The Importance of Service in a 12-Step Program
By Meghan Vivo
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” ~Ghandi
Once drugs or alcohol take over a person’s life, the addict frequently becomes self-absorbed, reckless, and willing to sacrifice anything – family, friends, job, reputation, savings – to maintain their habit. Behaviors such as lying, stealing, and betraying loved ones are commonly justified as a means to obtain the next high. These behaviors can be crushing to the friends, family, and co-workers of the addict.
Even during the process of recovery, some addicts are angry, defiant, and resistant, requiring a great deal of patience and commitment from loved ones and a dedicated staff of treatment professionals. By the time an individual reaches early sobriety, he may have hurt or abandoned a great number of people.
In order to mend these wrongs and begin anew, the 12-Step program emphasizes the importance of service. The AA/NA 12-Step program of recovery is based on concepts like making amends and carrying the message forward as a way to help other suffering addicts while solidifying the recovering individual’s own sobriety. Whether the effort is as simple as making a phone call to an old friend or sharing a cup of coffee with someone struggling with addiction, or as complex as leading a service project in the community, giving back is a part of life many people in recovery could not live without.
Recovering Teens Give Back
Some wonderful ideas for ways to give back have been explored at drug rehab programs around the country. At SunHawk Academy, a long-term adolescent substance abuse treatment program for teens ages 13-17, community service is an integral part of daily life. Prior to graduation, SunHawk students complete a “serenity project,” a significant community service project that leaves a positive mark on SunHawk and the surrounding community. In past years, some of these projects have included:
• Reading books to preschool children at the local library
• Caroling at a local nursing home
• Volunteering time at an animal shelter
• Assisting with a state park clean-up project
• Sharing personal stories with students at local middle schools and high schools
Recently, the SunHawk students had the opportunity to volunteer at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, a national organization with a local chapter that helped rescue 22 pit bulls seized from ex-NFL star Michael Vick. Called the “Vicktory Dogs” by staff at the sanctuary, the pit bulls had been rejected by other national organizations which called for them to be killed. Many of the dogs were suffering from serious psychological and emotional trauma, and had been tossed aside as “bad dogs” unworthy of help. These characteristics made them uniquely relatable to SunHawk’s troubled teens.
After taking a tour of the impressive Best Friends facility and learning how to handle and train dogs, the students helped by walking the dogs, feeding the cats, pigs, and goats, maintaining the walking trails, and cleaning the horse pastures. With the help of SunHawk’s students and other volunteers, the Vick pit bulls are now learning how to play and love, receiving top-notch care until they can be either adopted or live out their lives at the sanctuary.
“Our students really connected with the Vick dogs,” said Steve Kretschmannn, LSAC, a counselor at SunHawk Academy who accompanied the students to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. “They understood that these weren’t bad dogs, but good dogs that were trained to be bad. Like many of our students, these dogs had faced really difficult life circumstances and in many ways, had to learn to live again.”
The Gift that Gives Back
The animals aren’t the only ones that benefited from the volunteer experience. According to Kretschmannn, the students are still talking about their time at the sanctuary months later. Because the dedicated staff at the sanctuary truly enjoys the work they do and find meaning in life through service, they served as excellent role models for students learning to live a life of sobriety.
By helping to care for the animals, the students developed an immediate connection with other living creatures and an understanding of how much other people are willing to sacrifice for those in need.
“When we’re out actively engaged in the community, the experience is completely different from classroom learning and counseling sessions,” says Kretschmannn. “Hands-on encounters are more memorable, and combined with all the other aspects of the program, can be incredibly powerful.”
One student described the Best Friends experience as “one of best experiences I ever had. Every person who went got something out of it.” A 17-year-old soon-to-be SunHawk graduate said, “It felt good inside to know that I’m doing something for someone else. We were screwing things up before we came here, and now we’re getting our lives back on track.”
An Ongoing Commitment to Service
Volunteering at the animal sanctuary is just one of many ways students at SunHawk give back to the community. Every week students have an opportunity to participate in a different service project, so that each individual is certain to find something they feel passionate about. After every service project, the students participate in a group session where they process the experience and share what they learned or gained by giving back. This way, students are more likely to continue giving back and working the 12 Steps after they leave SunHawk.
Because the importance of giving back is so deeply instilled at SunHawk, many students make service a priority after formal addiction treatment ends. Some plan to attend college as psychology majors and work for teen drug rehab programs like SunHawk, some are getting involved in community outreach activities, and some are paying it forward to siblings and friends who are heading down the wrong path.
“The longer a teen is in treatment, the easier it becomes to think outside themselves,” says Kretschmannn. “They don’t always like it while they’re doing it, but when they see the results of their work and the appreciation of those they helped, it becomes something they look forward to, something that melts away some of the selfishness.”
Over the next few months, a number of senior students at SunHawk will complete their “serenity project” by visiting schools in the community to share the story of how they became involved with drugs and alcohol and how addiction has affected their lives.
“They’re the experts on teen substance abuse because they’ve lived it,” says Kretschmannn. “Because they are similar in age and are sharing information that is very personal to them, the younger kids really listen. We believe this type of prevention effort is having a real, positive impact on our community.”
One student is preparing to speak to 60 seventh-graders who are starting to get into trouble at school and at home. “As a kid who has been down that road, in and out of treatment for years, hopefully my story can help them learn from my mistakes,” the student said.
Another student will be visiting a teen rehab school similar to SunHawk, while another will be speaking with teens at a wilderness program in the area. “I love talking to people about the things I’ve learned and accomplished, and passing that knowledge on to other addicts or teens at risk,” said a 16-year-old SunHawk student. “My life is amazing now – I feel really good about myself.”
Finding a Cause Greater than Ourselves
The purpose of community service projects is for teens in recovery to spend time thinking about how they can benefit other people. This is a novel idea to many young people. In giving back, the students at SunHawk build relationships with fellow students and members of the community, feel a sense of belonging to a cause greater than themselves, and develop a spiritual connection.
“For me, it’s spiritual – it feels so good to do something for someone else,” said one SunHawk student. “It lifts my spirits and gives me more confidence to continue down the path of sobriety. Feeling good about yourself and being confident in who you are keeps you from using. I’m in the best spot I’ve been in since I can remember.”
