Category » Applied Philosophy & Psychology
Acceptance Deployed
For the last three weeks, these blogs have focused on acceptance, an idea some think essential to sobriety, abstinence, and recovery. In the weeks these blogs were written, the second wave of COVID-19 began. Many have expressed concern, anxiety, and anticipatory cabin-fever. In March 2020, when the virus emerged, Terry Waite wrote an article for […]
Acceptance & Amor Fati
Amor fati is a Latin expression meaning love of fate. It is tied to Stoicism but more directly to Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) the philosopher who proclaimed that “God is dead.” The point of this blog, as in the previous two blogs, is to challenge our understanding of SMART Recovery’s unconditional life acceptance (ULA) by testing […]
Acceptance & Stoicism
To unpack SMART Recovery’s concept of Universal Life Acceptance (ULA), is to grapple with some philosophers who got there first. This week the work of Epictetus, the Stoic, is compared to SMART’s ULA. Epictetus was born a slave in 50 CE. For most of his life, he had one damaged leg and is portrayed with […]
Acceptance
Acceptance is an idea that comes up in SMART Recovery, Stoicism, and in parts of the work of the Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). The next few blogs attempt to explain what is meant by acceptance and to test its usefulness in everyday life. SMART Recovery bills its version as unconditional life acceptance (ULA). The SMART Handbook […]
Perfectionism IV
The last few blogs were concerned with the inhibitive effects of perfectionism, that is, the higher our standards, the less likely we are to try new activities be they recreational, social, professional, or healthful. For example, say a SMART attendee wants to move from harm reduction to abstinence. She makes an hour-by-hour plan of what […]
Perfectionism III
As regular readers know, this blog does not claim to provide authoritative opinions. Instead, it aims to review and discuss issues of interest to those wishing to change their lives, often in contexts involving addictive behaviours. As such, sources are usually documented to allow readers to do further research so, before leaving the topic of […]
Perfectionism II
Last week we left off after naming Dweck’s (2016) concept of fixed versus growth mindsetsin relation to the vice of perfectionism. The high-achieving academic teen, who wanted to be a successful striker on her school’s soccer team, was so paralyzed by the fear of failure that, instead of beginning skill drills at a low level, […]
Perfectionism
In an August 2020 (COVID-19) online meeting of SMART Recovery, attendees asked if the group could occasionally discuss subjects related to addiction, but not necessarily covered in the Handbook. I encouraged people to email the facilitator (me) subjects of interest. The first of those subjects is the value of perfectionism. I fear perfectionism. As I […]
Why did I use? Summary
The goal of this blog is to summarize the causes of addictive behaviours discussed in the past seven weeks. The starting point was Hashmet (2017) who cited the following seven causes: Genetic Vulnerability Cultural Attitudes Financial Incentives Personality Self-medication Loneliness Incremental: One Step at a Time (Slippery Slope) The last seven blogs have clearly shown […]
Why did I use? VII
There is a causal factor of addictive behaviours that was not included in Hashmet’s (2017) list. I was reminded of this eternal force by a recent article on the British actor, Jason Isaacs. He stated that, “I’ve always had an addictive personality and by the age of 16 I’d already passed through drink and was […]