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In the ward bulletin I saw this….. LDS Addiction Recovery Program….
I thought “cool….something put together to help some of us move on past our addiction to the church. Never thought they would be so understanding”
Or did I misunderstand?
Nice try. It is an addiction program much like AA for drugs, drink, porn or things like that. Our stake has this and it is a pretty good program. They meet at church and have a slight LDS spin on things but it’s all done very discretely and leaders are not directly involved. Yeah…I knew that just trying tolighten things up….probably inappropriately….not unusual for me. That darn loud laughter addiction of mine Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2
Has anyone gone to a meeting? If yes, what’s it like? The reason I ask, there are times you have to be “brutally” honest. With yourself or others in the Group.
I have difficulty seeing that in an LDS program.
Mike wrote:Has anyone gone to a meeting? If yes, what’s it like?
The reason I ask, there are times you have to be “brutally” honest. With yourself or others in the Group.
I have difficulty seeing that in an LDS program.
mike, i went years ago. the meetings were facilitated and steered by an LDS family services therapist. this fundamentally changes the dynamic, as you can imagine.I absolutely loved the humor, johnh. Thanks for the laugh. 
I would hope this would go over well in Utah with their reported anti-depressant drug issues. As noted above, AA, NA, etc do focus on honesty and self-examination. The original 12-step program was popularized by a hopeless drunk stockbroker and a washed-up alcoholic doctor. It helps pretty much anyone who does what it recommends.
I’m not sure if the corporate ego would allow it in it’s pure form. They’ll probably need to “improve” it somehow.
Old-Timer wrote:I absolutely loved the humor, johnh. Thanks for the laugh.
Thanks Ray….it reminded me of something one of the laborers I worked with back in my construction days told me.
He was a a known partier on the crew. He was also a Catholic. He came in one monday and said “My priest kept pressuring me to give up something for Lent…finally I told him – OK…I am going to give up going to church”
Quote:I would hope this would go over well in Utah with their reported anti-depressant drug issues.
I would hope the program is NEVER recommended to someone as a replacement for prescribed anti-depressants. Those are two completely different issues, and I hope they never get conflated and people who are taking prescribed anti-depressants are made to feel like they are drug addicts as a result.
Talk about a vicious cycle:
Quote:“You are depressed, so you are taking prescribed medication to help. By taking the medication you are an addict who needs to stop. Good luck, amigo.”
Bruce in Montana wrote:I would hope this would go over well in Utah with their reported anti-depressant drug issues.
As noted above, AA, NA, etc do focus on honesty and self-examination. The original 12-step program was popularized by a hopeless drunk stockbroker and a washed-up alcoholic doctor. It helps pretty much anyone who does what it recommends.
I’m not sure if the corporate ego would allow it in it’s pure form. They’ll probably need to “improve” it somehow.
To echo what Ray said, this isn’t an appropriate response to someone who’s depressed.
It’s akin to saying that we hope “the guy with angina” goes to ARP. Depression is a medical illness – not a source of addiction.
Mike wrote:Has anyone gone to a meeting? If yes, what’s it like?
The reason I ask, there are times you have to be “brutally” honest. With yourself or others in the Group.
I have difficulty seeing that in an LDS program.
I’ve had experience of the ARP. The program’s positive and I’m glad the church are promoting it. Participants can refer to “my addiction” without sharing specifics, so I guess they aren’t fully open about it if they don’t want to be. It’s also held on an evening when the chapel is otherwise empty for privacy reasons. As others have said, the AA is a more in depth and productive approach.
I see two main positives to the ARP: 1) the ‘TBM addict’ has a place to go that feels like a safer environment and in keeping with their religious safety zone, 2) It’s an open promotion that the church admits that Home Teachers/Fast and Pray isn’t going to cure an addict. Addiction needs a different tool set. Until now an addict was seen by some as ‘weak/lacking in faith.’ Instead promoting this program will hopefully go some way to addressing that attitude (I won’t hold my breath).
FWIW, I would imagine that a lot of the people going to the ARP would not be serious substance addicts (Alcohol/Heavy Drugs) and I doubt the program is professional enough to deal with people in that situation. Instead I’d imagine there will be a lot of sexual addicts, milder substance issues (coffee/tea etc) and perhaps gaming addictions.
We can discuss separately whether porn/masturbation are a problem per se, but being addicted to them is possible and is a problem whether viewed from a religious or not. All addictions are destructive and people still need support treating them (an addiction to World of Warcraft can still destroy a family/career/education).
Yes, it seems to work as well as AA etc. The one downside is that I don’t think the s’xual/p’graphic stuff doesn’t work, particularly in regard to homosexuality, which is a different issue. Otherwise, it works well for many people. Some failure is ALWAYS guaranteed, but this is what the church needs. It’s about recovery not judgement, and mutual support. And picking yourself up, if you fall down.
From what I know about AA, I think it was an inspired program, designed by God to bring spirituality back into people’s lives, people who were alienated by religion.
It is good to know that ARP doesn’t replace AA or other addiction programs. AA has a spiritual component to the recovery process.
In my case, it came years after my first meeting.
I would of bolted out the door if it had been emphacises early in my recovery.
As long as the Church supports the AA program and doesn’t try to replace it.
When the the Church tries to include all addictions within the same meeting, doesn’t it dilute its
effectiveness?
(I’m putting to much thought into this.)
Mike wrote:It is good to know that ARP doesn’t replace AA or other addiction programs.
AA has a spiritual component to the recovery process.
In my case, it came years after my first meeting.
I would of bolted out the door if it had been emphacises early in my recovery.
As long as the Church supports the AA program and doesn’t try to replace it.
When the the Church tries to include all addictions within the same meeting, doesn’t it dilute its
effectiveness?
(I’m putting to much thought into this.)
probably.I think the key is that for many TBMs, the open spirituality of AA is uncomfortable, as noted by mackay11. AAs can smoke, drink coffee and tea, have affairs (13th step), and pray to a doorknob, as long as they stay sober. (Now, I’m not saying that mature AAs do this, but you probably know what I mean). Personally, I found open spirituality to be the most enlightening thing of AA and NA, but I don’t think it’s for everyone.
SamBee wrote:Yes, it seems to work as well as AA etc. The one downside is that I don’t think the s’xual/p’graphic stuff doesn’t work, particularly in regard to homosexuality, which is a different issue. Otherwise, it works well for many people.
You’ve got a double negative in there so I wasn’t sure what you meant. Do you mean ARP doesn’t work for sexual addictions? Or that it does, but doesn’t for homosexuality.
I’d be sad to hear if someone was sent to ARP for an “addiction” to being gay. That would suggest the leader didn’t understand addiction OR homosexuality.
Being gay is not an addiction.
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