addiction and recovery: foundational principles arco 501 … · 2019-08-19 · when a person taps...

Addiction and Recovery: Foundational Principles 1

Light University Online

Addiction and Recovery: Foundational Principles

ARCO 501

Module 1



Module One

Table of Contents

Addiction and Recovery: An Introduction Tim Clinton, Ed.D. ......................................................................................................................................................... 3

A Biblical Theology of Addiction and Recovery Ron Hawkins, D.Min., Ed.D. ................................................................................................................................... 11

A GENERAL AND THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATION



Description Dr. Tim Clinton describes the epidemic of bondage regarding the issues of addiction, what puts people in bondage, and what keeps them from enjoying the freedom God wants them to have in this life. He also discusses how the brain is impacted in that journey because of an addiction, and why people have such a difficult time breaking free. This includes the addiction pattern, the pathway to change, barriers to change, and a message of hope that can be found despite troubling circumstances.

Learning Objectives:

1. Develop a general understanding of psychological and substance addictions.

2. Identify the addiction pattern.

3. Understand and explain the pathway to change as well as barriers to

change.

ADDICTION AND RECOVERY: AN INTRODUCTION

VIDEO

Tim Clinton, Ed.D.



I. Prevalence of Addiction

A. 1 out of every 8 Americans has a significant problem with alcohol or drugs.

B. 40% of those have concurrent mental or nervous disorder.

C. By age 18, 12% of people are illicit drug users.

D. Approximately 27 million Americans use illicit drugs or are heavy drinkers.

E. 86% of Americans have gambled at some time during their lives.

F. 60% gamble in any given year.

G. 40 million American adults have accessed pornography on the Internet. II. Epidemic of Bondage

A. The Call to Freedom: Galatians 5:1 – “It’s for freedom that Christ has come to set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

B. Where there’s no purity, there’s no power, and there’s no freedom.



III. Understanding Addiction

A. An obsession or compulsion with a physical or chemical dependency on a substance or person.

B. Medically, it is the process whereby the body relies on a substance for normal functioning.

Nearly all drugs directly or indirectly work on the brain’s reward system by flooding the circuit with a neurotransmitter called dopamine, which controls movement, emotion, motivation, or feelings of pleasure.

By over-stimulating the system, the brain is being washed by producing side effects. This sets in motion the pattern to want to repeat the behavior.

C. Psychologically, any behavior that causes fear or excitement can breed addiction.

New MRI and PET scans show that behavior can have brain-altering effects that affect or impair brain chemistry.

Unlike a detox for someone going through a substance abuse issue, a

counselor may be able to stop someone from visiting a pornographic Internet site, but cannot stop the image that keeps appearing in the person’s mind.

As a result, one thought can release and begin to wash the brain, creating a

desired effect and precipitating mood-altering and brain-altering impacts. IV. The Addiction Pattern

A. The Medical Side

The Tolerance Effect – As a person continues to use a substance, the brain adapts to the dopamine that literally is washing the brain.

The brain begins to adjust to the flood of dopamine and either shut down the level of dopamine that floods through the body or lowers the impact of the dopamine on the body so that the rewards circuit is short-circuited.



A person is training his/her brain neuro-chemically to become dependent on

the substance. B. The Psychological Side

A person is training his/her brain to neuro-chemically depend on a behavior.

Compulsion can dominate a person’s life despite harmful consequences.

C. Key Components

Control problems

Compulsions

Narrowing focus

Denial Pattern

Tolerance V. Stages of Addiction

A. Experimentation – Person is motivated by curiosity or a desire for acceptance or escape, and he/she learns that effects are controlled by the level of intake.

B. Occasional Use – The person needs more of the substance or activity to produce the same effect. There is more seeking behavior, but it is still mostly contained within a social context.

C. Regular Use – Person becomes obsessing more and becomes preoccupied. There can be a periodic loss of control as the person begins to break his/her own self-imposed rules that regulate behavior, and shame and guilt increase.



D. Addiction and Dependence – Person now needs the substance to survive or cope, and this begins the impairment of cognitive function and health.

VI. Pathway to Change

A. “We are destined to misunderstand the story we find ourselves in.” – Chesterson

B. “Man was made for God, and he will never find happiness until he finds it in the One who made him.” – Augustine

C. “Psychological, social, and political revolutions have not been able to transform the heart of darkness that lies deep in the breast of every human being. Amid a flood of self-fulfillment there is still an epidemic of depression, suicide, personal emptiness, and escapism. The problem is spiritual, and so must be the cure.” – Dallas Willard

D. When a person taps into holy power, it changes everything. Then it’s not just man’s strategy for change, but about filling up a man’s heart with who God is.

E. “If we’re going to fight, give everything you’ve got in the fight.” – Stonewall Jackson

F. It can be frustrating to deal with people who have addictions. There are engrained patterns, mood swings, negative consequences which only seem to exacerbate the situation. Many come with wounds and reach out desperately to medicate themselves.



VII. Barriers to Change

A. Some are not motivated.

B. Some resist it.

C. Some utilize learned helplessness.

D. Some turn to the disease model – “I can’t help it.”

E. Some turn to self-sufficiency – “I have the power within and I can do anything I want.”

VIII. Conclusion

A. Counselors can utilize a bio, psycho, social, spiritual care program, using faith as the core foundation of operation.

B. Some people’s brains are not working correctly and do need medical intervention.

C. People caught up in addiction fight a real war of impulse control.

D. There is a true power of transformation in relationships.



E. God loves to use powerlessness to send His people fleeing back to Him.

F. Counselors must understand that people are spiritually at war, and that they must prepare themselves for entering into the darkness of someone else’s life. If one chooses to do so, he/she can make huge differences in a person’s life through God’s transforming power.



Study Questions

1. Which of the statistics mentioned by Dr. Clinton was most surprising to you?

2. What is the difference in a medical and a psychological addiction as explained in the video?

3. Discuss the addiction pattern.

4. What are the stages of addictive behavior?

5. What are some barriers to change that counselors and clients will experience when trying to overcome an addiction?



Description Dr. Ron Hawkins outlines a biblical theology of addiction and recovery. Every person in the background of their minds/spirits has memories of the way they were, and God has placed eternity in the heart of man. However, the beauty that God created has been defaced and vandalized, and people do wrestle with pain. This lesson discusses the transition from beautiful to vandalized, the problem of pain, and the way to achieve freedom and recovery from addictions.

Learning Objectives:

1. Explain the biblical rationale for the loss of God’s original intent that all people experience.

2. Understand the pain that has taken over humanity.

3. Explain the way to freedom from addictions.

A BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF ADDICTION AND RECOVERY

VIDEO

Ron Hawkins, D.Min., Ed.D.



I. The Beginning

A. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” – Genesis 1:1

B. “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” - Genesis 1:17-29

C. “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’ Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.’” – Genesis 1:27-29

D. “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.” – Genesis 1:31a

E. In every human heart, there is a repository of memories about eternity, and there is something inside of people that calls them back to the experience of beauty and the Father’s love and grace.

II. The Way It Is

A. The Vandalism of Shalom. Counselors can sense the magnitude of the pain that people are in.

B. Solomon’s Request for Wisdom



C. People wrestle with the problem of pain.

D. It is imperative from a biblical perspective for counselors to recognize that what people are doing is attempting to deal with the pain of Eden lost. Addictions can be a way of coping.

E. People need to realize that they develop ways of coping, as well as habits and patterns of behavior, relating, feeling, and coping, attempting to medicate the pain to feel security and well-being. People then habituate patterns designed to reconnect themselves with meaning.

III. The Way to Freedom

A. Encounter with the Heavenly Father

B. Appropriation of the Power of the Holy Spirit

C. Commitment to New Goal to Be Filled Up with Christ

D. Submission to a New Truth

E. Accountability to a New Family

F. Engagement of a New Process



IV. Conclusion

A. Addictions are practiced in the context of secrecy. In the way to freedom, Paul and other biblical writers acknowledge that people must live life in community, breaking old patterns of behavior and ways of thinking.

B. Recovery and freedom from the bondage of addiction is fundamentally an inside-out issue.



Study Questions

1. Discuss what the Bible speaks to people about the beginning, and what the implications of this are for counseling.

2. What is the “vandalism of Shalom” that Dr. Hawkins references?

3. Discuss the problem of pain and how this relates to Solomon’s writings in Ecclesiastes.

4. What are the keys to recovery as mentioned in the lesson?

5. Discuss the following statement: “Recovery and freedom from the bondage of addiction is fundamentally an inside-out issue.”

addiction and recovery: foundational principles arco 501 … · 2019-08-19 · when a person taps...

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