Numerous studies have shown that spirituality can be an important factor in recovery. What is spirituality, and how is it different from religion? Does this mean a person who isn’t particularly spiritual is doomed to relapse? At Safe Harbor Recovery Center in Portsmouth, Virginia, we think it is important for our clients to consider these questions and make their own decisions about how to integrate (or not integrate) spirituality into their recovery journey.
Spirituality and the Twelve Steps
Twelve-Step programs follow more or less the same progression to support people in recovery. For people who don’t consider themselves particularly spiritual, they may struggle with how to proceed on some of these steps, particularly:
- Step 2: Belief that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- Step 3: Decided to turn our will and our lives over to God as we understood Him.
- Step 5: Admitted to God…the exact nature of our wrongs.
- Step 6: Became ready for God to remove our defects.
- Step 7: Asked Him to fix our shortcomings
- Step 11: Prayed and meditated to improve contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to fulfill His wishes.
Half of the steps require that participants engage in spiritual practices, but there is room for interpretation on what that should look like:
- Follow an established religious tradition that will provide guidance in seeking God
- Interpret the steps more broadly, to include spiritual practices that extend beyond the offerings of houses of worship
- Decide that the 12-steps aren’t for you and find another path entirely
Recovery is an individual experience, and each of the three options listed above has been successful for different people in recovery. What is most important is finding the option that works for you and makes sense in your journey.
Option 1: Religious Spirituality
For some people, when they read the 12-Steps, they interpret the steps discussing spirituality to call them to religious practices where they go to a specific house of worship, and that feels right for them. They see the value of some or all of the following aspects of religion:
- Attending religious services
- Studying their faith’s holy texts
- Having the guidance of clergy
- Engaging in fellowship with other believers
- Utilizing opportunities to volunteer within their religious community
- Praying to the higher power prescribed within their faith tradition
- Having a community to lean on for support
Benefits of this approach include religion acting as a buffer for stress and better mental and physical health outcomes.
For people who closely identify with a specific religion, they may even pursue a recovery group that is rooted in their specific religious tradition, finding that the 12-steps aren’t as closely aligned with their faith as they would prefer.
Option 2: Spirituality, Hold the Religion
It is very common for people to become more spiritual during the recovery process, but that doesn’t always mean they are going to a church, mosque, or synagogue or following a specific religious dogma. Just because organized religion works for certain people does not mean that it is the only way a person can follow the spiritual components of the 12-steps.
Many recovering people point to the part of the third step that says, “as we understand Him,” and recognize that the 12-Steps don’t actually require organized religion. They find that their spirituality is better addressed outside of the structured rules of religious doctrine, and this works for their recovery. They may still use components of organized religions when they commune with their higher power, even if they do so in nature or through prayer and meditation performed in solitude, but they also may not. Intentional gratitude, mindfulness, and creative expression (painting, drawing, poetry, photography, etc.) are also spiritual practices, and some people lean more closely into these sorts of activities to address their spiritual needs.
Option 3: Spirituality Isn’t for Me
A third choice a person has is to say that spirituality just isn’t part of their life or their recovery. They might prefer to seek out secular recovery groups, such as SMART Recovery, Secular Organizations for Sobriety, or LifeRing, when they want to talk to other people in recovery, obtain social support, and to establish a sense of belonging. These groups often prefer to utilize research and science to support the choices they make about recovery, rather than faith.
Your recovery path is unique to you. At Safe Harbor Recovery Center, we strive to help our clients make the choices that support their individual recovery journey, rather than attempting to force themselves into a narrowly prescribed definition of recovery that might not work for their needs and goals.