Recovery for Life

In August’s “We Conspire” series, discover how Paul Engler’s journey through meditation, grief, and recovery led to the creation of 12 Steps for Everyone. This program offers a path toward inner freedom by integrating contemplative practice, shadow work, and community-based healing. 

After completing a 10-day Vipassana retreat, during which he meditated for 12 hours a day, Paul Engler found himself transformed. In deep stillness, the pain from his childhood arose to the surface: his father’s death when he was nine years old; the financial hardships this caused; being bullied; the need for control that flowed from this trauma, which created cycles of codependency.   

Engler’s experience with Buddhism made way for a deeper experience with Christianity, and when he encountered the work of Thomas Keating, he felt like he had discovered his “mother tongue.” Keating provided Engler with a vocabulary for the “dark night” he had experienced on his intensive retreat, and Keating’s deep respect for the “12 Steps of Recovery” opened Engler’s heart to the notion of attending CODA (Co-Dependents Anonymous), which would become an anchor in his life. Engler learned that another spiritual guide of his, Richard Rohr, also admired the 12 Steps (see “Breathing Underwater”), confirming his spiritual direction.   

“Through Co-Dependents Anonymous, I realized my codependent patterns, rooted in childhood loss, were driving my need for control in community organizing,” Engler says. “Learning to detach with love transformed my anxiety and identity crisis, allowing me to approach my vocation with renewed purpose and healthier boundaries.”  

The journey had not been easy, but it had led to inner freedom.   

Engler, who grew up in a progressive Catholic family surrounded by activists committed to social justice and community, founded the Center for the Working Poor in 2006, an “inter-faith intentional community inspired by the Catholic Worker movement and New Monasticism, which is committed to strategic non-violent social change.” Today Engler is developing “12 Steps for Everyone,” a program that aims to make the 12 Steps of Recovery accessible to anyone seeking personal growth by focusing on confronting the “false self”—patterns of behavior rooted in ego, control, or unprocessed pain.   

“Everyone has a shadow,” Engler says. “The question is whether you’re ready to work a program to address it.”  

One aspect that makes 12 Steps for Everyone so accessible is its reclamation of the connection between the 12 Steps of Recovery and the Christian mystical tradition. The 12 Steps, popularized by the success of Alcoholics Anonymous, was heavily influenced by the Oxford Group, a Christian renewal movement at the turn of the 20th century.  

“They embraced a pragmatic spirituality, what Richard Rohr calls ‘orthopraxy,’ focusing on practical application rather than ideological dogma to help addicts find recovery,” Engler says. “Our program seeks to help people confront their emotional false self and the dominant culture’s role in fostering isolation and consumerism. By addressing these broader societal issues, we aim to create a recovery process that transcends specific addictions and builds true community.”   

The program operates through in-person, three-day initiation trainings designed to help participants confront their “shadow” and commit to recovery. These trainings, which Engler hopes to scale through volunteers, aim to build small groups in local communities, potentially partnering with progressive churches. A “big book” is being developed to guide participants through the steps, focusing on emotional sobriety and building a life based on spiritual principles.   

Engler emphasizes that recovery is not just about overcoming addiction but about transitioning to the “true self” rooted in connection to the divine and universal values like compassion and community.  

To join or learn more, contact Paul Engler or Sally Taylor through the Center for the Working Poor. Engler hopes to build a network of communities where people can work the 12 steps to cultivate spiritual growth and resilience.   

“It’s about giving people a vision of recovery for life,” Engler says.   

Reflect with Us  
Where might the shadow of ego or unprocessed pain be asking for gentle, transformative attention in your life? Share your reflection with us.      
    

“We Conspire” is a series from the Center for Action and Contemplation featuring wisdom and stories from the growing Christian contemplative movement. Sign up for the monthly email series and receive a free invitation to practice each month.