Weekly Homework for Individuals in Recovery.

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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Creating Life from the Possibility of Acceptance.

One of the most powerful of principles is that of acceptance.  Acceptance creates possibility in your life.  For me acceptance is the key to recovery and transformation.  It is that from which we experience of sense of serenity and peace, and with it our power as human beings.  Without acceptance we are at the mercy of life happening.

Below is one of the most powerful passages that exists.  The passage on acceptance comes from the Big Book, page 449 in the third edition and 417 in the fourth edition.

“And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today.  When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation – some fact of my life  - unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.  Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God’s world by mistake.  Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober, unless I accept life completely on life’s terms, I cannot be happy.  I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes.”

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