becomes crippled. The entire video was worth it if just for that story. My key takeaways were that someone can surrender to their ego even if they do not believe in God, they can surrender to the chair if they want but the chair would be better than the idiot currently in control. Another takeaway is that you never have to explain, defend, justify, or rationalize what is right. Never had I thought of it that way before. Finally, overall AA and sobriety is about getting out of your own way, self- sacrifice, and constant work with others (D., Bob, 2013). Thank you for sharing this video. It is a keeper

Reference: D., Bob. (2013). Surrender (YouTube). Retrieved from Bob D. - AA Speakers - "Surrender" - YouTube Assessment for #2 HI All , You have done a very nice job reviewing how incorporating spirituality in the recovery process and how it can assist the client. Are you able to highlight the areas that are key for the client to know, and communicate it in such a way that is on a level they understand? There are tunes that trying to explain how spirituality can be helpful – the more perspectives you have the better. Below is an article entitled The Role of Spirituality in 12-Step Recovery from Elements Behavioral Health: “Spirituality is the general term for a worldview that places an emphasis on interconnection and the presence of larger forces beyond the realm of the individual human being. This worldview differs from a strictly religious orientation, which seeks to describe reality in terms of a specific set of organized beliefs. In a study published in 2013 in the Journal of Addiction Medicine , researchers from New York University explored the role of spirituality in narcotic addiction recovery programs based on a 12-step model. These researchers concluded that a spiritual outlook can play a vital role in the effectiveness of 12-step narcotics treatment. Spirituality Basics Spirituality does not correspond to a particular set of beliefs. Instead, it corresponds to a range of personal beliefs that feature such things as an embodied or disembodied higher power, a sense that life has a special goal or purpose, an expansive and inclusive view toward interactions with other people, and an ongoing desire for personal mental/psychological evolution and growth. Activities commonly associated with a spiritual worldview include prayer, ritual, involvement in community service, purposeful exploration of life’s “big questions” and involvement in conversations or organizations centered on larger issues beyond material survival. Some people with a spiritual orientation follow the tenets of a particular religious tradition, while others do not follow such tenets or combine the tenets of two or more religious traditions. Twelve-Step Program Basics Twelve-step programs are mutual aid or self-help programs intended to help people recover from the effects of some sort of substance-based or non- substance-based addiction. Participants in these programs mark their recovery by their progression through 12 successive steps that emphasize specific addiction-related issues. One the most well-known steps in the typical program is a spirituality- or religion-based acknowledgment of some sort of higher power as a key factor in the recovery process. As a rule, 12- step groups also ask their members to remain abstinent and avoid participating in substance use or non-substance-based addictive behaviors.

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Membership in such a group is typically ongoing, and participants continue to support each other over extended periods of time. Current Findings One of the most well established 12-step programs in the U.S. and throughout the world is Narcotics Anonymous (NA) , an organization that has over 58,000 individual chapters. According to the results of a study published in 2013 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs , the single most common drug of addiction/abuse among NA participants is actually cocaine . However, addiction to narcotic drugs as a whole still affects Narcotics Anonymous members more often than addiction to cocaine or any other single drug. The vast majority of NA participants have a previous history of treatment for alcohol or drug abuse/addiction. In addition, the overwhelming majority of participants use the term “spiritual” to describe themselves, while only roughly one-third of participants use the term “religious” to describe themselves.” https://www.elementsbehavioralhealth.com/recovery/the-role-of-spirituality- in-12-step-recovery/ Does this perspective help explain the aspect of spirituality as it is referred to in the 12-step recovery? Explain – why or why not. Professor Smith, This really did help me to understand spirituality more clearly. As a Christian and a firm believer in God’s power over my life it has been difficult for me to understand the “higher power” of AA. This posting and the video of Bob that you posted is giving me a better understanding of what this higher power can mean to those that do not believe as I do. What is important is not WHAT the higher power is but that the person surrenders their ego, their opinions or judgment to this higher power. It is about a connection to this power and being in service to others. My husband and I have a very dear friend that is probably one of the most spiritual persons that I have ever met but she does not believe in God. She is MA LMT, a Musician, Healing Artist and Energy Healer using the mediums of music, art, writing, teaching and energy medicine. She is a noted advocate, teacher and highly-regarded healing professional of energy medicine and mindfulness for over 20 years with a focus on Trauma Recovery, PTSD, crisis care and suicide prevention. When my husband and I met her (and her husband) they were facilitating a retreat for wounder warriors (my husband was injured in combat). We learned so much from them, about healing, about each other, and about ourselves and our role to each other in recovery. When I think of her she embodies spirituality to me. She is very connected with nature, to others, her own body, healing, and recovery. I am looking forward to the weeks to come and learning more about spirituality and addiction.

PCN-373 T2 DQs Developing Basic Life Skills

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