by Louise Sutherland, M.Ed. and Jo Anne Krumpe, Ph.D. |
Rethinking a new recovery means moving out of the problem and into the solution. In today’s world, it is important that we ask questions that inspire our innate strengths, to transcend the mindset of “problem, powerless, and victim.” We shoulder heavy burdens, and we are not prepared. There is a foreboding sense that this is a condition of our culture and our collective consciousness. We may struggle to pay the bills and worry. We may fight and grieve for what once was and is no more. We aren’t sleeping well. Hope is in short supply. In scanning our surroundings we read that Reno has a huge drinking problem. Looking closer, we discover 2 highly disturbing statistics about the state of Nevada’s mental health as it relates to the abuse of alcohol and other drugs. How might these numbers indicate the relatedness to the reality that for many these are hard times?
Nevada Statistics:
- According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 90% of all suicides are committed by individuals who are affected by Substance Abuse, Depression, or another mood disorder.
- Nevada holds the distinction of having the nation’s second highest suicide rate in the country. Nevada’s rate of suicide is double the national average.
We believe it is time to abandon the problem-focused, powerless victim approach and to imagine a new recovery, one that is grounded in strengths and solutions.
The purpose of this article is to respond to these harsh realities and to ask ourselves as providers, “what is standing in the way of progress?” What has to happen in order for us to imagine a new paradigm of hope and self responsibility? We see that over the past 40 years we have evolved into a culture of “powerless victims”. No one wants to take responsibility for their own behavior, so we say we have a “disease” over which we are told we are powerless. This phenomenon traces its roots directly to the Twelve Step program of Alcoholics Anonymous and its various offspring from which was born “The Recovery Movement”. We acknowledge that the message of Alcoholics Anonymous did, at one point, instill hope in a community that society had judged as “morally flawed”. We also see that the “Recovering” worldview of the 80s and 90s has perpetuated a “victimized”, “entitled”, and “powerless” mindset; that we have to “hit bottom”, admit being powerless, spill our guts, and expect that a higher power is going to “remove our shortcomings”. We believe that these notions are outdated and serve no purpose in healing a hurting culture. But before we throw the baby out with the bathwater, we begin by examining the flipside of the “recovery” mindset and what we can salvage as we rethink what it could mean to be “In Recovery”. We believe that Solution –Focused Therapy can combine with the foundational recovery work to form an evolved treatment program that may offer a client more power and successful outcomes.
We begin with “The Miracle Question”. “Suppose that while you are asleep tonight, a miracle happens and your problem is solved just like that! But because you were sleeping, you didn’t know that there has been a miracle. What is the first thing that will let you know that your problem has been solved?” (Miller and Berg, 1995). At this moment we are invited to take the first step toward being fully empowered to manage our lives. The Miracle inspires examination of our strengths and how we are already using our own inner and outer resources to solve problems. The process of the Miracle affirms that we are the authority, the expert on what will work for us. We use the past only to identify “what has worked” to solve our problems and not to reinforce our limitations. We discard the notion that Alcoholism and other Addictions are diseases. We embrace the belief that our clients are empowered to make choices and that whatever motivates a client to change that is good enough.
How valuable is a map that leads to where we don’t want to go? As therapists we value our client’s ability to chart their own course utilizing their unique strengths, even in dealing with problems resulting from the abuse of alcohol or other drugs. As therapists, our role is to assist clients to identify what drives them forward. When we are acquainted with our clients’ beliefs and strengths we can assist them to establish a foundation for achieving their goals. As therapists, we yield to our clients’ expertise in determining desired outcomes. From a therapeutic standpoint, we have come to understand that “Denial” is in the theory of the therapist, and not in the client.
In summary, we are in the “Hope” business. The processes and thoughts of the past are not enough to take us toward the future envisioned by our clients. The Problem-focused disease based paradigm of the “Recovery Movement” is adept at finding sickness; a concept whose time has come and gone. A Solution-Focused-Strengths-Based therapeutic partnership is based in optimism, a powerful concept, a New Recovery. When we have a program of hope we activate from within and without whereby any change is possible!
References:
- Miller, S.D. & Berg, I. K. (1995). The Miracle Method. New York: Norton and Co.
- Alcoholics Anonymous World Services. (2007). Twelve steps and twelve traditions. New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
- Makela, Klause, et al. (1996). Alcoholics Anonymous as a mutual-help movement. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
- Anthony Robbins: www.ted.com and youtube-anthonyrobbins; retrieved 1/23/10.Berg, I. K. & Reuss, N.H. (1998). Solutions step by step. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
For more info, contact JoAnne Krumpe, PhD at (775) 233-0717.
