Integrating Strengths-Building into 12-Step Recovery How Positive Psychology Can Facilitate Spiritual Development in Treatment for Substance Dependence

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Integrating Strengths-Building into 12-Step
Recovery How Positive Psychology Can Facilitate
Spiritual Development in Treatment for Substance
Dependence

• William C. Hale, PhD, LICDC-CS
• Glenbeigh Hospital

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Today we will...

• Increase our sensitivity to the struggle inherent
  in clients without a belief in the traditional
  concept God or higher power, but who are
  attempting to find recovery through traditional
  12-Step programs.
• Understand the development, philosophy, structure
  and uses of Positive Psychology (PP) and
  recognize how its use can facilitate clients
  participation in 12-Step or other recovery
  programs.
• Learn how to integrate PP principles in our work
  with recovering clients who struggle with the
  concept of higher power to explore creative,
  meaningful ways to understand this concept,
  including finding it within themselves and their
  support network, while recognizing the goal of a
  better life as the central and cohesive element
  of their recovery.
• Learn how to use principles of Positive
  Psychology to help recovering clients who do have
  traditional understandings of God or higher power
  to enhance their recovery through
  self-empowerment to reach their goal of a better
  life.

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Albert Einstein once said

• Imagination is more important than knowledge.
• For knowledge is limited to all we now know and
  understand,
• while imagination embraces the entire world,
• and all there ever will be to know and
  understand.
• When it comes to understanding spirituality and
  the nature of higher power, perhaps
  wisdom comes from learning to live with the
  questions, rather than
  demanding the answersand being open to
  continuous exploration.
• And the mystery itself is the doorway to all
  understanding.
  from the 1st verse of the Tao Te
  Ching Lao Tzu

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Origins of Alcoholics Anonymous

• Principles based on the Oxford Group
  Christian-based organization founded by Frank
  Buchman (Lutheran)
• Founders met in 1935
• Bill Wilson Dr. Bob Smith
• Both in Oxford Groups (NYC, Akron) before meeting
• Catalyst for the meeting Bill W was looking for
  another alcoholic to help, in order to keep
  himself sober.
• They discovered an effective way to stay sober
• Reach out to help each other stay sober.

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Mission of the Oxford Group

• The secret is God Control.
  The only sane people in an
  insane world are those controlled by God.
  
  God-controlled personalities make God-controlled
  nationalities.
  This is the aim of the
  Oxford Group.
• Frank Buchman Founder of the Oxford Group and
  Moral Rearmament Movement upon which the 12Step
  program of AA is based.

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5 Cs and 5 Practices of the Oxford Group

• Confidence Trust in the Life Changer
• Confession Sharing all ones sins with the LC
• Conviction Readiness to turn from sin
• Conversion Turning ones life over to God
• Conservation (Continuance) Working constantly
  to accomplish Gods will.
• (Revised and expanded to create the 12 Steps)

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THE TWELVE STEPS OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

• 1. We admitted we were powerless over
  alcoholthat our lives had become unmanageable.
• 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than
  ourselves could restore us to sanity.
• 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives
  over to the care of God as we understood Him.
• 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory
  of ourselves.
• 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another
  human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
• 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all
  these defects of character.

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• 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
• 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and
  became willing to make amends to them all.
• 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever
  possible, except when to do so would injure them
  or others.
• 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when
  we were wrong promptly admitted it.
• 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.
• 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.

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Making AA More Spiritually Inclusive

• 12 Steps were written to try to distance AA from
  organized religion to increase acceptance.
• Still rooted heavily in Judeo-Christian
  tradition.
• God was described as Higher Power AA members
  encouraged to understand Him as they needed to.
  (Paradox / Potential Conflict)
• AA referred to as Spiritual but not
  Religious. (Source of controversy in and out of
  AA)

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If AA is Spiritual (vs. religious)then what is
Spirituality? First, what it is not

• Religion of any sortalthough it is often
  practiced within ones religious tradition
• Universal in definition, form, function,
  intention or purpose (It has many manifestations)
• Something that can necessarily be taught or
  imitated effectively

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What is Spirit?

• Latin word - Spiritus Breath invisible, but
  necessary to sustain life.
• The animating principle or that which makes us
  alive
• An intangible presence or energy present
  individually and collectively in all living
  things
• Consciousness Awareness of and seeking of life

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So, What Could Spirituality Be?

• Awareness of ourselves and our place in the
  universe?
• Will to live and create a better life?
• Urge to experience connection with others?
• Urge to understand a higher power?
• An aspect of the Self that is intangible, but
  very real?
• The nurturing of that silent force in us?
• What else?

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Other Thoughts on Spirituality

• Sometimes people get the mistaken notion that
  spirituality is a separate department of life,
  the penthouse of existence.
• But rightly understood, it is a vital awareness
  that pervades all realms of our being.
• Wherever we may come alive,
  that is the area
  in which we are spiritual.
• David Steindl-Rast, Catholic Theologian
• (Notable for his active participation in
  interfaith dialogue, and his work on the
  interaction between spirituality and science)

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• Spirituality exists wherever we struggle with the
  issue of how our lives fit into the greater
  cosmic scheme of things. This is true even when
  our questions never give way to specific answers
  or give rise to specific practices such as prayer
  or meditation.
• We encounter spiritual issues every time we
  wonder where the universe comes from, why we are
  here, or what happens when we die. We also become
  spiritual when we become moved by values such as
  beauty, love, or creativity that seem to reveal a
  meaning or power beyond our visible world.
• An idea or practice is "spiritual" when it
  reveals our personal desire to establish a
  felt-relationship with the deepest meanings or
  powers governing life.
• (fromSpiritual but Not Religious Understanding
  Unchurched America)
• Robert C. Fuller, Ph.D. Bradley University

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Spirituality of Atheists/Agnostics

• The Center for Spiritual Atheism offers this
  statement
• While atheism tends to lean towards skepticism
  regarding supernatural claims and the existence
  of an actual "spirit", some atheists define
  "spiritual" as nurturing thoughts, emotions,
  words and actions that are in harmony with a
  belief that the entire universe is, in some way,
  connected even if only by the mysterious flow of
  cause and effect at every scale.
• Atheists do not believe in the existence of an
  entity external to the universe that created and
  rules the universe.
• Spiritual Atheists generally feel that as they go
  about their lives striving to be personally
  healthy and happy, they should also be striving
  to help the world around them be healthy and
  happy. (Holistic Ethics")

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A wise Rabbi once said

• When we define God, we kill God.
• What did he mean?
• It locks the concept into a 3-dimensional box
  that our brains can grasp.
• The concept of God is turned into an
  anthropomorphic projection
  of the human ego and experience.
  
  
• Leaving the God concept open to wonder,
  exploration, doubt and imagination allows it to
  live and flourish, and allows us to connect with
  it more fully in whatever way we may need to.
• This is especially important for those who
  struggle with traditional conceptualizations of
  God or Higher Power.
• To him, God was a lifetime of manifestations,
  taking many different forms throughout daily
  existence.

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Theological Paradox in AA

• In AA, members are encouraged to see God any
  way they need to in order to make it meaningful
  for them. (God as we understand Him)
• Then, it is suggested that they turn themselves
  over to God and to pray to Him for removal of
  faults and knowledge of His will.
• If God is to be surrendered to and prayed to in
  this way
• A discreet, monotheistic entity seems to be
  implied.
• It is assumed that this entity hears and responds
  affirmatively.
• Thus, a paradox is established if people are
  encouraged to see God/Higher Power within their
  own understanding, yet it is recommended that
  they interact with it in a particular way.
• For people with differing ways of understanding
  the concept of God/Higher Power, or are
  struggling to find any way at all, this can
  create a conflict.
• Sohow can the paradox be resolved?

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God as PotentialJust Letting It Be

• Most of the atom is nothing but empty space
• God has been described as the nothingness inside
  the atom
• or the silence between notes of music
• or the silence between words of a poem
• Pure Potential Neither defined nor assigned

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Framing GOD as an Acronym(Thoughts from AA/NA
Members)

• Good Orderly Direction
  A plan for living a better life in
  recovery and the conviction to engage in it.
• Group Of Drunks
  Not used derogatorily, but in
  reference to people who understand the struggle
  of addiction because they have lived it, have
  found healing and hope, and can help others heal
  and find hope as well.
• Gift Of Desperation
  Reaching an existential
  turning point at which a higher purpose must be
  sought.
• (An addicts bottom is the point at which the
  next thing that is about to be lost
  is valued as more important than
  that next drink/hit.)
  

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Impact of Addiction on Spirituality

• In active addiction, the effect of a drug(s)
  becomes a persons primary relationship, and
  seeking/using the drug becomes the primary focus.
  
• Things naturally manifested in a spiritual life
  connection with others, love, kindness,
  unselfishness, honesty, purity, peace, social
  consciousness, etc., are merely secondary, if not
  impediments to a drug-seeking lifestyle.

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Impact of Spirituality on Addiction

• When sober and seeking a spiritual center, ones
  mind and heart become open to intuitive seeking
  and receptive to spiritual insight.
• In recovery, people can become motivated to find
  something better than what they had in active
  addiction.
• The spiritual quest whatever form it takes
  can replace the quest for addictive substances
  and behaviors over time.

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What could be meant by Spiritual Awakening
referred to in Step 12?

• Newly sober, a few people report having a sudden
  awakening and are motivated to begin a
  spiritual quest.
• Others find themselves moving into this
  experience, whatever it is for them, gradually.
  They realize over time that they are becoming the
  persons they wanted to be making positive
  changes while accepting and working with their
  imperfections and setbacks.
• This realization is what William James refers to
  as the educational variety of the spiritual
  experience/awakening. People can naturally gain
  insight into the seriousness of the problem they
  were living with and the power they are finding
  to change.

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What does AA have to say about Religious Belief?

• In response to this question,
  The
  General Service Office of AA published
  a pamphlet entitled
• Members of the Clergy Ask about AA
• in which they make the following statement about
  religious belief or lack of religious belief as
  it relates to recovery in the program of
  Alcoholics Anonymous

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• AA does not inquire into alcoholics religious
  beliefsor lack of themwhen they turn to the
  Fellowship for help. However, the A.A. program of
  recovery is based on certain spiritual values.
  Individual members are free to interpret these
  values as they think best, or not to think about
  them at all.  Most members, before turning to
  A.A., had already admitted that they could not
  handle their drinkingalcohol had taken control
  of their lives. A.A. experience suggests that to
  get sober and stay sober, alcoholics need to
  accept and depend upon a spiritual entity, or
  force, that they perceive as greater than
  themselves. Some choose the A.A. group as their
  Higher Power some look to God - as they
  understand Him and others rely upon entirely
  different concepts. Numerous alcoholics, when
  they first turn to A.A., have definite
  reservations about accepting any concept of a
  Power greater than themselves. Experience shows
  that, if they maintain an open mind on the
  subject and keep coming to A.A. meetings, they
  will in time find an answer to this distinctly
  personal dilemma.

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Introducing Positive Psychology to help
struggling people define a Higher Power

• For addicted persons who struggle with the
  concept of God, but have been told that they need
  to find a higher power, when they experience that
  distinctly personal dilemma
• What do they do?
• Where do they turn?
• How do they re-think or interpret this concept?
• That could be where Positive Psychology could
  come in

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What is Positive Psychology?

• A relatively new branch of psychology
• The goal is to make normal life more
  fulfillingrather than just treating mental
  illness - Finding whats RIGHT with us.
• Roots in Humanistic Psychology Movement
• Emphasis on positive emotions and human
  strengths. Fix whats wrong, but
  also Build whats Strong
• Purpose is to complement rather than replace
  traditional psychotherapeutic approaches.
• Wellness is more than the absence or remission of
  disease.

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• Previous versions of the DSM used a 5 Axis
  Diagnosis System
• What if there had been Axis VI Strengths
  Coping Skills ?
• What are the qualities/resilience factors that
  keep GAF gt 0?
• What are the positives that mitigate/balance the
  negatives?
• APA offers Diagnostic Statistical
  Manual of Mental Disorders
• In contrast, Positive Psychology offers
  Character Strengths and Virtues A Handbook and
  Classification
  
  (Peterson Seligman, 2004)

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What Are the Goals of Positive Psychology?

• Pleasant Life (Feeling Good)
• Engaged Life (Flow)
• Meaningful Life (Doing Good)
• Positive Emotions
• Positive Individual Traits
• Positive Instititutions

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Human Strengths/Positive Characteristics

• WISDOM
• Creativity
• Curiosity
• Open-Mindedness
• Love of Learning
• Perspective
• COURAGE
• Integrity
• Bravery
• Persistence
• Vitality

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• HUMANITY
• Social/Emotional Intelligence
• Love
• Kindness
• JUSTICE
• Teamwork
• Fairness
• Leadership

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• TEMPERANCE
• Mercy
• Humility/Modesty
• Self-Control
• Prudence
• TRANSCENDENCE
• Appreciation of Beauty
• Spirituality
• Gratitude
• Hope
• Humor

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The FLOW Experience

• In Positive Psychology, Flow is described as the
  experience of being fully absorbed in what one is
  doing, feeling very good about it, and having a
  sense of mastery related to the activity.
• It is related to the practice of Mindfulness in
  terms of the full engagement in the activity of
  the moment.
• The experience can facilitate integration with
  oneself and integration with others when engaged
  in shared endeavors.

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Supporting Theories

• Broaden and Build Theory
• Positive emotions propagate positive attitudes,
  behaviors, moral reasoning, openness to others,
  resilience, relationships.
• This, in turn, results in more positive emotions.
  
• Upward Spiraling Positive begets positive
• Self Determination Theory Integral Components of
  Well-Being
• Autonomy
• Freedom of choice doing something because we
  want to
• Competence
• Ability to do something successfully perceived
  self-efficacy
• Relatedness
• Sense of shared experience having support and
  connection in ones efforts in recovery

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Does Positive Psychology Work?

• Various Positive Psychology interventions have
  been found to be as effective (or more so) than
  traditional forms of treatment (mainly CBT).
  (Frisch, 2006, Seligman, et. al.,
  2005)
• Most powerful interventions in Positive
  Psychology have involved the application of
  Personal Strengths, with Gratitude being
  especially powerful in terms of effectiveness.
  (Seligman, et. Al. 2006)
• Positive Psychology interventions are effective
  in treating depression alone and in combination
  with other interventions. (Sin
  Lyubomirsky, 2009)
• Optimism can have a significant effect on success
  in meeting goals. (Seligman,
  1992)
• Positive emotions have been consistent predictors
  of leadership effectiveness.
• (Burns, 2004)
• Early positive emotions have been predictors of
  longevity. (Danner, et. al., 2001)

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Strength Building Strategies

• Develop a Language of Strength - Use words
  reflecting positive aspects and capacity
• Reversing the Focus from Negative to Positive
• Realistic Balancing of Positives and Negatives
  (Serenity Prayer in action)
• Build Strategies that Foster HOPE
• Seeing opportunities for change growth
• Creating a new sense of purpose

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How does this relate to identifying a higher
power?

• For those who struggle with the concept, it
  offers practical and understandable ways of
  looking at it.
• There is no need for religiously oriented
  language, if someone chooses not to frame it in
  that way.
• The power is found within a persons
• Intentions and Life Purpose (as defined in
  recovery)
• Newly Recognized Attributes/Capacities (Untapped
  Strengths)
• Support/Guidance from Others (Social Support
  Accountability)
• These concepts can be used in recovery even by
  those who do have a traditional understanding of
  God as higher power. They conflict with
  nothing in 12-Step philosophy or practice.

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Higher Purpose as part of Higher Power

• Desire and Intention to create a life better than
  the hell of active addiction in which a person
  was living.
• Gift of Desperation can signal time for a 180º
  turnaround a resolve to head in a new
  direction.
• Getting ones life back re-establishing trust,
  respect, responsibility, self-esteem,
  consistency etc.
• Steps 6 7 reflect higher purpose inviting and
  engaging in positive changenew ways of thinking
  and behaving.

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Higher Self as part of Higher Power

• The better person in each individual which can be
  recognized and expressed in active recovery.
• Newly identified strengths and potential which
  were previously untapped or suppressed in active
  addiction.
• Connection with a life force or spirit which can
  be seen as within oneself, between oneself and
  others, and/or with whatever someone perceives a
  Higher Power to be - in a way that had not been
  manifested in active addiction.
• Anything more positive that a recovering person
  can find within him/herself which can bring hope
  and determination to change.

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Positive Relationships as part of Higher Power

• A Key Feature in Active AddictionIsolation and
  Alienation
• A Key Feature in Positive Psychology
  RecoverySocial Connections Positive
  Relationships
• Now we are at the moment where we need to
  consider ourselves as full members of humanity,
  responsible and answerable to the human
  community. We are no longer living as addicts,
  operating under a solitary morality of isolation,
  self-destruction and fearThe world of the
  spirit, the one in which we live, is the present
  place where we stand. The most salient fact of
  this spiritual world, the starkest difference
  between this world and our old world of
  addiction, is this we are not the only ones
  hereWhere we lived before in absolute isolation,
  now we live in context. This is none other than
  what we always longed for, always lacked a
  community of which we can be, and must be, an
  integral, active part.
  Marya Hornbacher Waiting A
  Nonbelievers Higher Power (pgs. 73, 97)

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AA Statement on Positive Relationships in Recovery

• It would be unrealistic to assume that all AA
  members are spiritually inspired. Many, too, are
  not committed to a formal body of religious
  doctrine. But innumerable A.A. members -
  including those of no orthodoxy -
  say that they have experienced the
  transforming power of
  sharing, caring, trust and love.
• from Members of the Clergy Ask about AA
  AA General Service Office

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RECOVERY ? Not Drinking/Using

• It is about CREATING A LIFE WORTH LIVING
• Recovery can be seen as a way of thinking,
  acting, and relating to others that promotes
  continued physical, psychological, social, and
  spiritual health. The skills necessary for
  long-term sobriety are all directed at finding
  meaning and purpose in life.
• Terence Gorsky
• When an addicted persons life is filled with
  positive, meaningful, life-enhancing goals,
  values and activities, not drinking/using -
  although the bedrock for a recovering life -
  becomes just a detail.
• The focus is on developing activities and coping
  strategies based on goals and values that make
  staying sober what one wants to do to have the
  life they are seeking not what one must do to
  avoid further consequences.

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Recovery is oriented towardPOSITIVE,
PROGRESSIVE ACTION The way to remove darkness
from a room is simply to light a candle. In the
same way, to rid yourself of any difficulty,
concentrate on the solution, rather than the
problem Zen Proverb

• Focus is on what to create or replace in ones
  life (not on what to stop doing).
• Focus on behavior, not states of being. Lasting
  behavior changes will, in turn, result in new
  states of being.
• Focus is on setting POSITIVE LIFE GOALS.
  Not stating I will stop/not
  or I will be

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Increasing Self-Efficacy to Enhance Recovery
Whether you think you can, or think you cant -
youre right Henry Ford

• Perceived self-efficacy is the foundation of
  human agency. Unless people believe they can
  produce desired effects by their actions, they
  have little incentive to act.
• Self-efficacy beliefs promote desired changes
  through cognitive, motivational, affective, and
  choice processes.
• Perceived self-efficacy exerts its effects on
  every phase of personal changethe initiation of
  efforts to overcome substance abuse, achievement
  of desired changes, recovery from relapses, and
  long-term maintenance of a drug-free life.
• Albert Bandura

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AA Slogan Fake it till you make it(Act as
if and it will become)

• Think and behave as though what you intend to
  manifest in your life is already here.
• Begin action in the direction of what you want -
  even when you are not sure how and 3 things
  happen
• The focus on what you want (rather than what you
  dont want) becomes your mindset.
• You begin to see results. Even small ones are
  significant, due to the reinforcement factor.
• You affirm that you are not stuck that change
  is possible and is happening now.

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Thinking Success can Create SuccessYou are what
you think. Think it today become it
tomorrow.
Nothing can help you or
hurt you as much as the thoughts you carry in
your headZen Proverb

• There is no need to fear relapse.
• Fearing the consequences of relapse is realistic,
  but fearing the lack of capacity to choose
  recovery and make new daily decisions is
  unrealistic.
• Fearing relapse is rehearsing relapse. It can
  make failure, rather than success, the focusand
  the unconscious goal.
• Each recovering person has choice and free will.
  It is either claimed or forfeited, depending on
  the beliefs one holds about oneself.
• Acknowledging the capacity for change increases
  the awareness of freedom of choice and the
  likelihood that it will be exercised.

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Rethinking Step 2

• Came to believe that a power greater than
  ourselves
• God (Whatever that may mean to an individual)
• The power of group support
• A Higher Purpose (aspirations for a better life)
• Ones Higher Self (that better person
  unrealized potential)
• Every addict certainly had a higher power while
  in active addiction the high from
  drugs/addictive behaviors.
• Could restore us to sanity
• Learning to think, feel and act in more
  life-enhancing ways especially around
  addiction.

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Rethinking Step 3

• Made a decision to turn our will and our lives
  over
• Asking for help with / advice on what we have
  not been able to do successfully on our own.
• Accepting help and following advice when we get
  it.
• To the care of God as we understood Him
• Many simply exchange God for Group of Drunks
  (Support System) or Higher Power for Higher
  Purpose /Higher Self.
• Remembering what one has chosen to call a higher
  power and ask how this can be more powerful than
  active addiction.

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Rethinking Steps 4 5

• 4th Step Made a searching and fearless moral
  inventory of ourselves
• Taking a complete inventory of both negative
  and positive to see what holds us back, and
  what could move us forward.
• 5th Step Admitted to God, to ourselves and to
  another human being the exact nature of our
  wrongs
• We simply have a witness to our humanity We see
  that we are accepted, and can in turn, accept
  ourselves, releasing shame and guilt.
• We can get feedback and clarity on patterns that
  keep us stuck, in order to facilitate change.

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Rethinking Step 6

• Were entirely ready to have God remove all these
  defects of character
• Developing the Willingness to create change by
• Accepting challenges that bring about wanted
  change
• Stepping outside of comfort zones to try on new
  ways of thinking and behaving in daily living
• Entire Readiness can be determined by how one
  begins to make changes on a daily basis.

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What are Character Defects ?

• Tendencies toward doing wrong?
• Bad habits?
• Destructive ways of acting or reacting?
• Sins? (Note the origin of this word In
  Classical Greek, sin (hamartia), meant to
  miss the mark . It was also used in English
  archery as a term for missing the bullseye .)
• What if we simply look at character defects as
  
• Long-standing patterns of thinking and behaving
  that no longer work for us old patterns which
  have become liabilities that get in our way and
  cause pain.

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Rethinking Step 7

• Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings
• When we make a commitment to change, we get new
  eyes. We see things differently and recognize
  new opportunities to do things differently on a
  daily basis.
• Be careful what you ask for, because you just
  might get it. If you want change in your life,
  the opportunities for it will show upand they
  will not always be comfortable, convenient or
  easy.

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Rethinking Step 11Prayer is nothing but the
inhaling and exhaling of the one breath of the
universe... St. Hildegard
of Bingen

• 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
• Sitting in stillness and just allowing
  (Mindfulness)
• Quieting the mind to create space for reflection
• Remaining open to insight
• Creating or reviving any form of practice that
  brings peace and prepares someone for full
  engagement in life
• God enters by a private door to every individual
  Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Reconciling the 12-Steps with Positive
Psychology Principles Intrapersonal and
Interpersonal Strengths-Building Tasks
Twelve-Step Actions Positive Psychology Principles / Human Strengths
1 Accepting defeat 2 Recognizing help is available 3 Reaching out for help Recognizing the need for help, asking for/accepting it, and developing healthy interdependence (Humility , Teamwork, Open-Mindedness, Bravery)
4 Personal Inventory 5 Sharing self with others Becoming honest with oneself others Self-Acceptance - Releasing Guilt/Shame (Perspective, Integrity, Humility)
6 Planning to make changes in your life 7 Being open to seeing new decision points at which those changes can be implemented Developing life-enhancing skills while reducing old maladaptive behaviors (Bravery, Persistence, Self-Control, Prudence to engage ones personal strengths/positive qualities fully)
8 Identifying the damage you have done 9 Correcting that damage when possible Pro-social skill development Learning to take personal responsibility and interpersonal risks (Integrity, Bravery, Humility, Emotional Intelligence)
10 Practicing ongoing self-assessment 11 Utilizing spiritual tools 12 Helping others Self-reflection, other spiritual practices and reaching out to help others through pro-social skills practice (Persistence, Love, Kindness, Mercy, Spirituality all of which lead to Hope)
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Basic Tasks of the 12 Steps

• Reach out for help (1-3)
• Asking for support and guidance as we seek a new
  path (because our old ways of living were not
  working)
• Using tools placed in our hands to help us heal
• Clean up your life (4-11)
• Intrapersonal (Self-assessment4/5
  Commitment to change6/7)
• Interpersonal (Reparation of relationships8/9)
• Maintenance (Evaluation and Adjustment 10/11)
• Reach out to help (12)
• Sharing what works with others
• Modeling change and success by Living the Change
  you promote (Congruence and Credibility)

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Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
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Relationship of Recovery Strengths-Building to
Maslows Hierarchy
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A Simple Spiritual Quest

• Find a satisfying and fulfilling life beyond
  addiction
• Identify what you want to run toward (instead of
  away from)
• Reconnect with or define a Higher Purpose (A goal
  for a life better than what was being lived in
  active addiction)
• Access/Develop your own Higher Self (Will to
  Live Spirit - Innate Capacity to help make this
  better life happen)
• Reach out to connect with others (who can help
  you in your quest, and whom you can help in
  theirs)

58
The Phoenix

• Greek Mythology The bird that burns itself up in
  a fire of its own making at the end of its old
  life, and then rises to a new life recreated
  from its own ashes.
• Metaphor of Rebirth in Recovery The experience
  of self-destruction becomes a powerful
  instrument of transformation. Mistakes and
  failures of the past are catalysts for
  positive change. (Higher Purpose)
• Recovering persons have the capacity and
  opportunity to make these changes, using painful
  lessons from the past and their hopes and
  intentions for the future to utilize their
  untapped strengths in the present. (Higher Self)

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Kintsukuroi

• Japanese practice of repairing broken pottery
  with gold, reflecting the idea that when
  something has been damaged, it can become more
  beautiful because of it. It has a
  new dimension that something which has remained
  unharmed cannot have. The gold reinterprets a
  seemingly negative event.
• We will not regret the past, nor wish to shut the
  door on it.
• No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we
  will see how
  our experience can benefit others.
• That feeling of uselessness and self pity will
  disappear.
• Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will
  change.
• from the AA Promises
• Out of suffering have emerged the strongest
  souls. The most massive characters are seared
  with scars.
  Kahil Gibran

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• The presence of higher power within oneself is
  acknowledged by the authors of the Big Book in
  this passage
• With few exceptions our members find that they
  have tapped an unsuspected inner resource which
  they presently identify with their own conception
  of a Power greater than themselves. Most of us
  think that this awareness of a Power greater than
  ourselves is the essence of spiritual experience.
  Our more religious members call it
  God-consciousness.
• (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., pp 567-568)
  
• You dont look out there for God - something in
  the sky - you look in you Alan Watts

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Third Step Prayer Revisited

• God , I offer myself to Thee to build with me and
  do with me as thou wilt.
• Relieve me from the bondage of self, that I may
  better do thy will.
• Take away my difficulties, that victory over them
  may bear witness to those that I would help, of
  thy power, thy love and thy way of life.
• May I do thy will always.
• I acknowledge my Higher Purpose and Higher Self
  
  and the better life I create with them today.
• I abandon my former destructive lower self
  
  and commit to the better person I am now
  becoming.
• I release my old struggles and replace them with
  new strength, compassion and life which I freely
  share with those who seek the things I now find.
• I will live my life to this end every day.

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Never forget this when helping a person who is
struggling with addiction

• An alcoholic is powerless over alcohol.
• An alcoholic is not powerless over alcoholism.
• Everyone seeking recovery has the power of choice
  to pick up the tools we lay
  at their feet.

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Helping People Struggling with the Concept of
Higher Power at Glenbeigh
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Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a
chain or freed a human soul Mark Twain

• If any concept conflicts with the values and
  beliefs of those seeking our help, then
  the concept needs to be reinterpreted.
• Everyone must find their own truth in the
  process of recovery.
  We never challenge another's truth, nor seek to
  impose one.
  Our goal is simply to help people find
  sobriety and a better life.
• Theres a crack in everything. Thats how the
  light gets in. Leonard Cohen
  (Anthem)