Introduction to Mindfulness - Dean Amory

When is the right stage in recovery to introduce this course?
The right stage to cope? You don’t know if you will be until it comes
up, people who dropped out probably weren’t there (at the right
stage). I knew I needed something else, I’m not getting support in
day-to-day counselling to deal with it so I went and organised
additional psychotherapy to help.
I don’t think there should be a time – one year clean or you’re not in
– not a time frame. If I’d done this after one month I would’ve
relapsed. Really early recovery isn’t a good idea at all. The criteria
should be about: the person; what you want to get from this; and that
you’re going to stay clean at all costs.
Did you feel that we could have done something more to support
people feeling vulnerable during the course?
Maybe do raise the issue again after the first session; that you might
need extra support. Put it out in some way what to expect, but when
it happens it’s different
How did this course fit with the 12 steps?
I dropped my sponsor because I found out I didn’t value her
recovery, she wasn’t really there for me… it’s her job to guide me
through recovery but she didn’t call me back (when I had called her
in a crisis)… they would run side by side because meditation is the
11th step.
When I heard at the start it would be a life-changing experience, it
was like, wow! It was life-changing but it has been in a different way
in me than I expected….
Outside stuff – things like how you view yourself, the outside world –
it’s been life changing in how I see my own awareness. I totally
misunderstood, I thought everything would be great, calm and
peaceful… it’s more of a reality check… I didn’t get it but now it’s
like, this is what they meant. It’s all good, growth and change and I’m
open to it.
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