Celebrate Recovery questions

[tetralih]

Hey guys!

I am finally getting to a place where I can talk about what happened and how it is effecting me. ok it is basically the "this is why I am acting this way right now" spill. I have reached a place where people are going to have to accept me where I am now whether if they believe the SA or not.

However, when opening up to some of my small group, the members decided that I needed to attend Celebrate Recovery. As far as I know, the one at this church focuses mostly on addicts, or on the one abusing something and not the ones that are abused.

They were very pushy about making me attend. That was part of the red light for me, the fact that they were pushy about it.

Has anyone here worked with CR? Is is safe? Is it something to try or is it more addict related?

[ex-shep]

It depends on the sponsoring church. I have been in CR in Texas and Ohio. It is definitely come as you are. I have been open and accepted with my spiritual abuse. CR does recognize that one's walk with the Lord can be soured by an abusive church. You shoot me a PM off forum if you have information on the local group.

I attend a CR group and the support and fellowship is excellent.

[Reg]

tetralih,

I was part of the leadership in our church that started CR. I spent two years in it's leadership.

From a previous thread I wrote.......

I went to Saddleback twice for their CR Summit. I was the Assimilator Coach and ran the info table. I gave my testimony at our first CR meeting. Spent two years there until I had problems with the leader, the Church Counselor, and someone else. I was asked to resign because I was taking too many Friday nights off according to them. The first year we arranged time off in the summer but the second summer it was different for some reason, She knew I went to the cottage every weekend in the summer and left Friday afternoon to beat the traffic. I sacrificed a number of times to be there Friday night but apparently it wasn't good enough for her. And now, they don't even run CR in the Summer. Amazing.

After that, I discovered why I withdrew my energy from the program. She was a controlling person and triggered me in several situations. Loooong story. Taught me a lot.

The remarkable thing is that they have since left the Church and I am still there and she was the Church Counselor and a long-time member. I found it amazing how things worked out. She was the only one I really had difficulties with. I have been re-injured by the experience and am a bit gun-shy of others in positions of leadership as a result. Although, it is a healthy church, abuse can still happen by those who are controlling narcissistic types....
http://www.christianrecovery.com/vb/showthread.php?t=2314&highlight=Celebrate+Recovery

I had difficulty with some of it. I was triggered by this leader and didn't really understand why at the time. To a large extent, I think it was because of the controlling nature of the person who led the program. It needs to be modified for the spiritually abused. Unless someone there in leadership is sensitive to the spiritually abused, it may be hard to convey what you are going through and find the understanding you need. I would take my time to feel out the situation before you start even using the term, spiritual abuse. Although the term may not be new, the understanding often is. Personally, I start out by saying simply, "a bad church experience". That is something many can relate to.

At CR, for the most part, the people there are authentic. They are all struggling with varous hurts, habits and hangups. They are not the types that point fingers and judge you. They accept things the way they are and allow you to share your reality. Their issues are discussed in a very open and candid way. In the times of sharing, they really listen. You can be heard and connect in a personal way to people who are working on their recovery. If the right leaders are in place it can be a place of healing despite the specific triggers we can have. Ex-shep is right in that regard. If so, it should be a relatively safe place. Test it out. There is no obligation to sign up or anything like that. People can come and go freely.

[ex-shep]

Reg pretty much hit it with the pros and cons. Fair and balanced.