Recovery Dharma

Domain V · Systemic, relational, group & community · 2019

What it is

Recovery Dharma is a peer-led mutual-aid fellowship, not a therapy a clinician delivers. It is a non-profit founded in 2019. It came out of the settlement that split Refuge Recovery after allegations against Noah Levine: Refuge Recovery World Services stayed with Levine, and RD took in former…

Format

• Inquiry and Investigation. Writing and sharing detailed inquiries into the Four Noble Truths as they relate to one's addiction, with a mentor, trusted friend or group. This includes accountability, direct responsibility and amends for past harm.
• Growth. Lifelong study through reading, dharma talks, sanghas and meditation or dharma retreats.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• What it is. Recovery Dharma is a peer-led mutual-aid fellowship, not a therapy a clinician delivers. It is a non-profit founded in 2019. It came out of the settlement that split Refuge Recovery after allegations against Noah Levine: Refuge Recovery World Services stayed with Levine, and RD took in former Refuge Recovery board members. RD describes itself as Buddhist-inspired but not a religious belief system. It has…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Repeat attendance, a named contact, and some RD language used naturally.
• Avoidance disguised as "I'll go next week". Set a specific meeting, date and time.
• Use RD's vocabulary only if the client finds it helpful. Do not teach dharma yourself.
• Boundaries that become rigid rules, especially around food, which call for eating-disorder-informed care.
• People-pleasing or over-commitment, the "over-busyness" that the Wise Effort inquiry names as a form of avoidance.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.