RECOVERY, INC. 

(t ^Answer to ^Jervoui f-^rohiemi 

A Self-Help, 

Family and Community Program 

An Interview With 

J O H N J. HIGGINS, SJ. 

Given to 

Martin L. Duggan 

THE QUEEN'S W O R K 
3115 South Grand Blvd. 

ST. LOUIS 18, MO. 



Imprimi potest: 

Daniel H. Conway, S.J. 

Provincial, Missouri Province 

Imprimatur: 

gg Joseph E. Ritter 

Archbishop of St. Louis 

J a n u a r y 20, 1956 

A N Y F I N A N C I A L P R O F I T made by the 
National Sodality Service Center will 
be used for the promotion of Sodali-
ties of Our Lady and the cause of 
Catholio Action. 

Copyright 1955 
T H E Q U E E N ' S WOBK 

Oeacfcßfted 



INTRODUCTION 
The number of nervous* and mental cases 

in the United States has in recent years 
increased a t an alarming rate, and relapses 
in such cases a f t e r leaving the hospital have 
been equally alarming. The experts in the 
field give us these figures which they con-
sider very conservative estimates: one out 
of every thirteen persons has serious prob-
lems with nervous or mental ill-health, and 
one out of every five families is seriously 
affected by nervous or mental illness. 

As f a r as can be determined by a number 
of surveys, these nervous illnesses are second 
only to alcoholism in causing the breakup 
of married life. I t is high time that the 
state, the Church, and the educational insti-
tutions be seriously concerned about this 
problem. The good work of the recently 
expanding program of Recovery, Inc., in 
rehabilitating nervous people and former 
mental patients is comparable to the good 
work of Alcoholics Anonymous and other 
will-training programs. Recovery has al-
ready saved hundreds of marriages and has 
brought peace back to a countless number 
of families. In this pamphlet F a t h e r 
Higgins tells us what Recovery is and how 
it works. 

•The word "nervous" is used throughout 
this pamphlet in the popular sense of 
a non-organic condition characterized by 
panics and the lesser emotional disturb-
ances. 





RECOVERY. I N C . 

A n Answer to Nervous Problems 

Aa A N E W S P A P E R M A N , Martin Duggan seldom is surprised by public reaction 
to what appears in the paper. Knowing 
the interests of people is p a r t of his job. 
There are times, though, when the response 
is amazing. 

" I never would have guessed," he told his 
wife, Mae, as they enjoyed coffee over their 
morning paper, "how many people would 
be interested in this organization, Recovery, 
Inc., f o r nervous people. The city editor 
told me t h a t we have had more inquiries 
from the series which we ran on Recovery 
than from any other subject in his memory." 

" I think t h a t ' s wonderful," Mae Duggan 
said. " I t shows t h a t people really want to 
do something about their worries, since they 
want to know more about this Recovery 
organization." 

"Well, our friend F a t h e r Higgins would 
be the man f o r them to see," her husband 
replied, gesturing meaningfully in the 
direction of his empty cup. "He's very 
active in the organization and knows a 
great deal about it." 

"Listen, I've got an idea," Mae gleamed. 
"Why don't you get together with F a t h e r 
Higgins and write a pamphlet about Re-
covery. That way people can have something 
handy to read and carry with them." 

"Well, t h a t ' s really not my kind of 
writing, and besides, I don't see how we 
could possibly put all of Recovery into one 



pamphlet. Say, could I have some more 
coffee?"' 

"Well, anyhow you could get enough of it 
into one pamphlet to stimulate interest and 
make Recovery better known. Pamphlets 
are really wonderful. You can put them in 
your purse or your pocket and have one 
with you all the time. You can do a lot of 
good with a pamphlet, and F a t h e r Higgins 
can give you the straight story on Recovery. 
How about i t ? " 

"OK, OK," Martin agreed, "on one condi-
tion: t h a t I get another cup of coffee." 

Martin Duggan got his coffee, and — a 
few days l a t e r — a pleasant auto drive 
f r o m his St. Louis home across the 
Mississippi to P a r k s College, n e a r the 
historic village of Cahokia in Illinois. 

The door to the Jesuit residence was 
opened by F a t h e r Higgins himself, a tall, 
genial man with white h a i r and a winning 
smile. 

"Come in, Martin," the priest welcomed 
him. "A bit of a surprise to see you a t this 
time of day. I thought you fellows on a 
morning newspaper slept all day." 

"We usually t r y to," Martin laughed, 
"but we get a day off now and then." 

"Then this is a purely social visit?" 
"Not entirely," the newspaperman said, 

settling himself comfortably in a huge chair 
near the window. "You might say I'm 
working on an assignment f r o m my wife." 

And he proceeded to tell the amused 
priest how he had learned never to under-
estimate the power of a woman — especially 
when she controls the coffeepot. 



When F a t h e r Higgins learned the purpose 
of the visit, he joined in the project en-
thusiastically. Recovery, Inc., is a subject 
near to his h e a r t . 

The conversation went something like 
t h i s : 

A P E R S O N A L INTEREST 

F A T H E R : My interest in this isn't com-
pletely academic, Martin. I guess you could 
say I've had a certain amount of experience. 
Back in 1927, I had one of those so-called 
"nervous breakdowns," spent some time in 
hospitals, and have been nettled with 
various kinds of nervous symptoms ever 
since. Like many nervous people (and there 
are more of us t h a n you'd ever imagine), 
I've read nearly every readable book on 
psychology and psychiatry t h a t has been 
published in the last 30 years. It's n a t u r a l , 
I guess, t h a t a person looks around f o r help 
to t r y to conquer his nerves. I've learned 
a great deal f r o m chatting with nervous 
patients during these years, and my friends 
and relatives in the medical profession have 
t a u g h t me a lot. But honestly, Martin, the 
most practical thing f o r nerves t h a t I've 
found in all these years of hunting is Dr. 
Abraham Low's book and the Recovery 
methods. 

M A R T I N : If I remember correctly f r o m 
the series of articles we published, Dr. Low 
is the founder of the whole Recovery move-
ment, isn't he? 

F A T H E R : Yes. Low was a noted psychia-
trist, and in 1937 he started an organization 
in Chicago to help nervous persons and 
former mental patients. His first group 
was made up of 30 of his own patients. 



They first met a t the Psychiatric Institute 
of the University of Illinois Medical School. 

F r o m the very beginning Recovery has 
been a strictly lay organization with Dr. 
Low as its adviser and medical director. 
Since t h a t inauspicious beginning Recovery 
h a s made g r e a t progress. The methods it 
employs have brought calm to a great many 
individuals, and peace to the home; it has 
saved marriages and encouraged the 
nervous person to r e t u r n again to God and 
to a better practice of his religion. But 
please let me save face right now. Even 
though I am convinced t h a t Recovery is 
doing g r e a t work, I am not so foolish as to 
think t h a t it is a panacea f o r all nervous 
or mental ills. 

M A R T I N : As a newspaperman, I feel as 
if I've been scooped! If what you say is 
t r u e , I'm surprised t h a t we didn't hear 
about the organization much sooner. To be 
f r a n k , F a t h e r , it's only within the p a s t 
few years t h a t I've heard the name 
Recovery, Inc. 

S L O W E X P A N S I O N 

F A T H E R : Well, if it will help you to 
regain your professional pride, Martin, I 
can tell you t h a t the first 15 years of 
Recovery's expansion were extremely slow. 
Dr. Low was a very conservative person, you 
see. He felt t h a t he first had to prove over 
a period of time t h a t his methods and 
family group t h e r a p y would work. But in 
the last few years since it was decided to 
expand the movement, Recovery has ex-
panded outside of Chicago, so t h a t it now 
numbers over 100 groups in 47 cities and 
18 states, and is still growing. 



M A R T I N : Anything t h a t spreads t h a t 
f a s t must have something to recommend it. 
Now I know from the newspaper articles 
that Recovery is a self-help system. But I 
still don't quite understand what the mem-
bers can do to help themselves. 

FREE W I L L 
F A T H E R : That's not too hard to explain, 

Martin. F i r s t of all, you're aware, I'm sure, 
that Recovery is simply a system of will 
training. A person wouldn't have to know 
too much about the history of psychiatry 
to know that there had been a tendency to 
minimize the work of the human will. The 
tendency had been so strong, in fact, t h a t 
Dr. Low humbly insisted in his book that 
he had rediscovered f r e e will f o r the psy-
chiatrists. 

M A R T I N : J u s t let me interrupt a minute, 
F a t h e r . That book by Low t h a t you're 
r e f e r r i n g to, is Mental Health Through 
Will-Training, right? 

F A T H E R : That's right, Martin. I'll tell 
you something about it a little later. Right 
now, I just want to point out that the 
essential element in the whole Recovery 
program is the power and potential of the 
will. In applying that principle a f t e r study-
ing Dr. Low's book, members learn to avoid 
the use of language that makes their 
nervous symptoms worse. They learn to use 
instead the restrained Recovery vocabulary. 
They train themselves in the mental atti-
tudes, habits of will, and specific techniques 
f o r handling nervous problems that the 
Recovery textbook teaches them. In my 
kitchen English, the book provides the 
patient with a simple but graphic blueprint 
f o r rebuilding his health, handy tools f o r 

— 9 — 



doing the work, and practical methods to 
guide him. 

M A R T I N : If I understand correctly, the 
members of Recovery accomplish all this by 
meeting in groups. 

F A T H E R : Right again. The members meet 
weekly a t one particular place — in a li-
b r a r y , school, church building, private home 
— any place they can conveniently get a t 
little or no cost. 

V A L U E O F T H E G R O U P 
M A R T I N : But what good does a Recovery 

member get f r o m his meeting t h a t he 
couldn't get by himself? 

F A T H E R : T h a t ' s a big question t h a t any 
believer in group therapy would like to be 
able to answer fully. However, in j u s t a 
few words: A new Recovery member learns 
t h a t he is not the sickest person in the 
world, as he thought he was. Secondly, he 
learns t h a t what others have done, he can 
do also in solving his nervous problems; he 
learns specific ways f o r handling problems 
of his own t h a t a r e similar to the ones 
described in the meeting. He respects a 
certain authority in those who have ex-
perienced what he has experienced; f o r this 
reason he will take advice and even 
reprimands f r o m a fellow patient which he 
is not yet disposed to take f r o m his own 
doctor. He gets relief f r o m a e r a t i n g and 
ventilating his symptoms. He leaves the 
Recovery meeting with more confidence in 
himself to cope with his symptoms, and he 
gets a morale boost t h a t will last him 
through the week. 

O U T L I N E O F A M E E T I N G 
M A R T I N : What exactly do the Recovery 

members do a t the meetings? 
— 10 — 



F A T H E R : There is no rigid procedure, 
but we do make it a policy to make the 
meetings as businesslike and as profitable 
f o r all as the leader can make them. People 
who come great distances — in some groups 
it's 150 miles — and a t great sacrifices 
want to get something worthwhile out of 
the meetings. 

M A R T I N : Could you give me a simple 
example of how you proceed? 

F A T H E R : We conduct the meetings in our 
area something like this: We s t a r t the 
meeting by playing a half-hour phonograph 
record of Dr. Low's lectures, during which 
the members take notes on points t h a t 
strike them particularly. A f t e r the record 
we discuss our notes from the record and 
let everybody comment. Then we usually 
read a chapter or p a r t of a chapter from 
Dr. Low's book with comments from the 
reader and leader a f t e r each paragraph or 
small section. Next, we go the rounds of all 
the active members sitting a t the table and 
ask f o r examples of symptoms and how they 
handled them with Recovery methods. A f t e r 
the example period, we permit new and old 
members to ask general questions about 
Recovery methods. 

N O SUBSTITUTE F O R D O C T O R 

M A R T I N : Isn't there a danger that you 
will be accused of stepping on the pro-
fessional grounds of psychiatry in your 
Recovery work? 

F A T H E R : N O ; if people are honest, they 
don't make any such accusations because we 
really don't invade the professional area. 
We insist at all times that the patients 
foUov) the directions of their own doctors. 

— 11 — 



M A R T I N : This seems like the right time 
to bring up another question I have. What 
do other doctors of psychiatry think of 
Dr. Low's book and his methods? Do they 
approve? 

F A T H E R : That's a good question, and the 
answer is definitely yes. Wherever Recovery 
is really known f o r the common sense sys-
tem that it is, psychiatrists have approved 
it, accepted it, and sent their patients to 
Recovery meetings. They are especially 
eloquent about the work t h a t Recovery does 
among the families of nervous people. In 
this type of social readjustment, Cleo D. 
of Louisville, Kentucky, has done very good 
work with family get-togethers, picnics, 
buifet suppers, square dances, and similar 
activities. As a result, psychiatrists in 
Louisville and in the larger cities all over 
the country where Recovery is established 
are sending their patients to Recovery 
meetings to get the help which they need 
between visits to their doctors. One of our 
leading St. Louis psychiatrists has already 
sent 15 patients to one of our groups. 

M A R T I N : Father, this reprint you have 
here on Recovery from the Saturday 
Evening Post of December 6, 1952 — how 
do you explain the title "They 'Doctor' One 
Another"? 

F A T H E R : As is t r u e of many an eye-
catching title, there seems to be a certain 
number of people who t r y hard to misunder-
stand the meaning. As you might guess 
from what I've already told you, we really 
do not "doctor" one another in the sense 
of invading the professional field. Our 
group therapy deals entirely with trivial 
matters and concrete examples, and we 
never attempt to answer general pro-

— 12 — 



fessional questions. I'm sure you would 
never accuse a housewife of entering the 
professional field of cooking because she 
exchanges a few recipes with her neighbors. 
Nor would you accuse your wife of doctor-
ing you when she gives you a couple of 
aspirins f o r your headache. It's the same 
in our Recovery family groups. We merely 
retell specific trivial incidents of what we 
have experienced and how we handled the 
m a t t e r . There's always something in it 
t h a t is similar to w h a t the others have 
been experiencing, and we all derive some 
benefit f r o m the example. We don't discuss 
m a j o r problems or decisions. We leave 
those things to the professionals. 

I M P O R T A N C E O F T H E " T R I V I A L " 
M A R T I N : I may be "dumb" on this group 

therapy business, but I'm wondering what 
good it does to discuss trivial examples. 

F A T H E R : T h a t ' s a very good question. 
However, it wouldn't take you long in this 
field of nerves to realize t h a t it is these 
trivial m a t t e r s t h a t cause a lot of the 
trouble. Once the patient gets control of 
the easy trivial symptoms, he is f a r on 
the way to handling his problems. The 
constant practice every day in trivial 
m a t t e r s sets the p a t t e r n t h a t enables the 
nervous person to handle the bigger situa-
tions with good control. 

M A R T I N : I ' d never given a lot of thought 
to t h a t , but it sounds like good sense. In 
fact, F a t h e r , you've got me interested 
enough in this whole program t h a t I think 
I'll drop by a bookstore on my way home, 
and pick up Dr. Low's book. 

F A T H E R : You'll find it's a n excellent 
manual of both principles and techniques 

— 15 — 



f o r handling nervous problems. Dr. Low 
compiled this manual a f t e r about 30 years 
of medical and psychiatric practice and 
some 15 years of experience with the 
Recovery system. And these methods are 
confirmed by hundreds of actual examples 
and cases taken from interviews and panel 
discussions. My guess is t h a t from 50 to 
75 thousand people already have read the 
book. And libraries find t h a t there is a 
constant demand f o r the book. 

M A R T I N : I'll bet you're pleased t h a t the 
book is being so widely read. As an old 
philosopher of the Aristotelian school, you 
must be heartened to know t h a t a t least one 
modern psychiatrist teaches t h a t we have a 
free will. 

F A T H E R : You know me pretty well, 
Martin. I'll admit t h a t I thoroughly agree 
with the basic element in the Recovery 
program: t h a t the type of person we are 
dealing with can control his thoughts and 
impulses and can check his obsessions. 
Another point t h a t Dr. Low insists upon is 
that there are difficult cases but no hopeless 
cases. The whole program rests on the 
tried and proved assumption t h a t nervous 
patients and former mental cases can be 
taught self-discipline and, with the aid of 
the group, can help themselves. 

P R I N C I P L E S O F R E C O V E R Y T H I N K I N G 
M A R T I N : Well, what are some of the 

basic thinking habits or attitudes t h a t 
Recovery teaches? 

F A T H E R : I would have to retell the 
whole book to give an accurate and complete 
description of each of the ways of looking 
a t nervous symptoms t h a t Recovery teaches. 
But here are a few that we can take from 

— 14 — 



the book in the form of slogans: "nervous 
symptoms are distressing but not danger-
ous"; "feelings are not f a c t s " ; "tenseness 
intensifies and prolongs nervous symptoms"; 
"there is no right or wrong in domestic 
affairs — f o r our health's sake — if no law 
has been violated"; "good health is a serious 
business — we must not gamble it away"; 
"Recovery is severe self-discipline — it is 
simple but not easy"; "Recovery does not 
take the place of the doctor." 

M A R T I N : That will hold me f o r the 
present. I'm going to read the book and 
learn more about these good habits of 
thinking. Now I am curious to know some 
of the habits of will t h a t Recovery teaches. 

W I L L H A B I T S 

F A T H E R : From the very first, Recovery 
teaches the patient always to follow the 
doctor's authority. Isn't it strange how 
docile we are in physical illness? If a person 
breaks a leg, he submits himself completely 
to the doctor's orders; but in nervous ill-
nesses people are very prone to diagnose 
their ailments themselves and t r y to pre-
scribe their own remedies. Recovery teaches 
them to act ttlways on their doctor's 
authority. Some of the other will habits 
t h a t Recovery teaches are these: do the 
thing that you f e a r or hate to do; endorse 
yourself even f o r small gains; keep 
thoughts of security and reject thoughts of 
insecurity; have the courage to make mis-
takes; avoid self-diagnosis; reject angry 
temper'and f e a r f u l temper; practice "aver-
ageness" and avoid the undesirable kind 
of "exceptionality." 

— 15 — 



T H E R E C O V E R Y L A N G U A G E 

M A R T I N : Y O U a r e using words t h a t I'm 
not sure I understand — such as " f e a r f u l 
temper." 

F A T H E R : Yes, Recovery h a s its own 
language, simple and quieting f o r the 
nervous person. But I'm counting on your 
reading the book to get the f u l l meaning 
of those words. However, if you have time 
this morning, I will give you my "A-B-C's 
of Recovery" and the "Seventeen Points." 
They both give short definitions of some of 
these Recovery terms. 

M A R T I N : T h a t ' s all r i g h t with me. I 
was going to say a while ago t h a t it seems 
to me some of the precepts of Christianity 
a r e contained in the Recovery slogans. 

F A T H E R : You said a mouthful t h a t time, 
Martin. T h a t ' s a point t h a t religious-
minded people should t a k e notice of. Re-
covery is good self-discipline. And t h a t 
also helps explain my interest in Recovery, 
not j u s t f r o m a personal standpoint, but 
also as a priest, counselor, and teacher. 
The t r a i n i n g in self-control t h a t Recovery 
gives is good f o r everybody. I actually 
find t h a t I am teaching Recovery methods 
all day long — in the confessional, in coun-
seling students, and in my classes. 

R E C O V E R Y T E C H N I Q U E S 
M A R T I N : Several times, F a t h e r , you have 

mentioned Recovery techniques. W h a t a r e 
some of them? 

F A T H E R : Well, again it is difficult to 
give any thorough treatment of the tech-
niques without recopying Dr. Low's entire 
book. However, here a r e a f e w to give you 
a sampling: Quit using the "symptomatic 
idiom" and the "temperamental lingo"; use 

— 16 — 



instead the Recovery language. Grow in the 
will to effort, and practice the will to bear 
discomfort. In doubt, in fear, or in j u s t 
sheer laziness, command your muscles to do 
what you know you should do, or just com-
mand them to stop. In a panic, call a fellow 
Recovery-ite, but limit your telephone talk 
to five minutes. And then we stress the 
"spotting" technique: recognize your tense-
ness,, find and reject the cause. We also 
seek "objectivity": see things as they really 
a r e ; relabel your troublesome thoughts and 
call them by their right names; reject 
thoughts of danger and insecurity by can-
celing out the unreal danger; use the 
Recovery slogans to encourage yourself in 
time of distress. 

S O M E N E R V O U S S Y M P T O M S 
M A R T I N : You mentioned nervous symp-

toms a number of times. What are some of 
these distressing sensations that nervous 
people make so much of? 

F A T H E R : Well, they get new kinds every 
day, every hour. But I'm sure you have 
heard of these more common ones: heart 
palpitations, common headaches, "migraine" 
headaches, nausea, fatigue, numbness, dizzi-
ness, general depression, "retirement" de-
pression, head pressure, chest pressure, air 
hunger, difficulty in concentration, dimness 
of vision, hypertension, anxieties, worries, 
menopausal nervousness, post-partum tense-
ness, weak spells, crying spells, delusions, 
sweats, rushing around, tremors, shakes, 
scrupulosity, and the feeling of unreality. 
Besides all these, there are many, many 
more. 

M A R T I N : H O W does the nervous person 
know when these symptoms are "merely 
nervous"? 



F A T H E R : He learns t h a t first from the 
doctor's diagnosis; and then when the con-
ditions repeat themselves, he recognizes the 
symptoms from his own experience. 

M A R T I N : Do many of the Recovery 
members really experience these nervous 
symptoms? 

F A T H E R : Why of course they do. When 
they first come to Recovery, they feel sure 
t h a t their particular problems are unique; 
but it doesn't take long f o r them to realize 
that somebody sitting a t the Recovery table 
with them is experiencing the same symp-
toms or worse, and so they learn to practice 
Dr. Low's fundamental proposition t h a t 
nervous symptoms are distressing but not 
dangerous. 

S E T T I N G STARTED 

M A R T I N : Your family and group therapy 
sounds fine, but how in the world do you 
get the nervous people to come to a meeting 
and then continue to come? 

F A T H E R : You can sure think up the 
toughest questions. It is sometimes very 
difficult to motivate really nervous people; 
but if they are sufficiently dissatisfied or 
disgusted with their sad condition, they can 
be persuaded to make an eifort. With this 
comes the will to get well. The next step 
is to t r y to convince them to get the full 
benefit of Recovery by attending a meeting. 
Once they attend a meeting, they are usually 
so convinced of the worth of Recovery by 
the examples and the people they see 
getting well that they are willing to t r y 
another meeting. 

M A R T I N : What do you think keeps them 
working at Recovery once they've started? 

— 18 — 



F A T H E R : My own opinion is w h a t I call 
the "secret of secrets" of will training. 
F o r many years now I have t a u g h t my 
college students without contradiction t h a t 
this secret is the acquired ability of finding 
a present satisfaction in all their daily 
tasks and duties. Recovery helps the 
nervous patient to find a g r e a t e r satis-
faction in controlling his nervous symptoms 
t h a n in giving in to them. And every act 
of self-control strengthens his weakened 
self-confidence. 

M A R T I N : Y O U don't mean a physical 
satisfaction? 

F A T H E R : No, of course not, but it could 
be. I mean r a t h e r t h a t we get a happy 
feeling f r o m the fulfillment of some need 
or desire. "Endorse yourself even f o r small 
gains" is the way Recovery expresses the 
idea. We get a n emotional and intellectual 
satisfaction in doing something which we 
know is restoring our health — even though 
the effort is sometimes nervously and 
physically very painful. 

M A R T I N : Satisfaction sounds awfully 
selfish, doesn't it? 

F A T H E R : Maybe it does, Martin, but let's 
not f o r g e t t h a t God made our wills t h a t 
w a y : t h a t we choose what is represented 
as good f o r us. If God in His wisdom has 
given us one type of lawful pleasure to help 
us to observe two basic laws, self-preserva-
tion and the preservation of the race, why 
shouldn't we teach people to find some 
satisfaction in working f o r the health and 
peace of mind? 

H O S P I T A L S A N D RELATIVES 
M A R T I N : That sounds all right to me. 

And now t h a t we've covered the individual 
— 19 — 



problems, what are some of the other areas 
in which Recovery can help? 

F A T H E R : That is a very large order, but 
I might mention two m a j o r areas. First, 
the hospitals and psychiatric clinics, with 
the help of Recovery, could prepare the 
patient f o r his return to family and work. 
Recovery training teaches them how to meet 
new pressures and to a d j u s t themselves. 
A very large percentage of the relapses of 
nervous and mental cases could be pre-
vented if the patients were strengthened by 
Recovery training before they returned to 
their homes and work. 

M A R T I N : That's fine, but what about the 
people the patient has to deal with when 
he leaves the hospital — can Recovery help 
the families to do right by their sick 
relatives? 

F A T H E R : That's j u s t the point I was 
going to bring up next. It's the second 
m a j o r area I spoke of a moment ago. Most 
families do not know how to t r e a t their 
nervous or mentally ill relatives. They are 
either over-indulgent with them or much 
too harsh and severe. Recovery invites the 
families of nervous persons to come to the 
meetings and learn from other family 
people what to do with nervous problems, 
how to behave toward their sick people, 
and how to avoid being the cause of 
relapses. 

PREVENTIVE " M E D I C I N E " 

M A R T I N : That certainly makes sense. 
But, Father, can Recovery techniques be 
used as a preventive measure f o r people 
who have annoying nervous symptoms, or 
f o r those so-called "borderline" cases? 

— 20 — 



F A T H E R : Not only can they be used, but 
they have been and a r e used by Recovery 
members everywhere who follow the pro-
g r a m and attend meetings regularly but 
have never received hospital treatment f o r 
their nervous problems. 

M A R T I N : A f t e r three years of following 
the Recovery program and acting as a 
counselor to the Greater St. Louis groups, 
can you say t h a t you have seen any 
improvement or cures t h a t have come about 
through the Recovery system? 

F A T H E R : There is no doubt about the 
improvement. And if you mean by a cure 
t h a t the patient is able to resume his 
normal work schedule and social activities, 
then I can t r u t h f u l l y say t h a t I have seen 
many such cures. These people are not 
completely f r e e f r o m nervous symptoms — 
nor, might I add, a r e even the so-called 
"normal" people — but a f t e r Recovery 
training, these "cured" nervous people a r e 
able to handle their nervous symptoms and 
no longer feel the constant need of medica-
tion or of the shock treatment which they 
had been taking a t r e g u l a r intervals. 

S O M E A I D S F O R M E M B E R S 

M A R T I N : I see f r o m the folders t h a t you 
have brought out during our discussion 
t h a t you have quite a bit of mimeographed 
material on Recovery. W h a t a r e those 
sheets? 

F A T H E R : These a r e some of the aids t h a t 
I thought might prove helpful to the newer 
members. Here, f o r instance, is an alpha-
betical scheme which I first started when I 
was visiting Recovery groups in Louisville. 
F o r each letter of t h e alphabet, I've picked 

— 2 1 — 



a word t h a t begins with the letter and 
expresses some f u n d a m e n t a l idea about 
Recovery. Bill D. thought we should call 
it the "A-B-C's of Recovery." 

M A R T I N : T h a t ' s fine as a memory device 
f o r those who know the Recovery program, 
and I think I'll p r i n t it somewhere in the 
pamphlet [see p. 26], But suppose I am 
a new member. Do you have a simple 
summary of Recovery principles to s t a r t 
me off? 

F A T H E R : Yes, I have made up what I 
call "Seventeen Points of Recovery." Here's 
a copy t h a t you can keep. I'd like to call 
your attention to the 16th point, about 
attending Recovery meetings. A t each 
gathering we have our trivial examples of 
tenseness-causing situations; we describe 
the resulting symptoms; then we tell how 
we spotted and handled the symptoms; and 
finally we give a quick picture of what we 
would have done before our Recovery 
training. I learn t h a t I am not the sickest 
person in the world and t h a t my symptoms 
a r e not unique — in f a c t , nearly everybody 
in the meeting h a s symptoms similar to 
mine and perhaps worse t h a n mine; I also 
learn t h a t what others can do, I can do j u s t 
as well, if I t r y ; and hearing so many 
different types of examples, I am sure to 
find some which fit my own problems and 
so I learn the everyday practice of Recovery 
f r o m successful Recovery practitioners. 

M A R T I N : J u s t glancing a t the "Seventeen 
Points" [printed on page 28], I can see 
t h a t they're all very practical. But while 
you were speaking, F a t h e r , I recalled t h a t 
you said t h a t Bill D. called your alpha-
betical scheme the A-B-C's. Why did you 

— 22 — 



say, "Bill D."? Is t h e r e anonymity in 
Recovery? 

F A T H E R : Yes, we t r y to keep the same 
type of anonymity t h a t Alcoholics Anony-
mous does. However, we find t h a t the 
members soon lose their excessive f e a r of 
the stigma of being thought of as a nervous 
person or a recovered mental patient. But 
even a f t e r they lose t h a t f e a r of the stigma, 
we never reveal names or examples to 
people outside the group. This way new 
members never f e a r to come to us. 

R E C O V E R Y N O T " F A I T H H E A L I N G " 

M A R T I N : As I page through your 
Recovery book here, I notice t h a t religion 
seems to be l e f t out. 

F A T H E R : That was done deliberately. 
Recovery is not "faith-healing"; Recovery 
is a practical system t h a t many medical 
men accept as having a sound scientific 
basis. However, it is very plain t h a t there 
is nothing in Recovery t h a t conflicts with 
religion or prevents a person f r o m using 
religious motivation. In counseling indi-
viduals I supplement the Recovery program 
with whatever religious motivation I find 
helpful or morally necessary. 

M A R T I N : That brings back another ques-
tion I've been wanting to ask you. Do you 
find anything in Recovery t h a t conflicts 
with the essentials of Thomistic psychology? 

F A T H E R : T h a t ' s a good question, but 
you must remember t h a t since Dr. Low is 
talking to the man in the street, he avoids 
as much as possible all technical terms in 
his treatment of m a t t e r s t h a t touch on 
philosophy, psychology, or psychiatry. In 
talking to non-professional people he f r e -
quently substitutes the word " b r a i n " f o r 

— 2* — 



mind or intellect, but it seems a p p a r e n t he 
means the same faculty t h a t Thomists do. 
And the f a c t t h a t he bases his whole 
program on his acceptance of f r e e will 
makes him all right with me. 

S T A R T I N G N E W G R O U P S 

M A K T I N : I am curious to know, too, how 
you go about s t a r t i n g a new group. 

F A T H E R : That's not har d to answer. In 
a city where we a r e already established, 
additional groups s t a r t as offshoots of the 
p a r e n t group with trained members of the 
old group providing the leadership. When 
we s t a r t in a new city, we follow a pro-
cedure something like this: (1) We r e n t 
a post office box in the name of Recovery 
plus the name of the new town. (2) Then 
we ask the local papers to run news stories 
and possibly some f e a t u r e material about 
Recovery, telling where to write f o r f u r t h e r 
information. (3) When we receive sufficient 
response, we ask the papers to run an 
announcement of the time and place of our 
first meeting and we send special letters to 
those who inquired and invite them to be 
present. (4) We s t a r t the first meeting of 
the new group with a panel of well-trained 
Recovery members f r o m established groups. 
At the first meetings we suggest plans f o r 
t r a i n i n g leaders f r o m among the new 
members, and we follow through with visits 
to the new group until it is functioning 
as it should. Leaders a r e trained either 
a t the Chicago headquarters or a t an 
approved leader-training group. Usually 
we like to get a person who needs the help 
of the program to act as leader, but some-
times teachers, doctors, or clergymen have 
been leaders who started new groups. 

— 2 4 — 



M A R T I N : What groups have been started 
recently along those lines? 

F A T H E R : Following t h a t general plan, 
we started new groups in St. Louis, E a s t 
St. Louis, Carbondale, and Little Rock. By 
"we" I mean p a r e n t groups in St. Louis 
and then later in E a s t St. Louis. The 
Louisville branch and the Michigan branch 
have started new groups in a similar 
manner. 

M A R T I N : You spoke before about the help 
t h a t hospitals could be giving by s t a r t i n g 
Recovery groups f o r their patients. Are 
t h e r e any Recovery groups established In 
hospitals? 

F A T H E R : Yes, there is a group in Our 
Lady of Peace Hospital in Louisville, 
Kentucky, another group in Good Samari-
t a n Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio; and a t 
the present writing I know there are several 
new Recovery groups getting ready to be 
set up in hospitals in other p a r t s of the 
country where Recovery is known. 

H O W T O C O N T A C T R E C O V E R Y 
M A R T I N : W h a t is the easiest way f o r an 

interested person to buy the books and 
records and to make contact with a 
Recovery group? 

F A T H E R : In the larger cities like St. 
Louis, Chicago, Detroit, and Louisville — 
and perhaps a few more — Recovery, Inc., 
is listed in the telephone books, and a 
secretary or Recovery-ite is on duty a t least 
during working hours to answer inquiries. 
If a person is not near any of these large 
cities, the quickest way to get the books 
and records or to find out where the nearest 
Recovery group is located is to write to 
Recovery, Inc., 116 South Michigan Ave., 
Chicago 3, Illinois. 

— 25 — 



M A R T I N : Father, that covers about 
everything t h a t I wanted to ask you this 
time. I certainly appreciate your help. I 
think I now have a pretty good overall 
picture of what Recovery is. 

F A T H E R : I'm happy t h a t you're so inter-
ested. And now in good Recovery style, 
how about a cup of coffee with me? 

M A R T I N : I'd like that very much. But 
let's get one thing straight, Father. If I 
ask f o r a second cup, you can't make me 
write another pamphlet. 

* * * * * 

THE A-B-C's OF RECOVERY 
A is f o r the A U T H O R I T Y of the doctor which 

always comes first. (A is also f o r 
A V E R A G E N E S S , by which we rid ourselves 
of the undesirable "exceptionality.") 

B is f o r the B E L I E F S — the accepted facts 
which are the power and strength of 
Recovery: f r e e will, etc. 

C is to C O N V E R S E and think in the 
Recovery language. 

D is to Do the things you f e a r or hate 
to do. 

E is to E N D O R S E yourself even f o r small 
gains in the practice of Recovery. 

F is f o r the " F E E L I N G S which are not 
facts." 

S is to G R O W in the will to effort. 
H is to H O L D on to the will to bear dis-

comfort. 
I is f o r the big I who can control my 

thoughts and impulses and check my 
obsessions. 

— 26 — 



J is f o r J U S T N E R V O U S S Y M P T O M S , which 
a r e distressing but not dangerous. 

K is to K E E P thoughts of security, but 
K I L L thoughts of danger and insecurity. 

L is to L I M I T your phone calls to five 
minutes. 

M is to M O V E your muscles; and M E E T 
your friends a t the Recovery M E E T I N G S . 

N is f o r N E R V O U S f a t i g u e which is j u s t a 
myth. 

O is f o r the O B J E C T I V I T Y which stops 
panics by seeing things as they really 
are. 

P is to P R A C T I C E , practice, practice Re-
covery every day all day. 

9 is to Q U I T being a "knocker"; r a t h e r 
have the courage to make mistakes and 
the humility and honesty to admit them. 

R is f o r the R E A L I S M t h a t Recovery stands 
f o r . (R is also to R E J E C T the thoughts 
t h a t cause tenseness.) 

S is to S P O T your nervous symptoms and 
reject the thoughts t h a t cause them. 

T is to T H R O W out the T E M P E R S — a n g r y 
and f e a r f u l — t h a t cause so much 
tenseness. 

U is f o r U N D E R S T A N D I N G — the t r a i t t h a t 
gives us the power to help each other. 

V is f o r the V I C I O U S cycles of helplessness 
t h a t must become the V I T A L I Z I N G cycles 
of self-confidence. 

W is f o r your W I L L , which is f r e e and 
controls your thoughts and impulses. 

— 27 — 



X is f o r the ' X A M P L E S a t meetings which 
help you to spot and handle symptoms. 

Y is f o r You yourself who must work h a r d 
a t Recovery to get well and to stay well. 

Z is f o r the ZEAL that makes you work f o r 
yourself and others — f o r good health. 

* * * * * 

17 POINTS O F RECOVERY 
I NEED HELP 

% To profit by Recovery, it is good f o r 
me honestly and sincerely to admit that 
my nerves and my nervous symptoms 
have become so much of a problem to 
me t h a t I really need some help and 
am willing to take the necessary steps 
to get t h a t help. 

M Y HEALTH FIRST 

2. To help to bring myself around to 
doing the hard work of Recovery, it is 
good f o r me right now to make my 
health the most important thing in my 
life (assuming t h a t I know and believe 
t h a t life is worth living — in prepara-
tion f o r a happy eternity with my 
heavenly F a t h e r ) . My health is very 
precious; I must be careful not to 
gamble it away. 

I C A N — I H A V E FREE W I L L 

3. I t is good f o r me to act on the convic-
tion t h a t , if I really want to, I can 
control my thoughts and impulses, 
check my obsessions, and endure my 
painful sensations. I have a F R E E 
WILL. 

— 88 — 



FOLLOW THE DOCTOR'S AUTHORITY 
4. I t is good f o r me to accept the doctor's 

diagnosis and follow his authority on 
what symptoms are nervous symptoms 
and t h a t they a r e "distressing but not 
dangerous." (Recovery does not take 
the place of my doctor; it helps me to 
c a r r y out my doctor's directions.) 

TENSENESS INCREASES SYMPTOMS 
5. I t is good f o r me to remember a t all 

times t h a t tenseness increases the 
intensity of my nervous symptoms and 
prolongs the sensations. Therefore, 
stop and spot and reject what's causing 
the tenseness. 

AVOID AND REJECT 
TENSENESS-CAUSING THOUGHTS 

6. Therefore, it is good f o r me to avoid 
— through the use of Recovery methods 
— the thoughts and attitudes of mind 
which cause tenseness. (From the book, 
I learn t h a t some of the more common 
tenseness-causing thoughts a r e " a n g r y 
temper" [the other person is wrong], 
" f e a r f u l temper" [ I am wrong], self-
diagnosis [ I am worse t h a n the doctor 
says I a m ] , anticipating danger where 
there is none, failing to practice 
"averageness," expecting myself or the 
other person to be exceptional.) 

REJECT OR RE-LABEL 
7. I t is good f o r me to reject these 

tenseness-causing thoughts by rejecting 
them outright, or by rejecting the 
danger label, or by changing the danger 

— 29 — 



label to "distressing but not danger-
ous," to "average," to "this is excep-
tionality," or to any other label which 
is a t r u e and unexaggerated description 
of the symptom. (I know from Dr. 
Low's talks t h a t nervous persons 
invariably attach danger to their 
symptoms.) 

S P O T 'MY T E N S E N E S S A N D T H E C A U S E 
8. A f t e r some Recovery practice, I learn 

to be alert a t all times to "spot" my 
nervous symptoms, to "spot" them as 
merely nervous — and therefore not 
dangerous, and also to "spot" the 
tenseness-causing thoughts and to reject 
them with the Recovery techniques f o r 
rejecting. 

I M U S T E N D O R S E M Y S E L F F O R E A C H V I C T O R Y 
9. A f t e r each victory over my symptoms 

and h a r m f u l thoughts, I will t r y always 
to endorse myself f o r a job well done. 
I'll t r y to "feel real good" over my 
practice of a program which will 
eventually restore my health and keep 
me in good health. I'll try, too, to be 
happy about small gains and honestly 
admit t h a t I am feeling better. 

W O R K O N T H E S Y M P T O M S — 
F O R G E T T H E P R O B I N G 

10. It is good f o r me to squelch my curi-
osity about the remote causes of my 
symptoms. I am making t r u e progress 
when I handle my symptoms and con-
tinue to do my daily duties in spite of 
discomfort. (An amateurish, useless 

— so — 



probing into the childhood emotional 
upsets t h a t might have started me off, 
frequently ends up with giving me 
much " f e a r f u l temper"; I feel full of 
guilt f o r having been such a silly, 
foolish youngster.) 

P R A C T I C E T H E W I L L T O BEAR D I S C O M F O R T 

11. I t is good f o r me to practice constantly 
the will to bear discomfort, the courage 
to make mistakes, and to get away from 
my old habits of giving in to the will 
to comfort. 

U S E T H E R E C O V E R Y L A N G U A G E 

12. I t is good f o r me to give up my use of 
the "symptomatic idiom" and the "tem-
peramental lingo" and to move my 
muscles to use only the conservative 
and t r u t h f u l vocabulary of the Re-
covery language. (The strong and 
tenseness-causing language of danger, 
angry temper, and pent-up feelings 
tends to make my symptoms worse.) 

E N C O U R A G E T H O U G H T S O F S E C U R I T Y 

13. Throughout my practice of Recovery, 
it will be good f o r me to encourage 
thoughts of security instead of inse-
curity, group-mindedness in place of 
self-centeredness, the total viewpoint 
f o r the partial viewpoint, long-range 
goals f o r short-range goals, optimism 
f o r pessimism. 

I M U S T M O V E M Y M U S C L E S 

14. Whenever I seem to be a t a standstill 
in my thoughts and decisions, or j u s t 

— 81 — 



don't feel like doing anything, then I 
should remember t h a t I can still move 
my muscles to do what should be done. 
I should practice moving my muscles 
every day. 

S T O P T H E S A B O T A G E 

15. A f t e r some Recovery practice, I am 
learning to spot my failure to accept 
the doctor's authority, or my failure to 
practice Recovery. These failures I 
know to be "sabotage." It is human 
and average to "sabotage" now and 
then; but it is bad to fill myself with 
" f e a r f u l temper" because I have "sabo-
taged." I must j u s t smile a t myself 
f o r falling down like a baby; but then 
I must get up immediately and get 
going again. 

P H O N E I F Y O U M U S T — B U T 
M E E T I N G S C O M E F I R S T 

16. It is good f o r me to attend my Recovery 
meetings regularly and to use the tele-
phone to call a fellow Recovery-ite 
whenever I need some help in a panic. 

W O R K A N D P R A Y 

17. My last-but-not-least point is the motto 
of another great psychiatrist and doctor 
of souls, Ignatius of Loyola: "Work 
[on the Recovery program] as if 
everything depended upon you; but 
pray as if everything depended upon 
God." 

— 82 — 





T H E Q U E E N ' S W O R K 
3115 South G r a n d Boulevard 

S t . Louis 18, Mo. 

P r i n t e d in U . S. A. 
q^lLjfrj^Jl