Every month we bring your way ideas and information on resources, media, or tools to be inspirational, motivating, or helpful in your recovery journey.
Feeling stuck or in significant pain? Does it feel like you’ve been working on getting healthy but you continue to face roadblocks? Maybe you need to do something different – something more.
The recovery journey is one that takes place through many avenues. Therapy, group, 12-Step groups, recovery literature, and reaching out to others in connection are all vital to the process. But sometimes there is a need to take another step, a bigger leap to affect the change. One option is to participate in an intensive retreat or workshop to do deeper work in a safe environment with the support you need to make that happen. There are several quality intensive programs offered around the country. The spotlight this month is on a facility in Arizona called The Meadows, a highly-regarded treatment center for addictions, which provides a series of one week workshops that have been described as transformative for many participants.
Described by The Meadows as their signature workshop, Survivors I facilitates participants to delve into childhood trauma that impacts life in the present. Childhood wounding is often the underlying fuel of undesired behaviors such as addictions, difficulty in relationships, and mood dysregulations such as depression, anxiety, and difficulty with anger. The focus of Survivors is to process and release negative messages and emotions rooted in these original wounds and allow for the freedom to live in your authentic self.
The design of the workshop is based on the work of Pia Mellody in her book, Facing Codependence, so familiar to us at CRR. The experience includes learning information about developmental immaturity and the profound relationship of caregivers on the child and its impact on self-esteem, boundaries, and level of dependency in relationship. As described on the website, the workshop utilizes experiential work to focus on re-examining these early relationships, begins a process of re-parenting parts of yourself that were shamed, neglected, or abandoned, and ultimately release painful emotions, heal wounds, and reclaim rights and personal power.
The workshop is five days in length, and is held every week of the year with the exception of Christmas and New Year. The setting is in a natural environment that is gorgeous and held in The Meadows’ newer workshop facilities set apart from the residential addiction programs. It’s beauty and well-appointed environment may be a place of restoration and growth for you. You’ll find more information on their website for exact location, times, and cost.
Written by Cheryl Schenck LPC, CSAT