Wednesday
January 21, 2015

Changing course to the same destination

The next day Kim told the group she was going to a yearlong rehab out of state.  “I’ve relapsed four times in two years,” she said.  “I don’t like the idea of going away for a whole year, but what I’ve been doing hasn’t been working.  It’s time to take a different course.”

I thought about something I had been told about families when I was in grad school.  When things don’t go well, many families try ‘more, louder, harder.’ They do more of whatever wasn’t working, or they say it louder, and they try harder at failed strategies.  The sad thing, I was told, was these families often had worthwhile goals such as keeping a family intact. The trick was to get them to try something different, but with the same goal. 

I was glad to see Kim was choosing a new course, but working toward the same goal.

Today I will look at what’s not working and seek a different course to a worthwhile goal.

Relapse Prevention Group © 2014 by Ken Montrose