There are five recovery pathways presented in RI’s Peer Support training: hope, choice, empowerment, recovery environment/culture, and spirituality/meaning and purpose. All are built on the central theme of LOVE as the foundation-what a key element!
All five recovery pathways start from love and stimulate us to grow in love. Love is inexhaustible and we spend our lifetimes discovering what love looks like in different situations at different times. Everyone takes in love (and gives love) in different ways. How do we discover more about giving and receiving love?
One way is through the work of Dr. Gary Chapman. He has written a book called, The Five Love Languages. They are receiving gifts, words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, and acts of service. There is a free quiz on his site 5lovelanguages.com to determine your love languages and other information to get one started. The quiz will rank the five love languages in order of importance at this time of your life (as they do not always remain static). He maintains that we all give and receive love in different ways. Therefore, understanding love languages and recognizing preferences in ourselves (and others) guides us into deeper connections, helps us resolve conflicts, and more.
Additionally, we increase ways to weave the foundational key of LOVE into each of the five recovery pathways by understanding practical methods-like the use of love languages. So, play and be creative as you discover just how many ways love is (or could be) woven into recovery pathways. Then, challenge yourself to consciously apply the foundation of love to all your relationships regardless of the situation. Love always wins!
Cheri Thomas
Cheri works as a Peer Support Specialist for RI in Arizona. She has experienced loss and grief which has led her to write for the masses to bring voice to those in similar situations. Cheri possesses a deep passion to share with, encourage, and inspire others on what she calls the Journey of the Heart.