Treating addiction is a tricky matter, while it is fairly easy to detox the body from the substance, it is not enough, because the psychological craving and the root cause of the addiction are still present and come back, urging a return to the addictive substance or behavior. Even though the addict knows that his addiction is harmful to his health and well-being the inner urge is so strong that it oftentimes can’t be resisted and relapse occurs. When thinking of addiction I tend to envision heroin, cocaine, alcohol or cigarettes, we typically associate it with an antisocial environment, the typical homeless, drug-addict kind of situation. But in truth we have tons of socially functioning addicts, who use a variety of legally prescribed substances such as opioids and painkillers, antidepressants, stimulants or sedatives. Probably you have such a functioning addict in your family or circle of friends. Apart from addiction to substances we find addictive behaviors such as sex addiction, addiction to shopping, to gambling and to unhealthy eating habits (binge-eating, overeating) as well as to various foods such as sugar, coffee, gluten, cheese and. I find another big addiction many people have without being conscious of it, is addiction to social encounters, people that can’t stand being alone. In the end it does not matter so much what is the substance or behavior a person is addicted to, it is more about a certain pain or emptiness inside that the addict tries to fill with returning to a comforting substance or behavior. I myself have had a difficult relationship with marijuana. As an angry teenager who didn’t feel connected to the society existing around her, a society creating wars and mistreating animals, cannabis helped me feel connected to nature and my inner self. But becoming older I kept using it and it created anxiety, amnesia and paranoia inside of me, and even with all these obvious discomforts, it was/is still so hard to stop smoking!
So how can we address this inner pain end emptiness that creates the urge to return to self-destuctive behavior? Psychological help is needed as well as help from the community around the person, in extreme cases it is necessary to leave your common surroundings and stay in a therapeutical community that supports you in this difficult process of finding better habits. But the problem with addiction seems to lie on a deeper level as Jacques Mabit explains. It is an energetic and spiritual problem. Maybe the addict is acting out a pattern inherited from his family, from his ancestors, it is an energy present in the family history that needs to be addressed. The addict wants to stop but he can’t it is like a possession with a foreign energy that needs to be dealt with on an energetic level.
That is why Jacques Mabit developed a novel approach at the Takiwasi center in Peru, to help people deal with drug addictions. The tripod of therapeutic tools consists of psychotherapy, living in community and shamanic interventions such as the work with master plants, like ayahuasca and tobacco. -> Watch the video where talks about the Takiwasi approach to treating addiction!
Listen to Jacques Mabit singing a powerful healing song in an ayahuasca ceremony:
Takiwasi Homepage:
http://www.takiwasi.com/indexen.php
