Articles and Blog Posts

  • Addiction Recovery:   Discussions geared toward providing Christian counselors with insights into ways to better assist addicted and codependent individuals
  • Nonprofit Management: Articles dealing with best practices and useful principles for those with administrative responsibilities at social service-oriented not-for-profit organizations, especially those working with the homeless and the addicted.
  • Program Development: These articles are focused particularly on providing helpful information for people who oversee programs and manage counselors and other direct care workers. The focus is mostly on providing effective services to the homeless and addicted.

 

Introduction: Why These Classic Writings Remain Relevant Today

This website is based on a Faith-Integrated Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual Recovery Model for residential substance use disorder treatment, synthesizing biblical discipleship, trauma-informed care, ASAM principles, 12-Step facilitation, and evidence-based recovery practices. 

Over forty years ago, I began managing residential recovery programs and working with individuals facing severe substance use disorders, homelessness, and spiritual brokenness. Many of the foundational principles found in these writings were developed while I served for 17 years as Director of Education for the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (now known as the Citygate Network). I was actively training leaders of faith-based residential recovery programs, mentoring future counselors, and consulting with ministry leaders whose organizations provided direct care to individuals struggling with homelessness and substance use issues. 

While clinical language and institutional standards have evolved, the core mechanics of human healing do not change. The foundational principles advocated here—bridging a distinctly Christian worldview with time-tested clinical practices—remain entirely congruent with today’s best models of substance use treatment and recovery support. 

Key Pillars of Integration

  • Integration of Christian Faith and Clinical Care: At the heart of this material is the understanding that a substance use disorder is a deeply spiritual crisis as well as a bio-psycho-social condition. Rather than treating faith and clinical science as opposing forces, these chapters demonstrate how biblical principles—grace, redemption, forgiveness, and moral inventory—provide the spiritual foundation needed for deep emotional and physical healing. 
     
  • The Practical Utility of the 12-Step Model: Long before 12-Step facilitation was formally classified as an evidence-based practice, these frameworks detailed how the 12 Steps serve as a powerful blueprint for personal transformation. Rooted in the early historic Christian movements that inspired AA, the steps guide individuals through admitting powerlessness, surrendering self-will to God, conducting an honest moral inventory, making amends, and helping others. 
     
  • Alignment with Modern ASAM Criteria: Effective recovery can never be a single rigid script. Assessing emotional stability, physical health, readiness to change, spiritual status, and environmental risk aligns directly with the multidimensional assessment framework of the modern ASAM Criteria. 
     
  • Trauma-Informed Care & SAMHSA Principles: Decades before “trauma-informed care” became a standard industry baseline, these framework principles called for physical and emotional safety, clear boundaries, and peer support. Addressing the trauma, fear, and survival mechanisms of those coming off the streets reflects SAMHSA’s core principles of trauma sensitivity. 
     
  • Gorski’s Relapse Prevention Principles: Framing a slip as a signal to re-examine unresolved denial, stress, or spiritual isolation maps directly onto Terence Gorski’s Relapse Prevention Counseling model, helping individuals learn from crisis rather than abandon hope. 
  • Overcoming Toxic Shame and Dysfunctional Family Patterns: Drawing from John Bradshaw’s work on family systems and toxic shame, this material exposes how shame convinces individuals they are fundamentally flawed. By breaking the classic family rules of “don’t trust, don’t feel, don’t talk,” individuals learn to receive God’s grace, step into honest community, and rebuild genuine self-worth.