The Thirsty Addict Papers traces a rich history of spiritual solutions for the addictive experience, along with individual and group therapy ideas for counselors. Addicts, families, employers, educators and clergy curious about spiritual paths to sobriety will find The Thirsty Addict Papers educational and healing. The six papers compare and contrast Buddhist meditation, 12-Step theory, the archetypal psychology of Carl Jung and James Hillman, contemplative Christianity and classic myths from the East and West. Each of these knowledge systems offers new insights for dealing with mental and physical obsessions.
Spiritual psychotherapy should be informed by cultural history, which is why The Thirsty Addict Papers provides detailed references to modern and classical literature and historical events. Personal imaginal revelations inspired by this new knowledge and by modern clinical research provide a stable foundation for therapeutic work and may validate the old adage: There is nothing new under the sun. That may be true, but for people who have suffered obsessions of the mind, brain chemistry gone bad and lifestyles out of control, every day in recovery is a new miracle.
Most clinical therapy protocols mandated by state licensing regulations for counselors lack soul. The State of California qualifying exams I took years ago ignored spirituality and addiction. I was appalled to discover that the major reference book for insurance-compensated treatment is over 700 pages long but contains only one paragraph about spiritual issues.
There is no safe harbor in the groundlessness of the anxious, solution-driven thinking mind or the world of pathology-based therapy. Addicts are universally berated for their obsession with trying to control all aspects of their lives. Their impulsive attempts always seem to fail, and they fall back on the intoxicating effect of their favorite pacifier, whether that is drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, shopping or eating pathology. They cling to their monomaniacal drive like a starfish stuck on a rock and denigrate and punish themselves over and over again when life circumstances pull them away from their addictive anchors. The medical and therapeutic communities join in on the orgy of punishment.
A more profound solution to the cycle of failure and low self-esteem that plagues addicts is not to try to correct it with clinical diagnoses and cognitive restructuring techniques alone. The Thirsty Addict Papers is written for the soul of the addict, not the frantic mind that heals when spirit is let in. The irrational addicted imagination needs soul nurturing. Exploring alternatives to logical, pathology-based therapy frees the human heart to touch soulful and spiritual epiphanies that are often hard to put into precise language.
With freedom of imagination on the one hand and academic research on the other, read The Thirsty Addict Papers with an ear for the unusual and miraculous. You will meet the Tibetan saint Milarepa who tricks the most violent of demons, Native America’s coyote trickster whose impulsivity leads him to starvation and American writer Jack London whose obsession with alcohol is a classic of denial. You will discover how the archetypes of the Wounded Child, Victim, Prostitute and Saboteur keep people trapped in a continuous loop of self-loathing and harm. You will also find more than a dozen clinical tools for bringing patients up out of the swampland of the soul into the sunlight of the spirit. Imagine new ways to heal. Enjoy.
About Michael Hoffman
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