Mission & Vision
We are all in recovery – from a stream of life events large or small, that do us harm and break us down. Recovery is an ongoing process for individuals to attain healthy mind, body and spirit. If we fail to recover, we fail to grow. If we fail to grow we will not part ways with child-like thoughts and actions – and never achieve child-like happiness.
Dallas Sober Living Solutions is committed to aiding recovering addicts in achieving wholeness and happiness by addressing the deeper issues of the heart through a comprehensive program based on 12-Step philosophies.
Mission
To empower men and women to achieve long-term sobriety with a serene and structured living environment while learning life skills, setting goals and having fun in recovery with weekly activities.
Vision
Our vision is to be the leading provider of recovery residence services through community partnerships and outstanding service delivery with a growth model that includes all levels of housing throughout the state of Texas and beyond.
Principles
Honesty
Being truthful to one’s self and others in all situations is the foundation of healthy living. It is the heart of identity and trust. It is the life blood of genuine and edifying relationship. Without honesty from those in need and those that help, recovery is not possible.
Integrity
Integrity speaks to consistency in actions and values. Those in need rely on consistency as they try to exit the chaos of their addictions. If we model integrity to values that are edifying, then those we help may choose to adopt those values.
Faith
We have faith in the program that it does work and brings lives beyond belief to those ruined by addiction. We have faith that every addict can find a path to sobriety and full life if they are willing.
Community
Our recovery hinges on our accountability with others. This is a common value shared amongst the addicted community, as well as
amongst the addict and their loved ones. We must build strong communities that both hold their members accountable to their common values, and edify each other to nourish and grow the community.
Grace
Our higher power expresses love to us directly and through the people and world around us. Whether we know it, accept it, or want it, that love is there. We will tap into that grace to help addicts recover. And, we know that those we help will be instruments of grace to us and others.
Beliefs
Whole-Person Recovery
We believe that chemical and behavioral addictions are used as a solution to underlying brokenness. Becoming sober exposes this brokenness. The addict must be willing to work on this underlying brokenness or risk returning to a substance-based solution.
Addiction is a disease of the brain that corrupts the normal pleasure response. The pleasure response is at the heart of love relationships, enjoyment of food, adoption of habits, and a myriad other common and healthy behaviors. Whether by stimulation of the senses (sight, sound, touch, taste), or by direct manipulation with medications and drugs, we can get a pleasure response. The brain is wired to pursue pleasure and resist pain. So, the unconscious mind wants to repeat pleasure and thus presents cravings. Addiction is the state where the cravings overrule conscious and sensible thinking in order to repeat the pleasure – even to the extent of disregard to personal safety, self-preservation, or harm to loved ones.
We each know from personal experience that it is fairly easy to form “bad” habits – those certain repeated behaviors that are unhealthy or socially unacceptable. As much as it is physically possible that anyone can, not everyone does form an addition – the compulsively repeated and dysfunctional pursuit of certain behaviors. Science may show that there is a predisposition for addiction for those with a particular genetic makeup. But, the more tangible risk is when there is brokenness in mind, body, or spirit which the individual is trying to ignore or deny. This brokenness can cause pain in many forms (e.g. physical pain, depression, anxiety, isolation, etc.). Because pleasure can alleviate or mask pain, the willingness of the individual to engage in pleasure-seeking actions (e.g. alcohol, drugs, prescription medications, thrill seeking, gambling, overeating, etc.) can be a risk factor to their affinity to addiction.
Clearly, recovery from an addiction starts with getting sober – the prolonged abstinence from the addicting substance or behavior. But the individual may still be experiencing pain from the brokenness once sober. The brain remembers what alleviates pain by bringing it pleasure and the addict will be drawn with powerful cravings, back to the addiction without something intervening. Thus, it is imperative to remedy these underlying problems found in the mind, body, and spirit of the addict.
12 Steps Is an Effective Program
We believe that the 12 Steps program of Alcoholics Anonymous (and the many other organizations modeled on AA) give the addict a program for identifying and processing this underlying brokenness. This program has proven to be very effective in delivering long-held sobriety – in part because it recognizes that the addiction is the unwanted consequence of a flawed solution to brokenness.
Brokenness can be defined as a weakness or injury to mind, body, and/or spirit. It may include one or more of character defects, emotional harm, physical disability, relationship disorders, traumatic stress, moral injury, and others. These are problems that our society is not well equipped to acknowledge or deal with. While we are expected to be strong and self-reliant, there is little instruction or models for how to be this way, if indeed these standards are achievable.
Without recovery, the individual is put off the path of growth. Recovery is the natural response to brokenness and must be done to heal the injury or remediate the weakness. But, misconceptions and social pressures tangle recovery with thoughts of failure or defeat. So, rather than engage in recovery, the individual engages in self-medication to mask and ignore the brokenness. Masking and medicating is a flawed solution for recovery and the individual is stunted.
12 Steps is a Life Program
Those successful in sustaining sobriety for many years have made the 12 Steps and the AA program a part of their regular life. Beyond attending group meetings, they find themselves repeating the 12 Steps when brokenness is uncovered that challenges their sobriety and hold them back.
Summary
Dallas Sober Living Solutions believes in the 12 Steps and the Alcoholics Anonymous model of recovery. We believe that in order to achieve lasting sobriety, an addict must identify and remedy underlying brokenness to their mind, body, and spirit. We believe that remedying this brokenness with a Christian approach and exposing the recovering addict to the opportunities for growth delivers on the promise of a life beyond belief.
CHRIS MCGUIRE FOUNDER &
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Chris proudly serves as co-founder and Program Director of Dallas Sober Living Solutions and Arbor Park Recovery. As a person in long-term recovery, Chris is motivated by his passion and dedication to helping others achieve sobriety. Chris’s professional experience in sober living began fourteen years ago when he saw that individuals who left addiction treatment centers needed a supportive living environment before they moved on to the next step in life. He has served as State Coordinator for a well-known nonprofit sober living community where he managed over 50 properties and opened 35 of those in the Dallas area.
Chris is a passionate advocate for the recovery community and has traveled extensively within Texas and across the United States, speaking with coalitions and advocating the importance of sober living. Chris has also coordinated the Stephen Cripe and Pete Wheeler Foundations, which help fund individuals’ sober living facilities. He was recently voted in as the advocacy chair for the Dallas Texas Association of Addiction Professionals (TAAP). He currently also is a local outreach for a residential treatment center.
Chris believes that through compassionate and comprehensive recovery-supportive services, everyone touched by addiction can heal and become happy, healthy, and productive members of society.
Message from our Co-Founder Chris McGuire:
Message from our Co-Founder DJ Walker:
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