Rational Recovery

All living beings are endowed with two basic instincts: self-preservation and procreation, which are, in turn, governed by two powerful mechanisms: pain and pleasure. From the first day of our lives, we learn to avoid pain and to seek pleasure.

As we age, we quickly learn that certain “soft” substances, such as sugar, chocolate or caffeine, make us feel good. Once we learn this, our pleasure-seeking behavior drives us to more and more frequent use of these substances. As frequency of use increases, our tolerance grows as well, opening the doors to “harder” drugs, such as alcohol, nicotine or cannabis, and eventually, to the "hardest" drugs, such as heroin, cocaine or PCP.

The same is true about all pleasure-seeking behaviors, which can include eating, sexual gratification, gambling, shopping, watching television, playing computer games, Internet surfing or working. When these behaviors reach an addictive stage, they become a major focus in our lives and begin to drive our daily activities.

Whether to substances or activities, when addiction develops, it often leads to psychosocial deterioration and frequently manifests as psychiatric and medical disorders.

The WELL program incorporates the Rational Recovery philosophy, which advocates mindful use of any biologically active substances. Rational Recovery is an alternative addiction recovery model that does not require total abstinence, but teaches instead rational behavior and rational use of all biologically active substances. This model is based on the premise that abuse of a substance is a learned behavior and that any learned behavior can be unlearned and replaced with more appropriate behaviors. Abusive use is not a disease as is addictive dependency. That is why only habitual abuse will respond to this treatment approach.

The WELL program was specifically developed to generate rapid personal transformation by helping clients identify their own addictive or abusive behaviors toward any substance, including food. The program then teaches them to make specific, rational, conscious choices about the use of any biologically active substance, including, but not limited to, refined sugar, salt, fats, caffeine and tobacco.

Rational recovery also teaches that an inverse relationship exists between frequency of use and tolerance. The more frequent the pleasure-seeking behavior, whether substance use or activities, the more rapidly we build tolerance. Monthly use is less toxic than weekly use, weekly use is less toxic than daily use and so on. The same relationship exists between quantity and toxicity. The larger the quantity, the more damaging the toxicity.

Quality is also fundamentally important. We engage in all pleasure-seeking behaviors for one of four basic reasons:

• Experiential or educational
• Recreational or libidinal
• Medicinal or therapeutic
• Sacramental or spiritual

Recreational use is more addictive than educational use, and medicinal use is more addictive than sacramental use. In other words, the more dignified the use, the less the chance for addiction.

Rational Recovery represents a conscious decision to understand and accept the abuse factor of the behavior or detrimental substance being used and to learn to regulate use to appropriate times, places, and amounts, while striving for a healthier overall lifestyle. Rational Recovery can only work in the case of substance abuse. If the addiction has progressed to the dependency stage, the Rational Recovery model does not apply.

The WELL program encourages us to consciously set limits with regard to frequency, quantity and quality of pleasure-seeking behavior, while learning tools to optimize lifestyle.