Pastoral Counseling receives some of the credit for the recent success rate at an Addiction Treatment Center in Jacksonville, Florida.  “A New Life” at Lakeview Health is offering Pastoral Counseling in their Christian Drug Rehab. In a recent article published by Religion and Public Interest, using research by the Gallop Organization and Lilly Endowment Inc it was reported that 79 % of Americans acknowledge faith can help them recover from illness.

The Drug Rehab Center in Jacksonville’s Pastoral Counseling is preformed by the same clergy that offers Celebrate Recovery, attended by patients in the Christian Program. This familiarity increases the comfort level necessary for the counseling relationship to develop.

There exists today an excellent understanding of the medical aspects of addiction. Theologically addiction my be a poor attempt to satisfy a spiritual  need. “Our hearts are restless until they rest in God” a statement by Augustine directly speaks to the addicted person. The first three steps in the 12 step program speak to admission, hope, restoration and faith in a higher power. Pastoral Counseling will help in recovery that often involves a spiritual journey to accept God and develop a personal relationship with that God.

Christian Counseling emphasizes addiction must be dealt with today, each today of your life. You have to wake up today and say that today I choose not to participate in active addiction. One excellent way to do that is to start off each day with prayer. At “A New Life” Christian Drug Rehab the clients start the day by telling God you know you have a problem, and you want him to deal with it.

Clients may be away from home and their church but continue to hear the word. Those in Christian Rehab will learn whatever their addiction, Paul says instead fill yourself with the Holy Spirit. We believe the scripture teaches that the Spirit is the word of God, it follows that the more you apply that word in your life, the less you will participate in your addiction.

Using Scripture that directly relates to the clients immediate situation in life allows them to use The Bible in conjunction with traditional therapy to increase their chances of long term recovery.

Christian Drug Rebab can make a difference in a clients acceptance of the 12 steps. Most Drug Rehab Centers incorporate the 12 steps in their programs because they increase the probability of continued sobrity once a client is discharged. When the steps begin to mention “HigherPower” many clients suffering with an addiction, bristle at what appears to be a synonym for God. In a Christian Treatment Center, those clients that come to the center already beliveing in God, their acceptance and ability to work the 12 steps is relatively easy. The clients that have an aversion to any mention of “Higher Power” and struggle with certain steps can actually witness the difference between clients in the Ttraditional Track and the Christian Track. At this point the client has the option to transfer to the Christian Track if they feel it will better serve their recovery.

The Lord came “To open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” Isaiah 42:7

 I am a Christian and I know it is my duty to bring souls to God through Christ. I am also an addict in recovery and working in an Christian Treatment Center. The scripture above perfectly describes those addicts we see every day; blinded by their affliction in a prison of their own making sitting in the darkness of self obsession feeling hopeless and helpless. The disease of addiction affects a person physically, mentally and spiritually. No matter how far a Christian has strayed they know the way back is through Christ. I am blessed to witness souls returning to Christ and others finding Christ for the first time. I know when our clients leave Christian Addiction Treatment they have addressed their spiritual needs and are well on their way to a life of recovery through Christ.

Christian counseling services in dallas Texas seem to be on the rise. For years the Christian counseling services that were available in Dallas, Houston and even Abilene Texas were provided within the church in terms of pastoral counseling. This was fine for those struggling with family problems or questions surrounding religion, but for Christian addiction counseling it fell quite short.

Today, Christian addiction counseling services are provided by therpy groups across the state of Texas, including the cities mentioned above; Houston, Dallas and Abilene.  For the most part, the Christian counseling services are paid for through private insurance or funded privately by each patient. If you look hard enough you may be lucky to find a church that provides Christian counseling services that are focused on addiction issues.

I hated life!  I hated things!  I hated ME!  My life was total chaos!  I didn’t have anything or anyone anymore, I had lost everything!  I don’t mean I lost my house, or job, or toys.  But I had lost my self-respect, self-esteem and most of my family.

My friends didn’t know the real me, everything was fake and I was tired of living that way!  I knew I needed a change for the better and the only way was through Christ.  I found a Christ Centered Rehabilitation program in the north part of Florida that was exactly what I needed to straighten me up. They had a detox facility and a plan that would help me get back on my feet and gain back the respect of my family.  I needed Christ in my life again!  They showed me how to meditate, I didn’t realize it was so calming and it helped me to focus on what was important.  The bible has all the answers if I just know where to look. With the help of my pastoral counselor I was able to learn how to look and find what I needed right there in the bible.

I realized that going to a Christian Treatment Center could be the last hope for a friend of mine.  A long time friend had finally given up on everything, he didn’t know where else to turn.  I suggested God! Protecting our pride can be deadly for some of us.  “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble”. James 4:6

When he finally gave up and admitted that he was powerless over his addiction he was starting his first and hardest step.  No one likes to admit defeat, least of all addicts.  We had grown up to believe in God and to know that He is always there for us, but we have to ask for His help.  I once read that ” the guilt and pain of living a lie can be more devastating than the shame of being exposed”.  My friend had almost lost everything, his family, friends, job, home, etc.  He finally admitted defeat and listened to his heart.  He knew that God would lead him therefore he also knew that the only way to go was into a Christ centered program for help.  After only 6 weeks of treatment through prayer, meditation, pastoral counseling and learning how to work a 12 step program through celebrate recovery he was ready to get out into the real world and live his new life.  A New Life at Lakeview Health sent him back out to his new Christian counselor and a Celebrate Recovery program that would help him and his family to work with this new man.

Today he is a New Man, family and friends in tact.  He has a new group of friends that really care about him and his recovery and he works the 12 steps of recovery in every aspect of his life.  I thank God everyday for this miracle, he has certainly put on “The New Man” Ephesians 4:17

Step Seven of the 12 steps. “Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.”  Do I even know what humility is? To be humble only means not to be too proud or too arrogant.  That’s it, not too much to ask for.  If we ask God to remove our shortcomings he will do just that.  When going to a Christ centered treatment program we can learn how to ask God.  With the individualized treatment program and the church, prayer and bible study time given at A New Life at Lakeview Health, we give ourselves to Him. We learn how to not be too proud to ask Him for help.  We put our trust in the spirit and not in the ways of the world.   The specialists are given to us by God to do his work.  What a feeling to be whole again to not have the mental punishment we all have been through.  When admitting ourselves into a Christ centered treatment program we are finally set free to let the professionals in addiction treatment along with God, bring us peace.  We get the tools we need to go back out into the world a new person, full of life.  We can practice the 12 steps in our everyday lives and help others to do the same. When leaving treatment we are not alone.  The Christian treatment center will provide us with a Christian counselor in our area to help us to continue to live our lives the way God intended.

When we do drugs not only are we harming our bodies but we are also harming our families, friends and everyone else around us.  One of the worst things about drugs is the loneliness that we feel.  When we are drugging we are isolating from the world and everyone who cares about us.   The only thing we look forward to is the next high, we don’t care about anything else.  When we are ready to admit that we are beaten and that we need help we find a new liberation and strength in a Christ centered treatment program. We must first admit that we have a devastating illness  and that only a power greater than ourselves can relieve us of this illness. We can ask God to take away our obsession.  In taking that first step and admitting ourselves into a Christ centered treatment program we can find the serenity that we so desperately need. A New Life at Lakeview Health takes a completely individualized approach to addiction treatment. Through bible study, pastoral counseling, prayer, church and the 12 steps thru Christ and Celebrate Recovery we will begin a New Life.  We must strengthen our inner life to find true serenity. The Divine Will is working in a way that is beyond our finite mind , “Thy will be done”.

When we have been “clean” for a while we realize how good life can really be.  I never thought that I could have “fun” again, what I didn’t realize was that I never was having fun, I was isolating from everyone.  I was alone in my addiction, or so I thought.  All I had to do was surrender to God, he took care of the rest.

Gaining a new life through a Christian treatment center is amazing.  The rewards that come to us as a result of our new way of living through God are the best part of our new life. We have new relationships with our spouses, our children, our family and our friends. Just when we thought we had lost everything we enter a Christian treatment program such as A New Life at Lakeview Health in Jacksonville, Florida and realize that the only thing we had lost was God. We were living in fear instead of living in faith.

A Christian treatment program will get us back on track with God and our family.  Getting into the “habit” of church, prayer and meditation along with the 12 steps will change your life.  My life through God and the 12 steps has changed dramatically.  An addiction treatment program that specializes in Christians who have lost their way is the beginning of a new life.

No one wants to go away and leave their family.  What we don’t realize is that we have already left our family and that actually physically going into a Christian treatment program will bring us back to them. Pastoral counseling is provided to each patient and a new life will begin with the introduction to the 12 steps thru Christ and participation in Celebrate Recovery support groups. With the proper tools which are the 12 steps and with God, we cannot fail.