Spirit Recovery Medicine Bag is not your average self-help book. It teaches a whole new way to accept who you are, let go of the past, and begin the journey to wellness of the mind, body, and spirit. Through the principles of conscious connection, imagination, and transformation, readers will learn to be their authentic selves and find peace in their lives. McCormick and Faulkner guide readers through building their own reservoir of healing tools—a “medicine bag”—to help them transform their lives for the better.
The first half of the book is about McCormick’s own story of recovery. He introduces readers to his family and his life before addiction; his brother’s desperate need to live up to the expectations of their father, his sister’s codependent relationships with alcoholics, and his father—a hard-working, not-to-be-messed-with contractor. “If you had asked me then who I was,” McCormick writes, “I would have answered ‘Ben’s son’ or ‘a McCormick.’” He reminisces about growing up in Florida among the powerful men in his family and how, from a very early age, he felt subpar and was unable to truly discover himself.
McCormick takes his readers on a journey from Florida to Colorado and everywhere in-between, through music-filled bars and taverns, to escapades with beautiful women, and to the first taste of mushrooms and cocaine. His on-again, off-again addiction to cocaine only worsened through his tumultuous first marriage, which eventually culminated in divorce. Having had such a hard time with the divorce of his parents, McCormick’s own divorce only exacerbated his steadily growing addiction. When he finally put himself into treatment, McCormick began to learn how to push away the fears and doubts that fed his addiction through psychodrama, equine-assisted therapy, and group therapy.
After becoming more involved in equine-therapy and building a treatment center from the ground up less than two years after leaving treatment, McCormick’s life truly began to change. However, it was his spiritual, other-worldly journey to Mexico and the pyramids of Teotihuacán that truly struck him with peace, awareness, and the power to transform his life. McCormick details his experiences of soul-cleansing, connection, and spirituality in Teotihuacán and explains how readers can learn to do the same.
The second half of the book teaches the principles of spirit recovery to readers through the themes of conscious connection, imagination, and transformation. Readers are provided with ideas and practices they can keep in their own “medicine bag” of recovery—lessons that come from a variety of sources including Twelve Step philosophy, Vedic teachings, Native American wisdom, and traditional psychology. Spirit Recovery Medicine Bag is about growing, healing, and living your best life—a message that truly spans across substance abuse, trauma, mental health, and behavioral health treatment fields.
“Spirit Recovery is for people who desire more out of life and are willing to put more of themselves into it and live more fully. It is for people who are willing to say yes to life—and sink their teeth into that commitment. It is for people who feel blocked by circumstances, substances, behaviors, attitudes, or beliefs and wonder if this is all there is. Your medicine bag will help you move beyond those internal walls and awaken your awareness of possibilities. It will help you uncover and recover your authentic self.” – Spirit Recovery Medicine Bag
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