Much has been said regarding the brain chemistry of addiction. Conversely, the dynamics of brain chemistry in recovery can been found in the literature and research of resiliency. Resiliency research provides the brain chemistry roadmap for recovery, and several environmental interventions can influence an individual’s capacity for resiliency. In doing so, these environmental factors enhance opportunities for sustained recovery. Resiliency is indeprendent of any particular treatment or recovery approach, yet can be applied to them all. BARCC embraces resiliency as a framework for recovery.
Some common definitions of resilience:
· An occurrence of rebounding or springing back · That property of a strained body which enables it to recover its size and shape as it is unloaded after some initial deformation. · increased probability of school and life success despite adversities caused by early characteristics, conditions, and experiences. In short, resilient people demonstrate qualities of social competence, problem-solving skills, a sense of autonomy, and hope for the future. Resiliency research points to the brain as being hard-wired for resilience. It is an inborn capacity for adaptation and survival. In order for the brain to respond in a resilient manner, an individual thrives best in environments that have high expectations for the individual, caring and support, and meaningful opportunities for participation.
At the 2008 Summit, BARCC provided a common framework for viewing the recovery process that was developed by research in the field of resiliency over the past 20 years. While much has been discussed regarding the effects of addiction on brain chemistry, resiliency research provides evidence for the “brain chemistry of recovery.” Thus, resiliency is applicable to any group supporting the recovery process, or attempting to prevent substance abuse problems before they spiral downward in the progression of addiction. The recovering community, by definition and design, is inherently equipped to foster resiliency in individuals seeking recovery from addiction. The attributes of a "resilient" person is someone who demonstrates social competency, problem-solving skills, a sense of autonomy, and hope for the future.
According to resiliency experts, the ability to foster this type of brain development is best achieved when individuals belong to social groups that also have specific attributes. Bonnie Benard and other resiliency researchers have defined three elements that are necessary to foster the development of a resilient individual. These elements are high expectations, caring and support, and opportunities for participation. These “environmental protective factors” can be found at the family, school, workplace, organizational, or community levels.
The Attributes of a Resilient Person in Recovery
The irony of resiliency research is that it is not discovering anything new, but rather what is natural in a healthy, close-knit community. It is precisely what makes the recovering community a resilient community comprised of resilient individuals. The recovery culture is based in the common experience of individuals who are recovering from addiction. They join in the common purpose of maintaining their recovery and helping others to achieve recovery. The “collective subjective” experience at the core of the recovery culture is anchored in the shared process of moving from a seemingly hopeless state of addiction to mainstream society where they live normal and effective lives and become contributing members of society. The recovering community is a clear example of a culture that provides a protective environment that fosters resiliency.
The resilient attributes of a person in recovery are illustrated below:
Social competence
The need to re-socialize your life without drugs and alcohol is an essential skill in early recovery. Learning to work, play, and have fun without alcohol or other drugs is a challenging aspect to the recovery process. Developing interpersonal skills, dating, functioning in the workplace, and learning how to have successful relationships is an essential developmental task that must be mastered to some degree to ensure lasting recovery. It is like learning how to ride a bike. At first it feels awkward and is often clumsy, but with practice and skill it becomes easier and in time, automatic. For addicts, drinking and drug use often begins in early adolescence, and re-learning these social skills is literally re-training the brain how to respond to social situations. The recovering brain is literally creating new neural pathways to accommodate the clean and sober living experience.
Problem-solving skills
In the language of recovery, problem-solving skills are inherent in the many slogans and sayings in the recovering community and culture, often in direct opposition to societal norms and specifically addiction-oriented sub-cultures. Avoiding brain-related impulses and compulsive behaviors that lead to relapse requires individuals to avoid instant gratification, learn how to think things through, and develop decision-making skills that support their recovery process. Learning relapse dynamics and relapse prevention strategies are essential recovery skills that are reinforced by “practicing these principles in all our affairs.” Sustained recovery, in essence, is the mastery of relapse prevention.
A Sense of Autonomy
In the recovering community, there is absolute recognition and acceptance that alcohol and other drug affects the brain and the body. Alcohol and other drug use typically follows the pathway of experimentation to use to abuse to dependency. However, while the recovering community accepts the premise that one may not have been responsible for his or her addiction, they embrace the principle of personal responsibility for recovery. In recovery, with addiction arrested, the addict becomes responsible and has choices, and those choices are directly related to how their life unfolds.
A Sense of Purpose and Hope for the Future
This attribute of resiliency is rooted in the original 12 Step principles of maintaining a primary purpose of achieving recovery and carrying its message to those who still suffer. This is further supported in the faith community by what is generally called witnessing, ministries, or missions. Recovery is supported through a principle mandate to serve the community, embodied in the saying “You cannot keep it if you don’t give it away.” Successful recovering individuals are typically engaged in some level of service to the community. Purpose is further supported by the rituals and celebrations of recovery, done in part to acknowledge the success of those celebrating, but also to serve as inspiration and hope to those who are following the same path.
How the Recovering Community Fosters Resiliency
Resiliency research identifies three primary environmental factors that promote or foster the development of resiliency in individuals. These environmental "protective" factors are high expectations, caring and support, and opportunities for meaningful participation. These environmental elements can be achieved in virtually any environment, whether it is in the family, school, work place, organizaton, or community. They are linked to the brain's hard wiring for survival and respond directly to the developmental needs of an individual. The result is an individual with greater capacity for "bouncing back" from negative or adverse events or circumstances.
In a similar way, the recovering community provides the necessary ingredients for fostering resiliency. These elements are embodied in the Guiding Principles that emerged from the 2005 National Summit on Addiction Recovery. BARCC has adopted these guidelines for the local coalition efforts. How these principles are reflected as environmental protective factors are shown below:
High Expectations
For a person who has become addicted to alcohol and other drugs, or for any other addiction for that matter, learning to live without alcohol and drugs is a daunting, if not impossible, prospect. Yet within the recovering community, these people encounter peers who have done just that. Borrowing from the 2005 National Summit on Recovery, BARCC defines recovery from addiction as a process of change through which an individual achieves abstinence and improved health, wellness and quality of life.
The recovering community holds this expectation for those in their journey of recovery. To do otherwise would be disempowering, for as the adage affirms. "people rise to their level of expectation." It's rather a self-fulfilled prophecy in reverse. The traditional principle of maintaining abstinence one day at a time is an example of a high expectation packaged in an attainable goal.
Caring and Support
Peer support is a hallmark of the recovery process. Again borrowing from the Guiding Principles from the 2005 Summit on Recovery, recovery is supported by peers and allies. A common denominator in the recovery process is the presence and involvement of people who contribute hope and support and suggest strategies and resources for change. Peers, as well as family members and other allies, form vital support networks for people in recovery. Providing service to others and experiencing mutual healing help create a community of support among those in recovery.
Opportunities for Meaningful Participation
Individuals are ultimately responsible for their own recovery. As stated in the National Summit's Guiding Principles, recovery involves a personal recognition of the need for change and transformation. Individuals must accept that a problem exists and be willing to take steps to address it; these steps usually involve seeking help for a substance use disorder. The process of change can involve physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual aspects of the person’s life.
Recovery is self-directed and empowering. While the pathway to recovery may involve one or more periods of time when activities are directed or guided to a substantial degree by others, recovery is fundamentally a self-directed process. The person in recovery is the “agent of recovery” and has the authority to exercise choices and make decisions based on his or her recovery goals that have an impact on the process. The process of recovery leads individuals toward the highest level of autonomy of which they are capable. Through self-empowerment, individuals become optimistic about life goals.
Resiliency Research: A Couple of Good Reads and Some Related Links
Resilience: What We Have Learned (2004) Author: Bonnie Benard, MSW
A few years ago, resiliency theory was relatively new to the fields of prevention and education. Today, it is at the heart of hundreds of school and community programs that recognize in all young people the capacity to lead healthy, successful lives. The key, as Benard reports in this synthesis of a decade and more of resiliency research, is the role that families, schools, and communities play in supporting, and not undermining, this biological drive for normal human development. Of special interest is the evidence that resiliency prevails in most cases by far — even in extreme situations, such as those caused by poverty, troubled families, and violent neighborhoods.
An understanding of this developmental wisdom and the supporting research, Benard argues, must be integrated into adults’ vision for the youth they work with and communicated to young people themselves. Benard’s analysis of how best to incorporate research findings to support young people is both realistic and inspirational. It is an easy-to-read discussion of what the research has found along with descriptions of what application of the research looks like in our most successful efforts to support young people. Published by WestEd, 730 Harrison Street, San Fransisco, CA 94107 (877) 4-WestEd
Resiliency in Action: Practical Ideas for Overcoming Risks and Building Strengths in Youth, Families, and Communities (2007)
Author: Nan Henderson, MSW
More than two dozen experts in the fields of child, family, organizational, and community resiliency contributed to the book, which “challenges a widely accepted myth about people—especially young people, who experience risks, stress, trauma, and adversity in their lives,” according to Henderson. “Contrary to popular opinion, the majority of these individuals, over time, do bounce back and do well. There is a growing body of scientific research from several fields that documents this fact and yields important information as to what can be done every day to facilitate this process of overcoming.”
Henderson calls the book “three books in one: it contains the most recent research, hands-on and practical strategies, and stories of resilient individuals and best practices.” The book includes 60 chapters grouped in seven sections: The Foundations of Resiliency, Resiliency and Schools, Resiliency and Communities, Resiliency Connections (Mentoring, Support, and Counseling), Resiliency and Youth Development,Resiliency and Families, and Resiliency and the Brain.
Published by Resiliency in Action, PO Box 1433, Ojai, CA 93024. 800-440-5171 |
