Unresolved Damage
Factors of Relapse: Damage
Every family member knows there has been damage to trust and relationships from drugs and alcohol. In most cases, maintaining one’s addiction has involved telling lies, manipulating others to keep them from interfering with your drug abuse, stealing to get money for drugs, keeping the extent of your drug abuse a secret. Some people resort to selling drugs to others and seeing them harmed or even worse.
This harm usually falls into one of these categories:
- Harm to relationships with family, friends, and community
- Harm to employers and their businesses
- Harm to one’s own standing and reputation in the community
- Poor legal situation (probation, parole, arrest record)
- Personal financial losses, debts, bankruptcy
- Financial losses imposed on others
Most of this damage can be repaired or at least reduced.
How Does the Narconon Program Address Unresolved Damage?
As part of their work in rehab, many Narconon participants contact the family to find out how they can make up for past lies and thefts. An agreement may be formed that allows both sides to put the matter to rest. The same agreements may be formed with former employers or schools.
Once through the Narconon drug rehab program, it is not at all unusual for many graduates to reach out to those who had been harmed to put things right. Even if the harm cannot now be reversed, an acknowledgment of the harm done, a description of the months spent in rehab and a new sober track record often help to start mending relationships with others and their community.
Legal situations are often improved and cases closed by completion of a long-term rehab program, with the endorsement of rehab staff.
In the life skills portion of the Narconon rehab program, tools are learned to enable a person to build a better, more stable life. Training in the basics of ethics and integrity is included in this program, with specific tools to use to mend these relationships and make amends for the damage that has been caused.
If the now-sober person had to walk back into the family and community with all the residual animosity that usually exists and did not have these tools, those conflicts could reignite and drive him back to drug or alcohol abuse as an escape.
Contents of Factors of Relapse
