- How does 12-Step facilitation of treatment relate to your personal theory of life? What parts could you integrate if desired?
There are parts of the 12-step facilitation of treatment that I can relate to my personal theory of life. For example, one of the steps is that a higher power can restore us to sanity. I do believe in God and that my life is in His hands. It comforts me to have an all-powerful being to turn to. This leads into another of the twelve steps which incorporates making a decision to turn our will and lives over to God’s care. I believe that step four of the facilitation process is continuous throughout the lifespan. I think we continuously need to look at our personal morals and values as this world changes.
- How does 12-Step facilitation of treatment relate to your preferred counseling orientation? What parts do you see that you could utilize for treatment?
The 12-Step facilitation of treatment relates to my preferred counseling orientation as I feel as though I am an integrative counselor. I relate most with CBT. CBT deals with changing behavior through changing thoughts. The 12-step program is, at a basic level, a thought changing process. It is changing the thought that I have control over my life and altering it to the thought that something higher has control over my life. Implementing the steps into treatment, I could use step 8. Step eight is making a list of all people we have harmed and making amends to them all. This, I think, is a great part of any healing process. It helps make your mind clear knowing that you have done right, or made right, with the people in your life. I know that having doing right by others makes me feel calmer at the end of the day. It would be the same for clients, I am sure. This process can be used with atheists and agnostics, too, as there are groups where the steps have been altered slightly so that no one is offended.
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