THE JOURNEY

Musical Recovery Program

The healing power of music...

The Journey is a rock musical written by Jim Savage that presents an inspiring message about overcoming challenges and achieving fulfillment in life. Initially created to tell a story about addiction and recovery, Jim used The Journey in his work with teens in substance abuse treatment. As work with The Journey evolved, it has become a substantial body of work that goes beyond addiction, as it shows that life is a spiritual journey that involves a similar process for everyone.

Popular among clients of all age ranges and populations, Jim has been using The Journey with substance abuse clients for over 25 years. Powerful songs that everyone can relate to, coupled with Jim's talent as a singer and guitarist, always provides an experience that is as emotional and educational as it is entertaining when Jim performs for treatment groups.

THE JOURNEY WORKBOOK

As a treatment curriculum, The Journey provides a wealth of material for clients to study through the companion workbook. Clients listen to the songs, complete discussion sections in The Journey Workbook, and process in group.

Each song from The Journey relates to a specific aspect of the addiction-recovery process, including:

A closer look at The Journey GO NOW >>

JOURNEY WORKSHOPS AND PERFORMANCES

Jim Savage conducts presentations on The Journey in a variety of formats, ranging from keynote presentations to intensive therapeutic workshops.

Keynote Presentation: The Sacred Ritual of Sharing Our Story

The Journey is Jim's own way of sharing his recovery story through music. As a collection of songs he wrote beginning in high school, he uses these to illustrate his own struggles with addiction and finding a new life in recovery.

Jim approaches the act of sharing one's story as a sacred ritual, identifying the vital role this plays in 12-Step recovery. A solution for overcoming addiction was found through the act of one person sharing his or her story with another, making this literally a matter of life and death.

The second point Jim uses The Journey to address is ending the stigma of addiction. The magic of The Journey is in how it demonstrates that from a spiritual perspective we all have the same story—everyone in the audience can relate—regardless of whether they suffer from addiction or not. This provides a powerful message for dispelling the notion of there being something inherently "wrong" with someone who suffers from addiction.

The Journey: A Musical Journey Through the Spiritual Experience of Recovery

This seminar provides an in-depth examination of all the topics addressed through the music and imagery of The Journey. Using metaphorical models such as the Hero's Journey and the Medicine Wheel, the spiritual journey of life is shown to be a cyclical process that involves growth and change, or death and rebirth. Discussion of how the songs relate to addiction and recovery brings The Journey to life, and helps listeners identify where they are in their own journey.  

SPOTLIGHT ON THE JOURNEY

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THE HEALING POWER OF MUSIC

When clients listen to songs from The Journey, they make an emotional connection and relate the lyrics to their own experience. The Journey becomes their own story. This is right-brained activity at its best. Combining this with didactic, academic discussions on the various educational topics these songs address shifts the activity over into left-brained work. This integrated strategy achieves a "whole-brain" approach and is what makes The Journey so effective in helping clients internalize the material and become more motivated to apply it in lives. GO NOW >>

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