21. Understanding one's own story is a key concept in recovery

By Tom O'Connell

When Swiss psychologist Carl Jung told an alcoholic named Rowland in the early 1930s that his condition was hopeless unless he had a spiritual conversion, he set the stage for the later formation of Alcoholics Anonymous, which is based on universal spiritual principles as opposed to religious creeds. A close look at the workings of 12 Step addiction recovery programs reflects much of Jung's insightful thinking.

Recovery from mental illness, according to Jung, comes when "the split" is healed. Basically, addiction is mental/spiritual illness that makes us divided spirits, although there are physical and social effects too. Jung believed that the split causing mental imbalance comes from the interruption of one's own personal life story through choosing life-damaging behavior. When addicts talk about getting "back on track" they're indicating that they've been mentally unbalanced and are returning to health. They're recovering from being divided spirits resembling Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Our life story wants to be lived, not interrupted or split, asserted Jung. So, if we sidetrack ourselves through addiction instead of going forward to live out our story, we're in for trouble. Jung had a way of seeing through the complications of addiction and zeroing in on the truth that our story is our "precious possession" and it is "clamoring to be lived." Healing and wholeness, he said, involve "getting hold of the story."

In Jung's thinking, truth reunites the spirit with the body, resolving the split. In 12 Step programs, people do this by telling stories. When people hear others tell where they were before addiction set in, where addiction took them, and how they're recovering, a healing process begins. By listening to the stories of others, recovering people put the pieces of their life puzzle together and get in touch with their own interrupted story.

Eventually, when we clarify our own story and get back on track, we find what Jung calls "the treasure." Another term he uses for it is the Latin phrase "unio mentalis," or "one mind." Similar insights are found in the "pearl of great price" mentioned by Jesus, or perhaps the goal of "emotional sobriety" mentioned by AA co-founder Bill Wilson.

In Jung's thinking, the hero of mythology has to "conquer the dragon" before finding the treasure. The word "addiction" can be substituted for "dragon." And how does a person do this piece of work? Jung suggests "zealous meditation." Interestingly, a key to sobriety in 12 Step programs also involves meditation. The 11th Step goal of prayer and meditation is designed to improve one's "conscious contact with God." By improving spiritually, recovering people experience the "spiritual awakening" mentioned in the 12th Step, find "the treasure" inside themselves, and no longer have to pursue outside illusions.

According to Jung, "the truth was the panacea," or cure-all. The truth heals people in 12 Step programs. "You will come to know the truth, and the truth will set  you free," said a spiritual master 2,000 years ago. In a 12 Step atmosphere of love and truth, people share their experience, strength, and hope. Then, little by little, they get beyond the blank pages of their stories and get on with completing the story of their lives...without the distraction of addictions. They get back on track spiritually, mentally, physically, and socially. And they move toward emotional balance, wholeness, and a state of health.

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