BRIDGING GAPS
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, there are multiple pathways to sustainable recovery.
At the end of the day, it’s all about a healthy and fulfilling life. Full of functional relationships and meaningful connections. The desired outcome is to thrive, not to surrender. There is nothing about addiction that needs to be so different than anywhere else in health and wellbeing- it’s just treated so with stigma and misinformation. And that’s more about ideology and purity than science or clinical practice. There are innovations and advancements that help us to get to the root of the problem. Until now, we’ve been treating the symptoms. What if there are cures and healing is possible? This question has been taboo but needs to be asked.
Most mental health treatment only treats the heart attack after it happens.
There’s a commonly held belief that a person has to hit rock bottom before they’re ready for change. There’s zero science behind this. It's like standing by, waiting for the heart attack to happen before providing treatment. As has been the prevailing trend in modern medicine, early intervention and preventative care need to be foundational. If addiction is defined as a progressive disease or disorder, why do have to let it progress to crisis levels before we do anything?
The elephant in the room is that with all of the best intentions, most addiction treatment has failed.
For the first time in modern history, life expectancy in the US dropped- directly attributable to fatal drug overdoses. Nowhere else in the fields of medicine or science has there been so little progress. Such a low bar set. Outcome stats (when even available) are out of line with modern healthcare. Too many have been denied treatment, discharged or made to feel like they have no chance of success unless a specific path is followed. Do X for the rest of your life so Y doesn’t happen. Research provides clear evidence that when modern scientific and medical approaches are integrated with therapeutic experiences, we can achieve game-changingly higher success rates.
Are the 90% who “fail’ at treatment really the ones doing it all wrong?
We typically don’t think of someone with a disease fainting treatment. We investigate what else can be done. Countless people have been shamed to feel like what they really want is hopeless. How many people have been kicked out of treatment, OD’d or relapsed while holding a genuine desire to change? Maybe they just needed a different approach.
psychedelic medicine is more about integration than the experience.
Simply put, integration is the therapeutic process surrounding a mystical experience. This process can take many different forms and include multiple practices. The experience certainly matters, it is the lever that opens a window of opportunity and availability. But where do you go from there? Now what? What we make of it and how we take it into our lives? Just like the best tool in our box, it is only as effective as it is put to use. Psychedelic integration is the process of making use of the experience. The data paints a clear picture of how critical this process is for effectiveness.
psychedelic medicine and abstinence based recovery can coexist.
If an operation requiring a general anesthetic was necessary would it be considered problematic? Why should a psychedelic medicine, prescribed and delivered in controlled settings with evidence based protocols be any different? There is nothing recreational or intentional about this modality that contradicts abstinence based philosophy in any way,unless one is fundamentally against any and all psychotropic medication. Why deny the opportunity and what may be a last resort? Is it ideology over science?
I work with individuals, families and organizations along three metrics:
Efficacy = sustainable behavioral and cognitive change
Relationships = familial, social and cultural ecosystems
Achievement = manifestation, outcomes, performance optimization
Please contact me directly for more information on services and to schedule a complimentary consultation