• Module 1 - Attitudes
  • Introduction
  • The Function of Attitudes
  • Opportunites for Discussion
    • Ambivalence
    • Faith Tradition
    • Youth Experiences
    • Case Study
    • Final Reflection
• Module 2 - Awareness
  • Introduction
  • General Awareness Information
  • Salient Features
  • Stages of Alcoholism
  • Physiological Impact
  • Other Options
  • Handouts
• Module 3 - Assimilation
  • Introduction
  • Roles of Religious Leaders
  • Codependency
  • Class Activity
  • Case Study
  • Handouts
• Module 4 - Action
  • Introduction
  • General Considerations
  • "The Twelve Steps" Information
  • Factors
  • Phases
  • Additional Possibilities
  • Handouts

Introduction

Even a cursory look at these twelve Core Competencies suggests that covering these competencies is a daunting task! The panel that established the guidelines for this curriculum is cognizant of the fact that you likely have limited time in which to familiarize students with what they consider to be essential information. As a consequence, an effort is being made to present the most essential aspects of the curriculum in each module first, so that if you have a very limited time to present this material, you can plan your presentation accordingly. Hopefully, that will prevail if you are incorporating the material into an already existing class in the curriculum.

Ideally, a whole term might be devoted to the Core Competencies in which case you can expand upon each module and cover the material more in depth. This could be done by having the students read some of the resources mentioned in the Bibliography and engage in practicums that would provide experiential opportunities to learn about addiction and its impact on family members, thus allowing them to gain the skills needed to help those affected find needed support and recovery.

There also are alternative ways of exposing students to this material. Perhaps your institution has made provision for workshops or intensive courses during a January or May term. You may have students who have a particular interest in this field of study and who would like to do an independent study under your auspices.

Curriculum Core Values

A. Flexibility
The curriculum is designed to be flexible to meet your needs as a professor. We are attempting to accommodate those professors who may realistically have only one hour to devote to this subject, as well as those who may have an entire semester to spend on the topic. You are encouraged in your preparation to take from each of the four modules what you feel is most crucial for students to know in your particular tradition. Your creativity in the development of curriculum will then be most effective. The material in each of the individual modules is designed to help you prioritize and organize what you teach within the time frame you have at your disposal.

B. Inclusivity
The value of inclusiveness is a foundation on which this curriculum is built. The material is crafted so as to be useable in the three major religious traditions in the U.S., namely Judaism, Christianity and Islam. We also realize that within those three major traditions are a plethora of permutations that reflect differing theologies, traditions, anthropologies and world views. For other religious traditions, the material will hopefully be helpful for you. Recovery is not only a physical, emotional and social phenomenon, it is a spiritual one as well. Throughout the course, you are encouraged to draw upon your own religious tradition in helping students to understand a spirituality of recovery that has as its goal to be inclusive of all expressions of faith.

Considerable care has also been taken to be inclusive relative to issues of gender, class, sexual orientation, ethnic background and age. Addiction is no respecter of persons in any of the aforementioned categories. The commonality and pervasiveness of the illness termed addiction merits an inclusive approach to teaching and understanding. In order to be inclusive, you will need to shape the material in such a way that it reflects this value in your given context.

C. Applicability
The material is designed to be practical and therefore applicable. It is designed for immediate use in a variety of settings. The Core Competencies form the foundation of the information that is communicated, but knowledge devoid of implementation in a ministry setting is limited. This means that the information provided must be related to the work of ministry in the lives of people who will be practitioners rather than researchers. Hopefully the curriculum will raise the consciousness of students and capture their imagination relative to the eminent practicality of knowing what to do when confronted with addiction in the course of their ministry.

Curriculum Considerations

Since alcohol is America's drug of choice, the material will focus on alcoholism as the paradigm of addiction in this material. It is important to note that there are a plethora of mood altering substances, both legal and illegal to which people become addicted. Likewise, people can also experience behavior or process addictions involving gambling, food, sex, work, technology and relationships just to name a few. Unless you are able to devote a full course to addiction, it would be impossible for you to look in depth at all of these addictions, but they need to at least be mentioned so that the scope of addictive behavior is recognized. However, alcoholism will constitute the paradigm of addiction in this curriculum.

The literature in the field utilizes the word family as the primary social entity affected when addressing the issue of addiction. The word family conjures up both positive and negative memories for students. In 21st century society, family also has many permutations and connotations. In this curriculum, the word household will be utilized stemming out of religious tradition. The word household is much more inclusive of the varying configurations of families as well as including everyone who may be living under one roof or in a communal relationship.

Since alcoholism touches everyone in the household, some kind of designation is needed to distinguish among those who experience its impact. It has been helpful to speak of the addict as the one who is afflicted with the illness of alcoholism and the members of the household and others as those who are affected by the illness.

With the commitment to be inclusive of all religious traditions, the way in which the Deity is named can be an issue. Those of the Jewish tradition say Adonai, those of the Islamic tradition say Allah and the Christian tradition God or perhaps Christ. This material will utilize the designation made by Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) and refer to the Deity as a Higher Power. (A.A. often speaks of the "God as we understood Him" with Higher Power as a generic designation.) You are certainly free to interpolate your name for the Deity as you use the material so that it is comfortable and relevant for the students that you are teaching.

While the purpose of the curriculum is to acquaint the student with basic information concerning alcoholism and its impact on the household, the religious community and the broader community, a special focus of this curriculum will be on the impact that addiction has on children. NACoA was established with this particular focus in mind. When the study of addiction was in its infancy, primary attention was given to the alcoholic. Historically, the next consideration was given to the partner or spouse of the alcoholic. In recent years the impact upon children who grow up in a household where alcoholism is present has been taken into consideration. The presence of the illness in the home impacts children's development, shapes their attitudes towards others and the world, and has a profound impact upon their developing spirituality or lack thereof. The curriculum will reflect this emphasis since religious leaders will be dealing with children who may find solace in the religious community provided that community and its leaders are aware of the impact of this illness upon children.

Finally, alcoholism is a holistic illness! That is to say, it affects every aspect and dimension of human existence - body, mind, spirit and every relationship. Students should therefore be alerted to the importance of a holistic approach to recovery. A multidisciplinary approach is merited, and cooperation with other professions is imperative. For the sake of healing and health, we cannot afford the internecine warfare that sometimes is waged between science and religion. The healing professions whether of medicine, social work, psychology or pastoral counseling, just to name a few, all need to be constructively employed to effect healing for the whole household. As the professor teaching this course, whatever you can do to emphasize this cooperative approach to recovery for clergy and lay leaders in training will be time well spent.

Curriculum Structure

There are four learning modules that are presented in this material addressing the twelve Core Competencies. The alliterative "A" words will give you a sense of the flow of the material and also provide both a pedagogical and memory peg for you as the professor as well as the students.

A. Attitude
This is fundamental to everything else that is done, because every student will bring to the classroom an attitude developed over the course of her or his life in relationship to addiction. Some students will harbor attitudes that are detrimental to ministry predicated on prior experiences, and those attitudes will need to be examined if that person is going to be effective in her/his ministry.

B. Awareness
A fundamental knowledge of the definition of alcoholism, its symptoms, progressive nature and its impact on significant others is imperative for religious leaders. A systems approach to the illness is the most effective way of assessing its widespread impact.

C. Assimilation
This is a critical aspect of this curriculum since it is the task of religious leaders to interpret for the people they serve, how it is that the religious tradition they represent addresses the phenomenon of alcoholism, the alcoholic and the use of alcohol. People who are in recovery often refer to alcoholism as a spiritual malady that requires a spiritual approach. The role of the religious leader in aiding people in making the connection between this illness and the spirituality of those afflicted and affected is critical to the effectiveness of the religious leader in her/his context.

D. Action
Having addressed the fundamental issue of attitude, then becoming more aware of the realities of alcoholism and the way in which a faith tradition can constructively think about the illness, eventuates in action to intervene in the progression of the illness for those afflicted and those affected by providing guidance and support for healing and recovery for every member of the household. As noted in the curriculum considerations above, it is foolhardy to attempt to singularly address this issue alone as a religious leader. Therefore, it is imperative in ministry to be informed of the nearest resources available, so that all those experiencing the illness can receive the necessary assistance.

Curriculum Implementation

The method and manner of implementing the curriculum is contingent upon a multiplicity of factors unique to your academic setting. The following considerations might be taken into account.

A. Time factor
We are aware that you may have only one hour to devote to these Core Competencies. If that is the case, it is left to your discretion to determine what you can garner from each of the four modules that you will be able to present in the space of sixty minutes. An attempt has been made in each module to prioritize the information so that you can extrapolate from each module what you will present in the time available. Hopefully you will have more than one hour and, if so, you should have ample material from which to draw in each module to provide a more in depth study. Additional outside reading can be assigned as you deem appropriate either for satisfactory completion of the class requirements or for additional self-study by the students.

B. Methodology
As an educator, you know that students learn in differing ways. A variety of possibilities are included in each module. You may wish to use a case study as a way of acquainting the students with the Core Competencies.¹ There are questions that can be processed in a manner fitting your academic setting. You can assign readings from any of the recommended books or journal articles in the bibliography that can be discussed in a plenary session or in small groups. The use of film can be extremely effective in providing students with both an audio and visual portrayal of alcoholism. It has proven to be a very effective method, if possible, to invite to class people who are in recovery to share their stories of what it was like, what happened and what life is like now.

The stories of recovery should not only include healing from the illness, but stories of recovery from the pain and loss experienced in childhood living with an alcoholic parent(s). Contacting the local chapter of Al-Anon or Alateen for someone who is willing to speak about the experience of growing up in an alcoholic household is a powerful option. Likewise, if there are clergy in the area who have had experience in providing pastoral care and referral for intervention, as well as sharing stories of what occurred when there was failure to do so, provides a realistic and practical pastoral component for students.

C. Creativity
This material was developed to aid and assist you, not to determine or dictate how you should teach the curriculum. There is a plethora of resources available in books, periodicals, films and on the internet. If you are teaching an in-depth course for graduate students, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has developed materials that are more geared toward research and scientific data as related to alcoholism. Additionally, NACoA has a Clergy section on its website (www.nacoa.org) which is regularly updated with links to related materials that can be useful to you in course preparation or to your students as additional background information for independent study.

(Endnotes)

1. An excellent article indicating the use of the case study method for this topic is: Latcovich, M.A., Ph.D., M.Div., & Wenger, S. (2005). "A Case Study Approach to Teaching Chemical Dependency in Seminary Formation: An Application of the Core Competencies." Addictions and Ministry Formation.
The Core Elements of Priestly Formation Programs: A Collection of Readings. Volume 4. Washington, DC: National Catholic Educational Association.

 

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