tag:nefeshisrael.com,2005:/articlesLatest articles from Along the Road to RecoveryAlong the Road to Recovery2021-02-25T00:41:04ZSpiritual and Personal Lessons Learned from AA, the 12-Steps, and Addiction Treatment tag:nefeshisrael.com,2005:/devorashabtai/purim-puzzles-and-addiction-recovery.html2021-02-25T00:02:56Z2021-02-25T00:41:04ZPurim, Puzzles, and Addiction RecoveryWorking in substance use treatment has unmasked new insight into Purim’s key themes. Here are two lessons I have gleaned from those in recovery from addiction that have helped to inspire my personal Purim experience:
Lesson 1: What it looks like to turn to a Higher Power in times of despair and threat
On Purim we recant a story of evil plots and ultimate redemption. And all the twists and turns along the way. Yet, in contrast t …Devora Shabtaitag:nefeshisrael.com,2005:/devorashabtai/-days-of-spiritual-sobriety-.html2020-10-27T23:56:54Z2020-10-28T13:14:42Z30 days of Spiritual Sobriety "I picked up my red [30 day] chip today...As proud as I am, I've been down this road before. Now's when I gotta really start working to keep my sobriety. Relapse can creep up so fast if I get too confident."
As my client shared this milestone, I realized that today, too, marks my own 30 days "in recovery" of a different sort.
30 days ago today, I experienced the rigorous, spiritually rehabilitative process of Teshuva.
On Yom Kippur and the 40 day …Devora Shabtaitag:nefeshisrael.com,2005:/devorashabtai/in-rehab-discovering-the-power-of-the-yomim-noraim.html2020-09-26T20:04:26Z2020-09-28T22:35:30ZIn Rehab, Discovering the Power of the Yomim NoraimEach year as I sit to chart my resolutions for the Yomim Noraim, I tend to grow frustrated as I discover, yet again, that my list so closely resembles the one I penned the year before.
I never would have imagined I would receive a transformative lesson on how I could more fully embrace this period as a therapist at an in-patient treatment center for substance abuse.
Here are four of the major insights that I have gleaned from observing the &ldquo …Devora Shabtaitag:nefeshisrael.com,2005:/devorashabtai/addiction-recovery-and-tisha-bav.html2020-07-26T21:57:11Z2020-07-26T23:38:38ZAddiction Recovery and Tisha B'Av: Lessons from the Frontlines of Pain"It is enormously difficult to organize one's traumatic experiences into a coherent account- a narrative with a beginning, a middle, and an end." - Bessel Van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score
As we enter into a period dedicated to commemorating our nation's traumas and catastrophic events, and to integrating these experiences into a coherent and purpose-driven narrative, we can draw inspiration from those in addiction treatment …Devora Shabtaitag:nefeshisrael.com,2005:/devorashabtai/addiction-recovery-and-tisha-bav-lessons-from-the-frontlines-of-pain.html2020-07-10T01:06:03Z2020-07-10T08:13:36ZThe Pursuit of Pain: Lessons for the 3 Weeks from Addiction RecoveryWe are wired to chase pleasure, and our brains’ reward-system provides several important benefits. On the flipside we instinctively avoid pain and unease whenever possible.
It may therefore seem counter-intuitive that the Jewish calendar prescribes a 3 week period virtually dedicated to manufacturing sadness. To purposefully drawing painful memories and uncomfortable feelings to the surface.
Isn’t this exactly wh …Devora Shabtaitag:nefeshisrael.com,2005:/devorashabtai/accepting-resistance-lessons-for-shavuos-.html2020-05-25T21:05:26Z2020-05-25T23:42:39ZAccepting Resistance: Lessons for Shavuos from RehabDave*, a 33 year old businessman from West Virginia, is sitting in my office at a treatment center miles from family and from the comfort of his daily routine, for one goal: to learn how to live without alcohol or substances. To learn how to move past the vicious cycles that have brought him to the verge of destruction time and time again.
This desire for change was something he shared with his wife in between sobs on their bedroom floor af …Devora Shabtaitag:nefeshisrael.com,2005:/devorashabtai/from-chaos-to-seder-lessons-from-addiction-recovery.html2020-04-03T00:38:31Z2020-04-05T11:05:38ZFrom Chaos to Seder: Lessons from Addiction Recovery"We are going to know a new freedom”-Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 83.
I have always marveled at the paradox that our nation’s liberation from the bondage of slavery is marked by the quintessential period of restriction. A holiday that requires us to adhere to strict guidelines and detailed instructions with such profound exactitude and measure. To distance ourselves from something that in the rest of the year we engage in uncond …Devora Shabtaitag:nefeshisrael.com,2005:/devorashabtai/placing-our-faith-in-faith-the-power-of-spiritual-religious-coping.html2020-03-29T14:11:42Z2020-04-01T21:45:53ZPlacing our Faith in Faith: The Power of Spiritual-Religious CopingAmid this period of uncertainty, many of us continue to exert effort to tap into inner resources and reservoirs of strength. Some do so through stepping up to take action. Others find strength through meaningful time with loved ones, engaging in enjoyable activities, or within the quiet of solitude.
Yet, in this whirlwind of chaos there is one response that appears to be somewhat global- that of turning to God or a Higher Power. …Devora Shabtai