Chapter #7 What Can The 12 Steps Do For Me? By Mavis Humes Baird, BFA, CSAT

            At first I found this chapter a bit dry and “objective.”  I realized I am more accustomed to listening to those who appreciate the “miracle” which they have experienced.  The founders of Alcoholics Anonymous stumbled on a process, which has had more success than any other in treating addiction.  But this chapter is a pretty complete explanation of how the 12 step process works.   I would substitute “living in the moment” or “mindfulness” for the concept of “detachment.”  Under stress many addicts have used the concept of staying sober one day at a time to living one moment at a time.  

Powerlessness must be a difficult concept for partners, co-addicts.  The alcoholic is powerless over alcohol.  After one drink the alcoholic feels compelled to have another and another and continues to drink.  The first drink is the problem because the door is open and the alcoholic can’t stop.  How does that principle apply to the partner who did not compulsively seek some kind of sexual gratification?  After all it was the addict who caused the betrayal and chaos.

Yet many find it difficult to give up the “Oh my God” chaos.  The excitement and the self-affirming nature of the ruminations has its own attraction.   What’s more the partner’s involvement in the relationship was often based on a “happily ever after” expectation.  To give up that hope, wish and expectation is to say the “I was a fool” and then to face the shame and then the grief of that loss.  Also it would be nicer to be able to avoid facing the questions about your own sexuality that Omar Minwalla so graphically described.  The partner is confronted with what must seem to be overwhelming hurt and vulnerability.

Yet control does not seem very possible or fruitful.  Life has become unmanageable. The management she employed to make up for a partner’s lapses or the cover over problems didn’t work. The partner doesn’t have the control she once believed she had.  She can’t control what others think or do. She can’t turn back the clock and change missing a bus, for example.  But she can be in control of attitudes and/or negativity.  Giving up control and assuming an attitude of humility can maximize healing and learning, but it is terrifying.  The 12 step programs recommend turning to the higher power of your choosing for support and comfort.  The group effort to challenge the demon of addiction can be reassuring.  Others are going through what you are feeling.  Others have had some success.  The group wisdom and faith that the process works can provide hope in a time of chaos and overwhelm.  In battle what often inspires soldiers to bravery is the loyalty to each other.  Members of a 12 step program have a similar loyalty as they fight the enemy they have in common, addiction. 

Chapter #6 What About My Sexuality by Omar Minwalla, PhD, CSAT

            Omar  Minwalla took on a highly sensitive topic in this chapter.  The discovery that a partner is a sex addict can be a traumatic event for the partner.  Sometimes the reactions apparently can parallel those of someone who has been brutally raped. At the very least any self-doubt, particularly about one’s sexuality, becomes a primary concern.

I was wondering how to address such a sensitive topic and it came to me during a meditation. My best ideas often do when I am trying not to get caught up in my thinking during meditation.  Probably the ideas occur because I have suspended my self-criticism

At first Omar Minwalla’s examples of the effect on a partner’s sexuality of acknowledging the sex addict’s behavior seemed to be “over the top”. But what he did was articulate many of the reactions the partners of sex addicts have. Making these reactions so explicit must make these issues more “normal’ for the partner.  Therefore, the awareness of issues can contribute to the work of healing.

One of the keys to any intimate relationship is trust.  Each partner makes him or herself vulnerable by acknowledging the other person’s importance.  Healing enough to tolerate and risk the possibility of the other person's rejection or betrayal is no easy task in the context of one partner’s sexual addiction and/or the other person's rage at the betrayal.

Boundaries –Chapter #5: Cara Tripodi “How Do I Set Boundaries And Keep Myself Safe?”

I like Cara Tripodi’s approach in this chapter.  Apparently her appoach uses a philosophy of “mindfulness.” She recommends developing an “observer” position in which the person steps back and looks at things as an observer would.  Developing a practice of mindful meditation would probably help. Try to disengage for a moment from the passion of feelings and the rush of thoughts.  Try to take a more objective look at what’s taking place.  Then vengeance or the desire to change or control the addict may be less urgent.  The priority of doing what is best for you is more possible.

 She emphasizes the partner taking a path of discovery.  Don’t expect to be able to know how to take care of yourself immediately.  Remember that your first priority is to protect yourself, to be safe and to enable your own healing.  Commit to establishing the necessary boundaries on a “trial and error basis.” 

This approach of staying in the moment and restraining self-criticism would seem to be the logical approach in this type of crisis.  But as she points out, it wouldn’t be easy.

Family Values

       “Family values” is a term which is bandied about in political discussions, but I have musing about Patrick Carnes’s “tests of a partnership.”  That presented "family values" in a different light.  I like the sense of personal responsibility imbued in that description.  But ultimately it is the balance of having the courage to allow oneself to be vulnerable to the other and maintaining the highest level of respect for the other and yourself.  Each partner gives the other partner's life real meaning. To me this is a ideal goal of personal conduct.  I do need a sense of spirituality to pursue this standard of behavior.  This is the “nitty and gritty” of a spiritual “family value” to live and to teach children no matter what kind of relationship a person has with their God.

Further Responses To Patrick Carnes’s writings in Chapter 3

I liked Patrick Carnes's reminder of the tests of the strength of a partnership in which a person feels accepted and affirmed “warts and all.” The person asks himself, “Can I be most myself in your presence? Can I be creative, funny, vulnerable, flamboyant, shy or even smart?  Can I couple any of those words with sex and romance?  Can I be tough, forgiving, generous, spiritual, intuitive, graceful, clumsy, lazy, self-indulgent, and disciplined?  Do I feel equal, successful, attractive, encouraged, trusted and believed?  Can I be fully as competent as I can be and have my partner disappear?  Do I feel challenged?  Can I be accountable and hold my partner accountable? Is it ok to make a mistake?  Does our time together really seem to matter?”

Another test is “Can you share the darkest part of yourself?"  “Can you hear about the dark side of your partner?”  Relationships are “challenging and to find meaning a person needs a “witness.”

I find this material very substantial for any couple whether addiction is involved or not. 

However, the “mismatched stages” concept doesn’t resonate with my own experience in working with couples and families.  It seems too complicated to be a useful concept.  I confess I am a firm believer in the KISS principle. Matched stages seem unlikely.  Murray Bowen talked about working with one individual in a family to improve that person’s boundaries and that improved the boundaries and sense of self for all of the members. Couples and family therapy facilitates that process by enhancing the encounters between or among family members. Boundaries, feelings and beliefs become more explicit for all.  The impact of one person on another is also made more explicit. The members grow through encountering each other.