Personal Values and Integrity
It is an old adage that one reaps what one sows. And while not proven as a scientific fact, examples that this is true can be seen through all sectors of life. We see that the people at the top of their field have most often arrived there through a lot of learning and honest hard work. At the same time we witness the truth that those who try and beat the system by getting something for nothing or hurting others are seldom very happy. If they find wealth, they don’t keep it for very long and are too unhappy to enjoy it. People with guilty consciousness aren’t happy.
Narconon Philosophy
A key philosophy at Narconon is that In order to maintain sobriety, it is vital that an individual develop and maintain a personal sense of ethics and integrity. At the end of the day, it will be up to them to keep their commitment to themselves and their loved ones to stay clean. It is not ethical to hurt oneself or one’s family by doing drugs. Usually the procurement of drugs involves unethical behavior. Driven by addiction, an addict will do almost anything to get more of the drug. This is even somewhat understandable when a person is hopelessly addicted and feels that there is no way of stopping.
However, once a person has successfully gotten off drugs, as happens every day at Narconon it is important that they understand that future sobriety has everything to do with THEM and their decisions to stay clean.
Narconon Helps to Deal with Guilt
When an addict arrives to Narconon, staff members understand that most likely the individual has participated in unethical behavior to get drugs. Many steal from their families and others deal drugs to pay for their addiction. Once a person starts to get clear headed and past their cravings through the Sauna program, they can start to feel guilty. The guilt alone, for some would be enough reason for relapse. Realizing the damage that one has done to one’s family can be devastating to the newly cleaned addict. That is why traditionally, most drug treatment philosophies have included the necessity of personal accountability and encourages that clients make amends and build back the bridges they have torn down.
In this respect, Narconon follows the tradition of treatment through the Personal Values and Integrity Course, followed by the Improving Conditions in Life Course.
Personal Values and Integrity Course Protocol
On the Personal Values and Integrity Course, the client first learns an ethics code, called the Code of Honor. They give examples as to how applying this code can be helpful to their lives. They are also helped to realize that facing up to their past misdeeds can help them to be happy again – to once more see the sunlight. When people hurt others they tend to introvert and withdraw from the ones they have hurt. They can become critical of those they have hurt and justify their actions. However, deep inside they are quite unhappy and have no way to alleviate the guilt. The purpose of the Narconon Personal Values and Integrity Course is to show a way out for those who are working to create a new life.
Clients dissect their lives into the various parts – self, family, work, mankind and spirituality to see how they are actually doing in these areas. They examine their life and with help from the Narconon staff, write up their past misdeeds in each area. This isn’t always easy. Addicts do things to get drugs that they wouldn’t ordinarily do. However, in order to have a clear conscience and leave Narconon with a clean body and clean mind, it is an important activity.
Clients work on their write ups sometimes for several days. These are reviewed by a staff member periodically to make sure that they are written in an honest way that will bring relief and also to give the opportunity for the client to get things off their chest. Once the write-ups are completed (which means written correctly) and read by the Narconon staff member in the presence of the client, the write-ups are given back to the client. This affords safety and privacy for the client. There are some things that many of them have never told anyone. Often times, after participating in this procedure and seeing what relief there is in honesty, the client feels the need to get some of these things off their chest to others. This might involve calling a parent to confess to the stealing of money (which they probably already knew about) or to admit to lying about past usage. Family members are usually never surprised by what they hear, as they knew these things all along. However, there is happiness that there is finally truth. This step of the Narconon program goes far towards mending relationships.
Narconon Case History
“Lynn” came to Narconon addicted to prescription drugs. For years she had been telling her family that she needed to take pain killers for a real physical condition, yet as her family watched her sink hopelessly into addiction through the years, they began to wonder what the truth was. Whatever the real truth was behind “Lynn’s” physical condition, an obvious truth was that she was hopelessly addicted and was traveling from doctor to doctor to get pain medication. She had almost stopped talking to her own children and when she did get into discussions, according to her family, she was completely negative. Her family brought her into Narconon, not only wanting to get “Lynn” clean, but hoping that she could start to have a more positive outlook on life.
As “Lynn” progressed through her Narconon program, her family continuously commented to staff, that while she looked healthier and had obviously overcome the physical aspect of her addiction, they still found her to be quite negative and were hopeful that by the time of graduation that “Lynn” would be able to come to grips with bad attitude. It was so bad that the family was not anxious to have her home.
Towards the end of the Personal Values and Integrity Course and as she was writing up her past misdeeds, “Lynn” had a tremendous change in attitude. She got honest with herself and later her family. She revealed that though she had had some physical discomfort, she really hadn’t needed all that pain medication and in her addicted state of mind, she kept exaggerating the truth in order to get her pain pills. The lies had caused her to retreat from her family and to become negative and critical. The change was so remarkable, that the same family members who had been calling Narconon staff complaining about “Lynn’s” negativity, called to report that they couldn’t wait for her to get home. She was positive and back to her old self. “Lynn” agreed that this section of the program was one of the most important for her.
Summary
The world would be a better place with more honesty. It’s just not drug addicts who tell stories. The world at large has come to mistrust certain professions such as lawyers and politicians and in general things aren’t as safe as they used to be.
If there were one Narconon course that should be exported to the rest of the world, The Personal Values and Integrity Course would be it.
Read Part 2- Narconon Drug Rehab Program
