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Recovery Basics: Five Keys
Posted by Chip Block on August 22, 2017 4:55 PM EDT
Today, I had the great fortune to speak with a professional who has been over twenty years in recovery...from substance abuse. While substance abuse is a growing menace to society, the truth is many chronic issues can be cast in the context of recovery. So, I asked him what.......
...were the key factors or elements in his recovery path. And from what he has read since then are factors that must be in place for anyone, and everyone, to succeed in becoming a healthy, drug-free and sober person.
He said there are essentially five factors. But for this man there was simply a sixth, which he says is more important than all the others combined. He says that until the addict or the unhealthy and chronically ill person is truly motivated from deep inside-almost as if it is life or death or a career and family in jeopardy, all the other ingredients to the success formula are secondary.
So, from the mouth of a twenty-year success story, from addict to recovered success story, here are the five, I mean six, factors:
1. Most important: Personal commitment to achieving a transformation
2. A case manager: Deep expertise working to help guide the transformation
3. A transformation Plan: Recovery is a long journey, you need a "roadmap"
4. Random Testing/Tracking: Measurement and accountability matter, a lot
5. Incentives/Rewards: Some are intrinsic, but recognizing progress is key
6. Support Groups: Not just other addicts, but others who care, deeply
The good news is that most illnesses, mental and physical have a recovery dimension to them. And the evidence suggests, from this successful recovery case and from the research, that the same six steps work but it takes a true champion's heart to push through the barriers to transformational change. And a clear vision of what life can be when the success is captured-even after twenty years!
