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| The Soul of Recovery. Uncovering the Spiritual Dimension in the Treatment of Addictions |
| Columns - Media Review | ||||||||
| Monday, 30 September 2002 | ||||||||
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This book's premise is that many addicts recover by spiritual means. The author states that, "If their faith in God or some "high power" makes the difference, so be it."
This book is not just another
presentation of spirituality's role in recovery, it is so much more than that.
Often a book reviewer will scan a book and glean the high points from it. I just
couldn't do that with this book, I had to slow down and truly experience it.
"A Paradigm is a set of rules and regulations that define boundaries telling us how to behave inside these boundaries in order to be successful." "A paradigm shift is a change to a new game, a new set of rules" (Barker, 1993). Ringwald's book is a paradigm shifter, his clear presentation, and extraordinary research can't help but have the reader "thinking outside the box." If anyone is questioning the role that faith plays in the life of an addict this book is for you. The author presents spirituality (and religion) in treatment and recovery in a broad array of modalities, and also discusses more secular approaches, which have little or no spirituality or faith-based components. In the process he has written a primer on the varieties of addiction treatment available, clearly describing what a participant in a specific treatment may be experiencing, and then just to make sure you have a clear picture of it all, he offers numerous case presentations that personalize the process. The release of this book is timely. One question, "Is A.A. religion?" is just now making its way through the courts. In 1983 the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, (Destefano vs. Emergency Housing Group, Inc.) asserted that the payment of State funds in connection with an Alcoholics Anonymous program violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. A recent decision (since the writing of this book) stated that payment of State funds does not violate the Establishment Clause if "the facilities staff neither coerces clients to attend such sessions nor itself indoctrinates clients in A.A. principles." If A.A. is deemed a religion it may change the face of treatment in the United States. The Soul of Recovery makes a powerful case that spirituality is not religion. The author takes on such issues as church and state, compassionate conservatism, etc., in the final chapter of the book: "Faith-Based Solutions in a Democracy." The Soul of Recovery arrives on the scene when someone of the stature of Michael J. Fox in his new book, Lucky Man: A Memoir, can describe research done at Columbia University on the (power of prayer), where it was proven to work, and still make the bestseller lists. If the reader has ever struggled with an answer to the question of "what do you mean by spirituality?" then the many quotes and recounting of interviews on that topic will serve you well forever. One such suggestion is that spirituality is "an unorganized belief system that enables you to change." Or, "by definition spirituality lacks doctrine, a moral code, rituals; those are the elements that describe religion." The development of spirituality does not mean imposing morality so much as an encouragement for the individual to develop their own. The 12-Steps are presented as having been designed to engineer a spiritual experience in modern man. Science is also present in the form of an excellent discussion of "brain disease," which he faults as overly promoting that "addiction is a process that is occurring independent of its human carrier." One interviewee he quotes as saying, "You can examine brains all day, but you'd never call anyone an addict unless he acted like one." Ringwald discusses the absence of spirituality in research and why so much effort is placed on finding a "scientific" cure when addicts and alcoholics that are asked respond in significant numbers (81 percent) that "your relationship with God helps you in your treatment." Patricia Owen at Hazelden may answer his question when she tells the author, "Alcoholism will not be accepted as a disease until they have a pill for it." Simply stated it's argued that, "to recover, addicts must decide to not take drugs. If found, a magic pill will only work so long as a person takes it, which means she or he must engage at the level of will, responsibility, values and the spiritual life supporting it." This book focuses on so many different areas, among them women's treatment and spirituality, ("women often understand God differently than men, or emphasize different roles of the divinity. More strikingly, they tend to see recovery in terms of empowerment, rather than embracing powerlessness,") and Native American treatment including traditional spirituality (use of drumming, sweat lodges, talking circles, chanting, pipe ceremonies, smudging, etc.), hard core addicts and therapeutic communities, measuring of results (So, does treatment work? "Whenever people ask me that, I always say, compared to what?" ... A. Thomas McClellan), the soul, science and the spirit, harm reduction, ("If you can't achieve abstinence, what can we do to make things less harmful for you?" ... Alan Marlett), Nation of Islam, Gospel Missions, self-help with and without spirituality, motivational interviewing and denial ("The resistant behavior that is labeled "denial" does not just walk through the door with the client, but is strongly influenced by the way in which the therapist approaches the client. Said provocatively, denial is not a client problem, it is a therapist problem." (William R. Miller: Handbook of Treatment Approaches). Peppered throughout the book are fantastic quotes from some of the greatest thinkers of all times. The way he presents their statements suggests their wisdom led us to many commonplace recovery slogans and ultimately to an underlying philosophy of successful addiction treatment. William James, who was so influential to early A.A. in shaping their spiritual component, is quoted again and again, ("We and God have business with each other; and in opening ourselves to his influence our deepest destiny is fulfilled.") Jean-Paul Sartre predicted that, "our existential dilemma would leave humanity conscious of a hole the size of God." Many addicts and alcoholics have long referred to their suffering as a "god-shaped hole." "Be careful how you interpret the world; it is like that" (Erich Heller). Be careful what you ask for you might get it! Thorstein Veblen warned years ago, "Society will tolerate many things except a breach in decorum," possibly describing the reason for the stigmatization of addiction in our society. The book concludes with the author relating to the extraordinary recoveries of so many by describing them as, "men and women who had sought counterfeit help from the false gods of addictions, and who, when exhausted from being their own god, found for themselves a faith that works." And by gently taking special care to soften his mention of opposing viewpoints by stating "despite rivalries and bickering different roads to recovery cover much the same terrain." The terrain in this book is precious, don't miss this trip. Lindsay E. Freese, MEd, MAC, LADC, is associate professor of Human Service at the New Hampshire Community Technical College in Concord, NH. Over the past 20 years he has worked in private practice and both clinically and administratively in residential programs. He is a past president of the New Hampshire Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselor Association.
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