How Does StepWork Work?
StepWork is a process whereby you concentrate on one particular step at a
time in a given recovery program. It is really an organizing tool to focus your
work on one issue at a time so that you do not become overwhelmed by the
number and enormity of the tasks that comprise a recovery journey. The idea is to
explore in a focused manner the issues presented by a particular step, without
confusing these issues with other issues related to other steps.
ASCA's 21 Steps are a statement of the tasks and issues that most adult
survivors face during their recovery from child abuse. Think of them as signposts
or landmarks along the road of recovery. Unlike some self-help programs, ASCA
does not require that participants work the steps although you may choose to do
so or that the steps be worked in a linear order. Survivors often spiral through
several steps simultaneously and may return to earlier steps after they have
reached closure on later ones, or as new material surfaces in their recovery
process. Your concept of StepWork may be to emphasize a particular step in your
shares in ASCA meetings, or in your individual or group therapy sessions.
The steps of Stage One are concerned with the memories of your childhood
abuse. You must acknowledge what happened in the past before you can move
forward in recovery. This becomes the foundation upon which you build your
recovery. Stage Two focuses on examining your adult behavior, connecting your
present strengths and weaknesses to the abuse you suffered and the coping
mechanisms you adopted, and allowing the child within you to grieve the aspects
of childhood that never existed for you. Stage Three involves consolidating your
new, healthier feelings and behaviors, your feelings about the abuse and your adult
goals into a new sense of self and then going out and "practicing" this new self in
the world.
Remember that not all of the 21 Steps are going to have equal relevance to
your life and your abuse history. Depending on your personal experience, some
steps will have a more profound significance for you, and these are the steps
where you might want to concentrate your focus. You might work on one issue at
a particular time because it is the issue that is most relevant to your life at this
time. You might work on several steps simultaneously, and you might even feel
that some steps have no relevance to your particular experience. You are the
ultimate judge of which steps to work and when to work them.
Survivor to Thriver, Page 9
© 2007 THE MORRIS CENTER, Revised 11/06
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