Addiction can be debilitating for both men and women. However, men often encounter different problems when facing addiction. Men and women have unique responses to substance use and often face different physical, social, and psychological obstacles while recovering. Gender-specific programming allows recovery to be tailored to men’s individual needs and perspectives.
At Spero Recovery Center, we teach men how to recover in real-time with peer-to-peer support and peer-led counseling. We teach our clients how to be honest with one another and how to hold each other accountable. Members from our local recovery community offer counseling sessions to show our clients how to recover in the outside world. Our peer-based approach allows our clients to develop a connection with each other. When our clients feel like they are getting something done as a team, instead of just being told what to do, they feel a sense of ownership. By doing this, we set the men in our program up for long-term recovery.
Reading and Discussing the first 164 pages of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous
4 week rotating Curriculum that include discussions about the 3 part disease, fully conceding, powerlessness and unmanageability, and personal questions relating to step 1
During this group time guys break into groups they have interest in these include Shop time, Yoga, Hiking, service work, Music theory or Guitar/Piano lessons, and Gardening.
Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting
Reading and Discussing the first 164 pages of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous
4 week rotating curriculum learning about and using herbs for treating different bodily systems
Alcoholics Anonyous Meeting
Meeting
Our weekly group run by our Clinical Director, where each Client checks in
4 week rotating curriculum using music as a tool to discover and process emotions
Twice a week Clients have this time devoted to bringing up issues within the house, struggles, concerns, and privileges. Clients are encouraged to hold each other accountable and share any struggles they are having in this safe and supportive environment with staff facilitation.
Meeting
Reading and Discussing the first 164 pages of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous
4 week rotating curriculum on meditation each group including a different guided meditation
Rotating through all 12 traditions (Generally 3 a week to do all in 4 weeks) and using them to look at how each of us are showing up in each of our relationships
We use this Group time to present Graduations certificates, guys to pass around their big book for numbers and words of encouragement, and each person to address the graduate with words of encouragement and constructive criticism. When there are no graduations we use this time for some brotherhood activity.
Zoom Meeting
Reading and Discussing the first 164 pages of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous
4 week rotating curriculum that include discussions about Steps 2 and 3
4 week rotating curriculum
A community volunteer to lead the group in different types of yoga
Meeting
Staff picks a chapter (or sometimes 2) that are pertinent to the group from AA’s 12 steps and 12 traditions book to read and discuss
Alternating group where every other week we have a volunteer share their experience with either service or with the benefits of sober living
Staff or clients bring some topics to group, which have relevance to things going on in the house or someone’s personal sobriety. Those topics are discussed and the group uses the big book and personal experience to find suggestions and solutions
Community Breakfast
Meeting
Clients and staff get together during this time to do an activity from a large list which is chosen by the group, or if there is enough staff or volunteers can split into multiple groups to do the chosen activities. These include hikes, cornhole, volleyball, cards, recovery movie, a variety of competitive tournaments, crafts, etc.
Twice a week Clients have this time devoted to bringing up issues within the house, struggles, concerns, and privileges. Clients are encouraged to hold each other accountable and share any struggles they are having in this safe and supportive environment with staff facilitation.
Alumni Meeting
Our goal at Spero Recovery is to break the ideas associated with “being a man” that have become ingrained in our heads. Men often hear phrases such as:
As a society, we teach our men that talking about their emotions and feelings are signs of weakness. Just because men are told to hide their feelings doesn’t mean they don’t have any. Men who experience sadness or grief are more likely to channel their feelings into different emotions that are seen as more socially acceptable, such as anger or laughter. When men are told to hide their emotions, those feelings have to go somewhere. This stigma may be the reason men turn to substance use, continuing to suppress what they genuinely feel. At Spero Recovery, we want to get to the core of why men drink or use drugs.
The way men are taught to deal with emotions may also cause fear of asking for help, especially financially. At Spero Recovery, our mission is to provide accessible, high-quality care. Spero was created to give hope to an underserved community who are uninsured or unable to pay for treatment. We want to help men get the care and support they need to recover from substance use. The first step in recovery is asking for help.
Spero Recovery teaches men that they can have a more diverse range of emotions. We want to redefine what a man is. Spero Recovery believes in creating sophisticated but rugged men. Our clients are taught that it’s okay to feel intimacy, compassion, and vulnerability. Through our peer-based approach, our clients can exhibit a range of emotions with other men in recovery.
At Spero Recovery Center, we offer a residential program. Clients stay onsite for a minimum of 30 days and have the option to stay up to 90 days. Our clients work through the 12 Steps during a residential stay and are immersed in a recovery community. Our center is located in the woods with nice homes and high-quality appliances. Our mission is to provide accessible, high-quality care.
When residential programming is completed, our clients should have a working knowledge of the 12-Steps, have accountability with a sponsor and recovery community, and be working through their ninth step. Our clients also have the option to enter our sober living homes once they finish their residential programming. Sober living homes offer an environment where individuals recovering from addiction can live in a community with like-minded housemates. Our network of sober living homes at Spero Recovery is designed to help men maintain sobriety.
Although Spero Recovery differs from a traditional treatment program, we provide clinically-informed recovery programming. Our clinical director has over two decades of experience with various treatment modalities. With clinical oversight, men are given the opportunity to evaluate past behaviors, repair relationships, and begin a life free from substances.
Upon request, clients can have access to different therapeutic approaches. If someone requests or needs therapy, they will be connected with a therapist. Our program does not have therapists, but we can connect men with offsite therapists to accommodate their needs.
Finding the right program for recovering from addiction can be challenging. For more information on what Spero Recovery does and how we can help, give us a call. Your are not alone. We can accomplish so much together!