The Benefits of Telling Your Story

Revised
Part of the Hazelden Classics for Clients Series
Author: Jeff B

This pamphlet describes how a truthful account of our past lays the groundwork for future recovery progress.  An excellent tool for those in denial of their chemical dependency.

Excerpt from the Introduction:
“When people join a self-help group or enter a treatment program, they’re often troubled by the expectation that they will need to tell their stories.  Listening to others’ stories, they may wonder why the storytellers go into such detail.  Why do people think its important to talk about the amount of alcohol or other drugs they consumed; the kind of chemicals they used and the frequency with which they used them; and most importantly, the effects their addiction had on their families, their jobs, themselves, and their relationship to their Higher Power?

Recalling your life and then telling the story to God and to another human being may seem like a needless, painful excavation of the past.  Yet the story we tell about chemical dependency is the heart of our recovery program.  Sharing our story is one of the most powerful tools we have…”