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Working the Spiral Steps: A secular Stairway of Growth and Renewal



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Working the Spiral Steps: A secular Stairway of Growth and Renewal

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Old 08-11-2011, 01:00 PM
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Working the Spiral Steps: A secular Stairway of Growth and Renewal

I decided to start a thread that takes things from the beginning, and apologize for the overlap in previous threads. But here I will talk about the work I am doing with my own 12 step program with the help of my psychologist, a certified addictions counselor who also holds a PhD. In psychology, and is a certified Psychoanalyst. I see him on a weekly basis, and today, I went over the Spiral Steps, and he thought they were a very good fit for my case, and could be useful for others, as well. Perhaps one day I will even form a local chapter; but that will come in time.

This thread is meant in no way to be a threat or a criticism of the 12 steps of AA, but rather an extension of them. It is not meant as a forum for argument and acrimony, though input and differing views are welcome, Remember: it costs nothing to be polite. I will still attend a weekly AA meeting or two, and listen and share when called upon, but in an unobtrusive way, not mentioning these steps directly; I do not seek to engage in controversy, but to listen to the wisdom (and follies) and I find the warmth and support that my group has to offer helpful. Will I get a sponsor? Perhaps, if they are comfortable with this approach, but I will make any demands; if it happens, it happens.

~

This is where I’ll be sharing the actual work I do on the steps. I realize not many people share this much detail, but rather comment here and there about such matters. I am opening myself up more than seems average and thus am more exposed than most in sharing.

I freely welcome comments, though I am not here to play games, and listen to people tell me I am doomed to failure; please, reserve such negative thoughts for elsewhere on the forums.

And, with that, The Spiral Steps, as I have condensed them from their original 13, to 12:

Spiral Steps

1. We admitted that we had a problem and made the decision to reclaim our lives.

2. We came to believe that there was hope for healing, health and balance.

3. We now honor our connection with the divine, as we understand it, and we accept the process of change.

4. We make a searching, fearless and honest inventory of our behavior and beliefs. We consider their effect on our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual selves and their impact on our relations with others.

5. We admit to ourselves and to another human being what is both healthy and unhealthy in our lives and we make a daily commitment to heal ourselves in body, mind and spirit.

6. We are willing to seek our Highest Good and to grow both spiritually and emotionally.

7. We let go of dysfunctional thoughts and behaviors and we consciously welcome joy, love and peace into our lives.

8. We make a list of all beings we have harmed, including ourselves, and we become willing to make amends to them all.

9. We work to restore balance in our lives. We make direct amends to others wherever possible and we value and care for ourselves.

10. We continue to take personal inventory and promptly acknowledge both our mistakes and our achievements whenever they occur.

11. We continue to grow in compassion, strength and understanding. We learn to celebrate our lives and our connection to all living things.

12. Having had a spiritual and emotional awakening, we work to help others along the path and we practice these principles in all our affairs; at the same time, we seek life balance, to find our calling and to develop the will and the wisdom to follow it.

Some have said that this is easy way out, a picnic, a means of avoidance, a denial. They say why not follow the well trod path of others? And mu answer is that there are many paths to recovery, religious, secular, and otherwise, from AA to SMART, and all of them have merit. But doing these steps is still not exactly a walk in the park, despite their focus on growth and the positive.

~

My work with step #1: We admitted that we had a problem and made the decision to reclaim our lives.

This took some time to come around to accepting, as I generally drank twice a week, but both nights, to excess. So after 3 or 4 days, I’d feel better, and then go out again. It was harder to see this as a problem, as it didn’t resemble the 'grasping for the bottle in the morning stories' I had so often heard. In the morning, I would grasp for a Vitamin water. But now, after reflecting on this for the 21 days I have been sober, I can see the unmanaged mess it had created, and was continuing to create. My partner and I have long struggled with money. Here we were, spending about $40-50 on a night out, twice a week. The alcohol made it easy to forget how much we were spending; how much I was spending. Which comes to about $400+ per month. Not pretty, when you are facing wage garnishment, and then it all becomes clear: had I not been spending this $ all along on booze, I would not be facing garnishment. Alcohol was a way to forget, to kick the financial can down the road.

But it just created a bigger mess, and certainly a ‘problem’. Other problems flowed from this: A lack of money to explore healthier hobbies and interests, a lack of money to travel, and a lack of energy and time to pursue writing, art and the things I value most. And, it lowered the quality of my sex life, a pleasure I find Divine, as you don’t generally have sex if you pass out or have a hangover. I feel closer to my partner as I begin the healing process. So I have come to see how drinking has brought on a huge problem, and that I can not take ‘just one’ drink…it leads to 5 or more. Thus I seek to reclaim my life, having found that drinking presents a huge, unmanageable problem, and seek to free myself to pursue the positive.
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Old 08-11-2011, 01:34 PM
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Interesting, HP!

So are the Spiral Steps your own approach that you've designed for yourself, inspired by AA's 12 Steps? Or is this something I've just never heard of and others are doing it?
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Old 08-11-2011, 02:19 PM
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They were created by someone who attended 12-Step meetings.

Spiral Steps: Origin
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Old 08-11-2011, 09:08 PM
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Hi Jennie, yes some others are doing it, mainly in California...though I may one day form a Baltimore/DC group, as I feel it would be helpful, and a god thing to do But that is for down the road. One thing I liked, reading about their meetings, is that they sit in a circle. I have always found that a great way for a group to assemble; all are equal, facing each other, sort of like the knights of the round table. Seems more convivial than rows.

And hi Avert! Nice to see you.
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Old 08-11-2011, 09:14 PM
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I like circle sitting also. I agree, it does feel more equal. And it's not like in a classroom where you're all facing one person who's speaking at the very front.

I read a little about it, sounds like you've found your niche, Husky
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Old 08-13-2011, 07:22 PM
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Hey Jennie, it does seem like a good fit, and a nice way to extend the 12 steps to a wider audience, while not trampling on them.

Busy day today, but I think this is day 25? I am starting to lose count, which feels good

More on my Spiral Step work soon, a bit sleepy after a long week of trains, buses, 10,000 phone calls, and the like!

Hope all are well,

H. Pup
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Old 08-15-2011, 02:11 PM
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Time to continue on. At the end of my first post here, I went through work I had done on the first step:

1. We admitted that we had a problem and made the decision to reclaim our lives.

Much of this can be condensed into one line, from a poster my Jr. High band teacher had in her classroom: "Excuses satisfy only those who make them." And the excuse here was that everything else in the world but my drinking was causing all my problems. Now, of course, it was not the 'only' thing, but it was the key thing, the thing that stopped me from taking steps to solve problems, be they financial, social, or career related.

Thus, to address Step Two.

2. We came to believe that there was hope for healing, health and balance.

It's taken a while for this to take hold, but much less time than anticipated. The key was in stopping to drink anything at all for those first few weeks. Alchohol had made my depression worse, and clouded my vision as to the future in a way that was both physical and emotional. I'm feeling much more alive and energetic; this has given me hope for the healing of the body, and of the mind. I've become hopeful that with the resources of time and money spent on drinking that I can develop other aspects of my life that make me feel fulfilled and happy. Stopping drinking reminds that there is a whole other world out there, full of possibilites. And so I have come to believe that positive change is possible, and that I can balance my needs for pleasure and making a living in a way that is also healthy. I've also come to see that recovery is not just about guilt, shame and the like; it can also involve rediscovering joy, and rediscovering laughter, happiness and humor. Often, people drink to free themselves from inhibitions, to make them less afraid to do things like dance, recite poetry before a group, dress up in silly costumes, and whatever else...but now, I am learning that these things can also be done without alcohol, that we can find the creative, spontanous, unihibited original child within us, and this, more than anything else, gives me the most hope. That there can be play, fun, laughter, and joy.
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Old 08-15-2011, 03:27 PM
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Are you on Step 4 yet, Husky? For me that's where the magic really began. The first three steps are just mental positions; but being a program of action; Step 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, and 12 did it for me.

Particularly Steps 5 and 9; those were where I found my spiritual experiences. You can't (I don't think) do an honest and fearless Step 5 without it having a really humbling effect on you. And the same with a tough Step 9 - one you really don't want to do - but when you do it - WOW!

I am really looking forward to reading your experiences around these areas.

Regards,

Tosh
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Old 08-15-2011, 03:56 PM
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Hi Tosh, yes, I have been working on steps 4 and 5, though I have not had time to articulate that here, as of yet, but will shortly. Replacing my car has eaten up a lot of time, and has also thought me a few lessons (My car was totaled while parked in a hit and run. I was hit, they ran. No note, no witnesses).

So I have been jotting things down on the train-ride to work, and posting them here as I have time.

I do feel it is important to lay a firm groundwork, though, and will elaborate and further develop Step Three, as I feel this is a kind of lynch-pin in the equation: a way to explore the deepest self, the inner spirit, and its connection with the universal.

But yes, work on step 4 will be posted soon; I have given this much attention in therapy recently, and in general.
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Old 08-15-2011, 04:20 PM
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Tosh....Ooops, too late to edit. My 4th step is probably going to have some similarities and some differences from the one I think you did. But, out of curiosity, what did you list in your 'moral inventory'? I'm curious, as I would like to see an example from somebody with an AA background with which to compare my own, and gain insight from. No doubt anger will be a feature in mine, but it is certainly complex.
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Old 08-16-2011, 12:59 AM
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Originally Posted by HuskyPup View Post
Tosh....Ooops, too late to edit. My 4th step is probably going to have some similarities and some differences from the one I think you did. But, out of curiosity, what did you list in your 'moral inventory'? I'm curious, as I would like to see an example from somebody with an AA background with which to compare my own, and gain insight from. No doubt anger will be a feature in mine, but it is certainly complex.
I did four inventories:

1. Resentment
2. Sexual harms (those who I harmed through my use of sex)
3. Harms (people who I had harmed)
4. Fears

The traditional format is four columns, and this is important YOU WORK DOWN EACH COLUMN 'cos working across does tend to do your head in.

It is also an 'inventory', not a gut wrenching process; read the instructions in the Big Book, it's very business like. Try to emotionally distance yourself from it, if you can.

With people who I sponsor, if they going to chuck it, Step 4 and 5 is the point where this seems to happen.

I'll stick an example of mine (scanned) when I get back from work. I've shared it with another man, my HP was their already, so I've no problems with showing you it.
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Old 08-16-2011, 01:03 AM
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Originally Posted by HuskyPup View Post
I do feel it is important to lay a firm groundwork, though, and will elaborate and further develop Step Three, as I feel this is a kind of lynch-pin in the equation:
You know you've cracked your Step 3 when you're working on your Step 4. Your HP wants you to make a firm commitment to doing Steps 4 through to 12 - that's what Step 3 is about - and from what I've seen, you're steps are fine; you've got the tough stuff in there (Steps 4, 5, 8, and 9).

You will learn more as you work on your Step 4, do Step 5, and get through Step 9.

You cannot not possibly have a spiritual experience with Steps 5 and 9, if they're done properly, in my experience.
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Old 08-16-2011, 05:07 PM
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Interesting. My Spiral Steps book is on order, so I will see how they approach this matter, and most likely do a hybrid version. I took a peek at the AA version of the forth step in the AA sponsor's guide, and, oddly enough, it covers much of the ground I have been covering with my therapist, only using slightly different language. Instead of defects and faults, we look at them as unhelpful/harmful patterns of thought and behavior, that have become ingrained, and focus on the task of moving past them, and also making a list of all the positives.

Today has been a mass of phone calls and work, but will post more on step 3, and then step 4. Thanks for giving me a glimpse as to the AA version.

Not to pry, but what were your major resentments, and such?

I'll show you mine, if you show me yours

Sheesh, that sounds like a game we played, long ago.

But, in any event, it will certainly be illustrative to write them down; oddly enough, I have similar lists in the journals I keep as I take noted during my therapy sessions.
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Old 08-18-2011, 04:43 PM
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Phew, busy week, but onto day 28. My car insurnace compnay is finally moving forward, looks like I will get $1,500 and a rental car for a week

The book by the Spiral Steps founder just arrived today, called, 'Many Roads, One Journey: Moving Beyond the 12 Steps, and I've just started it. So far, it has been very helpful, as I like the positive focus. It's written by Charlotte Davis Kasl, Ph.D., published by Harper-Collins, 1992.

In any event, during the next few days, I'll post more of my progress here, these 14 hour days of work/commuting have left me pretty short on time.

Hope all are well,

H. Pup
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Old 08-19-2011, 03:46 PM
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Wow, reading this book has made me re-think quite a few things. It offers so many ways to tailor the steps such that they work for people coming from many different situations and backgrounds, based on gender, sexuality, class, mental health...it seems to open many doors, and take the steps, and amplify them, to make them more accessible without throwing out the baby with the bath-water. I'm really getting a lot out of this, and no doubt, it will inform my future step-work, here.

Well, off to my home-group, the Agnostic AA meeting, and also on day 29! Just about a month, and have accomplished so much in that time, and am filled with the hope to accomplish so much more.

H. Pup

(ps--------------more step work to follow!)
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Old 08-29-2011, 09:39 AM
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Hey everyone, phew, what a crazy, busy time in my life. Still sorting out the car/transportation issues, essentially waiting on the insurance check to arrive. But I am still working on these alternate steps, and will continue to post more as time allows...I realize I have fallen behind, a bit. I have been going to my agnostic meetings, and they seem quite open to how I view the steps, and the social setting is reassuring, I must say.

Approaching step 4, I have been pondering this notion of 'ego' I hear so often, vs. the definition of ego in the field of psychology, and mulling over that the actual goal is not to deflate the ego per se. In many cases people with low self esteems lack a well adjusted ego, and need to build a healthy ego (or sense of personality), that allows them to negotiate their inner desires while also functioning in society. For the mighty who have fallen, those who felt they could control whatever might come along, held positions of relative power and as such informed Bill W. in his writings, 'tearing down' the ego may work best; for many others, 'adjusting' the ego function seems a more apt approach, especially for minorities, the disenfranchised, and those with a fragile sense of self to begin with.

In psychology, the ego is essentially the functioning self, negotiating between the pleasure seeking, primal desires of the child-like Id, and the demands of the parental, moral, socially learned super-ego. Thus, the goal is have to have an ego that balances these competing polarities. Much of the notion of the ego being 'bad' has always baffled me...it is a neutral term, in all actuality, and not simply a balloon to be deflated; it has more of a qualitative aspect as much of or perhaps more so than a quantitative aspect, of being big or small. And so, considering this, I have mulled over what things are holding me back,. what aspects of personality I would like to change, and what things about me that are good, that I need to nurture and develop. And thus I am preparing to embark on the 4th step of this process, in an empowering, honest and positive fashion.

Later, in the field of Transactional Analysis, Erik Berne would use the terms Child, Parent and Adult to more or less replace the earlier paradigm of Id, Ego, and Super-Ego, in which he proposes that our thoughts and actions are directed out of these parts of ourselves: the impulsive, fun-loving, creative, curious child; the rational adult; and the restrictive, judging but also nurturing parent.

So all of this has made me see that what many call a 'defect' of personality is a somewhat loaded term. in that is is has such a negative connotation, and reminds me in aspects of the notion of original sin, an idea I have always rejected. The personality and self are not riddled with defects, but maladjustments.

Prior to this, though, I will refine my idea of the spiritual, of a 'higher power', so to speak.

Well, 39 days and counting, here...hope all are well.

Feel free to add comments and feedback; I will keep this going as a journal, if nothing else, in the hopes that it will be of assistance to others, as well as to myself.

H. Puppy
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Old 08-30-2011, 12:56 PM
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Thanks for posting your thoughts HuskyPup.

"socially learned super-ego"

I think that this is the key to AA and the overall concept of spirituality.
In AA meetings we become more "socially learned."
I came across a cool guy from 100 years ago. David Émile Durkheim. He coined the term "collective conscience."
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Old 08-30-2011, 02:42 PM
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Originally Posted by johnclavin View Post
I came across a cool guy from 100 years ago. David Émile Durkheim. He coined the term "collective conscience."
I came across a cool guy from 136 years ago. Carl Gustav Jung. He coined the term "Collective Unconscious".
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Old 08-30-2011, 04:45 PM
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Originally Posted by HuskyPup View Post
Many Roads, One Journey: Moving Beyond the 12 Steps
I have that book, like it very much. One of the first addiction recovery books I read. I browse through it when I'm feeling stuck.
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Old 09-01-2011, 11:56 AM
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Originally Posted by Zencat View Post
I have that book, like it very much. One of the first addiction recovery books I read. I browse through it when I'm feeling stuck.
That book has been very helpful. It has made me consider starting an alternative 'steps' group, or a recovery group open to a variety of methods. Increasingly, the sin/confession/redemption paradigm of AA has been difficult to handle as time has gone on, and when going to meetings, as connections to individuals have grown closer, there is an increasing amount of cognitive and existential dissonance, such that as time goes on, I can see where this might become more and more of a conflict. On one hand there is the sense of community and physically being with others recovering; on the other hand, the dogma of the group canon (the big book), it's revered spiritual leader/founder (father figure), and then the individuals who embrace them to varying degrees. Thus I have found that it is harder and harder to share my personal journey and my stories of hope and recovery without crossing certain group boundaries, and arousing conflict.

I still have no intention of drinking, and have been exploring my self and my prior motivations with great rigor...it is mainly that I lack an avenue to share all this that at times seems frustrating.
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