Addiction Specialist?

[faysalnals]

Does anyone know any good Addiction Specialist that comes from the same school of thinking as Gabor Maté (who was interviewed by Stefan)? Gabor Maté is retired so I hope to find someone as good as him as I want to help a family member. Thank you

[J. D. Stembal]

I wish you a fruitful search! Please let me know what you find out, and if you would like to chat with me, I'm jonathan.stembal on Skype. Currently, I'm shopping around for a sex therapist, as I am also a sex and porn addict on top of being a genitally mutilated alcoholic. It's horrendously difficult living in my body, but I am becoming more alive by the day.

All signs are pointing to Alcoholics Anonymous for me as I live in a Colorado mountain resort town with many churches and no sex shops or strip clubs. I have a very large hurdle to overcome with regard to the first three steps which require the addict to submit, relinquish autonomy, and put faith into a God-like entity.

 

One of my current action items is to speak with the group coordinator at the Lutheran church near me to see if I will be a good fit, as I will never put my faith in God, but I wish to sit in on the meetings and contribute. At the very least, I want to volunteer and give what I can to help others in the community no matter what they hold as beliefs (Against Me argument excepted). If they want me silenced or thrown in jail for my assertiveness, then I'm out.

There is also the Secular Organizations for Sobriety (S.O.S), a decentralized and non-dogmatic approach to addictions and compulsive behavior.

http://sossobriety.org/home.html

It is possible that there will be no meetings in your local area (that is the case here in Summit County), so you can also write Jim, the founder, and he will mail you instructional materials describing how to start a new group for free. It took him about five to six weeks to mail it to me. My long term goal is to start a non-religious discussion group on addictions where I live. My first attempt at having a meeting this summer was a total failure, but that is to be expected. Starting and running this group is going to be a ton of work, and I need to locate and enlist my allies in this endeavor.

They are out there, somewhere. I know this because I am.

[webdever]

One thing I noticed when looking for therapists is some have a list of recommended books and those who focus on addiction sometimes will list In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, which would be a sign they are coming from that school of thought, if you find therapists in your area that specialize in addiction and look through their websites that might be helpful.

 

Here in the Seattle area there are some secular AA groups, there are also SMART recovery groups which are secular and don't follow the 12 step program, you can find them in your area at http://www.smartrecovery.org/and http://www.waaft.org/ . I've found the groups and group therapy are very helpful and most specialists I think will tell you you need to be around sober people in recovery, I second J.D.'s point that you should be able to be assertive about your beliefs.

[Kurtis]

 

 

Peter Levine has written some books with Dr. Mate. Somatic Experiencing therapists can be found here: http://www.traumahealing.org/find-se-practitioner.php

 

As you know, Dr. Mate emphasizes that addicts are born out of trauma. Levine has focused on healing trauma, which is what the SE methodology is all about. So I feel like that could be on the right track for your family member's needs. Hope that helps!

 

Yay, the SE cheerleaders are back out again!  +1 for Somatic Experiencing   

 

SE therapy was very helpful for healing my traumas.  Traumas which used to result in emotional states that I would use addictive behaviours to regulate (marijuana for example).  I fully agree with Dr. Mate in the source of addictions being based in trauma.  Also, Dr. Levine's work on healing trauma is very good (see his book: Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma).

 

Something that may be of interest to you, and usually unpopular in this community, is the use of shamanic healing traditions.  Specifically Ayahuasca.   This is something that Dr. Mate worked with and found very successful in treating addicts in the area he worked in (downtown Vancouver's lower east side).  I had hoped this topic might come up in Stef's interviews with Mate. 

[Koroviev]

If you haven't read it already I highly recommend Dr. Gabor Mate's In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. Whether you're dealing with addiction or not it's a fantastic book and if nothing else a wonderful lesson in empathy.

http://www.amazon.com/Realm-Hungry-Ghosts-Encounters-Addiction/dp/155643880X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442684582&sr=1-1&keywords=in+the+realm+of+hungry+ghosts

[J. D. Stembal]

If you haven't read it already I highly recommend Dr. Gabor Mate's In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. Whether you're dealing with addiction or not it's a fantastic book and if nothing else a wonderful lesson in empathy.

http://www.amazon.com/Realm-Hungry-Ghosts-Encounters-Addiction/dp/155643880X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442684582&sr=1-1&keywords=in+the+realm+of+hungry+ghosts

 

Here is the relevant review thread: https://board.freedomainradio.com/topic/43281-in-the-realm-of-hungry-ghosts-by-gabor-mat%C3%A9/?hl=%2Bthe+%2Brealm+%2Bhungry+%2Bghosts

 

Something that may be of interest to you, and usually unpopular in this community, is the use of shamanic healing traditions.  Specifically Ayahuasca.   This is something that Dr. Mate worked with and found very successful in treating addicts in the area he worked in (downtown Vancouver's lower east side).  I had hoped this topic might come up in Stef's interviews with Mate. 

 

Speaking of shamanic healing traditions, a woman turned me on to this book, published May 2015, just the other day: http://www.amazon.com/One-Spirit-Medicine-Ultimate-Wellness/dp/1401947301/ref=sr_1_80?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442736606&sr=1-80&keywords=shamanic+healing

 

I lean somewhat to the anarcho-primitivist side of voluntarism, so ancient wisdom fascinates me, even if it sounds like mysticism. I roll my eyes every time I meet a numerologist or an astrologist, however.