The following essay written by Hugh Taft-Morales of the Ethical Humanist Society of Philadelphia, outlines a humanist approach towards a naturalistic spirituality for those who don’t hold a traditional belief in God, or subscribe to religious orthodoxy. A genuinely ‘spiritual, not religious’ perspective that suggests a ‘spirituality of the actual’, a ‘spirituality of the possible’, […]
By Steve K. Today I’m 15 years alcohol free. I don’t want or need to drink to escape life anymore, whatever life brings my way, good or bad. Addiction recovery, for me, both in a physical and emotional sense, has been a long, slow process of change and growth. It started a long time before […]
By Steve K. Adversity quite often brings out the best and worst in people and during these past few weeks I’ve observed both light and dark within myself. I’ve experienced my ego’s sense of threat react selfishly, mainly in the form of resentment, in response to the government’s restrictions upon my freedom, but also felt […]
By Austin Frakt and Aaron E. Carroll. An updated systematic review shows AA performs better than some other common treatments and is less expensive. For a long time, medical researchers were unsure whether Alcoholics Anonymous worked better than other approaches to treating people with alcohol use disorder. In 2006, a review of the evidence concluded we didn’t have enough […]
By Steve K. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) suggests that “selfishness – self-centeredness” (p.62) is the root cause of the alcoholic’s problems. That they are “driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking and self-pity.” (1) There is no doubt that addiction, of any description, quite often leads to self-centered and selfish behavior. Addiction tends to […]
By William White, M.A. and Ernest Kurtz, Ph.D. One of the central messages of the New Recovery Advocacy Movement is the declaration that there are many pathways and styles of long-term recovery from severe alcohol and other drug problems. This message is of historical note, but it is not surprising. The recovery advocates who have […]
By Steve K. As a member of a 12-Step fellowship I’m aware of the ongoing debate in relation to using the terms “recovered” vs “recovering” alcoholic or addict. Ultimately, how someone describes themselves is a personal matter of preference and relates to their self-perception. I also think that how they interpret the above terms dictates […]
By Katie MacBride. In 1979, Bruce Alexander, a researcher at Simon Fraser University, separated rats into two cages, a stimulating one and an isolated one, and gave them morphine in order to measure the effect of environment on addiction rates. The so-called “Rat Park” experiment was intended to debunk some of the flawed understanding around […]
By William L White. A talk given at the NorthEast Treatment Centers (NET) in Philadelphia, PA celebrating its recovery services at its 40th Anniversary, April 14, 2010. Many of us in this room know that addiction is contagious. Addiction was not a purpose we set out to achieve. We grew up in a world that castigated people […]
By Steve K. In the field of addiction studies there is an ongoing debate in relation to how much voluntary choice is involved in addiction to alcohol and other drugs. During a recovery group discussion meeting that I attended recently different viewpoints were expressed in relation to this topic. The majority of the people involved […]
By Steve K. Human beings have evolved with inherent needs for physical, psychological, emotional, social, and many would suggest, spiritual connection. If these needs are unmet, neglected, or abused in the developmental years of childhood and adolescence they often result in lifelong difficulties with intrapersonal (within self), interpersonal (with others), and transpersonal (beyond the self) […]
By Steve K. I’ve often heard it said in AA meetings that “the opposite of addiction is connection.” A phrase popularised in recent years by the writer and journalist Johann Hari. Thinking about my own experience of addiction and recovery I wholeheartedly agree with Hari’s assertion – connection is certainly a key antidote to the […]
By Steve K. In the chapter “We Agnostics” in the book ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’ (aka Big Book), it suggests that agnostics and atheists can often struggle with the concept of God; due to “a particular idea” with which they were conditioned with during childhood. “Perhaps we rejected this particular conception because it seemed inadequate. With that […]
By Steve K. The following two articles are in relation to the nature of emotional growth and sobriety. They can be used as a helpful reference point for those in recovery from addiction interested in the process of growth and change. The first is by Clinical and Transpersonal Psychologist Ingrid Clayton Ph.D. in relation to […]
By Steve K. I recently attended a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) in which the group secretary criticised group members for “too much cross-sharing.” She was referring to group members’ sharing supportively towards a member of the group who’d recently experienced a relapse and was clearly feeling distressed and ashamed of themselves. The sharing was […]
By Steve K. One of the many platitudes heard in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is “that you cannot get recovery by osmosis.” I disagree with this glib statement in certain respects. Apart from its meaning relating to biology/chemistry the term osmosis is commonly used to describe the ‘gradual or unconscious assimilation of ideas, […]
