Mindful Recovery From AddictionGabor Mate addiction specialist has a mantra - not 'why the addiction', but 'why the pain', not 'what is wrong with you' but 'what happened to you'.
An addiction develops when things that feel good in the short run cause problems in the long run. The addiction has a goal of alleviating suffering but instead it perpetuates suffering, causing pain and disruption, negatively impact you, your health, your whanau or your work. Addiction is not about lack of self control or simply due to genes. The source of addiction is often due to trauma, especially childhood or developmental trauma, it is in stress and social dislocation, systems of inequality and injustice. Addiction is a response to emotional pain and often the pain is so deeply buried that it is out of awareness. A trauma informed and compassionate approach is vital. A trauma informed approach takes into account the whole person (mind-body-spirit-heart), the surrounding systems, attachment, family, history, emotional needs, coping mechanisms and resources of each individual. Understanding the whole picture plus unconditional regard, compassion and empathy helps to create a safe and supportive environment for recovery and healing to begin. A little bit of about the science of addiction. Addiction can be a way to try and 'self-medicate'. A way to numb emotions and find temporary escape or pleasure. Brain chemistry responds - the addictive substance or act triggers a surge of dopamine and other 'feel good' chemicals in the brain’s reward system. Research shows we are biologically wired to repeat rewarding experiences. With time, the brain adapts to the dopamine highs, reducing receptors to compensate. This leads to tolerance, requiring more of the substance to get the same effect. Attempts to stop are met with difficult lows as the brain’s chemistry is thrown off balance. Cravings and withdrawal symptoms emerge, along with loss of impulse control. Over time, addiction rewires neural pathways, entrenching involuntary habit loops. The person becomes compelled to use just to feel normal because of this adaption in biochemistry and modified brain circuitry. Quitting can feel impossible! Understanding and addressing what is happening physiologically plus tending to the deeper roots of addiction means recovery becomes possible. Addiction and Childhood Trauma. Science clearly shows us that childhood trauma can significantly impact an individual’s risk of addiction in adulthood. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) research studies including the original ACEs study by Felitti and colleagues highlight a strong correlation between traumatic experiences during childhood and addictive behaviours later in life. ACEs encompass various traumatic events such as physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, neglect, emotional neglect, loss of a parent, witnessing intimate partner violence, and living with a family member with a mental illness. Childhood trauma can dysregulate stress responses in the brain, leading to vulnerability to addiction. It can also cause numbness and depersonalisation as a way to cope and distance from emotions and experiences. The emotional disconnection may cause a person to turn to addictive behaviours as a way of coping or self soothing. Childhood trauma can dysregulate stress responses, leading to vulnerability to addiction. Understanding trauma’s effects and adopting trauma-informed strategies are essential for effective addiction treatment. Gentle, Mindful Addiction RecoveryHakomi Mindful Somatic Therapy and Coaching can be especially helpful in working with addiction.
Mindful Recovery is a really helpful approach to working with addiction. We can use mindfulness to cultivate the capacity to calmly, gently bear witness to emotions, habits, reactions and responses. Developing self awareness and using mindfulness helps to recognize the causes of addiction and when you are vulnerable to yielding to addiction. We can recognize the relapse cues and you develop the ability to make healthy choices. Together respectfully we help you to develop the resources to tolerate what has not been tolerable. To get to and understand unconscious behaviours, and what drives the addiction. It becomes possible to heal from childhood wounds and make friends with physiological predispositions. It is then becomes possible to be free from the powerful grip of addiction. The following are important in Mindful Recovery:
Every moment offers change and different possibilities. When we are compassionate with ourselves we can start to understand the story that led to our addictive behaviours - change becomes possible. We can begin to open to the goodness life has to offer each one of us. Like the lotus rising up out of the mud, it is possible to unfold one petal at a time into a beautiful flower. |
Rock bottom became my solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
- JK Rowling |
