Treatment vs tools
 

Howdy folks!

Just have an observation to throw out there. Do with it what you will.
I have come to realize, or have come to form the opinion if you will, the use of "tools" is often stressed more than treatment for alcoholism leaving people lost without even being aware that they are lost. Allow me to explain. So much emphasis is put on phone calls, meetings, sharing, making coffee, staying after meetings, sober people sober places, and around here, posting threads. All great things, no doubt. I'm a fan of them all. They are great supplements to the program. But are they stressed so much that they are often mistaken as treatments for alcoholism? That seems to be the case to me. I often stress the importance of these "tools", especially to new folks, but I hope I never give the impression that they will treat alcoholism. The only "tools" I know of for that job are the 12 steps or more simply, love and service. I know for me, that I need to keep in mind "the message" that the
12th step suggests that I carry and make sure that it is made clear while still offering valuable suggestions such as the "tools" listed above.

ramble, ramble,ramble.......

God bless!

Something needed to happen for me to survive .

"A personality change sufficient enough to bring about recovery from alcoholism"

Lots of positive things where gained from on-line support and involvement in AA...but the above quote only got achieve when i followed the instruction outlined in the book ..and believe me, i tried hard to achieve it without doing much ..with a big fat drink at the end .

That is my experience and i sure do pass on my experience .

I agree.

And then you have the other side, which so overemphasizes the spiritual awakening, steps and discount the tools.

Balance works.

IMO the first few days of abstinence requires psychological tricks & tips to get dried out and then the recovery phase begins using spiritual tools, or steps if you want to call them that.

The recovery process cannot be done in one simple phase. Not unlike getting a car or truck rolling along it takes more than one gear to get things going. Abstinence is comparable to first gear in a motor vehicle. It is the best and sometimes the only way to get a massive vehicle in motion but not unlike a car going down the highway, being stuck in first gear is destructive. At some point the cars engine will blow apart from too much stress.

So what is the equivalent of second gear in the recovery process? Principles to live by. Specifically rules to live by that can be used to day in and day out without overloading ones psychic engine. Some of these principles can be summed up in simple to grasp slogans like; one-day-at-a-time, easy-does-it and first-things-first. These are more or less psychological tricks and tips that can be used in times of stress.

There is more to recovery however than just psychology. There is an even higher set of principles that can be viewed as the equivalent of over-drive in an automobile. That is spiritual instead of psychological principles.

Spiritual principles are harder to learn than psychological principles because some of them are hard to grasp at first. In fact, many of them are closer to paradox’s than logic. That is why it is best to leave them for last in the learning process.

The step work is an intense period of self discovery and change. If done properly and under guidance they will remove the obsession for alcohol. They are a miracle for any alcoholic who simply cannot top drinking.

Would i have worked the steps if i could have stayed sober for more than a few days on meetings, slogans, service etc? Would i hell, you couldn't have paid me to work the steps!

Thank you, bbthumper, for reminding us of the value of the tools contained in the Big Book. But, it's more than a tool box isn't it? the 12 steps go far beyond each individual step's utility for a given purpose. Finding a Power greater than myself transcends any tool or tool kit.

I do know alcoholics in AA who are many years away from their last drink without having worked through the steps. I do not envy them.

None of the non-step tools that you mentioned were much help to me in early sobriety. I didn't avail myself of them as fully as, perhaps, I should have. Meetings were good for me, but I didn't do any service until I was mid way through the steps. And the slogans were annoying platitudes to me. Thank Goodness that I did find a sponsor who lead me through the steps, enabling me to find a Higher Power who, now, helps me to solve my problem(s).

So, perhaps a balance is in order. And yet, I would argue that working through the steps with another alcoholic is the crucial component. Without the steps what is left to balance?

Human power.

Wasn't enough then. And it's not enough now; not for me anyway.

Your helpful reminder has caused me to be even more grateful and to want to share that gratitude.

~dox

I was taught that the tools are the Steps in action. When I picked up the phone instead of a drink, I was turning that compulsion over to a power greater than myself, that I didn't have to do it alone, and that I was helping another person by reaching out to them for help.

I was also taught that service work was the 12th step in action. Opening up, making coffee, cleaning up, talking to the newcomer, etc., etc., is carrying the message in action. We serve God by serving others. That is what it's all about.

IMO just another example of language being open to interpretation.

P.25 "There was NOTHING LEFT FOR US but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our Feet"

At one stage I didn't know what this meant. Then I figured it meant the phone, washing the cups etc. Then I figured it meant inventory, prayer and meditation and so on. For me the meaning continues to change as I grow in understanding and effectiveness.

When people share in a general way about the "tools" that AA has given them, it means whatever it means to them. I know what it means for me, that's what's important

P

According to Wally P. (AA historian, author & archivist), at the time Bill W. got sober, the Oxford Group had something known as "4 Spiritual Tools";

Surrender
Sharing
Amends
Guidance

At treatment, they hammered home this thing about the spiritual toolkit. (I still laugh today the day one of my roomies left the house. He had a cane because of a withdrawal seizure, so our other roomie was helping him with his suitcase. The suitcase was extremely heavy, and upon remarking about why the case was so heavy, the other exclaimed "it's all the tools I picked up here")

I was worried sick that I didn't have a commitment (sacrilege!) and because of that I would drink again. Being too shy and introverted to raise my hand when it came time for that, I focused on the steps. And for a long time I still had the idea of the "toolkit" had to be all or nothing. If I wasn't calling 27 alcoholics a day, scrubbing church basement toilets and making a river of coffee, I would surely relapse. I lamented this to my sponsor over and over again who said service doesn't have to be confined to the meetings - service is an overall giving of oneself to others and helping whenever and wherever we can. And in working the steps, and not the fellowship, I was able to connect to my HP and focus on making and keeping my connection with the Creator.

I do pass this on to the men I work with, and certainly do encourage them to have a homegroup, do service, talk to newcomers, etc. but step work first and foremost. I would rather they write inventory than trying to clean up cigarette butts. Sure, do both, but the BB is about step work and HP, not stacking chairs necessarily (and I love stacking chairs, btw - soothing)

Great topic. :)

I've been worried lately too.

Putting so weight on the suggestions of others and not enough trust in my HP. Listening to too many dire warnings about how I didn't do my steps right, or go to enough meetings or listen to the right speaker tape that my sobriety is sinking into the sands of complacency.

Sometimes I feel like people make "Back to Basics" too complicated.

I wonder if I am overly susceptible to "suggestions" from others because I actually do have a condition that makes me hear voices. I know I can't always distinguish between my thoughts, real people's suggestions and the voices in my head.

IMO They are all tools to be used at the appropriate time and place. Is a hammer a better tool than a screwdriver? It all depends on what needs fixing.

"Treatment" is a medical term: management and care of a patient or the combating of disease or disorder. There are various medical treatments for alcoholism, selection based on severity of the disease at diagnosis.

AA from the perspective of medical "treatment" is considered a support group, a psychosocial intervention. It is obviously highly recommended by the medical community. However, it is not considered a treatment for acute alcohol dependency, a serious medical condition.

A "tool" is something used in performing an operation or necessary in the practice of a vocation or profession. In that respect the AA steps are tools, to be used in the practice of sobriety. Working the steps is the solution to the problem. I am a firm believer in AA. We should be careful not to suggest that AA takes the place of medical "treatment" for acute alcoholism.

I had a lot of that in the early days. On the one hand I desperately wanted someone to tell me what to do, and on the other hand it seemed everyone had an opinion on just what that should be. I even had a treatment tell me, at two years sober, that I would never get sober if I didn't do their program.

Thank God had a sponsor who understood his purpose was to help me connect with a Power greater than myself that would tell me what to do. On the issues you are talking about he would ask me if I felt the need to do x or if I didn't feel the need. He supported me either way and I found, as long as I was being honest with myself, my feelings could be trusted. Perhaps yours can too.

Treatment is a tool, good for getting you started.
Therapy is a tool, great for dealing with outside issues.
Running from triggers, ringing people up, going to meetings, are all tools that will get you some dry time.

BBT was talking about the lost ones. I meet them all the time, been dry 2 or 3 years using the tools, wondering why nothing has changed. Bored with the meetings, not hearing any solution, they are (they tell me) on the verge of going back out.

Sit down with one of these and show them the spiritual tool kit in the Big Book and see the lights come on. That's what it is, one alcoholic, with the Big Book, talking to another alcoholic.

Thanks for a very useful thread BBT.:tyou

That's good information, I remember reading it in Wally' s book myself ;)

Like I said, my understanding changes from day to day. Working this program in all areas of my life gives me a set of tools to pick up and principles to follow, with a God of my understanding and people I trust to guide me.

I personally would never tell anyone what is and is n' t meant by terms like "the tools". Just point them in the direction of the book, share my experience and watch them grow :)

P:tyou