Effective recovery from mental health disorders, substance use, or addiction must teach the importance of having values. Values are fundamental core beliefs that guide our individual behavior and help us identify what is important in our lives. In recovery, values allow individuals to recognize beliefs that put their life and recovery at the forefront of their minds as they work to establish long-term sobriety.
Recovery facilities typically provide several treatment interventions and methods that help people discover their personal values. One of these methods encourages clients to “walk the red road,” otherwise known as learning the red road curriculum.
What Does It Mean to “Walk the Red Road?”
The Red Road Curriculum instills a deep sense of obligation and personal commitment to embodying the Seven Sacred Virtues of Lakota in daily life. These virtues help clients recognize that they do not need to seek perfection in their recovery journey, but instead, they must use these seven values to guide positive and healthy behavior.
While some people are standing on the road, other people are actively walking on it. Those that are walking the red road are living their life with purpose as they work to create positive change and self-growth. While the red road can be considered a spiritual path, it can also be considered a general path of healing. Recovery from mental health disorders and substance use is more than just managing symptoms or becoming sober. Effective treatment must address the underlying causes of why a condition may have developed and identify greater meaning and purpose for recovery.
Understanding the Seven Sacred Values of Lakota
The Seven Sacred Values of Lakota provide a framework of virtues for people to hold high in their life. This framework is meant to guide people in the right direction for effective healing essential to recovery.
The Seven Sacred Values include:
#1. Prayer: (Wóčhekiya) Prayer is your conversations with your higher power, which helps you develop and strengthen your relationship with your higher power and your higher self. It can also be considered manifesting and can help bring your visions to life.
#2. Honesty: (Wičákha) Honesty sets the foundation for trust in any relationship. Honesty towards others and towards yourself is essential as it instills a belief in yourself and your commitments in life.
#3. Humility: (Wahwala) Humility is one’s ability to be humble, a trait that helps us overcome interpersonal conflict and makes us better thinkers, learners, and achievers. In recovery, humility reminds us that making mistakes is a part of being human.
#4. Compassion: (Waúnšila) Compassion promotes meaningful connections and a better understanding of those that are struggling around us. Compassion is vital in recovery because it challenges our biases and any judgment that we hold towards others and ourselves.
#5. Respect: (Waóhola) Respect helps build feelings of safety and well-being. You may realize that you have respect for yourself when you commit to treatment and recovery because you recognize that you deserve better. Respecting yourself and others also plays a key role in your self-esteem.
#6. Generosity: (Wawokiye) Generosity is offering your time, talent, or resources to others without expecting anything in return. Generosity allows us to feel more fulfilled, needed, and at peace with who we are. This value helps increase your sense of self-confidence, self-worth, and appreciation for life in recovery.
#7. Wisdom: (Wóksape) Wisdom keeps us on our toes. It allows us to make better decisions in life by increasing our knowledge through experience and perspective. In recovery, wisdom is the ability to gain insight into past and present experiences that deepen an individual’s understanding of life.
How West Coast Recovery Centers Utilizes The Red Road Curriculum
West Coast Recovery Centers utilizes the red road curriculum as a valuable tool for healing and encouraging growth in recovery. Treatment offers incredible opportunities for individuals to identify personal values that make their life and recovery worthwhile. Developing personal values is essential in recovery because they help people set achievable goals and find long-term success during treatment.
Our team recognizes the impact that personal values have on the recovery experience. The Red Road Curriculum offers seven critical values that those in recovery can utilize as motivation towards achieving and maintaining their own recovery. These seven values will influence positive behavior change, positive thoughts, and encouragement for how individuals will live their lives in sobriety. These values can also be applied to not only the lives of individuals in recovery, but to anyone looking for further healing in their own growth journey.
The Red Road Curriculum is a treatment approach that emphasizes the importance of having values in place to help guide attitudes, actions, and behaviors. The Red Road Curriculum teaches clients about the Seven Sacred Values of the Lakota people and why they are essential in recovery. These values include prayer, honesty, humility, compassion, respect, generosity, and wisdom. West Coast Recovery Centers teaches clients how to walk the red road as they go through treatment at our facility. We believe that these Seven Sacred Values provide a valuable framework for people in recovery to turn to as they work towards establishing and maintaining long-term recovery. We recognize the power of holistic treatment approaches and spirituality during the healing process. To learn more about the Red Road Curriculum, or for information about our treatment programs, call West Coast Recovery Centers today at (760) 492-6509. We look forward to being a part of your healing and recovery journey.