Paying it forward while healing
I am blessed to be able to volunteer at a substance abuse/addiction treatment program. During the past week, some parts of this community have experienced acute flash flooding. Several of the clients at the treatment program volunteered to donate hours of their time and muscle to those affected by flooding. The help of these young men was invaluable. The young men volunteering experienced the opportunity of being heathy enough – free of their active addiction – to provide this very practical help as a gift.
When one is in the grips of active addiction one often does not have the luxury of being dependable. One might be helpful at times, but the compulsion to use will always trump the desire to be helpful to others. That is the nature of addiction. It demands to be put first no matter what one’s core values and heart tell one.
The treatment program which these young men are attending is a great luxury. Folks are able to take two or three months out of their lives to focus on learning and practicing the basics of how to reclaim their lives as compassionate, loving people. For a lucky few, there is a residential treatment program. For others, it is an outpatient program which means that folks live in their own home or at a group home while attending the “classes” during the day five days a week.
Despite the fact that it is a luxury to take this much time just to focus on the early stages of healing/recovery, sometimes leaving the facility and assuming all the responsibility of partner, parent (in many cases), family member, community member and worker is a lot of pressure. Suddenly, there are many demands on one’s time and energy. While it may feel good to know that one is now ready to assume adult responsibility and to be seen as valuable, it can also be overwhelming.
Fortunately, the director of the facility at which I volunteer is open to allowing the clients to volunteer on such community efforts as the flood cleanup. By allowing the clients to decide if they were feeling strong enough to be helping out in the community, she avoided or at least minimized the risk of a client putting himself in a risky situation before they were ready. Of course, there is never a guarantee. Because it is not a regular part of the program there was no obsession with liability and other potential risks. The equation was very simple. Community need equaled community help.
This lessons of this experience are many, but not new. They include:
· We are at our best when we are sharing are time, love and talents.
· We are at our best when we are given a choice of whether to give a gift.
· We are all more than the labels which have been arbitrarily assigned to us. The residents of the program live with a serious, chronic disease. They are addicts. They are also community members, partners, fathers, uncles, godfathers, sons, carpenters, barbers, attorneys, doctors, students, social workers, mill workers, miners, farmers and all the other people who make up our community.
· One size does not fit all. We need programs which recognize the need to share various talents while also recognizing the serious nature of addictive illness. Everyone is not ready to safely share their gift in the wider community. Others will greatly benefit from being able to do so while in treatment.
· While those responsible for treatment programs must be aware of the liability, possible law suits, the seemingly never ending need to “cover our ….” it is our primary responsibility to develop programs which honor the need for all clients and staff to reclaim and hold on to self-respect – their sacredness.
· The more programs allow for the flexibility to explore the strength and limitations of clients and staff the more effective they will be for many of the clients and the staff.
Written August 1, 2017
I am blessed to be able to volunteer at a substance abuse/addiction treatment program. During the past week, some parts of this community have experienced acute flash flooding. Several of the clients at the treatment program volunteered to donate hours of their time and muscle to those affected by flooding. The help of these young men was invaluable. The young men volunteering experienced the opportunity of being heathy enough – free of their active addiction – to provide this very practical help as a gift.
When one is in the grips of active addiction one often does not have the luxury of being dependable. One might be helpful at times, but the compulsion to use will always trump the desire to be helpful to others. That is the nature of addiction. It demands to be put first no matter what one’s core values and heart tell one.
The treatment program which these young men are attending is a great luxury. Folks are able to take two or three months out of their lives to focus on learning and practicing the basics of how to reclaim their lives as compassionate, loving people. For a lucky few, there is a residential treatment program. For others, it is an outpatient program which means that folks live in their own home or at a group home while attending the “classes” during the day five days a week.
Despite the fact that it is a luxury to take this much time just to focus on the early stages of healing/recovery, sometimes leaving the facility and assuming all the responsibility of partner, parent (in many cases), family member, community member and worker is a lot of pressure. Suddenly, there are many demands on one’s time and energy. While it may feel good to know that one is now ready to assume adult responsibility and to be seen as valuable, it can also be overwhelming.
Fortunately, the director of the facility at which I volunteer is open to allowing the clients to volunteer on such community efforts as the flood cleanup. By allowing the clients to decide if they were feeling strong enough to be helping out in the community, she avoided or at least minimized the risk of a client putting himself in a risky situation before they were ready. Of course, there is never a guarantee. Because it is not a regular part of the program there was no obsession with liability and other potential risks. The equation was very simple. Community need equaled community help.
This lessons of this experience are many, but not new. They include:
· We are at our best when we are sharing are time, love and talents.
· We are at our best when we are given a choice of whether to give a gift.
· We are all more than the labels which have been arbitrarily assigned to us. The residents of the program live with a serious, chronic disease. They are addicts. They are also community members, partners, fathers, uncles, godfathers, sons, carpenters, barbers, attorneys, doctors, students, social workers, mill workers, miners, farmers and all the other people who make up our community.
· One size does not fit all. We need programs which recognize the need to share various talents while also recognizing the serious nature of addictive illness. Everyone is not ready to safely share their gift in the wider community. Others will greatly benefit from being able to do so while in treatment.
· While those responsible for treatment programs must be aware of the liability, possible law suits, the seemingly never ending need to “cover our ….” it is our primary responsibility to develop programs which honor the need for all clients and staff to reclaim and hold on to self-respect – their sacredness.
· The more programs allow for the flexibility to explore the strength and limitations of clients and staff the more effective they will be for many of the clients and the staff.
Written August 1, 2017
RSS Feed