The miracle question is used in social work and psychological settings to address a client’s true wishes. Many individuals are unaware of what their wants are. This question is utilized to help people in recovery figure out what they want and what is best for them. Once you understand your true desires, you can create a plan focused on your terms.
What Is the Miracle Question?
The miracle question is: In an ideal situation, what would things in your life look like?
This question can be broken into smaller, more specific questions: In an ideal situation, where would you be? What would you know how to do? How would you spend your time? In which relationships would you invest your time? What would your relationships, job, living situation, family life, and other areas look like in a perfect world?
Make Your Imagination Work for You
As you approach the miracle question, don’t let self-doubt hold you back. Remember: the goal is to uncover your true desires. When you consider your ideal situations, imagine these things happening naturally and effortlessly.
Suspending judgment to answer this question can be difficult for many people. After all, the world is not cut out for perfect situations. Many individuals will immediately resort to stating that their desired situation can never happen because of this or that. They may name the factors that are stopping the situation from occurring.
The point of the miracle question is not necessarily to reach this perfect state. The goal is to develop an understanding of where you want to be in the future. Even if your ideal life cannot be entirely reached, understanding it can help you achieve at least aspects of it.
By understanding what your ideal situation is, you can set up goals with your treatment team. Making progress toward these goals can improve your life in ways that matter to you. While the situation may not occur as perfectly pictured, it can give you direction. This allows you to create goals that resonate with your desires, rather than following a standard curriculum of recovery processes. Answering the miracle question with imagination and honesty can help you to get a more individualized experience in your recovery journey.
Challenges to Answering the Miracle Question
One of the challenges that arise with the use of this question is potential dissociation. If you feel that you are unable to see yourself in your idealized state, you may become frustrated. You may even dissociate from the conversation.
Another challenge is feeling unable to answer the question. You may feel you are unable to pinpoint what you want. Outside influences from people who have told you what you should want may make it difficult for you to uncover your own answers.
Patience and Time Can Help
It is okay if you cannot answer this question immediately. After all, you can always change or refine your answers as time moves forward. The more you ponder this question and gain a clearer understanding of your answers, the more your motivation can improve.
Simplifying the Miracle Question
If you are struggling with the miracle question, consider breaking it down into simpler, more specific questions. To do this, take out a piece of paper and write down these questions. Then, write down your answers to the questions you feel you can answer now.
As you answer some more focused questions, you are putting together a clearer picture of what your desired state would look like. Taking these answers together can help you answer the miracle question.
The following questions can give you a good start.
#1. What Are Your Current Goals?
Consider the short-term goals you have currently set in place. Discuss what these goals will look like when achieved. For example, if one of your goals is to stop using substances to cope with stress, picture how you will deal with stress in an ideal way.
Discussing the current goals you have in place can help you get a clear understanding of what you are already working toward.
#2. What Kind of People Do You Want as a Part of Your Support System?
Analyze the responses to this question to help find what kind of relationships are important to you. Determining who you want to be in your life for support can help you understand which relationships to invest in.
This question can help you seek their ideal relationships for support now. Doing this can help you start building your dream support system.
#3. What Do You Want to Do for a Living?
Answer this question from the perspective that your SUD does not exist. Many people feel that they are not able to do their desired occupation because recovery or addiction may get in the way. Seeing what you would choose to do in an ideal world helps to build the overall picture of the miracle question.
Other Questions
There are many similar questions you may choose to ask yourself to get a clearer picture of your ideal life. These base questions can get your imagination working and open your mind to answering the miracle question.
After you have considered these questions, take each of your answers and put them together. This can reveal your ideal state of life, including each of these elements. Go over this picture with your treatment team. They can help you use your answers to create more goals that truly resonate with you. When you are working on a plan that will help you get what you want out of life, your motivation for recovery will naturally increase.
The miracle question is commonly used in therapeutic settings to help clients develop a deep understanding of what they desire in their future. This question requires clients to look at the ideal state of their life. The question is: if everything in your life were perfect and you could have a miracle life outcome, what would your life look like? This question sets aside the common reaction of explaining why something is not possible. Instead, it focuses on what an individual’s true desires are. As you break down this question, you may find new goals to implement in your recovery. To learn more about the miracle question, reach out to Dream Recovery at (657) 216-7218.
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