Saturday, August 15, 2009
Manny, recently released from prison, came for help in treating his cocaine addiction. His life was just a repeat of a familiar cycle of addiction and relapse. He sat in my office with his head in his hands and talked about his fifteen-year-old son whom he had little contact with since he was a young boy. Manny explained that if he had just one more dirty drug test that he would have to return to prison. He wanted desperately to be a father and to get to know his son. Manny never knew his own father who had a cocaine addiction and also called prison home. He knew all to well what life was like growing up without a father.
Although he was in an inpatient facility, specializing in drug addiction treatment, he was still using. His expression conveyed that he wanted so badly for me to save him from his certain fate, but mostly from himself. "Are you going to rat me out?" Manny asked bowing his head. "I don't even know why I told you, I guess I desperately need for someone to hear me and tell me how to change."
People like Manny who have cocaine addictions and who have spent time in intensive drug treatment programs some how cling to the very addiction that torments them daily, week after week, year after year. It is a pathetic dance, with two steps forward and 10 steps back. Many gave up saying they just didn't have the willpower to change.
There are good drug addiction treatment facilities that are dedicated to help people like Manny on the road to recovery. Physical withdrawal is only part of the problem. Interventions typically occur on the conscious level and use education and willpower in preventing relapse. But somehow willpower just doesn't seem to cut it.
Many addictions are linked to social reinforcement. It appears that one of the common threads inherent in addictions is the yearning to be connected and a fear of abandoning the only life they know. Many people today are using hypnosis intervention to treat drug addiction, finding relief and satisfaction.
The use of hypnosis works on the subconscious level to analyze and renegotiate healthy alternatives to maladaptive habits and thinking errors of those lost in the grip of drug addictions. Often people who become addicts begin by self medicating the hurt inside, and to compensate for what they believe they can't handle. "Checking out" becomes the safety net of the ill advised and the disenfranchised.
In hypnosis people discover a potent inner resource that assists them in healing the wounds that keep them stuck. You might think of it as upgrading the software that runs your programing. By learning hypnosis people learn how to take back their power, their bodies and minds. They relax physically, mentally and experience deep relaxation of the nervous system. If you've tried drug addiction treatments in the past without success, hypnosis is a alternative way to achieve success.