Recovery is about philosophy, not just skill.

Your mileage may vary, but I don’t think we are here to merely survive. 

I think we’re here to master ourselves. 

I think we’re here to grow stronger, in realistic, sustainable ways. 

The philosopher Nietzsche called it the “will to power”— that instinct in human beings to test our limits and discover who we truly are. 

That’s what I think trauma and addiction recovery are really about. Not just “coping with” symptoms. Not just processing memories. 

As far as I’m concerned, we learn to manage symptoms and process memories specifically so we can get on with this business of why we’re really here, why we really exist. 

You don’t have to agree with me. I know plenty of people who don’t— plenty of people who believe that we’re basically here as a cosmic accident. 

Trauma makes us particularly vulnerable to believing that we’re not here for any particular reason at all. 

One of my favorite trauma recovery resources that doesn’t often get discussed as a trauma resource is the book “Man’s Search for Meaning,” by Viktor Frankl. It’s about how Fankl, a Holocaust survivor, made it through that experience by seeking out and creating meaning, even in the little everyday moments inside the concentration camp. 

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not in the “everything has meaning” or “everything happens for a reason” camp. 

But I do believe that life has purpose— and that purpose is to see how far we can realistically go with the tools and resources we have, find, and develop, even after trauma. 

F*ck it— especially after trauma. 

Why mention it here? Because I believe philosophy is as important as skill in recovering from trauma. 

You’re going to be exposed to all kinds of trauma recovery tools on this journey. Some will resonate with how you function; others won’t. You’ll adapt some to how you work, and you’l choose not to develop others. 

Bu no matter what tools you do or don’t embrace along this trauma recovery journey, you’re going to need a trauma recovery philosophy— a life philosophy— that makes those tools worth using. 

What makes life worth living? 

You get to answer for you. But for me, Nietzsche nailed it.