Trauma and addiction are closely linked, yet unfortunately, most addiction treatment tends to focus on treating the symptoms of mental illness and substance use rather than going deeper into the spirit to eradicate the root cause. While up to three-quarters of trauma survivors suffer from alcohol use disorder, common treatments for trauma are time-consuming and not always effective.
The Key to Addressing Trauma Lies in Energy
New advances in neuroscience and the rediscovery of ancient healing techniques are changing how we treat trauma. Energy psychology is one of the more promising new treatment options. The philosophy is simple: instead of a fragmented approach to treating addiction (i.e. the mind is addressed separately from the body, the spirit and soul are often ignored completely or also addressed separately), energy psychology treats the entire person through the healing of the energy system.
Energy is the common element that links different parts of us together and to the world around us, so it follows that treatment methods that focus on energy systems are treating the entire person.
A Surprising New Trauma Treatment Method
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an energy psychology method for those suffering from trauma-related addiction and mental illness.
EMDR is administered by a qualified therapist. After a rigorous evaluation, your therapist will select a few traumatic memories for you to briefly relive during treatment. Your therapist will then teach you about coping skills like mindfulness and deep breathing, which will help lessen the stress of reliving painful moments.
The next step is identifying all the associated mental, physical and emotional reactions that the traumatic memories could trigger, which helps to increase your awareness of your reactions in the moment. After that, the therapy begins: you will focus on a series of traumatic memories as your therapist directs your eye movements with a hand or a wand. After reliving each memory, you’ll be asked to let your mind go blank and identify any thoughts or feelings the experience has brought up.
The eye movements and other physical components of EMDR such as tapping allow the patient to fully process traumatic memories while in a state of relaxation, and the negative energy around memories of traumatic events is released or lessened. One study by Kaiser Permanente found that EMDR had a 100 percent success rate for army veterans suffering from a single trauma, and 77 percent success among those who had suffered more than one traumatic event.
The Sanctuary Can Help You Move Past Trauma and Addiction
If you’re struggling to find the right treatment for trauma and addiction, The Sanctuary can help you. We offer a variety of energy psychology treatment options, as well as innovative science-based methods and traditional talk therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and opportunities for you to improve your physical health and life skills. Our integrative program offers hope to those who have tried traditional therapy but need additional support to recover and regain their health.
Learn more about the energy body here.
For more information on The Sanctuary and our integrative, holistic approach to trauma treatment, contact us online, call us at (877) 710-3385 or email us at [email protected].
He is the Founder, Administrator, Counselor at the Sanctuary at Sedona. He has a BA in Political Science and is currently Senior teaching staff at Four Winds Society, an international school of energy medicine. His credentials also include being an Ordained Minister; a Certified Shamanic Breathwork® Facilitator; a Founding Member Society for Shamanic Practitioners; a Member of Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology; a Member of the National Institute for Holistic Addiction Studies. [email protected]