There are many helpful exercises and lots of information dispensed to alcoholics and addicts when they enter recovery. Whatever the setting may be, it is common for those who suffer from alcoholism and addiction to be treated in group therapy and individualized therapy sessions, given additional workbooks or worksheets, and introduced to the 12-Steps of recovery. These methods can all be productive, especially when combined. At Jaywalker Lodge, we employ all of these tactics, placing equal emphasis on group and individual treatments. Yet, we believe it is simply not enough to hand out worksheets, provide recovery literature, and get people into meetings and group therapy sessions. A real emphasis must be placed on the learning that happens in early recovery.
Remember, alcoholics and addicts in early recovery are receiving an intense amount of new information. Even when it comes from familiar sources, everything can seem new to someone who is newly sober and in a treatment setting.
Personal Education Makes a Difference
There is no such thing as over-emphasizing the importance of education in this part of the recovery journey. From our personal and professional experience at Jaywalker Lodge, we can attest that deep and personal understanding of the disease of alcoholism and addiction, and discovering the personal and heartfelt meaning of the 12-Steps, is paramount to improving the likelihood of long-term recovery after initial treatment. To speak plainly, alcoholics and addicts are inundated with sensory experiences, volatile emotions, and a ton of information to process — all of which require understanding.
People in our care at Jaywalker Lodge are given the environment, the support, and the guidance to access and process all of this information. They are also given the time and support to let that information be understood. If someone is given a workbook or some 12-Step work to do, but then left to do it alone without knowing what it means — and more importantly, what it means for them personally — it’s less likely they will make good use of the life-saving information they’re being given. Particularly with regards to the 1st-Step, it is vital to understand the full implications of the 1st-Step on both a factual and personal level.
Understanding the 1st-Step and the Others That Follow
This is one of the primary goals we have at Jaywalker Lodge. To paraphrase our founder, it is our main goal that everyone who leaves Jaywalker Lodge does so with a deep, personal understanding of the 1st-Step and has formed a meaningful relationship with the 12-Steps and recovery community as a whole. From our experience, this is accomplished by making sure that real education is taking place alongside the healing and recovery. To truly understand the nature of alcoholism and addiction provides motivation to embrace recovery like nothing else can. It is of great importance and close to our hearts that every man who stays with us learns what alcoholism really is, what having this disease means for him personally, and how the 12-Steps can save and change his life on a permanent basis, one day at a time.
Education at Jaywalker Lodge
Questions must be asked, and answers must be discovered — and we create this environment at Jaywalker Lodge. We want people to understand, and we want them to get the answers they need. Having a thriving recovery community of Jaywalker alumni is something unique to us that truly advances our education goals. Those staying with us can learn in the formal treatment setting, but they can also access the perspective and experience of those who have found continued success in recovery beyond their stay at Jaywalker Lodge. Understanding of the disease of alcoholism and addiction must be as personal and alive as the experience each person is encouraged to have with the 12-Steps.
If those who stay at Jaywalker Lodge leave us knowing the truth about their disease, and they have begun to experience the freedom, joy, and healing of the 12-Step solution, they are much more likely to succeed beyond the safety of our walls. But personal understanding must be had, and the information received must be interpreted and related to in deep, meaningful, personal ways. Everyone has an idea in their head of what an alcoholic or addict is. But to understand that one has alcoholism and addiction and to see its pattern in their lives is an entirely different thing. To recognize the disease through education, understand the recovery literature, and begin to have real, spiritual, healing experiences with the 12-Step solution is what often makes the difference for chronic relapsers and those who have trouble getting started in recovery.
It’s not enough to just be told you have a disease or do some worksheets and read some books. The material must come to life, and so must the solution. At Jaywalker Lodge, this is our overarching goal with everyone we help.
Alcoholism and addiction are devastating diseases. Proper understanding of the disease’s grave seriousness, coupled with hands-on experience of the healing and liberating 12-Step solution, can have life-changing and life-saving effects. If you earnestly want help, or you have been unsuccessful in finding help in previous attempts, Jaywalker Lodge is here for you. We specialize in helping those who have stumbled before, or who have been unable to successfully begin their recovery journey, find the right path, and finally conquer this disease. Call us today at (866) 529-9255.
