Geoff Thompson, MA, CCC

Geoff Thompson, Program Director for Sunshine Coast Health Centre, discusses the idea that being spiritual makes the negative less negative and the positive more positive.

Geoff Thompson, MA, CCC

Geoff Thompson, Program Director for Sunshine Coast Health Centre, talks about the difficulty of defining what spirituality really is.

Geoff Thompson, MA, CCC

Geoff Thompson, Program Director for Sunshine Coast Health Centre, talks about the importance of connecting with others on a deep human level rather than just on a superficial level.

Geoff Thompson, MA, CCC

Geoff Thompson, Program Director for Sunshine Coast Health Centre, talks about Ernest Hemingway’s catch phrase, “… grace under pressure” and facing struggles in life heroically rather than as a victim.

By Geoff Thompson
Program Director
Sunshine Coast Health Center

Spirituality is a hot topic today. Bookstores are filled with works on ‘Mindfulness’, ‘Purpose-driven life’, Ekert Tolle’s and Wayne Dyer’s bestsellers, and so on. In this blog article, we’ll examine a little more in depth the nature of spirituality.

There is good reason to spend some time thinking about spirituality. If you are involved in the 12-step program, then you know that Bill Wilson considered alcoholism a “spiritual” disorder, which required a “spiritual” solution. If you are a fan of psychology, then you know that cutting-edge research has concluded that good recovery is linked with ‘spirituality’—and poor recovery with a lack of ‘spirituality’.

So, everyone agrees that ‘spirituality’ is very important to live a great life in recovery. The problem is that nobody seems to be able to tell us what exactly this ‘spirituality’ thing is.

In a previous article, we looked at two ideas that seem to have something to do with ‘spirituality’. Alumni talked about their experiences with coincidences that seemed to be more than just accidental (synchronicity), and Joseph Campbell said that when you live the life that is true to you, then you will feel as if “hidden hands” are helping you along. We also chose three common things about ‘spirituality’ that just about everyone agrees with: spirituality is a good thing, it inspires hope for the future, it is a way of living.

In this article, we’ll look at the idea that the power of spirituality is that it allows people to live a personally meaningful life. This won’t surprise alumni who were at Sunshine Coast when we put the new program in place, which emphasizes the importance of meaning and purpose in life.

The new treatment model is called ‘meaning-centered therapy’, developed by Dr. Paul Wong. Wong believes that spirituality can provide a way to live meaningfully. And he’s not alone. As one example, the Association of American Medical Colleges Consensus Conference for Spirituality and Health defined spirituality as “every person’s inherent search for ultimate meaning and purpose in life.” So even the medical doctors are on board with this.

Here’s the basic idea: There is ‘something’ going on in the world beyond what you and I see in everyday life, some sort of benevolent force that provides order to life. If you discover this ‘something’, then you realize very quickly that there is a lot more to life than the limited, narrow-minded view many have in active addiction. By joining with this Force, we find a sense of belonging. We realize that life is valuable and worthwhile. Being spiritual means that we join with the Force.

Suffering as Part of Spirituality

If spirituality is acceptance that there is something ‘bigger’ happening in life, then even the suffering in life must have some sort of meaning. There must be some sort of logic in the experience of suffering.

Psychologist Ken Hart has just completed a very interesting research project on addiction and spirituality. Part of the study was to test Viktor Frankl’s idea that happiness depends on finding meaning in suffering. And Hart’s research data indicated that Frankl was right. Those who found meaning in their drug-induced suffering had a better quality of life than did those who dismissed their suffering as merely a place of pain and misery—that is, suffering was of no value and had no purpose.

Last year, we asked alumni at Sunshine Coast Health Center to tell us their thoughts on their personal experience of hitting bottom. The answers were remarkable. Those who avoided thinking about their suffering or who dismissed the drug days were all struggling in their recovery. But those who told us that they realized that hitting bottom was a necessary step on their journey to happiness were all doing well.

Knowing this, Sunshine Coast counsellors are concerned when they hear a client say: ‘I don’t want to think about the old days; I’m starting a new life’. We worry because psychology tells us that their lives will actually improve if they reflect on their old way of life and make some sense of it.

Here are three ways our alumni have made sense of the old days in active addiction. Some see it as a gift: “I would never have known how amazing life could be if I didn’t hit bottom.” This is the idea that you have to go to Hell to find Heaven. Some see it as part of a meaningful life: “I should have been dead a hundred times; there must be some reason why I’m still on this Earth.” Some see it as a necessary step to wake up to life: “When I hit bottom, I realized that I’d better get on with living.”

At Sunshine Coast, we remind clients that this was what happened to actor Christopher Reeve when he broke his spine, to Viktor Frankl at Auschwitz concentration camp, to many people when they were diagnosed with cancer or HIV, and so on. These people were not victims of their biology or circumstances because they “tapped into their spiritual core,” as Frankl put it.

Those people who have no ‘bigger’ picture of their lives believe that suffering is 100 percent pain. Self-proclaimed spiritual people, such as Frankl, are able to find meaning in suffering—in other words, because of spirituality, suffering is much more than just pain.

Spirituality is Attitude, Experience, Creativity

Frankl helped us understand some of the concrete, daily activities that are part of ‘spirituality’. If it’s true that the essential component of spirituality is that it provides meaning in life, then there are specific things you can do to achieve this. According to Frankl, you need three things: develop a positive attitude, experience what life has to offer, make the world a little better place to live. 

You need a positive attitude. Silly as it may sound, we need to see the cup half-full, not half-empty. We ask our alumni to think back to their time at Sunshine Coast. They may remember all the remarkable people they met, or they may still cringe at all the irritating stuff such as people not doing chores, showing up late, pushing their buttons, and so on. There is no scientific reason why we should choose the good over the bad, but Frankl says that remembering the good stuff is necessary for happiness.

Secondly, we need to experience life. In active addiction, we find that our clients often wandered through the universe with blinders on. The things they paid attention to revolved around the drug: how to get it, how to avoid feeling guilty about using, how keep out of trouble at work and home over the drug use, and so on. It’s really quite a pathetic life when you think about it.

According to Frankl, you have to start taking things from the world. Watching a child smile, going to a football game, listening to their favorite songs, watching a good movie, watching a sunset, etc, are all ways of taking something from the world. We are not the child smiling or the one playing professional football or the musician or the movie director or the sunset. But our lives are enriched by paying attention to these blessings.

Thirdly, we have to give something to the world. If we find a cure for cancer, that’s great. But for most of us this means being a good father, friend, employer/employee, lover, neighbor, citizen, member of a congregation, etc. These are what Frankl called acts of creativity.

If we can put these three things together in a way that is personal, then, according to Frankl, we will be living a personally meaningful life. And the byproduct of this life is happiness. Perhaps attitude, experience, and creativity are three components of what it means to be ‘spiritual’.

Spirituality is Living for more than Yourself

Spirituality is often interpreted as recognizing that all of us are in this thing called ‘life’ together. If we believe in a religious God, then we recognize that everyone is created in His image. In 12-step programs, a common saying is, “God doesn’t make mistakes.” If spirituality is based on some idea of Nature, then we may recognize that we are part of nature. In other words, spirituality offers a sense of belonging to a greater whole. 

If we recognize that we belong to a greater reality, then we might follow psychologist Paul Wong’s advice and “not live life just for ourselves.” Dr. Wong believes that happiness is a result of positive relationships with others. He’s a great believer that happiness depends on living life not only for yourself but for others.

Here’s an example we hear from Sunshine Coast alumni. Those who are thriving in their recovery have figured out how to live for more then themselves. Some are now little-league coaches, some have used their jobs as an opportunity to help their community by setting up Eco projects, some have volunteered at the SPCA or seniors’ home, some have become involved in 12-step volunteer activities, and so on.

A warning. Some alumni seem to have lived their lives only for others. This is also not a good idea. We talk to our alumni who tell us that they are craving drugs again because their family is on their case. Attempting to control the family, they choose their words careful so as not to “give my wife an excuse” to criticize, they go to meetings to “keep the family off my back,” etc. In other words, they give up being true to themselves to appease others. This is definitely not what Dr. Wong means when he says to live life beyond yourself.

Most alumni who are struggling in recovery are usually living life only for themselves. They have pursued a job because it would give them lots of money. Others sit in the house hoping that the phone will ring, others are so wrapped up in a blanket of their own depression or anger that they have little interaction with others, others are too afraid to take risks of setting boundaries or take risks even to challenge their fears.

Spirituality is Making Sense of Life

Aaron Antonovsky recognized that some people are much better able to cope with stress and challenges better than others. Those who did not seem to be resilient often fell ill to disease and suffering. But those who had resilience had fewer health problems and more happiness in life. So he studied what it was about people that made them better able to cope with life’s problems.

He concluded that the key was ‘meaning’. They were able to make sense of their lives in a way that worked for them. Those who were not able to make sense of their lives fell victim to stress and challenge. He called this a Sense of Coherence or SOC. If someone believes his life is predictable, manageable, and worth emotional investment, then Antonovsky says the person has a high SOC. On the other hand, if he finds his life confusing, unpredictable, unmanageable, and not really worth an effort to save it, then Antonovsky says he has a low SOC.

He even developed a test to measure SOC. Interestingly, researchers discovered that SOC and spirituality were closely related. Those who scored high on SOC tests also scored high on spirituality. Those who scored low on SOC tests also scored low on spirituality.

Based on this research it seems reasonable to say that someone who is ‘spiritual’ also makes sense of his life in a way that leads to happiness. He finds life predictable, manageable, and worth living and fighting for.

It should be no surprise that the SOC test has been used extensively in recovery, and research has shown that those who score high on SOC also do well in recovery. Go figure, eh…

By Daniel Jordan
General Manager
Sunshine Coast Health Center

In one of my web surfing sessions I happened to come across a YouTube video showing an interview with Carl Gustav Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist. Not only is this a rare glimpse into the world of a master therapist it is, to me, an account of the ‘inner void’ that seems to lie at the core of addiction. 

For those that prefer not to watch the entire video, the key section of the video (2:22 - 7:54) has been transcribed as follows:

Background

Jung: A case where there was an intelligent, young woman, she was a student of philosophy, very good mind; where one would expect easily that she would see that I am not the parental authority but she was utterly unable to get out of this delusion. And, in such a case, one always has recourse to dreams: it was just as if one would ask the unconscious “now what do you say to such a condition?” You see, she says in her conscious “of course I know you are not my father but I just feel like that; it is like that: I depend on you …”

The Therapy Session

Jung: Now let’s see what the unconscious says. Now the unconscious produced dreams in which I really assume the very curious role … she was the little infant, she was sitting on my knees; I held her in my arms. I was really tender father to the little girl. And, more and more, the dreams became empathic in that respect; namely that I was a sort of giant; and she a very little, very human, thing you know like a little girl in the hands of an enormous being; and the last dream of that series was … I cannot tell you all the dreams; was I was out in nature, I stood in a field of wheat that was ripe for harvest and I was a giant and I held her in my arms like a baby and the wind was blowing that field of wheat. Now you know when the wind is blowing over a wheat field there is waves; and with these waves I swayed as if putting her to sleep and she felt as if being in the arms of a god; of the godhead.

“Now the harvest is ripe, and I must tell her. And I told her, “what you want and what you project into me - because you are not conscious of it - that is, you have the idea of a deity you don’t possess. Therefore you see it in me. That clicked.”

“She suddenly became aware of an entirely heathenish image that comes fresh from the archetype. She had no idea of a Christian God or an Old Testament Yahweh. It was a heathenish God, a God of nature, of vegetation, he was the wheat himself, the spirit of the wind; and was in the arms of that numen.” *

(*) Numen - a god or spirit believed to inhabit a place or being.

Jung’s Interpretation

Jung: That is the living experience of an archetype. That made a tremendous impression upon that girl and instantly clicked. She saw what she really was missing; that missing value, which was in the form of a projection in myself and made myself indispensible to her. She saw he’s [Jung] not indispensible; because it as the dream says, it is in the arms of that archetype … idea. That is a numinous experience. And that is the thing people are looking for: an archetypal experience, that gives them an incorruptible value. They depend upon other conditions, they depend upon their desires; their ambitions; they depend upon other people because they have no value in themselves. They have nothing in themselves. They are only rational, they are not in possession of a treasure that would make them independent.

“But when that girl can hold that experience then she doesn’t depend any more; she cannot depend any more; because that value is in herself, and that is a sort of liberation.”

“And that, of course, makes her complete. Inasmuch she can realize such a luminous experience, she is able to continue her path, her way, her individuation.”

WHY THE FASCINATION WITH THIS VIDEO

Despite it’s title, neither transference * nor archetypes is central to my interest in this video. Furthermore, dream analysis is typically not a technique we utilize at Sunshine Coast Health Center. ** So why, you may ask, the fascination with this video? For me, it’s the “numinous experience” described by Dr. Jung as the moment when his client, the philosophy student, was able to free herself from her unhealthy fixation on Dr. Jung.

Obviously, Dr. Jung is not some sort of drug but, according to Dr. Jung himself, his client was “dependent” on him as a father figure. From my personal experience with our chemically dependent clients, there seems to be an inner void (clients often call it their ‘donut hole’) that finds them grasping for anything external: drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, sex, gambling, anarchy, etc. Those clients that complete addiction treatment and go on to live happy lives seem to discover an inner “treasure” that, as Dr. Jung points out, makes them independent, complete, liberated.

(*) Transference: the emotional bond that develops on the client towards his analyst/therapist.

(**) Note: Sunshine Coast Health Center does, however, use depth psychology, which is related to archetypal psychology in that they both employ the model of the unconscious mind as the source of healing and development in the individual.

BILL WILSON’S ‘WHITE LIGHT EXPERIENCE’

For Bill Wilson, a similar moment of transformation was the beginning of long-term recovery for the famous founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. During Wilson’s fourth admittance to Towns Hospital in 1934, Bill Wilson recalls his ‘white light’ experience: “Suddenly the room lit up with a great white light. I was caught up into an ecstasy which there are no words to describe. It seemed to me, in the mind’s eye, that I was on a mountain and that a wind not of air but of spirit was blowing. And then it burst upon me that I was a free man.” *

Source: Kurtz, Ernest (1979) Not-God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous, pgs. 19-20.

CONCLUSION

I will be the first to admit that these peak experiences are rare and that holds true for the clients at our alcohol and drug rehab program. For them, addiction recovery is more gradual, with repeated advances and retreats. Regardless of how long it takes, however, the objective of personal transformation remains valid.

Oftentimes, it’s a difference in language. For example, what Dr. Jung calls a “luminous” or “archetypal” experience, we at Sunshine Coast Health Center call “personal transformation.” The end result of such an experience, what Dr. Jung calls “incorruptible value,” we call “meaning and purpose.” However, this video, if anything, further reinforces my sense that our current approach to treatment is heading in the right direction.

Geoff Thompson, MA, RCC

Geoff Thompson, Program Director for Sunshine Coast Health Centre, discusses why it is important not only to live in the present, but to keep an eye on the future.

By Geoff Thompson, MA, CCC                                                                                                                  Program Director

Psychologist Paul Wong, whose work forms part of the basis for the clinical program at Sunshine Coast Health Center, just published his latest book on meaning and purpose. He outlines the theory and research on the importance of living a personally meaningful life. Dr. Wong’s ideas spring from the argument that there are two fundamental motivations in an individual: “(a) to survive, and (b) to find the meaning and reason for survival.”

For those of you who were at Sunshine Coast Health Center in the past year, you know that meaning and purpose has become a major theme in our treatment.

Dr. Wong’s book includes his Meaning Management Theory (MMT). Essentially, he says that we have to manage how we seek meaning and how we create meaning. We need to manage this part of our lives because “Life is too short and too valuable to waste on things that don’t really matter.” MMT helps us “understand who we are (identity), what really matters (values), where we are headed (purpose), and how to live the good life in spite of suffering and death (happiness).” MMT is not so much concerned with what job we should do or where we should live or how to balance a cheque book; rather, it is about how we can live life to the fullest.

His book provides several principles for managing our inner lives, which are based on research. In this particular book he applies these principles to how we confront death and dying (It turns out that the best way to “die well” is to “live well.”) But the principles are fundamental to human nature and have been applied in many areas: growing older, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, workplace satisfaction, occupational therapy, depression and anxiety, and creativity, to name a handful.

In this blog article, we’ll look at four of these principles and help you discover how these apply to recovery. We’ll look at one of the following principles: (1) be self-aware, (2) keep an eye on your future, (3) act according to what you value, and (4) be courageous.

FYI: As word of the new program spreads, many addiction experts are contacting us about their meaning-oriented studies. Here are two examples. Dr. Pavel Somov in Philadelphia runs a “Meaning in Life Group” for inmates in recovery. Dr. Ken Hart of the University of Windsor studied a sample of recovering people two years after they had completed treatment for substance dependence and found that their quality of life was closely linked to how well they had managed to live a meaningful life. And, of course, Bill W. believed that alcoholism was a response to a lack of meaningful living. His version was that the alcoholic was the person “who was trying to get his religion out of a bottle, when what he really wanted was unity within himself, unity with God.”

Be Self-aware

One of the principles that Dr. Wong outlines in his book is ‘be self-aware’. If he is correct, then we can predict that those who lack self-awareness will not be happy. And it just so happens that research backs this up.

If we are to be happy and content, then we must know what makes us happy and content—that is, we need to know what gives us meaning. Counsellors at Sunshine Coast Health Center often ask clients, “How are you feeling?” One reason for this is to help the client start paying attention to what is going on inside of them. In active addiction individuals usually try to avoid negative feelings, and if they do this long enough they often start to lose touch with themselves.

Clients at Sunshine Coast just beginning the program often have curious ideas about what makes them feel happy and content. Here is a typical example. A common comment from a new client is, “I’m happy today.” When we explore what this means, it is often equivalent to ‘I feel relieved’ that my family doesn’t hate me or that my partner is willing to keep the relationship going or I now realize that others lied and manipulated to get their way in active addiction. But feeling less guilty or shameful is hardly the same as happiness. It is a sad fact that clients who say ‘I’m happy’ may never have had any real experience of what happiness is.

Another example: A client early in the program told us, “If someone has sex with me, then they love me.” It is very likely that this client does not know what love is. One more example: “I’m happy when I have a lot of money.” This one is quite common with our younger clients, but a mountain of research has shown that, except with the very poor, it simply is not true.

These clients lack self-awareness. They pursue goals that will not lead them to happiness and contentment (relief from guilt, sex, money). Unless they become self-aware of what truly makes them feel content, it is very likely that the cravings will return and be more intense, and relapse will become a real possibility.

Pay Attention to Your Future (your goals)

Another principle that Dr. Wong mentions in his book is to keep an eye on the future. He would help his students understand this by presenting the following: Imagine you are watching Sidney Crosby in a hockey game. What would you think if you saw him merely skating circles around the other team with no plan, no direction? You’d probably wonder what on earth he is doing—he’s just skating in circles, not accomplishing anything. But Crosby’s behavior on ice is never without purpose. He always has his eye on the goal, and everything he does is directed toward the goal.

Most addicts in active addiction have one goal—get and use substances. In other parts of their lives, they pay little attention to goals. It’s unusual to them pursuing close relationships, helping their communities, producing higher quality work, etc. Most often, they simply wander about the universe, reacting to things and people as they appear. They are not purpose-driven; they don’t act, they react.

One of the clearest examples is employment. The jobs that most work at are not carefully chosen for their meaningfulness. Common things we hear from clients at Sunshine Coast Health Center: the job just fell into his lap; his parents found him a job; the job provides a place where he can feel good about himself because the other parts of his life are disasters; the job has no meaning so it doesn’t matter if he gets himself fired or quits; the job is dealing drugs because it provides a ready source of drugs and he can feel like ‘the big man on campus’; the job is useful to provide money for drugs. In other words, most addicts do not work at a job because it is personally meaningful. The ‘purpose’ of working at a particular job is only as a source of self-esteem, a paycheque, etc.

Dr. Wong points out that there is another psychological benefit of keeping an eye on the future. When people are purpose-driven and achieving their goals, then many of their ‘issues’ (depression, anger, etc) naturally melt away without much effort. Those who have a bigger picture of their lives do not obsess about the little things. On the other hand, those who do not have a bigger picture of their lives have only the little things to focus on. Chores, a toothache, paying bills, grocery shopping, and so on become sources of boredom and irritation for those who don’t live a purpose-driven life.

Act According to Your Values

Being congruent means that you act according to your values, and this is another of Dr. Wong’s principles. We can predict that those who are not congruent—that is, whose actions do not match their values—will suffer.

Addicts in active addiction are famous for acting against their values. Loving fathers will steal their kids’ favorite videos to pawn for cash, or Dad will miss a birthday party because he is intoxicated. Loving husbands will lie to and manipulate their lover. Otherwise law-abiding citizens, when intoxicated, will get behind the wheel to drive to the liquor store.

Another example of acting against values is wearing a mask. Those in active addiction tend to present an image to others that hides their true feelings—and, likely, they are trying to hide from themselves.

Your values (what you find meaningful) come from within. This internal part of your life is fantastically more rich and varied than your outward behavior. You may take on different roles in life (lover, employee, etc), but you never escape who you are, that is, what is meaningful to you. At Sunshine Coast when we do our eulogy exercise, almost everyone talks about loving relationships, deep connection with family, integrity, making the world a little better place, helping others. These have meaning for clients, and their happiness depends on their acting according to these values. Many times at Sunshine Coast, however, we witness clients blowing a gasket on their families when we know what the client truly wanted was a deep connection with them.

The key is to act according to these values. At Sunshine Coast Health Center we spend a lot time encouraging clients to be honest, not to distort or deny what is going on because they were afraid or uncomfortable or concerned that they might ‘ruin another client’s recovery’. If something bothers our clients, we encourage them to be open about this and not hide or pretend that they weren’t bothered. This effort is to help them become congruent.

Be Courageous

As Dr. Wong points out in his book, Eastern teachings tell us that “the best defense may be a good offense.” Yet, we have to work at not getting trapped by our defenses. It is natural to make our lives more comfortable by using defense mechanisms. Formally catalogued by Anna Freud (Sigmund Freud’s daughter), defense mechanisms attempt to protect the individual’s core self. Being very intellectual to avoid feeling, being self-centered, and so on are attempts to protect who we are. 

But, as many of our clients at Sunshine Coast discover, these defense mechanisms may actually cause harm because they prevent individuals from taking an honest look at themselves.

Defense mechanisms may harm clients in recovery by preventing them from taking control of their lives. For example, at Sunshine Coast it’s common for clients to ask staff to step in to resolve some personal conflict. They typically say, “I can’t handle this guy” or “I’m just learning how to be the author of my life, but I need you to get this guy out of my face” and so on. When we explore this sort of defense with clients, we almost always find that the client is quite capable of dealing with the issue. The problem is that he doesn’t want to because it makes him uncomfortable. He has to face his fears of being assertive or his fears of conflict. 

Dr. Wong reminds us that courage in facing fear, a good offense, is often the best approach to living. The same clients who may be silent in the face of their fears, also value courage. They like movies where the hero overcomes adversity. They admire Terry Fox. But faced with confronting their own fears…well, that’s the real thing and very uncomfortable.

It takes courage to fight for a better life. The great psychologist Viktor Frankl said that in the toughest times of life we have to dig into our “spiritual core” and awaken our “defiant human spirit.” And Frankl also believed that if he treated his patients as they presented themselves, he would harm them. If he treated them according to what they were capable of, then he helped them.

Bill Wilson, the legendary co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, would find the program at Sunshine Coast Health Center (”Sunshine Coast”) very much to his liking. Sunshine Coast interprets addiction and recovery in the same spirit as Wilson did, the difference being that Sunshine Coast’s program is based on scientific research.

Key points

Influences on Bill Wilson

In 1961, two decades after the birth of AA, Bill Wilson wrote a thank-you letter to Carl Jung for his influence on AA. In the letter, Wilson mentioned the other three influences on the development of AA: William James, William Silkworth, and Samuel Shoemaker (from the Oxford Group).

We know from Bill Wilson’s psychoanalyst, Harry Tiebout, that Wilson read Jung’s work. And we know from the letter that Jung sent to Wilson that the Swiss doctor confirmed Wilson’s interpretation of addiction and recovery, arguing that alcoholism was a spiritual condition that demanded a spiritual solution. In his letter to Wilson, Jung wrote that the alcoholic’s “craving for alcohol was equivalent on a low level of the spiritual thirst for our being for wholeness, expressed in Mediaeval language: the union with God.” He went on to tell Wilson that “You see, alcohol in Latin is “spiritus” and you use the same word for the highest religious experience as well as the most depraving poison. The helpful formula therefore is: spiritus contra spiritum.”

Jung argued if someone suffered from an “unrecognized spiritual need,” then alcoholism was one response. Only spirituality (some conversion experience) was powerful enough to overcome the spirits provided by alcohol.

Bill Wilson learned about William James when a friend gave him a copy of The Varieties of Religious Experience while Wilson was detoxifying in Towns Hospital. In the book, James wrote that getting high on alcohol or nitrous oxide was a mystical experience, one form of religious experience.

William Silkworth had been Wilson’s personal physician. Silkworth had attempted to provide a biological basis for the common observation that alcoholics reacted qualitatively differently to alcohol than non-alcoholics, though Wilson did not share Silkworth’s specific interpretation that the alcoholics had an “allergy.” But what helped Wilson was knowing that there must be a biological basis to alcoholism, that it was not a matter of character weakness or sin.

Strangely, the ‘disease’ concept became linked to AA in the popular mind, though it was never really a fundamental part of AA. Wilson had never taken a medical course and knew nothing of Koch’s postulates that inform our current pathology models. He used the term as a metaphor and emphasized that “Alcoholism is a disease that only a spiritual experience can conquer.” If we take Wilson’s “disease” literally, it is the strangest ‘disease’ in the history of pathology, since no medicine can help the sufferer. That AA became linked to the disease model was likely the result of the public health professionals awarding prizes to AA, promoting the idea that AA’s influence was to interpret addiction as a “disease.” This interpretation was clearly antithetical to Wilson’s idea, which promoted addiction as a “spiritual” condition.

Samuel Shoemaker ran the local Oxford Groups that had helped Wilson and others in their early recovery and provided a rough version of the 12-step strategy: admit there is a problem, confess character defects, make amends for harm, and help others. Despite this early influence and Wilson’s recognition of it, he pulled the early AA out of the Oxford Group in less than a year because he believed that their views were too rigid.

SCHC and Wilson’s Interpretation of Addiction and Recovery

Sunshine Coast is very much in line with the 12-step interpretation of addiction and recovery, the difference is that we base our interpretation on research evidence and psychological theory.

Viktor Frankl had said that “Alcoholism is not understandable unless we recognize the existential vacuum underlying it.” Frankl believed that human beings had an inherent need to make sense of their lives at a deep level. When this need was persistently frustrated, then alcoholism could be one result. Research has confirmed that quality of recovery improves with an increase in personal meaning. Andersen & Berg (2001) conducted longitudinal studies and concluded that meaningful living was linked directly with abstinence, a conclusion that William White (2004) also found. Frankl’s therapy, known as logotherapy, has produced several treatments for addiction (Crumbaugh, 1980; Langle, 2005; Somov, 2007). Paul Wong, who developed the form of therapy that we use at Sunshine Coast, also has applied a form of Frankl’s work to help addicts recovery (2005).

Based on the influences of James, Jung, and Shoemaker, Wilson always maintained that alcoholism was a response to living the personally meaningless life. In 1943, at the Shrine Auditorium in LA, he described the alcoholic as the fellow “who was trying to get his religion out of a bottle, when what he really wanted was unity within himself, unity with God.” According to Wilson, the pursuit of drunkenness was the pursuit of a connection with oneself and a connection with some force that would provide him with a belief that he was ‘part of’, that he belonged in the world around him.

And the addict was disconnected even from himself. The “defects of character” and “wrongs” were symptomatic of alcoholism and maintained the alcoholic’s disconnection from the world: jealousy, anger, grandiosity, impatience, and so on. The Big Book uses the example of jealousy to show that what the jealous person really wants is to love and be loved; jealousy was merely the alcoholic’s tactic to protect himself from losing his lover. So, the alcoholic’s defects were those that prevented his being authentically true to himself.

The stories of AA members in the Big Book, which take up two-thirds of the book, are a catalogue of suffering that arises from this disconnection from the self and the world—and ultimately from any higher power that could provide some overarching meaning—as expressed through the ‘defects of character’.

If the alcoholic’s problem was essentially a separation from his true self, a separation from others, and a chronic feeling of emptiness, of something missing, then the solution must address this disconnection. The AA program is designed specifically to help the AA member reconnect with his authentic self, reconnect with others, and reconnect with a Higher Power. Silkworth contributed “The Doctor’s Opinion” to the Big Book, where he described the goal of recovery as “an entire psychic change.” Step 12 describes this as “a spiritual awakening.”

According to AA, this entire psychic change could be relatively quick, but more often was of the “educational variety,” a phrase borrowed from William James. This change specifically grew out of spiritual experiences, or what is called at one point in the Big Book, the development of “God-consciousness.”

Sunshine Coast also has as one its main clinical goals the beginning of the process of “transformational change,” a phrase from White (2004), though others have called this a “quantum change” (Miller & C’de Baca, 1994). Like Wilson, these psychologists concluded that abstinence may be the byproduct of transformational change, not the first step in recovery or the prerequisite to recovery.

Transformational change, for both Wilson and the psychologists, meant that a person began living a life that was true to their authentic self. For Wilson, comfort arose from a faith in some transcendent power, and thus the alcoholic had no need to distort or hide experience. For the psychologists, it was a matter of choosing a life that was true to the self, thus changing fragmented personality into a congruent one, aggressiveness into assertiveness, and conventionality into authentic living.

At Sunshine Coast, transformational change is essentially this process. We use narrative therapy to help clients understand how they have interpreted their lives in a way that is not working out for them. Their narrative also maintains they’re disconnection from self, others, and from anything that would provide some overarching meaning in their lives.

Wilson’s Interpretation of AA as a Personal Journey

The steps are deliberately vague. Wilson believed that each person had to find his or her own way through them. Recovery was a personal matter and no recipe could be provided. The most obvious example of this is Step 2: “Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” This is the end result, but the key to this step is to figure out ‘how’ to come to believe. AA provided a book, Came to Believe, to help members. This book is 100 stories of how 100 different members found 100 different ways to come to believe. Wilson’s strategy was to provide a framework, not a recipe for recovery. He believed that only a journey that was personally meaningful to the individual would be successful.

Wilson and Professional Help

It is an interesting phenomenon that many AA disciples believe that Bill Wilson was divinely inspired. This may be an artifact of the conservative Christian influence on AA, in that conservative Christianity pervaded American society at the time and was, for example, the driving force behind prohibition legislation in the US (as was the women’s rights movement). But it is logically impossible to understand this belief given that Wilson had specifically mentioned the influences on AA in his letter to Jung.

And Wilson, himself, would have been disturbed that others thought that he somehow had a direct line to God when they did not. He had repeatedly declared in public that “Nobody can cause more grief than a power-driven guy who thinks he has got it straight from God. These people cause [the world] more trouble than the harlots and drunkards.” And he often said that “AA is a terribly imperfect society because it is make up of terribly imperfect people.” Ernest Kurtz provides a more down-to-earth explanation that Wilson and AA had resurrected a form of spirituality that celebrated human imperfection as not merely a fact but as the stepping stone to a connection with God.

What Sunshine Coast does in it’s program that Bill Wilson would like

1. Our family program introduces the 12-step program to families.
2. Clients attend AA/NA weekly. And an on-site meeting with local AA/NA members helps clients become comfortable in a meeting environment (although, because we invite only alumni and friends of SCHC, this meeting cannot be sanctioned by AA/NA).
3. Each week we provide a workshop on one of AA/NA’s spiritual principles, which also have a basis in the scientific study of positive psychology. The steps emphasize that recover comes from practicing these principles.
4. Each week we provide a workshop on the 12-step program as interpreted by scholars such as Ken Hart and Ernest Kurtz. This workshop highlights the origins of AA as well as practical matters of membership. It also highlights the influence of 12-step based treatment on AA, so that clients are not confused about certain things they hear at meetings that contradict other parts of the program. As one example, a long-term AA member may share at a meeting about how miserable their life is, when the 12-step program itself emphasizes “what it was like, what happened, and what it is like now,” because Bill Wilson understood the importance of providing a message of “experience, strength, and hope.”
5. The overarching theme at Sunshine Coast, which informs every component, is that recovery means reconnecting with self, others, and with a Higher Power, which is how Bill Wilson defined “spirituality.”
6. Workshops are usually conducted offering a psychology point of view matched with the 12-step point of view. For example, clients learn that Viktor Frankl’s recipe for happiness is to ask oneself “What does life demand of me?” is matched with the 12-step saying “Live life on life’s terms.”

 Twelve-step principles are also infused throughout the program:

1.  Staff attitudes are based on empathy and unconditional positive regard, just as AA emphasizes “principles before personalities.” They do not succumb to power struggles with clients; they do not tell clients what to believe.
2. Staff practice the spiritual principles, under the 12-step principle of “attraction, not promotion.”
3. Each client is encouraged to find his own way through recovery.

Conclusion

The 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous has become synonymous with addiction treatment even though it was never intended to be professionalized into therapy. However, Sunshine Coast recognizes the importance of spirituality as an important ingredient in recovery and has included psychoeducation group discussion that focuses on the evidence-based aspects of the Big Book. Furthermore, since 12 Step groups are often the only source of recovery (particularly in small communities) for many individuals in North America, Sunshine Coast believes it is important that clients have a better understanding of some of the misconceptions that have fueled the controversy surrounding the 12 Steps.

Readers with questions about the philosophy of Sunshine Coast Health Center are invited to contact us directly at info@schc.ca

References

Andersen, S., & Berg, J.E. (2001). The use of a sense of coherence test to predict drop-out and mortality after residential treatment of substance abuse. Addiction Research & Theory 9(3), 239-251.

Crumbaugh, J.C., Wood, W.M., & Wood, C.W. (1980). Logotherapy: New help for problem drinkers. Chicago, IL: Nelson Hall.

Langle, A. (February 4-5, 2005). Addiction and the search for meaning. Two-day workshop presented at Trinity Western University, Langley, BC.
 
Miller, W.R., & C’de Baca, J. (1994). Quantum change: Toward a psychology of transformation, in T.F. Heatherton, & J.L. Weinberger (Eds.). Can Personality Change? (pp. 253-280). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
 
Somov, P.G. (2007). Meaning of life group: Group application of logotherapy for substance use treatment. Journal for Specialists in Group Work 32 (4), 316-345.
 
White, W.L. (2004) Transformational change: A historical review. Journal of Clinical Psychology 60(5), 461-70.
 
Wong, P.T.P. (October 5, 2005). Meaning-centered approach to addiction prevention, treatment and recovery. Workshop presented at Vancouver Community and Family Services, Vancouver, BC.

Geoff Thompson - MA, CCC

Geoff Thompson, Program Director for Sunshine Coast Health Centre, discusses Wayne Dyer’s new movie “From Ambition to Meaning” and how to live a happy, meaning-centered life.