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What Keeps People in Recovery?

By on February 26th, 2020

1-hannaAs I have mentioned in an earlier article, I am firmly convinced that we must help people in residential programs to be come integrated into two vital communities – the Church  and the recovery community. There  is life after the residential recovery pro ­gram and if we don’t spend enough time and energy preparing our clients for it, we have done them a great injustice.

If we are truly successful, the program graduate leaves the mission as a newly so ­ber, struggling baby Christian. We must be sure that this new be ­liever knows where to find help when he/she experiences struggles, even 2, 5, 10 years and more in the future, no matter where they live.

A. Building Healthy Relationships Outside of the Program – There is a lot going on at rescue missions in the areas of life skills, employment, literacy and education, etc. But, an often-neglected aspect of preparation for life after the program is helping our residents to develop and maintain healthy relationships. Get ­ting involved with the wrong people is a major contributor to re ­lapse.   Inadequate relationship skills are  a tremendous source of stress for newly recovering people with they try to live with others. The truth is, most addicts come from dysfunctional fami ­lies. They already struggle with codependency long before their first use of drugs or alcohol. Getting high. for many, provides a temporary release from their lack of self-confidence and toxic shame issues that handicap them in their relationships with others. Guess what? Just because they stop using alcohol and drugs, all of this doesn’t automatically go away. Sobriety gives them a chance to finally begin to work on these issues. If they don’t, their chances of success are greatly diminished.

B. Role of the Church – The Church certainly offers a lot to recovering people by pro ­viding both spiritual and social support. SRI Gallup’s 1992 survey of   recovery from homelessness concluded that spirituality (a growing relationship with Christ) was the number one factor that con ­tributed to the success of those they studied. They noted, “This spirituality seems to not only strengthen a person individually, it also seems to be the basis for commonality in building relationships with other people.” So, we must be intentional about connecting mission program participants to a solid, healthy relationship with the Body of Christ, which is often one of the most difficult challenges we face in mission programs.

The solution lies in identifying those fellowships in our com ­munity that are most “recovery friendly” and to cultivate relationships with them. This could involve personal visits with their leaders, luncheon meetings and tours at the mission, and training programs specifically geared toward helping both pastors and lay people to understand and support our people as they become in ­volved in their congregations.

C. Getting Connected with Other Christians in Recovery – There is still another extremely valuable resource out there that has yet to be fully understood and utilized – the Christian who is himself in recovery! There is a wonderful phenomenon afoot that has been loosely called the “Christian Recovery Movement”. It has been manifested by literally thousands of support groups springing up in churches around the globe where Christ is the “Higher Power.” These groups are to be found in practically any major city of North America, and in some overseas – Overcomers Outreach, Alcoholics for Christ, Alcoholics Victorious, etc. There are no better people to serve as a “bridge” between the mission and the Church than believers who are themselves over ­coming addiction. They can relate in a very special way to the struggles of mission clients, because they’ve been through many of them.

We must find these people by visiting support groups our ­selves, contacting large churches in our cities to see if they have such programs, and in some cases sponsoring such groups our ­selves.   Like churches, support groups vary significantly, one from an ­other. So, I encourage program personnel to never send people to groups we have not personally visited. And, it’s impor ­tant to meet with the leaders of these groups to get to know them personally and help them to become familiar with the mission and its recovery program.

 

From RESCUE Magazine, June 1997, journal of the Association of Gospel Rescue Misisons

 

Addiction Counseling, Program Administration No comments yet

Once an Alcoholic, Always an Alcoholic?

By on April 19th, 2015

What about those who say, “Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic? Doesn’t that deny God’s ability to change a person?” I have been asked this question often as I have conducted workshops with rescue mission workers and people from other Christian groups.   Usually, though, it prompted by a failure to distinguish between the spiritual issue called “drunkenness” and the therapeutic/medical condition called “alcoholism.” Anyone working to bring real healing and lasing change to addicts and alcoholics, must have this issue clearly resolved in their own minds.

Here are a few issues to consider:

A.  Release from compulsion is a reality –  Those who react negatively to this phrase usually interpret it to mean that an addicted individual is condemned to live under the constant danger of slipping into drunkenness against his own will.   This, of course, would be a definite denial of God’s power to change the addict and empower him to live a victorious life.   The truth is that many believers do testify of an experience where the power of the Spirit of God actually lifted   the compulsive desire to use alcohol and drugs from them.   Some others, though, do struggle with re-occurring bouts of intense temptation to use again.   In some cases, this actually has a physiological basis which has been called “post-acute withdrawal syndrome.”   If we are mindful of this, it can actually comfort someone struggling and help them through these times, instead of making them feel guilty.   Additionally, after an experience of salvation, the newly reborn addict still needs special support to assist him to contend with all the lingering consequences of a life of bondage to addictive substances.

B.  The physical dimension of addiction –  When God delivers an addict from the compulsion to drink, he is no longer a “drunkard” in the spiritual sense.   Yet, he is   still a recovering alcoholic or addict in the therapeutic sense.   What separates the “heavy drinker” from the addict is the lack of ability to stop using alcohol  once drinking has started.   I often tell people,   “It’s not how much you drink, or how often you drink; it’s what happens to you once you start – you just can’t stop, even when you want to!”   On a physiological level, anyone who has become an addict will always be “sensitized” to alcohol and/or drugs.   Even very limited use of the “drug of choice” can “activate” the chemical mechanisms of addiction leading to compulsive use and behavior.   Total abstinence, therefore, is a must.   This physical aspect of addiction will remain with the recovering person until he is glorified by the Lord and receives his new body.   With the acknowledgment of this fact, the recovering person will be all the more diligent to abstain from drinking or casual drug use.   He or she recognizes the dire consequences of even “moderate” alcohol or drug use.   If the recovering addict remains abstinent, this physical consequence of addiction will not otherwise effect his life and Christian walk.

C.  Overcoming the “fall-out” of addiction –  A life of addiction results in destructive attitudes, distorted emotions, and warped patterns of thinking.   These do not simply disappear when an addict experiences spiritual rebirth.   Calling a person a   “recovering” addict or alcoholic also implies that he or she is actively overcoming the lingering problems of an addicted lifestyle through involvement in a definite program of personal growth.   Some of the deep-seated attitudes that keep an addict locked in his addiction include; pride and grandiosity, rebellion against authority, dishonesty, manipulation, blame-shifting, resentments, procrastination, etc.   While these “character defects” are common problems with practically all addicts, unless they are “hit head-on” they will lead to defeat.

 

— Michael Liimatta is the former Director of Education for Association of Gospel Rescue Missions, where he served for 17 years.   For more of his writing and audio workshops online go to the Guideto Effective Rescue Mission Recovery Programs.

 

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Secular Recovery Principles in Christian Programs

By on April 7th, 2015

How can we properly use ideas, principles, and techniques from the secular treatment community in rescue mission recovery programs?

A. Stay true to the scriptures – Anything we use in rescue ministry — whether in the area of fund-raising, business practices, or rehabilitation — must be subjected to the light of the Word of God.   Therefore, we must throw out any principles or philosophies that contradict God’s Word!   Christian counselors must reject any philosophy or approach that lifts from a sinner his sense of responsibility for his own actions and his need for repentance and brokenness at the Cross of Christ. The Bible is perfectly clear on the fact that real, lasting change can only occur when an individual can experience true repentance — which implies a sense of personal accountability for his actions and their consequences.

B. Be discerning – A creationist scientist will reach a set of conclusions on a certain geological formation that is very different from those of his evolutionist counterpart.   In a similar fashion, while dealing with factual data, conclusions reached by non-Christian researchers or counselors often reflect a godless “world-view.”   Despite this dilemma, we must not reject the whole body of factual knowledge about addiction and successful treatment approaches that is accessible and useful to us as Christian counselors.

C. Use what you can and discard the rest – Certainly, some of the ideas that are coming out of the secular treatment world do contradict the scriptures (especially on the topics of morality and spirituality).   Yet, many of the successful methods they use to establish addicts in a life of sobriety have their origins in the Word of God!   In a very real sense, they have re-discovered some deep spiritual principles that have been almost lost to the modern Western Church.   Some of these are: the power of accountable relationships, the healing nature of deep and intimate sharing between believers, the indisputable connection between rigorous honesty and true spirituality, and the principle of comforting others through sharing how the Lord brought us through similar situations (2 Corinthians. 1:3-7).   While secular and atheistic people may see these principles in a totally different light, we ought to be able to discern, with the Holy Spirit’s help, what aspects of this field of knowledge we can integrate into our mission programs without compromising on revealed truth.

 

 

Rescue Magazine Summer 1993