Spirituality and Recovery ( please bang head here attached)

I attended a one hour live webinar during my lunch break, thinking that it would be interesting. I wanted to hear about how spirituality is utilized in Recovery from the speaker’s perspective because it has been a fair part of my education. I didn’t however expect the speaker to refer and think of herself as God - literally. I believe she added that we are all Gods. Of course my mind could have got stuck from listening further. When she spoke of a higher power I was curious if she was speaking about herself. Another time she stated that we are all dopamine junkies. I won’t go into spirituality vs religion or talk about dopamine because I have written about it all in depth for you throughout the years. However, I have provided you with what was provided to me from a friend who worked with Toronto Police years ago while I was in my first career. This “bang head here” hung in my first career locker and then in my second. I didn’t have need for it again until after listening to this speaker talk. A recovering alcoholic, I give her credit that this has all probably worked for her to stay sober and I am pleased for her. However, to present this as an education piece is probably worse that when a Psychologist with a Phd, stood at the front of the classroom saying how we have two brains (she wasn’t laughing). What she was talking about is the two hemispheres of the brain. Again, I have discussed the brain and all of it in my previous blogs. She was teaching at a private school, I am pleased to say and not at a university. However, she made more sense than what I heard in this webinar. This speaker also talked about the steps of AA, but I didn’t know that until another member asked her if that was what she was talking about. I had to look at this speaker’s qualification and she is a certified addiction counsellor. I breathed a sigh of relief. I still feel it is a bit scary to elevate oneself to that of God. But what can I say? I took the rest of the day off, with an unexpected headache after listening to what the speaker spewed. I relaxed by watching Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot “The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman.” My suggestion to you is if you ever hear a speaker claim he or she is God - run. However, if you cannot run, feel free to make use of my “bang head here.” Tonight I am attending another webinar. This is from my local sisters in crime. The speaker is a Toronto Police Forensic Detective who will informing us of his 2008 journey to Afghanistan to teach local lawyers basic forensics. Normally, at the end of the day I am too tired for anymore webinars or lectures but this is just too good to pass and I did take off the afternoon after listening to God’s impersonator. My next topic for you is child sexual abuse which was also inspired by this month’s psychology today.