When Traditional Treatment Didn’t Work..
How Mindfulness CBT Gave Me a New Way Forward
There’s a unique kind of pain that comes when you’ve done the work or at least tried, really hard.
You’ve gone to treatment.
You’ve sat through group therapy
Cried through step work
Prayed/journaled
White-knuckled it.
You’ve read the books.
You’ve wanted to get better….
And still, you find yourself stuck in the same cycle of relapse, shame, and regret. I’ve been there. More than once.
I remember the moment I sat in front of a therapist halfway through yet another attempt at recovery, explaining everything I had done AGAIN.
All the insights I had gained…..
All the knowledge I had absorbed
I wasn’t just reciting slogans; I understood the clinical frameworks
I could speak the language of trauma, relapse prevention, and neurobiology.
That’s when she stopped me and said something I’ve never forgotten:
“You don’t need a basic program. You need a treatment center for people who already have their master’s degree in addiction treatment… because that’s how much you’ve learned. But that place doesn’t exist.”
She wasn’t being sarcastic…she meant it. I had spent so many years learning about recovery that I had the depth of understanding of someone who worked in the field professionally. But I wasn’t healed. I wasn’t free. I was informed, yes but still stuck.
Then she said something else that changed the direction of my healing:
“You don’t need more information. You need to dig deeper.”
When I Found CBT, It All Started to Shift
That conversation eventually led me to All Points North Lodge, where I was in a CBT group (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and everything started to change.
It wasn’t about sitting in circles retelling the same stories.
It was about why I kept doing the things I swore I’d never do again.
CBT helped me understand the link between my thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
I learned how one negative or distorted thought like the below could set off a domino effect leading to destructive decisions. It gave me practical, clear tools to challenge those thoughts and interrupt the spiral.
“I’m a failure”
“I’ll never change”
“I can’t handle this”
But even more impactful was the integration of Mindfulness-Based CBT.
Mindfulness added something I had never experienced in recovery before: space.
It gave me the ability to observe my thoughts without becoming them. I didn’t have to judge them, fix them, or run from them….just notice. I could witness my fear, my craving, my grief, and say, “Oh… there you are,” instead of letting those feelings own me.
No, I didn’t stay sober immediately. But I changed. The foundation was set for the lasting, deeper recovery I live today.
When “Knowing Better” Isn’t Enough
I say this often now: knowing everything about recovery doesn’t keep you sober.
I had been the A student. I had been the high-achiever. I had wanted it so badly. But none of it stuck because I was skipping the step that mattered most:
Learning how to sit with myself. To slow down. To feel. To stay.
Mindfulness CBT gave me that. It taught me how to:
Tune in to my body and regulate my emotions.
Identify distorted thoughts and replace them with truth.
Respond to cravings with curiosity, not panic.
Hear my inner critic and lovingly choose a different voice.
I didn’t need more education. I needed embodiment. And that's exactly what mindfulness-based tools gave me.
How CBT and Mindfulness CBT Align With AA and Scripture
If you're like me, and you've drawn strength from 12-step recovery and your faith, you might wonder where all this fits. To me, it’s not only compatible it enhances both.
Here’s what I’ve found:
✦ CBT and the Steps
CBT teaches us to identify unhealthy thoughts and behaviors and replace them with healthier ones. Sound familiar? That’s Steps 4 and 10. They ask us to take inventory not just of our actions, but of our motives, beliefs, and patterns.
Both practices ask for honesty, reflection, and change.
✦ Mindfulness and Step 11
Step 11 invites us to grow spiritually through prayer and meditation. Mindfulness doesn’t replace prayer, it prepares us for it. It quiets the mind so we can hear God. It teaches us to be present, which is the foundation of all meaningful connection with Him.
✦ Scripture and the Mind
Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
CBT and mindfulness are about guarding the heart, noticing what enters it, what shapes it, and what we allow to take root.
If we don’t pay attention to our thoughts and emotions, we act from wounded places. This verse is a reminder that everything flows from within.
2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to “take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.”
That’s exactly what CBT empowers us to do. When you begin recognizing distorted or self-destructive thoughts and replacing them with truth, that’s taking your thoughts captive in real-time.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve ever felt like recovery should be working….but it’s not… I want you to know: you’re not alone.
It might not be that you haven’t done enough… but that you’re being invited to go deeper.
Mindfulness-Based CBT was that invitation for me. It gave me a way to slow down, to face my thoughts with clarity, and to invite God into the space between my trigger and my response.
Recovery isn’t just about abstinence. It’s about freedom. And for me, that freedom began the moment I stopped trying to perform my healing and started experiencing it.
Want more tools, faith-based insights, or support in your own recovery path?
Follow @unscripted.sobriety or reach out (unscriptedsobriety@gmail.com).
