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Show Volume IV, Issue V THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 11 June 15, 2001 Heart t’ Heart Provides 12 Step Recovery Program for Ogden Area Latter-Day Saints By Nancy McNeal Heart t’ Heart is designed especially for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is a Twelve Step support group program patterned after the Twelve Step support groups originating with Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935. It is a fellowship of women and men who have come to recognize that there are behaviors in their lives, or the lives of loved ones, that fall under this definition of addiction: A behavior can be considered as an addiction or compulsion when the person doing the behavior desires desperately to stop but has found no permanent way to do so. Heart t’ Heart foundational principles have proven helpful to people who are struggling with adversity or trials of any kind-divorce, death, loss of employment, childhood trauma, depression, anxiety, or any physical or emotional disability in self or family. Greater serenity and the divine ability to heal or endure are found through applying these spiritual principles. Heart t’ Heart started with several Latter-day Saints who were attending existing twelve step programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Debtors Anonymous, Adult Children of Alcoholics and Codependents Anonymous. While they were experiencing success in these programs, they longed to speak of their experience, strength and hope in LDS terms. (In other Twelve Step groups all references to distinctive religious beliefs or practices are discouraged in order to respect each other’s spiritual beliefs.) Other existing LDS support groups felt they needed to keep their focus primarily on drug and alcohol addiction. Latter-day Saints who struggle with compulsions such as overeating, anorexia and bulimia, workaholics, perfectionism, sexual addiction, and codependency needed a place to address these issues in an LDS Setting. Heart t’ Heart provides the answer, which addresses compulsive addictive behavior in all its forms. Heart t’ Heart is a community resource, not a program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While not affiliated with the Church, Heart t’ Heart upholds and supports all of its doctrines and teachings. It is a faithful and doctrinally sound program that encourages and facilitates true conversion and full activity in the programs and fellowship of the Church. Several mission presidents have found the workbook and literature to be of great assistance to potential converts to the Church in helping them to overcome addiction problems that have prevented them from joining the LDS church. Heart t’ Heart is strictly a volunteer effort. There are no dues or fees in official Twelve Step programs. The only requirement for membership in Heart t’ Heart is a desire to practice a God-centered solution to problems. The seventh tradition states that it is self-supporting through voluntary contributions from members only. These donations can be whatever the individual feels he or she can afford. Money from donations is returned to the effort to carry this message of recovery to others. Heart t’ Heart does not presume to be a professional or medical resource. Like other Twelve Step programs, it is intended to supplement professional care and to fill the need of individuals who do not require intense professional care, but who are nevertheless struggling with behaviors and problems that are causing greater and greater disruption in their lives. Although it is based on a program that was originally designed for people who suffer from drug or alcohol addiction, there are many behaviors that can become addictive-overeating, overspending, overworking, internet use, sexual behaviors, perfectionism (an obsession with appearing perfect or performing perfectly and being admired by others), and codependency. Though they appear very different, these behaviors can all be addressed as addictions. focus on their own repentance process rather than attending meetings to ’fix’ another family member. Example is the best invitation for others to progress along spiritual lines. Heart t’ Heart meetings are typically small groups ranging from three to ten people. The focus is primarily on the principles as they apply to all problems, and not on specific addictions. The questions are, “Do you have a problem? Have you tried to deal with it every way you can think of, yet the problem continues, and even worsens?” The only requirement for being a part of Heart t’ Heart is that you have a problem you can’t whip, and you’re ready to admit it. There is a familiar saying that says, “When the pain of the problem gets worse than the pain of the solution, we’ll be ready to change.” Heart t’ Heart was founded in 1988 by Colleen Harrison, a selfacknowledged recovering junk food addict, who has maintained a weight loss of over 140 pounds for the last twelve years. During those years, she completed a B.A. and an M.A. in English at Brigham Young University. While at BYU, Colleen combined courses in psychology, human development and creative writing to create a uniquely LDS version of narrative therapy, and has authored the Heart t’ Heart workbook, He Did Deliver Me From Bondage. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Family and Human Development at Utah State University, in Logan Utah. “Family and human development—that’s what the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is all about-eternal family and eternal development.” Strongly committed to both, Colleen continues to maintain the recovery the Lord has blessed her with thorough consistent, daily application of the twelve-step principles as they correlate with the Book of Mormon and the Gospel of Christ. You may write to Colleen c/o Windhaven Publishing and Productions, P.O. Box 282, Pleasant Grove, UT 84062, or Heart t’ Heart, P.O. Box 4125 Logan, Utah, 843234125. You may also call 435-2453723 or visit the Heart t’ Heart web site at www.heart-t-heart.org. Note: Information provided for this article was taken from the book, “He Did Deliver Me From Bondage,” by Colleen Harrison, and from the pamphlet, “An Introduction to the Heart t’ Heart Program-Questions and Seeing these behaviors as addictions is actually a very hopeful perspective. It opens the way for a spiritual approach to “recovery” (elimination of the behavior), which is exactly what the principles of the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions offer. These principles are abundantly supported in the scriptures and the teachings of modern prophets. The Twelve Step approach takes a real-life challenge—one that is gradually or swiftly destroying a person’s sense of worthiness and ability to feel the Spirit—and applies these principles in a systematic way. A participant experiences a deeper level of humility, honest repentance, and redemption because life becomes more centered upon the Savior and His atonement. A Heart t’ Heart group is started and supported by those who have experience with addictive or compulsive behavior in their own life and are now desiring to maintain their own recovery by encouraging and supporting others who are still struggling. Those who are trying to recover are helped by those who have applied these principles to their own lives (sponsors). Participants acknowledge that all recovery and healing comes through personal connection to God. Heart t’ Heart participants recover according to their own agency and the Lord’s timetable. They are encouraged to Atake their own inventory” and to HUNTSVILLE SUBWAY 570 South 7800 East Huntsville 745-9622 Next to Chevron & Ace Hardware |