The Soul Of Recovery

Millions of alcoholics and addicts recover through spirituality. In The Soul of Recovery: Uncovering the Spiritual Dimension in the Treatment of Addictions, author and journalist Christopher D. Ringwald tells how and why they seek and achieve these transformations. Ranging as far back as the Washingtonian Total Abstinence Society in 1840, Ringwald illuminates the use of spirituality within a wide range of treatment options--from the famous Twelve Step-style programs to those tailored to the needs of addicted women, Native Americans, or homeless teens not ready to quit. Focusing on the results rather than the validity of beliefs espoused by these programs, he demonstrates how addicts recover through practices such as self-examination, meditation, prayer and reliance on a self-defined higher power. But the most compelling evidence of spirituality's importance comes from those directly involved in the process. Ringwald traveled across the country to visit dozens of programs and interview hundreds of addicts, alcoholics, counselors, family members, doctors and scientists. Many share moving stories of suffering, survival, and redemption. A homeless man, a surgeon, a college student, a working mother-each describes the descent into addiction and how spirituality offered a practical, personal means to recovery. Ringwald also examines the controversies surrounding faith-based treatment and the recovery movement, from the conflict between science and spirituality, to skepticism about the "new age" brand of spirituality these programs encourage, to constitutional issues over court-mandated participation in allegedly religious treatment programs. Combining in-depth research with powerful personal accounts, this fascinating exploration of spirituality will provide a fuller understanding of the nature of addiction and how people overcome it.

Ester Nicholson's foundational process that she's termed Soul Recovery unlocks the code of dependence as it manifests in substance, relationship and behaviorial addictions, among others. As you're guided through a 12-week process of study and practice, the author courageously shares her inspiring journey that has ultimately led to a new life of wholeness, fearlessness and power. Using examples and daily practices, she reveals the 12 keys that saved her life and the spiritual technology that will bring you serenity and carry you to your dreams. The Soul Recovery process works deeply with life paradigms and practices to create a soul-centred awareness that's so profound that disease; addictions; and everyday problems related to attachments, expectations and limiting beliefs are dissolved in the face of it. A fascinating read, Soul Recovery tells the gritty story of a recovering substance abuser who rose to great career heights while falling into a personal abyss, only to find her way back with newfound glory and purpose. Its powerful lessons and practical, easy-to-use exercises can be used by people of all ages and from all walks of life.

Provides an alternative view of human consciousness--a theory of mind and being independent of matter, time and space.

Recent scandals of clergy sexual abuse have brought attention to the victims and their responses to and recovery from their abuse. But few have considered the effect of the abuse on a victim's soul and religious outlook and beliefs. Healing the Soul after Religious Abuse, offers a unique perspective of recovery and restoration of the soul after religious abuse. The author argues that religious abuse often stops not only psychological growth, but also inward development. The effect is not simply emotional, because the devastation reaches to the core of the spirit. Often there is no place for a God of love or a love of what once was divine. Through a series of personal interviews with persons from the five major religions, Rauch considers various ways that religion can do harm. The stories told in this book include the road to restoration in the wake of institutional abuse and how inner experience is sometimes confused with religious training; the sacred task of spiritual leadership and how to restore trust when there has been a violation; an exploration of sacrifice and a clarification of the notion of shame; a look at the impact of religious bigotry in the areas of race, sexuality, and tolerance; an overview of sexuality and the place it holds in both celibate and family life; the pernicious issue of clergy sexual abuse and the signs of spiritual trauma in response to such violation; a roadmap for restoration and a challenge to religious institutions; and, lastly, ways to reclaim the sacred and rewire the spirit. Through interviews, research, and personal stories, the author tells a story of recovery of the most delicate kind, offering pathways through the dark night of religious violation to a restoration of the soul and its immense possibilities.

Spiritually, one can lose a soul piece by giving power away to someone or something else. Soul recovery is about regaining the fragments of one’s soul energy that have been trapped, lost, or stolen either by another person or lost through a traumatic incident. The heart of this shamanistic healing method is taking back control of your life. Shamanism, in the simplest definition, is the ability of an individual to move into an altered state and travel the inner dimensions of what we call nonphysical reality. This technique is as old as human existence. It is practiced around the world, and in the past decade, it has been reintroduced to Western civilization, although among indigenous cultures shamanism continues to be practiced as a healing tool without interruption. Extraction is another tool within the shamanistic tradition that dissolves blocks from our bodies or the aura of electromagnetic energy that surrounds us. These blocks can affect us physically, as well as mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, and with a shaman’s expertise, they can be removed.

Murray Stein is well-known as an insightful and pioneering author and academic. Soul: Treatment and Recovery presents a selection of papers and book chapters spanning his career from 1973 to 2012. The chapters included in this collection speak for Stein’s hope that individuals and humanity as a whole can evolve toward greater consciousness and awareness of meaning in daily life. The book is presented in four parts, each of which represents a stage in Stein’s personal development as an author. Part One, Psyche and Myth, presents papers which draw on timeless documents of the soul for the benefit of our generations of humans who are no longer contained within mythic consciousness. In Part Two, Clinical Themes, Stein has selected papers and an interview that explore themes familiar to many clinicians that were raised in his own practical work as a Jungian psychoanalyst. Part Three is dedicated to the process of individuation, a key notion in analytical psychology which lies at the heart of the Jungian enterprise and is a topic that has occupied Stein throughout his career. Finally, Part Four presents several papers dealing with the theme of psychology and spirituality, a matter of increasing concern to Stein in recent years. This unique collection of work will be of great interest to analytical psychologists and psychotherapists as well as academics and students in the field. Additionally, for anyone invested in the project of self-discovery and with the desire to relate more deeply to self and world, the papers included here will suggest important points of reference and directions to pursue further.

Chicken Soup delivers the perfect pocket-sized support group for everyone on the path to becoming whole. Chicken Soup for the Recovering Soul Daily Inspirations is the perfect book for the millions of people in recovery who live their lives “one day at a time.” These 365 daily passages will provide them with a year’s worth of wisdom and encouragement to help get through the rough spots or celebrate victories. The book covers universal themes, making it relevant to all types of recovery including chronic illness, behavioral disorders, destructive relationships, alcohol and drug addiction, depression, or eating disorders. Sample Daily Inspirational themes include: hope, courage, love, anger, forgiving, and more.

The clinical pastoral movement in the 20th century changed the face of American religion. Written from an insider's point of view, the movement's development is candidly presented in this monograph. The book offers a fresh account of the complex beginnings of contemporary clinical chaplaincy and pastoral counseling rooted in one clergyman's psychosis and his emergence from it, Freud and the development of psychoanalytic theory, and the various and contradictory ways that religion in America responded. Author Raymond J. Lawrence pulls no punches in his chronicle of the movement in its many aspects, from the sordid to the transformative and all that is in-between. From the life and work of founder Anton T. Boisen and his principal collaborator Helen Flanders Dunbar, to key figures such as Wayne Oates, Myron Maddon, Joan Hemenway and Donald Capps, Lawrence provides not just a history but also a revealing memoir of his own 50 years' experience that amount to a "complex, accursed, and redemptive story" of the clinical pastoral care movement.