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A message in the
bottle. Process Work with Addictions
Journal for Process-oriented Psychology, Portland, OR, Lao-Tse Press Winter
94-95, Vol 6, Nr 2
This article explores the connections between spirituality and addiction
from a process-oriented viewpoint and presents process work theories and
methods applied to clinical work with substance abuse, both from an individual
and a system perspective. Case examples demonstrate how process-oriented
interventions can be used successfully in the work with addicts and their
families to enhance treatment effectiveness.
The author views the common need for altered states as a drive toward
transformation and concludes that addiction may be seen as an unconscious
attempt at wholeness. Specifically, addiction is seen as an effort to
relate to parts of one's personality which the sober lifestyle excludes,
which one cannot access and use deliberately.
Beyond the focus on the individual, the article stresses the social and
political dimension of addictions and addresses the concept of the "city
shadow" (Mindell 1988); the so-called identified patient often mirrors
disowned aspects of the family and society at large, altered states of
consciousness may offer alternative possibilities to mainstream culture.
A case example illustrates a powerful process-oriented intervention for
working with addictive processes: reaccessing the altered state without
the substance in order to find and complete the experience the client
is missing in reality. A second case example demonstrates how process-oriented
family work understands the altered state of an individual member as a
role in the field, reflecting qualities the system may need. The article
concludes that the psychological, political and spiritual aspects of addictions
cannot be separated and that they all need to be addressed for an effective
treatment of substance abuse.
Dual Awareness - Elements of Shamanism in Process
Work
This article explores the connections between shamanism and psychotherapy
and demonstrates how Process Work combines perspectives and tools from
both disciplines to create a powerful new synthesis for working with people
and the environment. Observational accuracy and precision of psychology,
communication and system theory and the use of altered states of consciousness
contribute to a dual awareness necessary for individual and collective
transformation and healing.
The article compares the worldview and methodology of the indigenous shaman
and healer, with examples from the traditional Hmong and the Khmer societies,
and the modern psychotherapist. It illustrates how Process Work draws
on spiritual, psychological and social factors for awareness and healing.
Not unlike the shaman, the therapist enters altered states to facilitate
the work while focusing on signals and double signals and observing the
client's or the group's feedback. The therapist uses dual awareness, the
uniquely human ability to fully participate in and, at the same time,
hold distance from events.
Excerpts from a process work session led by Arnold Mindell in a group
setting highlight the interactions between psychotherapeutic and shamanic
elements and demonstrate its practical applications. In the work, the
therapist amplifies his countertransferential reaction and, closely watching
feedback, temporarily becomes the figure or ghost that haunts the client.
The therapist uses dual awareness to fluidly move in and out of a "possession
state" while simultaneously staying detached and facilitating interactions
between the client's different personality aspects. The client becomes
a channel of the divine singing a message of liberation and healing the
community and the environment.
The article elucidates how Process Work facilitates contact with altered
states, community, and the spirit that connect the individual and the
transpersonal realm. It combines elements of shamanism, psychotherapy
and social activism as crucial ingredients for alternative medicines,
for healing ourselves,and the planet.
Jung, Taoism, the Sound of a Saxophone and
I
Journal of Process-Oriented Psychology, Portland, Oregon, 1995-96 Vol
7, Nr 2,
This article explores the theoretical foundation of Process Work and applies
it to personal work. It illustrates how Process Work, in the spirit of
Jungian psychology and philosophical Taoism, can guide us toward our psychological
and spiritual development. By teaching us to welcome and invite all of
our disavowed and neglected parts into awareness, Process Work contributes
to our rising psycho-ecological consciousness which makes the relationship
with ourselves, others and the world more sustainable.
Our trust in nature and our ability to follow the Tao is an important
metaphor for the therapeutic and social endeavor and contributes to a
new theory of intervention. We find that all the interventions required
for a person can be found in the processes occurring. Change arises from
following the nature of the client’s process itself, of which an intervention
is a mere amplification
Process Work shares with Jungian psychology and Taoism a unitary worldview.
It is the ancient idea of a pattern which connects not only dream and
body phenomena but inner and outer events as well. The author explores
this one-world concept and studies how his personal dreaming processes
conform to an underlying unitary pattern. The potential connecting factor
between a body symptom, a dream, a hexagram of the I Ching, and a near
death experience is investigated and the process logic uncovered. When
we discover that such diverse events are connected, a sense of meaning
and purpose arises which may lead to a compassionate attitude which embraces
ourselves, our loved ones and the planet.
Also: Unpublished manuscript, at the POP libraries Zurich and Portland,
which contains, next to the above article, a lot of material on process
work, Jungian psychology and Taoism and may be a rich source of information
for the interested student.
Research: Process Work with Addiction
Altered States of Consciousness as a Complement
in the Treatment of Addiction - a process-oriented approach
Summary
The article (part I and II) introduces the process-oriented perspective
to working with addictions and gives a practical example of a session
with a heroin addict in recovery. Process-oriented psychology - a neo-Jungian
approach developed by Arnold Mindell over the past 25 years - proposes
that multiple addiction treatment measures are complemented by exploring
experientially the addict's urge for altered states. It advocates process-oriented
interventions or inner work instructions designed to access the altered
state the addict yearns for and discover its meaning and purposefulness
relative to the persons usual waking state. A discovery-oriented follow-up
study will investigate the occurrence of alternate states as significant
in-session events and inquire the interventions presented in this paper
for their effectiveness in promoting such experiences.
The present article reviews background relevant to the philosophy and
methods of process-oriented psychology. It illustrates the concept of
altered states of consciousness as well as current theories on addiction,
i.e the self-medication hypothesis. It further explores the notion of
addiction as a search for powerful experiences and elaborates the process-oriented
approach with a case transcript. The work illustrates how the altered
state can be re-accessed and unfolded with psychological means until the
personal meaning of the state is experienced by the client. Process structure
analysis demonstrates how these altered experiences are missing in the
addict' s everyday life and how important they are to complement normal
everyday consciousness.
Keywords
Process-oriented psychology, addiction, altered states of consciousness,
therapeutic use of altered states, in-session significant moments, spirituality
Published in: Alkoholizmus a Drogove zavislosti, 35, 3, 2000. Ministry
of Health, Bratislava, Slovakia
-> For full length article click here
Altered
States of Consciousness as Adjunct in the Treatment of Addiction - Effectiveness
of a single process-oriented intervention - an empirical study with 13
heroin dependent persons.
Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation at Philosophical Faculty, Department of
Psychology, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia, Prof. Dr. A. Heretik
Abstract
One of the central tenets of process work holds that addictions may be
understood as potentially purposeful behaviors, as a search for experiences
which are missing in an addict's everyday life. The present study researches
a single process-intervention: to re-access the state the addict yearns
for and to unfold it until a sense of completion or resolution occurs.
The intervention facilitates re-experiencing the "high" without
drugs, with a sober attitude, and deepens the experience in an interactional
process through body awareness, movement and relationship work until some
deeply felt personal meanings emerge (Mindell 2000). The idea is that
the altered state carries a message which wants to be lived and integrated
into the person's everyday life. The goal in the treatment of addiction
is not the altered state per se but expansion of awareness and reorientation
toward what has been neglected and, toward a spiritual life.
In an AB design, an initial verbal exploratory session was compared to
an intervention session (re-accessing the state) with 13 heroin dependent
persons. On the SOC-13, a measure of health (Antonovsky 1979, 1987), the
empirical results demonstrated effectiveness of the intervention with
a significant increase of +7.4 scores from t1 to t2 from 49.23 to 56.62
(t-test p=.01; paired samples correlation r=0.75, p=0.003; Cohen's effect
size d=0.85). This highly significant increment on top of initial session
gains empirically underlines the remarkable potential of the process-oriented
intervention (re-accessing the state) to promote movement toward the health
end of the ease/disease continuum in opioid dependent persons. An increased
SOC stands for an improved attitude in the face of challenges, augmented
resistance to stress and more protection of one's health (Lamprecht 1997).
The result further indicates that life is perceived as more meaningful
which is the most crucial ingredient in health promotion (Frankl 1959).
On the Experiencing scale, a measure of client involvement in the therapeutic
process (Klein et al 1969), which is based on ratings of session transcripts
and video tapes by trained raters, the increases in the average and the
peak scores between sessions were significant too. Average session scores
rose by +0.49 from 2.22 - 2.71 (p=0.006; r=0.524, p=0.066 trend; d=0.91)
and peak scores increased from 3.24 - 3.65 (t-test p=0.03; r=0.57, p=0.043;
d=0.68). Similarly, on the Process Index, an adaptation of the Experiencing
scale to process work, increases were statistically significant in the
mode and in the peak, they increased by a full stage from 2.95 - 4.03,
which is critical stage 4, the level where clients are able to follow
their process and focus on inner experiencing in a meaningful way (t-test
p=0.000; r=0.58, p=0.039; d=2.27).
Although seemingly modest, increases on both EXP and PI are interpreted
as clinically meaningful considering the severity of disturbance (Klein,
personal communication 2001). They have a distinct health-promoting impact.
This salutogenic benefit derives from the person's increased ability to
be in touch with inner felt referents, the basic data from the life process.
As demonstrated elsewhere, higher experiencing levels and therapy benefit
or outcome correlate (Hendricks 2000).
The qualitative results of the research are somewhat more complex to summarize
since every individual has a unique process which needs to accurately
and precisely be followed in therapy. Case vignettes and process observations
are given in detail for two clients while process structures are analyzed
tentatively for all thirteen persons in the study. The qualitative results
illustrated a tendency toward some core experiential states revolving
around yearnings for self love, intimacy and belonging in relationship
as well as expressing social and spiritual messages. In all cases, aggression
in the form of a harsh inner critic, a perpetrator or even a killer was
found as a threat in the background pointing to the need for more conscious
contact with and integration of that power into everyday life, for some
to "kill off" addiction rather than themselves. Additional examples
illustrate edges to awareness, to experiencing, to believing in dreaming,
and to the universe (Mindell 2000). Relapse fears that can come up are
addressed and safety measures discussed. Like other cue exposure techniques
the intervention may hold promise in extinguishing craving and diminish
the urge over time (Childress et al 1993).
In summary, the results demonstrated very significant client progress
on a measure of health and improved contact with one's self through accessing
and unfolding the altered state the person yearns for. One of the limitations
of the study is the lack of follow-up measurements which makes it impossible
to draw conclusions about the stability of the results over time. However,
from psychotherapy process research we do know that long-term outcomes
build on positive changes in each therapy session (Greenberg et al 1986).
Last but not least, accessing the yearned-for state in a sober manner
is but one useful intervention and other ingredients are necessary in
successful addiction treatment. While all of the current treatment modalities
are needed, including risk reduction and substitution programs, it seems
crucial to create innovative alternative methods, especially such that
use altered states, in the treatment of the addictions.
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