Many recovery programs focus on spirituality as a means of overcoming addiction and maintaining sobriety. 12-Step recovery, for example, focuses on experiencing a spiritual awakening and living a spiritual life to achieve sobriety. Others, like Refuge Recovery, are founded in the spiritual principles of Buddhism and utilize the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path. The point, however, is not to create divisions along varying lines of belief. Rather, by developing our own conception of the spiritual and attempting to live our life alone spiritual lines, we can effectively change the way we perceive and react to the world, allowing us to maintain our sobriety and our serenity. The development and adherence to spiritual principles can help us maintain our sobriety and exercise coping mechanisms when faced with difficult situations that would otherwise cause us to seek refuge in alcohol and drugs. Spirituality can play an important role in mental health and has recently been utilized by professionals in several areas. Dr. Kenneth I. Pargament, in an interview for the American Psychological Association entitled What Role Do Religion and Spirituality Play in Mental Health, explains, “Psychologists are now developing and evaluating a variety of spiritually integrated approaches to treatment, including: forgiveness programs to help divorced people come to terms with bitterness and anger; programs to help survivors of sexual abuse deal with their spiritual struggles; treatments for women with eating disorders that draw on their spiritual resources; and programs that help drug abusers re-connect to their higher selves. These programs are still in their early stages of development, but the preliminary results are promising.” The spiritual life is one that is conducive to maintaining not only our sobriety, but also our sense of happiness and wellbeing. The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous explains, “My friend had emphasized the absolute necessity of demonstrating these principles in all my affairs. Particularly was it imperative to work with others as he had worked with me. Faith without works is dead, he said. And how appallingly true for the alcoholic! For if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead. If he did not work, he would surely drink again, and if he drank, he would surely die.” When we do our best each day to live by the spiritual principles of recovery, we will have little trouble maintaining our sobriety.
Your story can be one of courage and redemption. You can begin building a life of serenity by making the decision to seek help today. Oceanfront Recovery, located in beautiful Laguna Beach, provides a modern, safe, and comfortable living environment free from stressors so you can focus on what really matters—your recovery and your path to a better life. For information about individualized treatment options, please call today: (877) 279-1777
