The Role of Community in Faith-Based Treatment

People enrolled in faith-based rehab programs have chosen an ambitious path to healing. Life transformation is their ultimate goal, and their recovery from addiction is their launching point to a new and better future.

For those who experience drug and alcohol dependency as a spiritual crisis, faith-based treatment programs can be ideal. Their therapy sessions will incorporate highly valuable religious or spiritual perspectives and insights, which can only aid their attempts to get clean and sober. Their time in faith-based recovery will give them the chance to forge a closer relationship with God, and with others who share their interest in spiritual matters.

The therapists, counselors and advisors who develop and administer faith-based treatment programs recognize the constructive role that community can play in recovery from addiction. In support of their individualized treatment plans, clients will be asked to participate in community-building initiatives both inside and outside of rehab.

The Goals of Christian Therapy and Rehabilitation

Faith-based treatment programs integrate dual quests: one for spiritual regeneration and the other for a drug- and alcohol-free lifestyle.

This is not an easy mission to complete, and participants in these programs must be prepared to overcome significant challenges. But forging meaningful relationships with like-minded souls can be immensely helpful to the recovery process, and that is why faith-based programs place so much importance on the concept of community.

The Christian treatment track at Transformations embraces a community-oriented approach to addiction recovery, in both structure and style. With a long and distinguished record of success, it provides a good example of how faith-based treatment programs can bring people together as a way to improve outcomes.

Why You Might Want to Consider a Christian Rehab for Addiction Treatment

Faith-Based Individual and Group Therapy

Individual therapy at Transformations is conducted by addiction specialists who respect and share their clients’ interest in Christ- and Bible-centered perspectives. They are trained to combine traditional evidence-based therapies with spiritual contemplation and introspection, which can help men and women identify the reasons why they’ve fallen prey to the lure of drugs alcohol even as they work to re-engage with God and their deeper spiritual natures.

But while individual therapy is important, it is only part of the equation. Through group therapy men and women in recovery can begin to connect with other people who are struggling with the same issues, as they look to fill the spiritual void their substance use has brought into their lives.

At Transformations there are two open enrollment groups for clients seeking faith-based services: one Christian and one spiritual with no particular religious focus. Interested persons of all faiths (or with no previous faith) can attend and participate as much or as little as they choose in either group, knowing that their involvement will be welcomed by all. One additional group is exclusively Christian and is designed for those who want a more focused experience that harmonizes with their most intimately held religious beliefs.

In each of these groups, connections emerge organically between people with common experiences and common spiritual interests, creating mutually rewarding relationships that empower everyone.  People often move back and forth between one group or another, meeting new people with new perspectives and broadening their range of experiences in the process. This dynamic aspect of our Christian track only enhances the feeling of community that emerges during rehab, and is a sign of a healthy approach to living and learning.

Reciprocal aid is the essence of community, and the sense of solidarity forged during group counseling and spiritual discussion sessions is highly beneficial to those who are feeling alone and vulnerable as a result of their struggles with chemical dependency.

Integrating Faith, the Church and Addiction Recovery

There is more to the Christian rehab experience than psychotherapy and group meetings. Men and women in recovery who seek to bring Christ back into their lives, or to reaffirm their commitment to walking a spiritual path, need to find support and understanding outside the rehab center as well as inside. God is a road to transcendence but so, too, is the greater community of spiritual seekers, and only when community becomes an immersive experience can its full potential to inspire transformation be unleashed.

While enrolled in the Transformations Christian rehab track, clients will be encouraged to attend regular chapel services (onsite), meet with spiritual advisors (outside the context of their treatment program), attend Sunday or holiday services at nearby churches, and participate in local events, festivals and other programs offered by local religious institutions. They will also be given opportunities to attend community peer group sessions sponsored by Celebrate Recovery, a 12-step alternative to AA and NA that is specifically tailored to meet the needs of practicing Christians.

Through full and active participation in the Christian rehab track at Transformations, clients will form bonds of care and concern with therapists, with other addicts in recovery, with those who’ve finished rehab and have returned to their normal lives, and with members of the Christian community in general, all of whom are eager to offer compassion and guidance.

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Why Community Matters in Recovery

Spiritual practice has its individual side, and each person who feels disconnected from God will have to figure out how to heal that breach on their own. But religion flourishes when communion with others is achieved.

Human beings are capable of heroic feats when they’re surrounded by friends and family members who support them, listen to them, emphasize with them, advise them and commiserate with them about the immensity of the life challenges they face. Forming these social networks is possible outside of religious practice, but the spiritual element helps form a unifying bond that can inspire, motivate and energize those who’ve been isolated by shame and fear for far too long.

Communities are more than just aggregates of individual people; they are alliances built on trust, comradery and optimism about the future. When Christians gather in any setting, to converse, reflect or offer fellowship, they do so knowing that their relationship with God can lift them up and help them overcome any obstacle or scale any mountain, no matter how foreboding.

Fostering a sense of community and shared purpose is a vital element of our Christian rehab track. By their very nature communities nurture success, and the human connections people make in faith-based treatment programs will empower both their recovery and their spiritual journey.

The Effectiveness of Christian and Faith-Based Treatment

Faith-based treatment programs have a strong record of success, outperforming secular programs in many comparative studies[1].

Traditional, evidence-based treatment methodologies are always included in Christian and other faith-based treatment plans[2]. But they are supplemented by a spiritual component that is missing from most conventional rehab programs, and it is this blending of healing concepts that makes faith-based treatment effective for those who experience addiction as a true crisis of the spirit.

Research reveals that people who recover from substance use disorders in faith-based treatment programs do become more spiritual, as long as their experience is extended and immersive[3]—as it is in the Christian rehab program at Transformations. We promote spiritual growth and wellness in addition to sobriety, with the understanding that the former will increase the longevity of the latter.

World Religion News. Faith in Recovery, Part III: Is Faith-Based Addiction Treatment More Effective?
https://www.worldreligionnews.com/faith-in-recovery/faith-in-recovery-pt-3-is-faith-based-addiction-treatment-more-effective

[3]Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. Contrasting Faith-Based and Traditional Substance Abuse Treatment Programs.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16377452/

[4]Substance Abuse. Spiritual Change in Drug Treatment: Utility of the Christian Inventory of Spirituality.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2917843/