addiction

Stanton Peele has what he calls the Life Process Program that asuumes:

1. Addiction is a way of coping with yourself and your world.
2. The solution requires self-awareness, new coping skills and changing your environment.
3. Addiction is a continuum, your behavior is more or less addicted.
4. Addiction can be outgrown.
5. You should identify problems and solutions in ways that work for you.
6. Those without an addiction problem are the best models.
7. Addiction stems from other life problems you have.
8. You should associate with a normal range of people.
9. Getting better is not a matter of believing a dogma.
10. You must develop your own power to get better.

Valuing these things can help combat addictions:

• achievement: constructive accomplishments
• socially valued goals like education and work
• conciousness: being alert, awake, and aware of your surroundings; using you mind to make sense out of your life experiences
• activity: being engaged in the world around you, being energetic in daily life
• health
• responsibility: fulfilling your committments and doing what the law obliges you to do
• self-respect: caring for yourself and about yourself and others
• community: being involved and making a contribution
• act in line with what you believe in and what you care about
• self-efficacy: believe in your own strength
• maturity, responsibility, integrity

Instead of focusing on what you need to quit or escape from, it is critical to focus on what you want to achieve. Giving up your addictionthen becomes a necessay step on the road to getting where you wish to go.

Have goals that represent accomplishments with benefits to others and contributions to your community. When your perspective is focused on other people and such larger goals, you are not inclined to be tripped up by destructive, self-focused addictions.

Worthwhile goals pursued to make yourself a better person, to improve and advance your life like money management, exercise, healthy social life, family relationships, education or job training are all things that contribute to a constructive, happy life.

Life grid: family, health, projects, work, addictions - your progress in one area contributes to success in the others, These resources create the resources that conteract addictions.