ADVANCING MY INNER WORK

BALM Testimonial:

Lisa McDonald, CBC
Certified BALM Family Recovery Life Coach
Pennsylvania

For years, I have been actively involved in my own recovery through a Twelve-Step fellowship. I have grown leaps and bounds in this program by working steps and being of service. It led me back to my First Love, Jesus. It helped me build a foundation of personal responsibility and community. Honestly, it saved my life because first and foremost, it enabled me to stop using, lose the desire to use, and find a new way of life. However, as I ambled through my life, I found that there were a few behavior patterns, defects of character, that I just couldn’t seem to get a handle on. That is where the BALM comes in.

As I entered the BALM Family Recovery Life Coach Training Program, I thought that I had myself under control, and I was quite sure that everyone in the program was going to benefit from my years of recovery knowledge and experience. I was in complete denial of the amount of work that was left to be done in my own heart. I was reactive, unpredictable, easily frustrated, and prone to angry outbursts, but I had been this way for so long. I just thought it was the best I could do, and the people in my life were just going to have to accept me this way. The 7 Steps to BALM changed all of this for me. After the first class, I did the “Inner Work” assignment, and the Buddy Assignment for Step 1, and I was hooked. My attitude changed, and I began to listen intently, not just for the information but for its application in my own life. I was no longer only a coaching student taking a required class. I was an involved participant. I saw in that week my reactivity decreased and my ability to be present in each moment increased. At that point, I realized how much work I had left to do, and I got to it. Using the 7 Steps to BALM in my life has changed the way I interact with the world, for sure!

I have since taken a family member through the class, and I am currently taking the class again with a new buddy. Each time I take the class, I find that my growth deepens and solidifies. The Twelve Steps for me have been the “hook,” if you will, that I hang the 7 Steps to BALM on. I have all the wonderful information found in both the 12 Principles of BALM and the Twelve Steps of my recovery fellowship to anchor the practical application found in the 7 Steps to BALM. Today, I can say that I am less reactive, more at peace, and able to handle life’s challenges in a way that keeps me connected to my loved ones. My children are BALMed regularly without even knowing it. It is teaching them to be responsible for their emotions and choices, which at four, six, and eight will serve them well all their lives. My eighteen-year-old feels empowered to get out there and live the life that he wants. The BALM has given me the ability to respect the process of all of the lovely, flawed people in my life and love them right where they are!

If you would like to hire Lisa as your BALM Coach or learn how you can take the 7 Steps to BALM Class, email Tracy at tward@familyrecoveryresources.com or call 1-888-998-BALM (2256) option 2.