...adults who have been traumatized in
childhood make up a wide percentage of adults who are
addicted to a form of substance and/or
negative behavior.

Sometimes living with an addiction brings us closer to Spirit. I say this because of hearing so many stories from patients about their awakening or enlightenment, as they journey their path away from substance abuse.

Through my years of counseling, I have discovered those adults who have been traumatized in childhood make up a wide percentage of adults who are addicted to a form of substance and/or negative behavior. With this fact, my counseling career seemed to take on a life of its own, as my focus surrounding childhood abuse and trauma extended to the field of addiction and recovery.

 A psycho-spiritual component, I find, brings benefits to the healing and recovery process that no other form of counseling can. I offer and refer patients to other professionals for massage, Reiki, yoga, chakra balancing, acupuncture and suggest they start an inner search for their own Truth. This touch of inner guidance coming from the patients’ own sense of their spiritual aspect, completes a direction toward growth and change.

Addressing the field of addiction: Did you know that using cocaine and falling in love produce very similar neuro-activity in the brain? Scientists have concluded that cocaine use stimulates the same brain centers as when we have feelings of being in love. No wonder so many find it difficult to break an addiction habit.

I choose to view those with an addiction as “missing their mark.” They have wandered off their original path of life onto a side-street called self-hatred. I believe it is our responsibility to help them envision a new pathway, a new direction filled with self-esteem, self-worth, and self-love.

 The following story can help all of us check our own life-saboteurs:
"Autobiography in Five Short Chapters."
• Chapter 1:  I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk and I fall in. I am lost. I am helpless. It is not my fault. It takes me forever to find a way out.
• Chapter 2: I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole. I pretend I do not see it. I fall in again. I cannot believe I am in the same place, but it is not my fault. It still takes me a long time to get out.
• Chapter 3: I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole. I see it. I still fall in. It is a habit, but my eyes are open and I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out quickly.
• Chapter 4: I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole. I walk around it.
• Chapter 5: I walk down a different street.
 What can you do to help those addicted to drugs or alcohol? Guide and direct them toward a different street.

BARBARA SINOR, Ph.D. is a psychospiritual therapist and author. Sinor's newest book Addiction: What's Really Going On? Inside a Heroin Treatment Program is being released July 2009. It is coauthored with Deborah McCloskey, CADC. For more information regarding Sinor's work and books, visit: www.DrSinor.com