A Sampling of Tools And Terms

A Sampling of Tools and Term

A purpose for using a Tool List is to enable newcomers to more easily and rapidly participate in a Recovery International (RI) meeting. With this in mind RI encourages you to use this list when you initially attend our meetings, until you feel comfortable without it. Your Group Leader may have other guidelines for you regarding the use of this list in meetings. We are glad that you are here and encourage you to participate and endorse for your participation! These tools are quoted or adapted from Dr. Low's books: Mental Health Through Will Training (MH), Selections from Dr. Low's Works (SEL) and Manage Your Fears, Manage Your Anger (MYF).
Citations to the books are listed for each tool. Many other tools can be found in these books.

Some Basic RI Tools

• Treat mental health as a business and not as a game …………………….....…..…..MH ch.25
• Humor is our best friend, temper is our worst enemy ……………….……..…………MH p.108
• If you can't change a situation you can change your attitude towards it….…………….MYF p.108, SEL p.31-32
• Be self-led, not symptom-led ……………………………………………...…..………..MYF p.114-18, 280-83
• Symptoms are distressing but not dangerous……………….....…..……..…………..SEL p. 53, MH p. 115, 119
• Temper is the intellectual blindness to the other side of the story…………....……....MH, p. 159
• Comfort is a want, not a need ……………………………………………….....……. ..MH chs. 13,22
• There is no right or wrong in the trivialities of every day life ………..........SEL p. 39, MH p. 157, 195-196
• Calm begets calm, temper begets temper………………………….………..…….....MYF p. 245, SEL p. 31
• Don't take our own dear selves too seriously…………………………………..……..MH p. 109
• Feelings should be expressed and temper suppressed…………………...…….....MH p. 178
• Helplessness is not hopelessness……………………………….…….…….………MH ch. 7, MYF p. 184
• Some people have a passion for self-distrust…………….……..……….……..MH ch. 29 & MYF Lecture 2
• Temper maintains and intensifies symptoms…………………….....……………MH p. 219
• Do things in part acts……………………………………….…..………..…….…..…MH p. 246-249
• Endorse yourself for the effort, not only for the performance……….…...…….…..MYF p. 13, SEL p. 46, 132
• Have the courage to make a mistake…………………..……MH p. 203, ch. 30, MYF p. 60, SEL p. 108
• Feelings are not facts……………………………………………..………..MH ch. 9, MYF Lecture 14
• Do the things you fear and hate to do………………………..…………MH p. 329-330, MYF p. 197
• Fear is a belief –– beliefs can be changed………………………………….…….MYF p. 266-269
• Every act of self-control leads to a sense of self-respect …………………….…………….MH p. 166
• Decide, plan, and act ………………….…………………………………………….…….MH p. 42
• Any decision will steady you ………………………………………..……………….……..MYF p. 5
• Anticipation is often worse than realization….……………..…….…..…….….MH p. 114-115, 146
• Replace an insecure thought with a secure thought……………..……….……….MYF Lecture 1
• Bear the discomfort in order to gain comfort……………………….……………….…..MH p. 149
• Hurt feelings are just beliefs not shared……………………….……………………..….SEL p. 21
• Self-appointed expectations lead to self-induced frustrations…….……………………..….SEL p. 35
• People do things that annoy us, not necessarily to annoy us….………………….…MH ch. 48
• Knowledege teaches you what to do, practice tells you how to do it……………..……..…………SEL p. 118
• Muscles can be commanded to do what one fears to do………..…………..…..…………….SEL p. 123
• Tempers are frequently uncontrolled, but not uncontrollable………..…………..…..…………….MH p. 392

Some Basic Recovery International (RI) Terms

Angry Temper –– negative judgements (resentment, impatience, indignation, disgust, hatred) directed against another person or situation.

Fearful Temper––negative judgements (discouragement, preoccupation, embarrassment, worry, hopelessness, despair, sense of shame, feelings of inadequacy) directed against oneself.

Averageness—most of the things we experience, including nervous symptoms, are average - most people have experienced them. Only our tendency to work them up makes them seem exceptional to us.

Self-endorsement—self-praise for any effort to practise the RI method. We recognize the value of every effort we make regardless of the result.

Sabotage—when we ignore or choose not to practice what we have learned in RI. When we do not do what is best for our mental health.

Triviality— the everyday events and irritations of daily life. Compared to our mental health, most events are trivial.

Inner Environment—everything inside your self: feelings, sensations, thoughts, impulses, and muscles.

Outer Environment—everything outside your self: places, people, events, and the past.

Spotting—identifying a disturbing feeling, sensation, thought or impulse, previously unseen…then applying the right Recovery tools.

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