12. Identify some specific needs and wants
you are addressing at this time in your
life
What type of feelings or sensations do you
experience with these?
How do YOU distinguish the difference
between a need or a want?
How does this help your recovery, your
family?
14. Will people think I am being
selfish?
Maybe
Does that mean that I put my
recovery before everything else…?
Family (Children)
Financial Security (Job)
Relationships (Spouse or Friendships)
15. Get five small pieces of paper
List the five most important things
in your life
Put one on each piece of paper
with your initials
Sort them in order of importance
Experience what happens when the
disease of addiction wins…
16. As women, we are often uncomfortable
focusing on “I”, and are afraid of being
selfish
We often become selfless, we lose all sense
of ourselves, always doing for others
Recovery is a time for learning about
yourself, and healing yourself
Take a look at yourself to see who you are
17. What is a sponsor A guide for recovery
Temporary sponsors
The sponsor should be Clean and sober for
at least 2 years
Available to connect by phone or in person
at least one time per week
Has the kind of recovery similar to what
you want
(Note that face to face meeting with sponsor
may count as an alternative recovery activity
if it lasts one hour or more)
19. Gather stuff, maybe one or two
pictures, or magazines, poems, etc.
to personalize your binder
Attend two recovery activities:12
step meetings or other group
Be here next week !!!
Editor's Notes
Review the agenda. Introduce the hierarchy of needs. Understand how
needs/wants relate to addiction, and practice noticing the difference between
them.
Walk the participants through a quiet time and ask them to notice tension
in their bodies. Do progressive muscle relaxations (instructions found with enclosed materials)
Walk the participants through a quiet time and ask them to notice tension
in their bodies. Do progressive muscle relaxations (instructions found with enclosed materials)
Introduce the basic check-in format which includes their names, how they
are feeling today, and when their last use of alcohol or drug abuse happened. If they are taking prescription medication, this includes any narcotics or benzodaizepines. After participants have completed a basic check-in, introduce a check-in on recovery activities and how those went.
Introduce Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Explain the pyramid shape of the
hierarchy of needs. Discuss how that hierarchy of needs relates to staying clean and sober. Explain the difference between wants and needs. During discussion slide, use a white board or flip chart to record participant’s brainstorming session. Continue until each participant has personalized the difference between a want and a need.
Point out that the lowest or the absolute foundation of the pyramid is
physiological needs and as you go up and get further and further away from the foundation, you get more and more away from basic survival and into more of a richer existence. MANY OF THESE WOMAN AND FAMILIES ARE STRUGGLING WITH MEETING THEIR BASIC NEEDS IN THE FIRST AND SECOND LEVEL.
Go through the details of each level of needs, such as physiological,
safety, social, esteem, and finally actualization. Use examples to illustrate the
needs, ask participants for examples to check their understanding of the concept. Retrieved May 11, 2005 from www.akri.org/ cognition/motivate.htm ,
Applied Knowledge Research Institute. Retreived from RTP mothers Curriculum November 9, 2013
Do some brainstorming to identify specific needs and wants that the
participants are working with right now.
Use a white board or flip chart to record participants’ brainstorming
session of their needs and wants.
What does it mean to put recovery before everything else? Is being
selfish “bad” if you are putting recovery first?
It is difficult for participants to name their priorities and put them in order of
importance. It can be helpful for them to brainstorm together, and then
individually decide on the five most important things. Be sure to have them put
one priority on each piece of paper, along with their initials. Also put numerals 1-
5 on each piece to indicate priority ratings. The experiential section of this activity
involves experiencing what happens when they give control of their life to
addiction. Put on a hat or mask to indicate that you (the facilitator) are now the
addiction, to whom they have given all their power. Announce that because of
addiction they have lost one of the most important things in their life. Collect one
piece of paper from each person. Go around three more times until they are left
with just one thing. Ask about the feelings experienced as addiction steals their
power and what is most precious to them. Following that discussion, say “Ok,
now you are in recovery and are taking your power back from addiction. We can
all work together to get these things back. What do you think you would be
getting back first?” Then, go around and give one thing back to them, and then
give the next thing back until you have given them all back.
Discuss “What is a sponsor?” List the characteristics of good sponsors
and discuss picking a sponsor. Make sure that you ask for questions and talk
about the possibility of getting a temporary sponsor.
Have participants create a priority list in their planners, using the priorities
identified in the priority activity above. Ask participants to begin a phone list in
their planner of those to call if they feel like using drugs. If appropriate, have
participants share their phone numbers with each other. Have participants
create a simple weekly self-care contract.
Inform participants in Week 4 we are going to be decorating RTP binders and
telling our stories, so they may bring some items for decorating their binder.
Suggest photos or drawings that they can glue onto it. Suggest they hold onto to
those five pieces of paper in their planner or use them for ideas about what to
include on their binder decoration. Assure them that you will have decorating
supplies, just bring ideas and special things. Pictures of children are very
common, and some women are incredibly creative!