Ease The Pressure of Christmas.

The Festive Season can bring with it a whole swag of pressures for the recovering alcoholic. Becoming involved in Christmas projects can ease the pressure of loneliness for women in recovery. Isolation can be intensified by feelings of loss, separation, and perceptions of 'lack of fit' or an attitude of 'I don't belong.' It is encouraged that no-one isolates at this time. Feelings of self-pity are faced and dealt with so that they do not build up and overwhelm the struggling group member. Having a plan for appropriate involvement in group activities can help the Alcoholic to reinvent the way she engages with others throughout the Festive period. Finding appropriate ways to have emotional needs met without overburdening others becomes an essential focus of some stages of recovery. It will always be a high priority for those who seek independence but at some stages the need will be less intense.

Here is a simple example of how one group of women became involved in a Christmas Craft Project.

Preparations.

decided the extent to which we were prepared to put our energies into the project. Because we have the luxury of scheduled Art Therapy sessions this meant there was plenty of focused, quality time available. Therefore our comittment to the project was fairly extensive. The time allocation was 5, two hour sessions. With five women working this equaled 50 hours. (Amazing what many hands can really do to knock over a workload.)
chose an appealing project. We decided to prepare the decorations for a local Alcoholics Anonymous Christmas Party. We made Christmas Links and a Santa and Reindeer Wooden Cut Out. The kind that you often see attached to verandah railings adorned with lights. We left it for others to arrange and decorate the Christmas Tree.
This created
1. a significant contribution to the quality of Christmas this year for A.A.members.
2. an item for the long-term bank of community resources.
3. a context for involvement so that all had a chance to participate.
4. a way of involving children and family in Recovery Group Celebrations.
As always, the success of the project required thorough planning and communication. We looked at
1. budgeting - who was paying for the materials and how much we were allowed to spend.
2. who was buying the materials and picking them up. (Not necessarily the same thing with a project this big.
3. who was allocated each task
4. communication with others within the recovery group about the task
  1. so that we did not duplicate effort
  2. so that others knew of the availability of the resource
  3. so that others could become involved if they so desired
  4. procedural arrangements so that we were organised
  5. information sharing to facilitate sharing of resources.