Chronic Illness and the Twelve Steps: A Practical Approach to Spiritual Resilience by Martha Cleveland

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Synopsis

When we live with a chronic illness or disability, our spirit is tested. And though we may have no say in our sickness, how we meet its spiritual challenge is entirely up to us. This is the message of Martha Cleveland's heartening book, which maps the spiral of emotional pain that steals the energy of the chronically ill—and shows how to turn this spiral into a path toward spiritual growth. Cleveland herself turned to the Twelve Steps for support during almost two decades of a recurring illness that defied diagnosis. In this book, she shares what the Twelve Step program teaches her about living with chronic illness—coping with feelings of pain, anger, hopelessness, and isolation—and about offsetting such negative emotions with spiritual wellness. An invitation to choose joy over despair, her book reveals how chronic illness can open the spirit to acceptance, serenity, and fulfillment.

Biography

Martha Cleveland's chronic illness proved to be one of the great gifts of her life. From it she has learned that none of us has ultimate control over our own body, but we do have control over how we respond to whatever situation life hands us. In her mid-thirties her symptoms forced her into panic and despair, but over time she learned to accept her condition and live in a rich, wonderfully rewarding way. She went to the University of Minnesota, gained a baccalaureate degree, a master's degree, and, in 1978, a Ph.D. She became a Licensed Consulting Psychologist, working in private practice, as adjunct staff with the Family Therapy Institute of St. Paul, and as consultant to various agencies. In her late sixties, she has retired and lives what she feels is the most satisfying part of her life. She and her husband, Walter, live in the suburban home they bought forty-eight years ago. She is deeply involved with her family, friends, gardening, and the rescue work she does with retired racing Greyhounds. She comes to this late part of her life knowing that it isn't circumstance that defines us; it is how we respond to that circumstance that will ultimately tell us who we are.