Tag Archives: AA

Weekly Homework for Individuals in Recovery.

Posted on by Dr Harry Henshaw

Many individuals going into treatment for drug and alcohol dependency have questions about what to do when admitted to a program.  While the opinions and suggestions given to them will vary from program to program and even person to person, the following are five things that someone can stay present to as they move through treatment.

1.  To read and take notes from either the NA or AA text.  In addition to needing to know what the program of recovery is truly about, it also important to take notes as one read either the Basic Text or the Big Book.  There will be a tendency to forget, hence the need to take notes.

2.  Attend AA or NA meetings daily.  Attendance helps keep one in the conversation of recovery.

3.  Work on and complete “Step One.”  While the person will do it again once they get a sponsor after the treatment program, it is good practice to engage the process while in treatment.

4,  Write out your “Counseling Agenda” each week before your counseling session. Having an agenda written down allows you to stay focused on what you need to talk about and work on and also creates the space for being responsible for your situation.

5.  Work on and complete your “recovery plan” one week before your discharge.  Having a plan helps to ensure that you will actually engage the program immediately upon your discharge.  Having no written plan will usually amount to little action on the individual’s part.

The idea is to review these five things with the staff and especially with your counselor in order to evaluate your progress in the treatment program.

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Dealing with Breakdowns makes a difference in Recovery.

Posted on by Dr Harry Henshaw

Success in recovery, or rather, staying in recovery, is dependent upon a variety of factors. For example, it appears that attending daily NA or AA meetings and staying in communication with ones chosen sponsor will definitely assist an individual in successfully implementing his recovery plan. Getting and staying committed to working the 12 Step Program also appears to increase the probability of the person staying abstinent from drugs and alcohol. While the above-mentioned elements of a persons overall recovery plan are crucial to his recovery, another major factor that will greatly influence an individual’s continued abstinence is how he is able to handle the breakdowns that happen in life.

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Communication and Following Suggestions for Recovery.

Posted on by Dr Harry Henshaw

There are some “steps” necessary before someone can successfully complete the twelve step program of either AA or NA.  While someone can learn these as they start the process and in some cases will only be learn them by engaging in the step work, the “steps” before the steps are fundamentally necessary for completing them.   The ‘steps” to which I refer are about communicating with another human being and following suggestions.

The first has to do with communication.  No recovery or transformation takes place without communcating with another human being.  For those in recovery this will appear as communication with a sponsor or therapist or hopefully both.  Changing or transforming by oneself will eventually turn out to be very difficult if not impossible for most individuals.  We tend to repeat that which we have.  To get something new we have to look to another human being to assist us in our getting it, in our transformation.

The second “step” has to do with following suggestions.  Following suggestions is fundamental to transforming our life.  Many people early in recovery have a great deal of difficulty following suggestions and tend to believe that they know how to do recovery or want to do it their way, possibly the easier, softer way.  To do recovery the way it was meant to be done a person has to follow suggestions, especially from his or her sponsor or therapist.

In the process of recovery these two “steps” work together.  For one to do recovery the way it was meant to be done and to do it completely, he or she has to communicate with another human being and in that communication be able to follow the suggestions given.  If one does not connect with another he or she will not follow the suggestions of another human being further along in recovery and will have a tendency to generate the same as that which was done in the past.  The past will continue to repeat itself until we connect with another and take suggestions designed to transform our life.

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Recovery involves being able to deal with Breakdowns.

Posted on by Dr Harry Henshaw
Success in recovery, or rather, staying in recovery, is dependent upon a variety of factors.   For example, it appears that attending daily NA or AA meetings and staying in communication with ones chosen sponsor will definitely assist an individual in successfully implementing his recovery plan.  Getting and staying committed to working the 12 Step Program also appears to increase the probability of the person staying abstinent from drugs and alcohol.  While the above-mentioned elements of a persons overall recovery plan are crucial to his recovery, another major factor that will greatly influence an individual’s continued abstinence is how he is able to handle the breakdowns that happen in life.
Knowing about breakdowns, what they are and how to manage them, is absolutely necessary for one to stay committed to his recovery plan.  Breakdowns are what brought an individual into treatment and eventually created the space for him to begin his recovery.  Breakdowns also happen while a person is in treatment and will continue to take place after he leaves.  Even after successfully completing a treatment program, breakdowns are almost certain to happen as one returns to the community from which he came.  In fact, both the client and his counselor should expect breakdowns to occur after treatment.  It is for this reason that knowledge of the structure of breakdowns and how to transform them is very important if not crucial for the individual wanting recovery.