Abstract
Christian rehabilitation programmes claim that engaging with Christian faith can help participants break free from addiction. This research reveals which aspects of Christian faith and practice are efficacious and offers theological and cognitive explanations of how they function. Problematic questions about compulsive behaviour have long been the source of theological reflection on the human moral condition. Wrestling with these issues revealed a fresh understanding of addiction that inspired enriched approaches to recovery.This research was shaped by a pastoral spiral that brought the theology of John Wesley into conversation with cognitive psychology to generate new knowledge. These insights were blended into a theology of addiction recovery that informed recommendations for renewed practice, tested by practitioner and participant focus groups.
An explanation of addiction is offered that regards it as the consequence of inadequate, or a misguided form of, affective self-regulation. Four aspects of Christian faith, safety, forgiveness, identity and belonging are identified as being helpful to participants recovering from addiction, as an alternative form of affective self-regulation.
This filled a gap in knowledge, concerning how Christian faith contributes to addiction recovery, by proposing a new Wesleyan theory of personal transformation and an integrated cognitive understanding of affective influence on wise judgement. Based on a synergy of ‘heart religion’ and psychological theories of affective cognition, a new model of Christian-faith based addiction recovery, called Graceful Control, is offered to the rehabilitation community. This blends logical and affective interventions to form an integrated programme, mapped onto a new model for charting recovery strategies.
Participation in a daily rhythm, based on the means of grace, provides the resources for sustainable recovery in a movement away from fear and powerlessness into safety and control.
| Date of Award | 7 Jul 2022 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Supervisor | Neil Messer (Supervisor) & Clare Davies (Supervisor) |
Keywords
- Addiction recovery
- Cognitive psychology
- John Wesley
- Heart religion
- Affective self-regulation
- Means of grace