Welcome to Tribe! This home is the expression of my greatest passion: to help people find what inspires and nourishes them on their healing journey. And, to provide methods and philosophies that you may not immediately find within the traditional framework of recovery. While these traditional approaches certainly work well, there are some individuals who must find more in order to move from surviving to thriving. This is my story anyways. I spent many years involved in a very rigid version of a 12-step program. And, I’m so grateful for this. It’s my foundation. I reached a point, however, where to remain within the traditional framework meant completely limiting myself from the deep well of wisdom and inspiration offered in so many resources outside of what was presented from my 12-step fellows.
My journey, in desperate need of more, led me to seek out various methods and practices toward healing…toward thriving. I explored different therapeutic philosophies and methods in order to effectively understand and clear the parts of my past that were deeply affecting my current reality. I also found refuge in many spiritual paths. I learned about and practiced many of the ancient, mystical, and eastern traditions, such as: Buddhism , Hinduism, Sufism, Shamanism, and more. The one thing that continued to reveal itself throughout this exploration was a deep loyal wisdom that resided within me. One of my greatest teachers calls this by a simple, but sweet name, the Inner Healer. This wisdom within, I believe innate in each of us, is constantly guiding me (us) toward healing and the uncovering of my wholeness. Every psychology, spiritual tradition, and methodology to explore consciousness I encountered all led back to this same truth. What a relief this finding was.
So, our main intention at Tribe is to support men in re-connecting with their own inner healing wisdom through a self-empowering approach to recovery. I know…it’s said in our 12-step upbringing that we can’t trust ourselves, that our best thinking got us here, and we are prone to self-delusion. I know. So, it’s a bit contradictory to look within for the answers. And, there is some truth to this as we’re first starting off. As they say, we often don’t know our ass from our head. AND, it doesn’t change the Great reality that the wisdom of the ages knew so well, which is that there is Divine within. There is wisdom within. So where else would we look but there. I’ll never forget one of my early mentors, DJ Shay, who said with full confidence to me in a moment of existential early recovery crisis, “Christine, EVERYTHING you’re looking for is within”. When we do the work and practice, we do in fact have an ability to find a sweet and very effective relationship with our own inner wisdom. And, this wisdom will always guide us home. I have seen this over and over as a clinician in my work with others over the last 12 years, and certainly in my own experience. This does not mean we don’t hold men accountable. And, we’re well aware that addicts/alcoholics certainly aren’t the most disciplined of the lot. So, we teach inspired action, discipline as a movement toward self-nurturance and freedom, and we support the heck out of men as they stumble along the way.
At Tribe, we’ll support this exploration of inner healer, sober life, and relationship through deep work and discipline, community and vulnerability, presence and love. We’ll do this not by pathologizing every behavior or symptom, but by helping men understand and explore their inner and outer world, and why we do the things we do. We come from a place of deep acceptance and patience, and hope to guide men toward finding that acceptance and patience for themselves-one of the greatest gifts we can offer our own being. We know that shame is such a core aspect of addiction and that it corrodes the part of us that believes we are worthy of change. So through deep compassion, consistency, and guidance we hope to create an environment where men feel relevant, worthy, and inspired.
A beautiful writing by Cassandra Fischer on the meaning of Tribe:
When I say I have found my tribe what I mean is that I have found a community of people I enjoy sharing Earth with. Really. My tribe is the people I stand next to while I cook, while I work, while I play, while I mourn, while I grow—and who stand next to me. Life comes at us, one moment after the next, and how we respond defines us. My tribe is made simply of the people who have responded beautifully, as well as they could, as effectively and hilariously and deliciously and disastrously and helpfully as they could. During one of those moments, that person did it right. Not necessarily gracefully or even well, but right. It fit. They made it all work.
My tribe is not a still pond. Some days it rages and thrashes like the ocean in a storm. Some days it is all four seasons at once. We are many and varied and ever, ever changing and we are doing it together here on this planet. We may not always be entirely happy about all of it—hell, some days, some moments, it’s absolutely infuriating to be human. But I am. We are. And the fury is an energy that can be directed, blended, integrated. It need not be an isolated cold fury that hardens the heart, but can instead be shared and warmed and used to promote change. The further we share it the greater the chance that the change will integrate and spread out in a trillion little ways.
And this is what we do. We offer ourselves. We become a whole by being together. By joining our flames, our passions, we light the way toward the future.
Watch us shine.
