12 Days/12-Steps Of Gratitude Part 4
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Asking for help is one of the most brave and courageous things our child can do when it comes to drug and alcohol addiction. We go on quite the roller coaster ride of experience and emotion while our child is in treatment. Coming upon our first holiday with our sober teen or adolescent in recovery, we can use the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous to find gratitude for every part of it.
Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity
Is the text of the second step in the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, and most other twelve-step groups. The second step is a bridge between the critical first step and the third step of hope. As parents of teenagers or adolescents who struggled with addiction to drugs or alcohol, we have always believed that there is a power greater than our child's addiction that can bring them back to health. Insanity is the term Alcoholics Anonymous , also known as The Big Book to describe alcoholism. We might have thought we were insane once or twice when our children swore they weren't high or using and we knew they were. We drove ourselves insane trying to get our children to realize they had a problem and that helps was available. We watched our children slip further and further away into addiction, grasping to hold onto their precious hands. Recovery brings us all to the belief that there is a power greater than ourselves and for whatever the source of our insanity, that greater power can restore us. That is something we can be grateful for.We admitted we were powerless over alcohol- that our lives had become unmanageable.
It can take years for someone who is living with addiction or alcoholism to admit that they are completely incapable of managing their drinking and/or using. Control is the great illusion that will drive any teen or adolescent further into their disease of addiction. Convinced that they are still powerful over drugs and alcohol, they continue using, because their lives haven't become unmanageable. Some of our children were so high-functioning, we were shocked to discover their addiction. We might be able to admit that we prevented our children from this critical step by enabling their addiction. However our children come to the first step, it is critical that they do. The first step is the first step for a reason. There is a Solution is the name of one of the chapters in The Big Book . Twelve-step programs are considered part of the solution to a problem, like drug and alcohol addiction. In order to get to the solution, that is, the eleven other steps of the program, one has to start at step one by fully surrendering their delusions about power and manageability in regards to drugs and alcohol. For our child who has finally surrendered and made the commitment to themselves, their sobriety, and their recovery, we can be deeply, eternally grateful.Treatment during the holidays is a challenge because families want to be together. Addiction tears families apart. Now is the best time to set you and your family on course for total recovery. Stonewater Adolescent Recovery Center offers long-term residential treatment programs for adolescent and teenage boys. Building positive foundations through life cleansing therapies, boys graduate from our program ready to take on life.
Call us today for information: 662-598-4214
