Narconon Arrowhead Provides Bible Study Classes
(PRWEB) November 17, 2013 -- Narconon Arrowhead, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation treatment facility in Oklahoma, is again providing a voluntary Bible study class for its program participants. The increasingly popular group meets from six to nine p.m. three times weekly and is run by a local pastor. Many Narconon program participants are experiencing the benefits of incorporating religious study into their addiction recovery program.
Benefits of Spirituality in Fighting Substance Abuse
In a fifty-two page study done by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, it was found that religion and spirituality work aggressively to lower the risk of substance abuse among teens and adults and can even promote recovery from substance abuse.
So Help Me God: Substance, Abuse, Religion and Spirituality combines research information from National Household Surveys, Teen Surveys and General Social Surveys and concludes that both adults and teens who make religion an important part of their lives and attend weekly religious services are much less likely to smoke, drink or use illicit drugs than those who avoid religion. It also finds that individuals who attend religious services or programs while undergoing substance abuse treatment are more likely to maintain sobriety. The study shows that individuals who maintain sobriety after substance abuse treatment were often individuals with high levels of faith and spirituality. “If ever the sum were greater than the parts, it is in combining the power of God, religion and spirituality with the power of science and professional medicine to prevent and treat substance abuse and addiction,” says Joseph A. Califano, Jr., former United States Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare and President of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.
The report delves into the difficulties encountered when trying to expose substance abusers to religion for their benefit. Clergy surveyed for the report largely agreed that substance abuse and addiction are very important issues in their congregations - but only twelve and a half percent of clergy surveyed had received any type of substance abuse training during their theological studies. It follows then that while priests, ministers, and rabbis may see individuals who need help with substance abuse problems, very few of them actually know what to do to help their congregation members with these problems.
The study also reports on the failing of health care professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health professionals, to place due importance on the study of God, religion and spirituality when preventing and treating individuals with substance abuse and addiction problems. The report states that ninety-five percent of Americans believe in God and seventy-nine percent of Americans believe that spiritual faith helps people recover from disease, but more than half of mental health professionals do not believe in God. Califano says, “Too often, clergy and physicians, religion and science are ships passing in the night. When we separate the worlds of medicine and spirituality, we deny effective help to a host of individuals with substance abuse problems.”
About Narconon Arrowhead
Narconon Arrowhead is a drug and alcohol rehabilitation treatment facility in southeastern Oklahoma. The unique Narconon program is holistic rehabilitation that thoroughly addresses the mental, emotional and physical causes and effects of drug and alcohol abuse. Through a sauna detoxification program, counseling and extensive life skills courses, the Narconon program aims to help the individual become more able to confront and resolve the problems in his or her that led him to substance abuse and then build a strong foundation for a drug-free future.
Narconon Arrowhead had had voluntary Bible study classes as an option for its students for some years when Rev. James McLaughlin of the African American Church lived nearby. The Bible study went on hiatus until another pastor could be found willing to take on the responsibility. Restoring this voluntary Bible study to its already varied and individualized rehabilitation treatment program provides yet another critical stepping stone for program participants to successfully fight and beat their substance abuse problems. Susan Foster, Vice President of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse says, “Studies show that people with strong religious beliefs are healthier, heal faster and live longer than those without them, regardless of their individual spiritual faith or spiritual practice.”
For more information on the Narconon Arrowhead program or to admit yourself or a loved one visit their main site at http://www.narcononarrowhead.org or call 800-468-6933.
Clark Carr, Narconon International, 323-962-2404, [email protected]
Share this article