Empowerment

This month at Serenity Now, I started running a group called the 16 Step Empowerment Group for Women.  I have belonged to a 16 Step group off and on for the past five years and have benefitted so much from the support and strength I have received from other women. 

The 16 Step group was conceived to help people grow, expand and access their wisdom, feelings and power.  The belief is that when we fill our lives with connection, joy, purpose and love, the pull of addiction and dependency will lose its power.  Dr. Charlotte Kasl who designed the 16 Step program started by asking herself the question:  “what is it that will help me heal and become whole as a woman in this culture?”.  She found out by asking this question, she was not alone in her quest.  Since starting the 16 Step program, Dr. Kasl says “the greatest power we have comes from speaking from our experience and our heart”. 

Dr. Kasl defines what is necessary for women to feel empowered in our culture: first and foremost  is love.  We all have a human need to bond with others in both power and joy.  Second, empowerment needs to come from an approach that combines body, mind, spirit and community.  For instance, for recovery, people may need to learn about good nutrition, avoiding harmful relationships and the impact of childhood abuse on their lives. 

Empowerment involves the process of rechanneling our energy to relieve pain through addictions into positive and constructive uses such as a good job and friends who support us.  Dr. Kasl also talks about empowerment being about choice.  There is no one way all people can grow and we need to try different approaches that feel right for us.  Empowerment also involves living with complexity.  Healing from addiction and dependency means healing from wanting quick fixes and simple answers to opening our minds to uncertainty and learning from our mistakes. Empowerment involves being flexible to our needs as we grow and change.  Part of becoming a whole, empowered person is to be receptive to wisdom that comes from listening to others, taking in new information and tuning into our internal wisdom. 

Lastly, empowerment  encourages creativity and teaches us to trust our wisdom.  The more we live connected to our creativity and passion, the more alive we feel.  And the more alive we feel, our motivation to stay away from addictions becomes stronger.  Even though we can learn from books and other people, the source of true wisdom lies within.  We alone are the experts on our own lives and eventually if we listen within long enough, we will find our inner voice.