ABSTRACT
Spirituality is crucial, the sine qua non, to substance abuse counseling, because the objective of the entire enterprise is for the client to come to believe in one spirit more than another. Tillich's “ultimate concern,” a paradigm from William James, the experience of Bill Wilson, an explanation of Vernon Johnson's and Silkworth's “deflation in depth” elaborate this. The patient transfers his “ultimate concern” from trust in the substance to faith in the recovering community and its Higher Power. Reality-facing the truth-is not enough! Recovery wants the full grasp of a brand new spirituality.