[This post was originally published in 2013.] I spent a little more time with Jim Contopulos' video memorial for his son and an interview he did will Bill White. There's a lot to all of this, but a couple of things stuck with me. In the interview, he discussed being a scared parent and seeking … Continue reading Care that never quits
Tag: hope
Faith is given in sufficient quantities to communities
(This post was originally published on September 11, 2013) I recently listened to an interview with Nadia Bolz-Weber. There were a lot of keepers in the interview (even for a non-believer). She's described as a recovering drug addict. Her recovery shines through in this, "fake it till you make it" discussion: Ms. Tippett: So a sermon … Continue reading Faith is given in sufficient quantities to communities
Most popular posts of 2015 – #12 – Hope is created in community
Across the disciplines, we see a movement away from individually focused understandings of hope to more communally and relationally dependent models. Many focus on connectedness as a central aspect of hope. This takes the form of friendship, solidarity, and bearing witness as central relational aspects of hope. Within the recovery model and other models of … Continue reading Most popular posts of 2015 – #12 – Hope is created in community
An absence of hope
Today, Bill White shared some of my favorite stories. As I faced these amazingly resilient women, I asked each of them to tell me about the sparks that had ignited their recovery journey. Each of them talked about the role their outreach worker had played in their lives. The following comments were typical. I couldn't … Continue reading An absence of hope
Recovery and the Conspiracy of Hope
I think Pat Deegan does a great job describing the cycle of despair in settings that don't facilitate or witness recovery. I think this translates very well to addiction treatment providers. What it misses is those who step in after hope is abandoned and ennoblize the suffering of patients--"accepting them as they are", but never … Continue reading Recovery and the Conspiracy of Hope
opportunity, choice and hope
From Slaying the Dragon by Bill White …what addiction professionals have done for more than a century and a half is to create a setting and an opening in which the addicted can transform their identity and redefine every relationship in their lives, including their relationship with alcohol and other drugs. What we are professionally … Continue reading opportunity, choice and hope
raising hope up and living our mission
From Victoria Safford via Maria Popova (emphasis mine): I have a friend who traffics in words. She is not a minister, but a psychiatrist in the health clinic at a prestigious women’s college. We were sitting once not long after a student she had known, and counseled, committed suicide in the dormitory there. My friend, … Continue reading raising hope up and living our mission
treat them with hope
“If you want to treat an illness that has no easy cure, first of all, treat them with hope.”—George Vaillant
Privileged access
Peg O'Connor offers an interesting perspective on self-trust in addiction. Complicating the matter is the belief that each person knows herself better than others can know her. In philosophy we call this “privileged access.” On this view, each person has an access to her beliefs, desires, thoughts, emotions that no one else can have. Each of us can … Continue reading Privileged access
Faith is given in sufficient quantities to communities
I recently listened to an interview with Nadia Bolz-Weber. There were a lot of keepers in the interview (even for a non-believer). She's described as a recovering drug addict. Her recovery shines through in this, "fake it till you make it" discussion: Ms. Tippett: So a sermon of yours I wish I could have heard is … Continue reading Faith is given in sufficient quantities to communities
