Editor’s note: Jacquelyn Small, LCSW, is the Founding Director of the Eupsychia Institute, a national not-for-profit service organization that offers a wellness and training program in Soul-based Psychology and psychospiritual methods of healing. Small has been developing and testing transformational theory and methods for addiction recovery since 1974, both as the Director of Clinical Training for the Texas Commission on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, and later, as an external faculty member at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, California. The author of seven books on recovery and personal transformation, she is pioneering the implementation of psychospiritual methods of healing in mainstream addiction treatment.

Many in recovery today have a problem staying sober even after several visits to treatment. Research tells us that 47 percent of patients treated in private treatment programs will return to chemical use within the first year following treatment (Gorski, 2001). Further evidence shows that approximately 90 percent of alcoholics are likely to experience at least one relapse over the 4-year period following treatment (Polich, Armor, & Braiker, 1981); relapse rates for nicotine and heroin addiction are similar (NIAAA, 1989). Struggling in their recovery, they return to the same modalities that obviously are not motivating them to stop using.

Modern scientific studies, including those cited by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (1989), indicate that relapse-triggering mechanisms are based not only in our behaviors, but also in our bodies and minds. To date, there are seven levels of human consciousness we know of. The needs of every level must be met for us to be whole.1

Although many treatment and therapeutic methods prevalent today help build life skills and teach people to think more realistically, they do not access the higher levels of consciousness. Consciousness, in some areas of the addiction treatment field, is referred to as our soul’s inner life: opening the heart, inciting the creative imagination, evoking inspiration, and honoring the intuition that knows how to live beyond ego.

When treatment methods that access these higher cognitions and the soul’s expression are lacking, clients are left with what feels like an empty hole in their middle. Overeating, sexual acting out, and seeking chemical highs are among the behaviors that result. When lacking adequate treatment, our clients leave us without a strong enough desire to stay clean. These clients are seeking not just better ways to cope, or more lectures on how to behave; they are seeking to transform themselves. Personal transformation is “an inside job” — this is the work of what I call Third Stage Recovery.

What is Third Stage Recovery?
Third Stage Recovery is, simply stated, the inner work of Self-discovery. Or perhaps I should say, Self-uncovery. “Self” refers to the marriage of the personality and the soul, as both human and divine. By design, the Third Stage Recovery model meets the needs of both aspects of our nature. It is a model of synthesis that honors the “goods” of the past, and tracks with Twelve-Step work, but goes further to address our current crisis of identity and emergent psychospiritual needs. Its philosophy and methods are capable of transforming the psyche. This model awakens us to the true Self and how to live as this authentic being. It is the transformation of addictive or any dysfunctional living.

This holistic, engaged-action approach to healing does not negate First and Second Stage Recovery, but encompasses them. First Stage Recovery is the work of achieving abstinence from one’s addiction. Second Stage Recovery is the psychological family of origin work that heals our past. Both of these approaches are well established in the current addiction field.
Because its psychospiritual methods access the entire spectrum of the psyche, Third Stage Recovery can achieve all stages in an accelerated fashion — that is, if clients commit wholeheartedly to the process with the full intention to heal. Its methods invoke spontaneous spiritual experiences in one’s subjective life. These experiences often will transform its host.

At the Eupsychia Institute’s healing and training events, we have been honing this model for nearly three decades. We have learned much about how the human psyche functions to make us whole. About 70 percent of the participants in our residential intensives are in addiction recovery,2 and we have witnessed case after case of these spiritually imbued, life-changing experiences occurring in our community life. The powerful psychospiritual process of Third Stage Recovery leaves few stones unturned in healing the psyche and awakening our full potential. To date, approximately 11,000 people have experienced Eupsychia programs. We hear often that the Eupsychia process has become an effective enhancement of their daily
spiritual path.

Third Stage Recovery: The Principles
Third Stage Recovery is grounded in 12 psychospiritual principles that govern how human consciousness works. One of these principles says that thought is creative, expressed as “Whatever we say ‘I am’ to, we become.” In my forthcoming book (to be published in 2005), I take the reader through all 12 of these principles and experiential processes that ground each of them into one’s daily life. Discovered during our many years of field research in the actual experiences of those going through processes of transformation, these psychospiritual principles are transformative “seed thoughts” that come alive in one’s brain when needed. These universal principles track with the wisdom of the ages.

Third Stage is “coming whole”
Our national program in Soul-based Psychology is grounded in the seven books I have written about recovery and this personal transformation process (e.g., Small, 1989, 1991a, 1991b). All of my writings come from the seedbed of hands-on experiences with our clients, and in my own process of awakening. This model of recovery represents a radical return to our roots. Addiction recovery, launched in 1935 by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) founder Bill Wilson, was built upon heartfelt, inspired group work that credited an inner spontaneous “religious experience” for the onset of recovery and the key to a transformed life (see White, 2004). Carl Jung’s formula for recovery, “spiritus contra spiritum”, was a revelational contribution to this movement, and his influence was strongly felt (Wilson/Jung Letters, 1987). Dr. Jung noted that the Latin word for “the most depraved poison, alcohol” and the “highest religious experience” were one and the same, spiritus. Therefore, he concluded, to counteract a problem with “spirits,” a spiritual experience is required. Bill Wilson’s “white light experience,” the form of his own spiritual awakening, removed his craving for alcohol and turned his life around.

Shifting our identities
We have discovered, as mystics of all ages have known, that we are not human beings trying to be spiritual; we are spiritual beings learning to be human.

A drastic shift in identity, transformational in itself, underlies the entire philosophy and methods we use in Third Stage Recovery work. Learning to be human has indeed been quite an ordeal, and we all have made glaring mistakes. From the perspective of Third Stage Recovery, once we realize that learning the sacred work of being human is truly what we are doing here, shame and blame begin to melt away, and are replaced by the life-giving qualities of compassion and forgiveness.

Doesn’t everyone naturally make mistakes when learning something new? The principles and experiential processes of Third Stage Recovery shift our consciousness into thinking this way, which awakens the true Self (also called our incarnated soul and inner transformer). Without accessing one’s true Self, no transformation is ever possible. In this model of recovery, clients are honored as being this true Self, and are reminded that this is the one who aligns with a Higher Power, not a wounded ego.

In the Third Stage Recovey model, “spirituality” is defined as an internal moving force that propels us toward becoming more pure-hearted and holy minded. Merciless striving toward wholeness keeps us forever moving toward our full blossoming as spiritual beings in human form. This “bigger story” of ours inspires us to rise to the call of the soul. In Third Stage Recovery programs, gaining a felt experience of one’s true Self, or soul consciousness, happens naturally ... because we already are that! Dr. Jung once said that one touch with the Self is worth a thousand therapy sessions. This is, indeed, what we have witnessed.

Self versus ego
The Self is not the ego — I do want to make that clear. Rather, the Self is an archetype, our original blueprint for being human. It is our seed atom, capable of creative thought and action. Eternal, and never damaged by humanity’s conditions, as is our ego or social mask we wear to get along in society. A wounded ego requires much discipline and healing to align with the soul. In Third Stage terms, “the addict” is a wounded ego, an ill-formed personality.

In Third Stage Recovery, people begin stepping out of the identity of the sick, crazy “addict,” a sub-self they have unconsciously allowed to rule their lives. Once they start practicing being their true Self, and this process really takes hold, they can no longer tolerate having a pseudo negative self run — or ruin — their lives. They learn to go through their days using journaling, contemplation, process groups, and radical Self-observation to keep themselves on track.

All of the methods of Third Stage Recovery are designed to bring this Self-awareness to our clients. Residential programs become the perfect “time out” to practice living in this new way within their community of like-intentioned fellow residents.

Examples of Third Stage methods
One of the most dramatically effective methods used in Third Stage Recovery is a meditative process of 1 and 2-hour musical journeys into the depths of one’s psyche. Journeying participants access memories of their past still needing conscious recognition and clearing in order to heal. This method magically reveals “the bigger picture” or sacred significance of each past event. Once recognized, these integrative insights evoke forgiveness and compassion for one’s self and others. This process removes shame and blame.

These inner journeys also ignite spontaneous mystical experiences, akin to those described by William White (2004) in “Transformational Change and Addiction Recovery.” These experiences carry their host into the higher realms of human consciousness, such as a felt experience of meeting one’s God-image, or a visit with one’s inner spirit guide. These subjective events often show their host who they really are and what reality truly is. In deep processes of inner work, illusions fall away, forgiveness and compassion spring forth, life lessons are seen and learned, intuitive revelations and creative ideas are spawned. Often people recognize their life’s work and what’s stopping them from doing it.

All methods utilized in Third Stage Recovery are Self-empowering. These programs3 are contained in sacred space, where no judgment or harsh confrontations occur — unless it comes directly from within a client’s own awareness. All are honored for where they are in their journey. No one is forced to engage in or be anything they are not ready for. Guides for this process are trained to work from the heart, the fourth level of consciousness.

Spirituality is our essence
Thanks to the work of consciousness explorers such as Dr. Jung, we now know that spirituality is not a goal. It is not the result of prayer or meditation. Spirituality is not a treatment outcome. Nor is it something that we earn by good works. Spirituality is our essence! We are already standing in who we came here to be; there just happens to be many layers of defenses built around this sacred core that block us from being it. Recovery needs to be the process that unblocks us and brings us to our center. From the Third Stage perspective, it is our responsibility as spiritual beings to divest ourselves of any unconscious behaviors in the way of our full expression as children of our Creator. This tracks perfectly with AA’s philosophy of “turning one’s life over to a Higher Power.” In Third Stage Recovery, this process becomes not just an idea or a wish, but an actual felt experience.

Furthermore, it is not merely a religious proposition to say that we are spiritual beings — it is a universal understanding today, even scientifically, as evidenced in the works of modern physicists such as David Bohm, Fritjof Capra, and Fred Alan Wolf, consciousness researchers Jean Achterberg, Peter Russell, and Michael Talbot, and integrative medicine pioneers Larry Dossey, MD, Christiane Northrup, MD, and Andrew Weil, MD.4 Subatomic physicists have discovered that the center of every human atom is light. Brain researchers tell us our brains function like a hologram, containing all that has ever been or will be, just awaiting our recognition, that we already have the entire cosmos and all the wisdom of the ages in our minds. Jungian analysts say the Self is embedded as an archetype within this collective unconscious mind. Mainstream religion says, “I and the Father are one,” and “the kingdom of God is within.” And Twelve Step programs call for alignment with a Higher Power, which defines recovery as a spiritual path.

Yet even with all this scientific validation of our true nature, we have not awakened fully to the implications of this identity as fact. This recognition of our intrinsic nature as spiritual has not had the cultural or psychological impact it must eventually have. We still behave, think, and plan programs as though we are mere egos needing to be fixed — or worse, medicated and dependent on outsiders for our life. Perhaps we are trapped by our own intellects that are rapidly becoming too small to contain us anymore! And if both scientists and spiritual guides are telling us something has been shown to be true and we are not living it, isn’t this an ethical problem for us?

Our changing worldview
New evidence of a cultural paradigm shift will resonate with Counselor readers. Research (Ray & Anderson, 2000; Florida, 2002) indicates that there are some 50 million people in the United States today forming a new subculture interested in experiential personal growth and transformation, in the preservation of our planet’s ecosystems, and in creative problem solving for the making of a better world. These are not “new agers” or dropouts from society. They are scientists, engineers, university professors, novelists, entertainers, artists, homemakers, architects, think-tank researchers, analysts, and other opinion-makers. They like to engage in work whose function is to “create meaningful new forms” (Florida, 2002).

Both groups have walked out of the more conventional modern belief systems, having changed their values and the worldview that shapes their lives. And these researchers speculate that these “cultural creatives” are reshaping our larger culture as well. Many of you reading this article will relate. We meet dozens of these folks every month in our ongoing national work, as we represent a group that, like this new “creative class,” is learning to live on the edge of mass consciousness with its health industry governed by big business and many outmoded tactics. We hear requests constantly for a type of addiction treatment or healing program that will reach into one’s deeper Self for healing and growth. Holding to values that represent quality help for our clients and ourselves is the value system I know we all seek to preserve and hopefully enhance. Big business and managed care (I call it managed cost) can’t do it. We are the ones to manage care.

This work is guided by a comprehensive goal: to reinforce the addiction field’s ability to align with a “new-paradigm” philosophy that offers effective, life-enhancing recovery programs for those seeking a transformed life. Today, I am not alone in my yearning to help infuse new life into this vitally necessary area of human service that is currently struggling with much big business complexity and malaise.

Our modern addiction field is primed for this work of psychospiritual transformation. It is already seasoned in the workings of psychotherapy, in well-accepted family-of-origin work. And most programs generally accept the premise that a spiritual awakening is essential to a stable sobriety and encourage Twelve Step work. The stage is set for Third Stage Recovery to enter the world of mainstream treatment.

Helping your clients to recover and live on purpose
We know from 30 years of field research in our Eupsychia intensives, our observation is that people who tend toward hard-core addictions are passionate people who are at home with intense extremes. The ordinary life doesn’t feed the higher needs of these “muses of the soul.” They need something extraordinary to believe in. When given a reason to believe in life and in themselves as worthy participants here, these are the types of energetic, imaginative people who can inspire creativity and transform whole communities. Low self-esteem, shame, blame, depression, and anomie are the pitfalls for recovering people that keep them stuck in hopelessness and addictive cravings. This inner work gives those in recovery a natural high and sense of Self-identity that comes from the core of their own being. It heals all levels of codependence, and aligns them with their Higher Power, replacing the need for artificial external highs that defeat them. Third Stage Recovery offers this new possibility to these folks, because it has all the components necessary to bring dignity and inspiration to these troubled souls.

We have learned that to maintain a healthy motivation to “come clean,” one’s life must be imbued with a sense of greater identity and sacred purpose. Whether living in a mansion or under a bridge, this is the key for all recovering human beings — to turn inward and allow the true Self to shine forth. This compassionate, essential Self of ours, when acknowledged as legitimate, has the power to bring spirit back into our work and in our lives. It’s time we awaken to what we know from our modern findings, and indeed, in our hearts, about our divine human nature. Once one’s identity shifts away from believing he or she is a hopelessly marred ego, which can happen quite rapidly with transformational work, the addicted ego can no longer rule one’s life.

Just as plants reach toward the sun, we humans forever strive toward “the light” — toward the full blossoming of our unique individuality that is our ultimate destiny. At some point we each have the potential to enter our true life’s path as a wholesome, compassionate and mature person, in service in the world. This understanding is the foundation of Twelve Step work. In our wholeness, our soul shines through, illuminating our daily actions, feelings and thoughts. We find ourselves joining others who are also consciously traveling a spiritual path, expanding beyond our old ways, both personally and collectively. We see that we are not alone and that we all have “our part” to do in this divine world drama.

We are being called now to return to our roots, to a path of the heart, and create climates where our clients can experience a spiritual awakening. The Self, and its potent methods of transformation, is moving into the mainstream addiction treatment field. And we are starting to see this magical Self’s amazing results. Spiritus contra spiritum!

Jacquelyn Small, LCSW ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) is the Founding Director of Eupsychia Institute (www.eupsychia.com), and author of seven books on personal and planetary transformation, including Becoming Naturally Therapeutic and Awakening in Time.

Footnotes
1These levels of consciousness track with the Hindu human chakra system validated in Western medicine as the sites for acupuncture healing. For more information on these levels as it pertains to recovery, see Small (1991).
2The other 30 percent are people who have come seeking renewal in their lives after a personal crisis or symptoms of burnout in the corporate world.
3For additional information about the methods used in the Third Stage approach, see Eupsychia Institute’s Web site (www.eupsychia.com), e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or call 800-546-2795.
4See also: The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology and Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, and consult research by the Institute of Noetic Sciences, www.noetic.org.

References
Florida, R. (2002). The rise of the creative class. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Gorski, T. T. (2001). Relapse prevention in the managed care environment. GORSKI-CENAPS [Online]. Available: http://www.tgorski.com/gorski_articles/relapse_prevention_in_managed_care_environment_010610.htm [Accessed July 7, 2004]
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (1989). Relapse and craving. Alcohol Alert, 6 [Online]. Available: http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa06.
htm [Accessed July 7, 2004]
Polich, J. M., Armor, D. J., & Braiker, H. B. (1981). Stability and change in drinking patterns. In The Course of Alcoholism: Four Years After Treatment. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 159-200.
Ray, P. H., & Anderson, S. R. (2000). The cultural creatives. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press.
Small, J. (1989). Becoming naturally therapeutic: A return to the true essence of helping. New York, NY: Bantam.
Small, J. (1991a). Awakening in time: The journey from codependence to co-creation. New York, NY: Bantam. Published in 2nd Edition, 2001, Austin, TX: Eupsychian Press.
Small, J. (1991b). Transformers, the therapists of the future. New York, NY: Bantam Books.
White, W. L. (2004). Transformational change and addiction recovery. Counselor 5(4): 30-33.
Wilson/Jung Letters. (1987). Spiritus Contra Spiritum: The Bill Wilson/C.G. Jung Letters. PARABOLA: The Magazine of Myth and Tradition (Addiction), 12(2).

This article is published in Counselor,The Magazine for Addiction Professionals, June 2004, v.5, n.3, pp. 65-72.

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