Guilt, How It Can Be Relieved
If a person goes to a short-term drug rehab that does not include a component that directly addresses and relieves her guilt, she could be returned to her life with all this guilt intact. Every time she sees the dresser where her parents used to keep the jewelry that she sold, or the children whose toys she stole, it’s going to be difficult. Without honest-to-goodness relief from this guilt, she could be dragged right back into drug or alcohol abuse again.
Rebuilding a drug-free life takes longer than the 28 days of many drug rehab programs. It not only takes time, it also takes learning how to reclaim personal integrity and self-esteem.
The Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program includes life-skills components that enable a person to face past destructive actions squarely, and then repair the damage done to families, friends, and groups he or she was part of.
The Steps to Relieving Guilt
The first step involves learning how guilt comes about. The second is applying this learned data to one’s life in an effective procedure that allows the recovering addict to review the past, understand it and move on. This is followed by learning how past damage can be repaired, again followed by practice of the principles learned. It is at this point that many people in the recovering addict’s life will choose to trust again and let go of the past, to the relief of both sides.
When the past is understood and forgiven, a new drug-free life can be built.
On the Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, there are several phases that directly affect one’s understanding and elimination of guilt.
It starts with the life skills course Ups and Downs in Life. On this course, students learn to identify true friends and those whose intent is actually to harm. By learning how to make this separation, recovering addicts can look back and see where mistakes were made that led them to addiction or kept them there. By learning to make better choices in the future, each person resolves some of his confusion and guilt about bad decisions in the past.
The next step forward is the Personal Values Course. It is a critically important step for each person who wishes to stay sober long after graduation. On this life skills training course, each person learns about personal ethics, how integrity can be lost and how it can be regained. As this understanding is gained, each person gains a greater ability to see how his own actions created the addiction and problems surrounding it. After this material is grasped, each student learns the procedure by which she can find relief from past misdeeds, following by practical application to her own life, guided by experienced Narconon staff. At the end of this practical application, many people talk about a “weight being lifted.” With a higher responsibility and clearer conscience, the recovering addict is ready to move on.
By studying the Changing Conditions in Life Course, each recovering addict discovers that he has the skill to change situations in his life and put them right. This course teaches the exact steps that can be used to turn things around and these steps are then applied to unresolved situations in each person’s life. The result is an improved ability to shape the life that one wants to live. It is at this point that recovering addicts often take the time to repair relationships with those they have harmed in the past, such as families, spouses, children, employers, and communities.
Finally, the Narconon student is assisted to develop a series of steps he or she will carry out to address the interpersonal relationships which were harmed by the student’s addictive behavior and to re-establish his life on a productive and ethical footing.
Addiction recovery must reach much farther into each person’s life than simply learning to use severe self-control to stay away from drugs or alcohol. When one truly finds relief from cravings, depression, and guilt, the future path opens up into an enjoyable life. Life can start to be about the freedom to create a drug-free life with the achievement of goals and restored relationships. The future is then about cherishing one’s family and being productive. And very possibly, finding ways to help others who have become trapped in drug or alcohol abuse.
Series of articles explaining the Factors of Drug Addiction
- Part 1: Factors of Drug Addiction
- Part 2: Drug Cravings, the First Factor of Addiction
- Part 3: How to Overcome Drug Cravings
- Part 4: Depression, The Second Factor of Drug Addiction
- Part 5: Handling Depression Without Drugs
- Part 6: Guilt, The Third Factor of Drug Addiction
