Group Objective: To explore the possibility that no one and nothing “outside” of someone has the power to make them relapse.
Key Teaching Points: Often people say that they feel “triggered” by someone’s behavior or by something that happens to them. In this group, we will practice changing the word “trigger” to “activation” and reframe the belief that someone or something has the ability to control us or make us relapse.
Materials Needed: Handouts, whiteboard or flipchart, markers,
Reading from Conscious Recovery: We may sometimes still experience pain, but we will no longer blame anyone or any situation as the cause of the pain. We will be accountable for our own experience. It may be that a wound within us is touched by what happened, and in that case, it’s important to discover how it might help us grow beyond that trigger. As a matter of fact, we no longer focus on triggers at all, but acknowledge that something is activated within us that is wanting to heal. In that way, we can welcome every situation as an opportunity for our own growth and expansion. When we come to see that what other people do or say doesn’t impact the truth of who and what we are, and we recognize they are acting out of their own “woundology,” we don’t make ourselves victims to anyone else’s behavior. We no longer blame anyone else for our experiences. We become able to respond to them rather than reacting out of our old programming. In this way, we can be at peace regardless of outer circumstances.
As we embody this dynamic new paradigm, new possibilities open in our consciousness and in our lives. We recognize that because we have grown in conscious awareness, we can naturally access and activate a deeper blueprint for our lives. We can embrace a life filled with connection and joy. We find ourselves living from a perspective of continuous awe and wonder. Life becomes immensely simpler over time, and we move into a way of being that even feels effortless. This is because we have awakened into a new way of seeing ourselves and the world. We have been returned to our original perfection. Because of this, our lives continue to open to greater opportunities. As we grow our level of consciousness, the outer world responds.
Residential: Week 8 Group Outline Relapse Triggers
(10 minutes) Meditation
(10 minutes) Check-in: Everyone says their name and says something about what one of their “triggers” are.
Review Shared Agreements
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One Person Speaks at a Time
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Confidentiality
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Share the Air
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No “Fixing”
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“I” Statements
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Feedback Upon Request
(5 minutes) Introduction of Topic: In the addiction treatment field, the word “trigger” is used to describe something (a person, place, etc.) that causes someone to want to relapse. This is implying the something or someone “out there” is the cause of their pain. But, it is really a “button” that was touched INTERNALLY and that is where the focus need to be.
(5 minutes) Group Discussion: Read (or write on board) and discuss this quote: “It is not your words that hurt me, it’s that you touched a wound that has not healed.” – Don Miguel Ruiz
(20 minutes) Group Process (Small Groups): Have people break into three small groups and read the reading (out loud) and discuss.
(15 minutes) Group Process: Have one person from each group “report” to the larger group regarding the discussion in their group.
(15 minutes) Group Discussion (Flip-chart): Line down center of flip-chart. On one side brainstorm and list “TRIGGERS” on the other side “ACTIVATIONS.”
Key Points:
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There is a deeper way to approach a “trigger”
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It is really a “button” that is touched INTERNALLY that is causing
pain
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The “button” is getting activated in order to heal
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In this way we are no longer giving our power away
(10 minutes) Closing Process
READING 1
From Conscious Recovery
We may sometimes still experience pain, but we will no longer blame anyone or any situation as the cause of the pain. We will be accountable for our own experience. It may be that a wound within us is touched by what happened, and in that case, it’s important to discover how it might help us grow beyond that trigger. As a matter of fact, we no longer focus on triggers at all, but acknowledge that something is activated within us that is wanting to heal. In that way, we can welcome every situation as an opportunity for our own growth and expansion. When we come to see that what other people do or say doesn’t impact the truth of who and what we are, and we recognize they are acting out of their own “woundology,” we don’t make ourselves victims to anyone else’s behavior. We no longer blame anyone else for our experiences. We become able to respond to them rather than reacting out of our old programming. In this way, we can be at peace regardless of outer circumstances.
READING 2
From Conscious Recovery
Imagine a permanent shift in your neural network, in which you don’t constantly identify yourself as broken or addicted. Imagine going into a place that used to be filled with triggers, a place that formerly would have looked like a temptation or a trap, and walking through it with ease and grace. Imagine your life as free of “the problem of addiction” and as filled with potential. Imagine that you are truly free to move in whatever direction your inner knowing points. That’s the power of the quantum leap, the U-turn in consciousness. Imagine now that, because you are recognizing your oneness with Source, you can absolutely trust its direction. That’s the promise of many spiritual practices—that through openness and acceptance, you will develop an unshakable relationship with your inner life, and allow it to gently guide you.
READING 3
From Conscious Recovery
Imagine that someone makes a “negative” remark to you. Practicing nonresistance, you can simply observe and notice: How are you judging this situation? What is your judgment about this person? Then you can take that more deeply inward: You can observe what that statement activates internally. Maybe you feel a tightness in your throat or your chest or your stomach, maybe you experience the urge to react, to lash out, to judge. So you can observe your reaction, and recognize your desire to judge. And then you can go even deeper: What is your judgment about yourself in this moment? What are you saying about yourself when you judge this person or situation? What are you believing about yourself to be true?