Beating addiction is a journey, not an event. Any recovering alcoholic or addict will tell you that overcoming addiction is a process that unfolds before you for the rest of your life. But what does a process such as this really consist of, and how do we go about following it in a positive manner?

Before you can make progress in recovery and begin to change, you will need to surrender fully and ask for help. What does this really mean?

It means you have to stop fighting with yourself in terms of trying to control your use. You must not keep giving in to the fantasy that you might some day drink booze like a normal person can without losing control. If you happen to be entertaining the fantasy that one day you might drink like a normal person then you are headed for trouble.

Surrender is a process. It just happens suddenly; I don’t really believe that you can make it happen by your own force of will. Most recovering alcoholics would argue that you have to hit bottom first. If you are still experiencing good times with drugs and alcohol then you are not in a position to be ready to give up anytime soon and give recovery a try. It is only when you have hit bottom that the thought of change and recovery can really be entertained. It is only when the good times end that a struggling alcoholic can consider the scenario of getting sober.

Because addiction and alcoholism attack a person mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, the recovery program should address each of these elements as well. That is what makes an integrated and holistic recovery program so effective. So many times in recovery I have seen alcoholics devote too much energy to one aspect of recovery and lose their balance in life. This almost always leads to disaster and eventually a return to drinking. Beating addiction demands a more in-depth approach.

A holistic solution for recovery addresses these issues. You stop dumping booze and chemicals into your body and your overall health starts to improve because of this. At the same time a good recovery strategy will encourage you to grow in a spiritual sense as well. You will grow emotionally as you fix broken friendships and also develop in a social sense as you network with your peers in recovery.