Recovery is all about change, says addiction therapist E Shepard. It’s about changing your thinking, your behaviors, and  your beliefs. Including your spiritual beliefs. Which isn’t to say you have to switch religions or give up the faith you have, if you have one. But you do have to expand your spiritual perspective and embrace a power greater than yourself—a Higher Self, a God of your understanding—then learn to rely on that power to get you through life’s difficulties, instead of on the drugs or alcohol or substance or behaviors you relied on in the past.

The spiritual growth that is so essential to recovery demands that we be open to new ways of thinking and even to new spiritual practices. No one can dictate or decide these for us. We have to research and explore spirituality for ourselves by reading, meditating and talking to others who are engaged in the same kind of spiritual journey.  E Shepherd’s recent article “Embracing Spirituality” is a good place to begin. Read it here.