Re: crack addiction assistance?
At 08:16 AM 1/22/97 -0500, you wrote:
Hi George,
I'm not sure if this will help but here are some random thoughts...
> However, he occassionally gets the same feeling "in his brain", as he says,
>that he used to get when he'd smoked crack. The feeling, he says, is like
>that of "6 orgasms at once" and he says the crack experience, for him, was
>very closely linked to sexual arousal and, in many instances, sexual
>encounters.
I'm not sure if this feeling is the feeling before or after taking crack. If
it is after, a verbal reframe on how he can generate the feeling inside
without resorting to crack could be useful.
If it's a "before" feeling, you might want to consider a compulsion blow-out
technique.
Alternatively, you may want to 6 step reframe the part, or intergrate the
part causing the feeling with the part which is its opposite number.
You might also want to use Time Line Therapy (tm) to clear up the root cause
of this addiction or perhaps the decision he made in the past relating to
behaviour and/or identity.
> One thing I pointed out to him was that, last week, the impulse HAD come up
>and he'd successfully resisted it through isolating himself from ANY contact
>with the old crack using environment, not carrying any cash on him, and
>frequent, imploring prayers. He was encourgaed to realize that he had, in
>fact, already weathered an onslaught of crack impulses.
This is useful because he can now realise that he has many resources which
can help him overcome the addiction.
> This man is working very hard to keep his life turned around. Having gotten
>out of prison three years ago, he now runs his own business. We have a
>special connection of mutual respect and experience (due to my drug
>experiences back in the '60's) I'm a bit uncomfortable with his model of the
>addiction as something to fight because, in his words, everyday is a struggle
>for him. I wonder if there's a way for him to deflect the energy of the
>impulses, rather than feeling he has to fight them?
On other thing you can do. I'm guessing that he's In-time (perceiver
category). You may want to switch his timeline to Through Time (judger) and
that may lessen the urges or remove them completely.
Hope these thought help. Perhsps they may spur further thoughts... Good luck
Regards
Joel
*
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Joel Lee --'-{@ ~~~~
<lawleej@leonis.nus.sg>