Process | Discover Thrive

Thrive: Process Pathways

Thrive has adopted a “yes and” philosophy when it comes to process. We believe that all of the Thrive process pathways are beneficial and that ALL WORK IF YOU WORK THEM. It is important to note that Thrive process pathways are not only effective toward achieving full restoration and recovery from life’s struggles, they are essential tools for all Christians to deepen their faith and grow in discipleship training.

A note about dogma, legalism, tribalism:

The Thrive process pathways are in no way presented as the only pathways toward recovery or sanctification. As Paul instructed in Ephesians 2:12, we are to “work out our own salvation.” What he meant was the each one of us has work to do to complete the process of sanctification and each one’s path will be different from all the rest. The belief that we can simply apply a 12 step program to all people, with all manner of past history, hurts, habits and hang ups is extremely short sighted. Further, the common belief that 12 step recovery is necessary to overcome many issues denies the statistical evidence of its effectiveness (between 7% and 12%). Thrive does not claim to be anything more than a pathway to Jesus (who is The Way).

The 12 Pillars (12 STEP Pathway)

One of Thrive’s process pathways, and the backbone of our program, are Thrive’s 12 Action Pillars. Modeled after the traditional 12 steps, the idea is that these pillars must be constructed as the foundation of the temple that Jesus says we are. These 12 pillars have been shown to be vital in the phsycological healing process from everthing from interpersonal relationship issues to extreme alcohol and drug addiction.

Any person interested in self evaluation and improvement in any area of life will benfit from applying these 12 pillars to their circumstances. . So the four foundational pillars are: 1. REALIZE I CAN’T, 2. BELIEVE GOD CAN, 3. LET GOD DO IT, and 4. PRAY / MEDITATE DAILY. The remaining action pillars are more fluid and do not necessarily have to be done in order or completed fully before another begins.Thrive re-orderes the 12 steps slightly, moving what is traditionally Step 11 to Step 4 believing that daily time with God is critical to all later steps of recovery. Thrive also implements Step 7 Forgive and places it prior to 10 Amends to conform to the instruction of Jesus on forgiveness. We forgive others prior to asking for those we have hurt to forgiveness us.

Foundation Pillars: Without these 4 corners pillars, your temple will not be established.

1. I CAN’T

We admit that we are powerless and that our lives are unmanageable Romans 7:18 I want to do what is right, but I can’t

2. GOD CAN

We believe that God can restore us to wholeness and sanityPhilippians 4:13 I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength

3. LET GOD

We made a decision to turn our will and lives over to the care of GodRomans 10:13 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved

4. PRAY / MEDITATE DAILY

Set aside a daily time of prayer and Bible study to reflect on WHO GOD IS AND WHO HE SAYS I

Strengthening Pillars: Without these 8 continuing pillars your temple will not be secure. These pillars are a process and may not be possible to complete one prior to beginning another.

5. TAKE A LOOK WITHIN

We make a searching an honest moral inventory of our lives and past behaviors.Lamentations 3:40 Let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the Lord.

6. ADMIT OUR WOUNDS AND CONFESSS OUR FAULTS

We admit to God, to ourselves and to another trusted person, the harm that has been done to us and the harm we have done to others. James 5:16 Confess to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. Confess those things that you need to take personal responsibility for. Admit those things that we have done and have been done to us that we were not responsible for even though they have seriously adversely affected our lives and others.

7. EXTEND FORGIVENESS

Jesus taught us to pray “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.” It is critical that we extend forgiveness to those who have wounded us before we move forward in recovery. It is not necessary to do this in person. In many cases, the offender may be long since gone or passed away. We extend forgiveness to all who have harmed us. This may mean even to forgive ourselves. 2 Corinthians 5:18 All of this is a gift from God who brought us back to Himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him.

8. ASK GOD FOR CHANGE

We REPENT and ask God to heal the wounds of our past and we allow Him to dictate our present and futurePsalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.

9. SEEK GODS HELP

We ask God to continue to sanctify us and for the grace to forgive those who have hurt us and pray for them. We also ask God to give us the grace and the courage to face the bad things we have done and, where possible, set things right.Philippians 2:13 For God is working in you giving you the desire and power to do what pleases Him.

10. MAKE AMENDS

We make amends (correct the behavior) and, when prudent, ask forgiveness from those we have injured as a result of our own wounds and short comings (hurt people hurt people).Romans 12:18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

11. ENDURE

We continue with all of these pillars admitting that we are saints (not sinners) who are powerless without Him. But If we will let Him be Lord of our lives and stay in His presence, He will continue to reveal to us where we go wrong so that we can admit it, repent and ask Him again to help us change. So that we can continue to forgive those we need to forgive, and be forgiven for the things that we have done. And we do it daily without taking up that offense again. Philippians 1:6 Amplified Bible (AMP)I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return].

12. GIVE IT AWAY

As a result of all of these steps, we commit our lives to sharing this message with others and practice these principles in all of our affairs.Romans 5:3-5 We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.Matthew 28:19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.Genesis 50:20 You intended to harm me but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Clinical Pathway (Total Transformation)

Our Thrive clinical experts, Dr. Pam Hernandez-Kaufman and Tahliah Peek have been teaching their 9 week class “Total Transformation” for several years. Dedicated to “Whole-Person Healing For Mind, Body, and Spirit,” this is a deep dive into some of the clinical causes of our life struggles, how the brain develops and changes over time, why we get stuck in our thinking and how to evaluate and change our our thinking and responses.

Session 1 Your View of God

Session 2 Rethinking Stinking Thinking

Session 3 God’s Way of Getting You Unstuck

Session 4 Created for Connection

Session 5 Healthy Relationships Part 1- Boundaries

Session 6 Healthy Relationships Part 2 – Assertiveness

Session 7 Accepting Who You Are in Christ

Session 8 God’s Design for Living Well

Sessoin 9 The Big 3 Wellness Habits: Gratitude, Mindfulness and Forgiveness

Tahliah Peek, Temp-LPC, NCC.

Tahliah obtained her MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Richmont Graduate University. Graduating Summa cum laude, completing a thesis titled: An Animal-Assisted Intervention for Counselor’s in Training, and distinguished as a multicultural and diversely inclusive professional. She is a National Certified Counselor, with her temporary licensure for Licensed Professional Counselor. Postgraduate work includes Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Trauma-Focused Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy Professional and Specialist distinction, and works currently with underprivileged populations in the community of Franklin, TN; Palmer, TN; and abroad. She is a doctoral candidate at Richmont Graduate University with pursuit of a doctoral degree in Spiritual Formation and Leadership. Her passions include the pursuit of following and making disciples of Jesus Christ, nature and creation, and healthy connections!

Dr. Pam Hernandez-Kaufman, PhD

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD), Ryokan College, Los Angeles, CA. 2017

Master of Science in Counseling (MS), California State University, Fullerton, CA. 2002

Master of Business Administration/International Management (MBA/MIM), Thunderbird School of Global Management, Glendale, AZ, 1981

Bachelor of Arts in Spanish (BA), University of California, Irvine, 1977

Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, State of Tennessee, License #868, State of California, License #43336, State of Massachusetts, License #1368, State of Florida, License #MT4404

Certifications/Affiliations: American Association of Marriage & Family Therapists (AAMFT) Approved Supervisor and Member (#128878), Certified Life Coach (Life Coach Institute), Certified Temperament Trainer (Sarasota Academy of Christian Counselors), Certified Mental, Wellness Coach (Global Wellness Institute), Ordained Minister (American Ministry Ministries), Co-founder Serenata Wellness

Identity Pathway through Freedom in Christ (Dr. Neil Anderson)
Dr. Neil Anderson has been teaching this methodology for decades and has seen countless individuals set free from all types of issues through this process. He recommends that participants attend or read “Freedom in Christ” course, read his books, “Freedom in Christ”, “Bondage breaker” or “Victory Over Darkness.” He also recommends that the steps be processed with a trained encourager like our Matt Massingale. However, if necesarry, this can also be done through a self guided study also available.

Matt Massingale has been using the Freedom in Christ material to help people walk free in Christ for 30 years. He is a past member of the FICM Board of Directors. Matt teaches and writes from his experiences meeting with people. He says that helping others walk in freedom has been the most transformative thing in his life. It is his passion.

Before you begin, read the paragraphs on Processing The Steps, Breaking Mental StrongHolds and Preparation, Prayer and Declaration and complete the Review Questions about your life.

Step 1. Counterfeit Versus Real
Step 2. Deception Versus Truth
Step 3 Bitterness Versus Forgiveness
Step 4 Rebellion Versus Submission
Step 5 Pride Versus Humility
Step 6 Bondage Versus Freedom
Step 7 Curses Versus Blessings

Repentance Pathway (Based on Psalms 32 Teaching by Pastor Myron Goodwin)

Thrive recognizes that all of our struggles in life are a result of sin. Sometimes it is sin we have committed and sometimes it is sin that has been committed to us by others. No sin is greater than any other. And all sin creates an area where the enemy maintains a foothold in our lives.

Thrive seeks to offer a biblical pathway toward finding spiritual freedom from those strongholds. Pastor Myron Goodwin and others have recognized the the Psalms 32 Pathway to Freedom.

First, we identify who God is and know His character. Then identify who He says we are (even if we don’t believe it, yet). Thrive helps us to identify those place where our enemy has us trapped by lies we believe about ourselves. Once we have come through the step of identity, we repent for believing those lies and confess those things we have done as a result of believing them. We then ask God to help us resist the devil (James 4:7) and we renounce the enemy’s lies. Finally, we renew our minds and replace those lies with God’s truth. Then rejoice in the life and freedom when we have truly learned how to Thrive.

Pastor Myron Goodwin has been teaching Psalm 32 for many years as a spiritual pathway to freedom. In Psalm 32, David writes about his experience following his greatest failures. He had not only acted cowardly, he had committed adultery with the wife of a friend and ordered his friend (Uriah) onto the front lines of battle where he was certain to be killed. David was overcome with grief, shame, regret for his actions. He feared God would abandon him over his wickedness and poor decisions. But God did not.

In Psalm 32, David outlines the pathway of his recovery from his past failures and, in doing so, shows us the way to recover from our wounds and failures and the strongholds those have on our lives. Pastor Goodwin identifies five steps exampled in Psalm 32.

Recognize and Reflect

Recognize and reflect on our identity in Christ… what God says is true about YOU
Recognize and reflect on the true character of God
Recognize that we are in a war zone wherein Satan wants to rob us of our inheritance with lies
Recognize the strongholds -anything in life that opposes God’s word and will in our lives
Recognize where the Holy Spirit is convicting us today.

Repent and Confess

Change what you believe. Move toward God. A change in believe that results in new action.
Sins of omission and sins of co-mission. Behind every sin is a lie that we believe.
Repentance (stop sinning). This keeps us from giving a stronghold to our enemy. Repentance is a spiritual transaction which removes the enemy’s legal right.
Confess the lies that we believe and the false belief systems. Spiritual transaction confession = Jesus forgiveness leading to a process of tearing down strongholds.

Resist Satan and Renounce the lies we have believed.

Has to happen out loud… devil is not omniscient and cannot read our mind… only God can do that.
Resist his work in our life
Rebuke his influence on our emotions and attitude.

Renew our Mind. Replace the lies we believe with truth from God’s Word about who He is and who we are.

Renewing our mind involves challenging our feelings and engaging our will.
Our emotional state is giving us feedback to our actual beliefs. If we are feeling defeated… we are. If we are feeling unworthy… we are.
Choose what we think about… Philippians 4:8 Brothers finally whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, if there is anything good think on these things. Taking off old lies and putting on truth.

Rejoice and Thank God for all He has done.

These steps are done as Sequential steps in our class yearly and will produce a growth in freedom. In order to apprehend and understand the freedom that Jesus died to purchase us, this has to become a lifestyle. This, along with prayer, fasting, study (and others) is a spiritual discipline and will result in our laying hold of our true identity in Christ and the tearing down of strongholds. If we accomplish these two things, we will walk in freedom.