| Here one way to look at phases of recovery, | | | | anger toward others who do not have your affliction |
| milestones to mark your progress. Addiction recovery | | | | or getting on the pity pot with the 'poor me's'. Defiance |
| can be thought of as moving through these five | | | | and anger can also be a block toward connecting and |
| phases: | | | | resolving with your emotions and feelings that underlie |
| 1. Admission of a problem | | | | the blanketing emotion of anger. |
| This is the key starting point. If there is no addiction | | | | 4. Acceptance |
| problem then there certainly is no need for a solution to | | | | One of my favorite philosophers was Popeye The |
| addiction. There is a certain logic to that. What would | | | | Sailor Man, he used to say "I y'am what I y'am". |
| prevent someone from admitting they have an | | | | However you come to accept your addiction whether |
| addiction problem? Well, how about memory distortion | | | | you believe it is a no fault illness, or you simple got |
| caused by their chemical dependency. There is a | | | | dealt a bad hand in life, accepting your addiction allows |
| jazzy phrase called 'euphoric recall' which is the | | | | you to move out of the problem and into the solution. |
| tendency to only remember the good times and | | | | People who are accepting are generally less |
| positive experiences of using. That is half of the | | | | defensive and have a greater sense of emotional and |
| equation, at the same time we are suppressing or | | | | personal identity. Acceptance is the first step toward |
| refusing to remember the far more numerous times | | | | beginning to trust yourself and others, and open the |
| where indulging in the addiction has caused pain and | | | | possibilities of self-evaluation. |
| embarrassment. Another block to admitting the | | | | 5. Surrender |
| problem is our distorted defense mechanisms, such as | | | | We are not talking about submission but rather |
| minimizing, rationalizing and good old fashioned denial. If | | | | surrender they are very different. Submission is a |
| we get to the point that we acknowledge there is a | | | | temporary yielding, it tends to leave the escape hatch |
| problem and want to do something about it now, we | | | | of returning to the addiction open. There is an |
| can move on to the next phase of recovery which is | | | | implication of force being used or submitting against |
| compliance. | | | | your will. Surrender can be thought of as wholehearted |
| 2. Compliance | | | | acceptance and compliance. It is a voluntary action |
| What is meant by compliance here is going along with | | | | and does not mean being defeated as does |
| the most important seeing and agreeing to the concept | | | | submission, but rather a conscious decision not to |
| of abstinence. This early phase of recovery usually | | | | participate. A boxer who has been knocked out has |
| involves little emotional insight into the whys of the | | | | submitted to the power of his opponent. A boxer who |
| addiction; the concentration is simply on 'don't do it? on | | | | has retired and does not climb in the ring any more has |
| a daily basis. Once we accept compliance as a | | | | surrendered to the idea that he no longer chooses to |
| necessary part of recovery, we can move toward the | | | | fight. |
| whys and wherefores. But it is not unusual to pass | | | | In summing up the points made above we can say |
| through the next phase of recovery which is defiance. | | | | that progress in addiction recovery can be made by |
| 3. Defiance | | | | admitting there is a problem and seeing the need for |
| Defiance can rear its head in several ways the most | | | | change. We move through negativity and emotional |
| damaging is in the form of believing that the terms of | | | | blocks to our recovery to arrive at a point of |
| addiction don't apply to me. Picking and choosing what | | | | acceptance. Our acceptance of the need to change |
| is to be done and not. done An example might be | | | | eventually moves through an attitude of being |
| rejection of continuing care believing that is for others | | | | defeated to voluntarily seeking a better life. Stringing |
| not me, or I have been 'good' for awhile I deserve to | | | | these concepts together can be viewed as |
| use again now that I proved I can quit. Another | | | | movement through the phases of recovery. |
| example of defiance can be becoming engaged in | | | | |