Integrating Intentional Breathing, Meditation, and Visualization in

Substance Abuse Treatment

stebnickim@ecu.edu

http://www.ecu.edu/cs-dhs/rehb/stebnicki.cfm Mark A. Stebnicki, Ph.D, LPC, DCMHS, CRC, CCM

Professor- Dept. of Addictions & Rehabilitation

Coordinator- Military and Trauma Counseling

Certificate Program

East Carolina University

SAGE(Stress Annoyance of Guilty thinking on a Everyday basis)

1.Have you ever thought about cutting down on your stress- thinking and stress use?

2.Have people annoyed you by criticizing your thinking and stress-use?

3. Have you ever felt bad or guilty about your thinking or stress- use?

4. Have you ever had to think the first thing in the morning to quiet your mind, steady your stress, or get rid of a stress hangover?

If you scored 1, there is an 80% chance you are not mindful of your stress addiction.If you scored 2, there is an 89% chance you are not mindful of your stress addiction.If you scored 3, there is a 99% chance you are not mindful to your stress addiction.If you scored 4, there is a 100% chance you are not mindful of your stress addiction.

SUDThere are two major changes in DSM-5 to the diagnostic criteria:

(1)Eliminate recurrent legal problems

(2)New criterion: craving or strong desire/urge to use a substance.

The DSM-5 defines a substance use disorder as the presence of at least 2 of 11 criteria, which are in clusters. Severity of the DSM-5 substance use disorders is based on the number of criteria endorsed:

2–3 criteria indicate a mild disorder

4–5 criteria, a moderate disorder

6 or more, a severe disorder

DSM -5 CRITERIAIMPAIRED CONTROL: taking more or for longer than intended, unsuccessful efforts to stop or cut down use, spending a great deal of time obtaining, using, or recovering from use, craving for substance.

 

SOCIAL IMPAIRMENT: failure to fulfill major obligations due to use, continued use despite problems caused or exacerbated by use, important activities given up or reduced because of substance use.

RISKY USE: recurrent use in hazardous situations, continued use despite physical or psychological problems that are caused or exacerbated by substance use.

 

PHARMACOLOGIC DEPENDENCE: tolerance, withdrawal symptoms

 

EMOTIONAL SYMPTOMS: Anxiety, Restlessness, Irritability, Insomnia, Headaches, Poor concentration, Depression, Social isolation

 

 PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS: Sweating, Racing heart, Palpitations, Muscle tension, Tightness in the chest, Difficulty breathing, Tremor, Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea

  

 

Show-up

Pay Attention

Be Open to the Outcomes

What is Mind-Body-Spirit?

Mind: consciousness (waking, dream, transcendental or non-ordinary states) perceptions, philosophies, beliefs, thoughts, attitudes, feelings, and cognitions.

Body: physiological, cellular, and

biological functioning of all body systems.

Spirit: (different from religiosity) that which cannot be seen, made-up of experiences of faith, hope, comfort, beliefs, philosophies, rituals, belief in a divine source of energy that guide our lives.

Acceptance of Integrative Approaches and The Power and Control of Medicine

• Beginning in 1500 China imposed a death sentence on anyone building a ship with more than two masts in attempt to control the flow of medicinal herbs, books about health and healing and other cultural items.

• Shamanism and its approaches dates back 10 thousands yrs +

• Shaman acted as the tribal leader, priest, counselor, physician, healer, mystic, folk-healer for healing the mind-body-spirit.

• The shaman transitions between the lower, middle, and upper worlds in non-ordinary states of consciousness to seek awareness, knowledge, spirit guides, and power animals to help facilitate healing.

• By communicating with the sprit world, and using a heightened sense of intuitiveness, the shaman finds answers and cures for illness.

A Very Brief History of Good - Bad Medicine

• European colonialists arrived and brought new medicine from religious-spiritual beliefs London-based churches/medical schools.

• Despite documented therapeutic effects of Native North American spirituality, herbal, botanical, other natural treatments- European attitude was that of fear, ignorance, and perceptions of godless creatures.

• New World medicine and religious-spiritual beliefs brought political power, influence of the medical model, economic, and dominance of Christianity.

A Paradigm Shift in 20th century Counseling & Psychology

• 1960s: Human Potential and Personal Growth Movements began in Big Sur CA- Eslen- strategies for empowerment, creative problem solving, happiness, self-actualizing, transcendental meditation, and Zen Buddhism.

• 1970s: Birth of New Age spirituality movement; people leaving traditional religious practices; the birth of the “self-help” book.

• New Age movement incorporated primarily Native American and Eastern philosophies and spiritual beliefs that combining psychology, spirituality, and theology.

• Late 1970s inspired the growth in transpersonal psychology, the esoteric, secular mysticism, existential phenomenology and developing one’s psychic-intuitive abilities, shamanism, and everything M-B-S.

MBS Wellness-Health Begins with Taking a Cleansing Breath

Preparing a Sacred Space

• Sound Therapy

• Aroma Therapy

• Light Therapy

• Cultivating your Soul

• Show up-Pay Attention-

Be Open to the Outcomes

Journaling Experiences

* Spontaneous writing

(dreams, visions, symbols)

* Open and honest

* Accept whatever comes to mind

* Grammar- spelling fagetta-bout-it

* Process is just for You

Hindu Parable: The Monkey and the Banana

The Problem of Monkey Mind

Taking a Deep Cleansing Breath Letting Go

Prayer vs. MeditationSolitary-Collective-Vocal-Silent

CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER

Adoration: acknowledges the vastness and incomprehensible greatness of the universe, God, Divine Source of Energy; How Great Thou Art.

Thanksgiving: offers Gratitude for the gifts we receive.

Contrition: apologies for transgressions, bring unity of self with God, the Divine.

Petition: asks for needs to be met, divine wisdom, guidance.

Mystics, Monks, Saints & SagesSt. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582): Prayer is quieting the mind-body-soul to facilitate the “incipient union” or “rapture”; all sensory elements cease, one feels transported to another realm or dimension;

Next- comes the prayer of marriage where individual feels a spirit presence (light) and maintains in permanent contact with the divine; All prayer states are gifts, they cannot be earned.

Mystics, Monks, Saints & SagesSt. John of the Cross (Spanish Mystic1541-1597):

“Dark Night of the Soul” A sense of “dryness” “futility”; a dark soul (depression) is natural, individuals should accept this challenge of transcending a “dark night”.

Thomas Merton (American Trappist Monk 1915-1968):

“Contemplation does not arrive at reality after a process of deduction, but by an intuitive awakening in which our free and personal reality becomes fully alive to its own existential depths, which open out into the mystery of God….not a trance or ecstasy…it is not we who choose to awaken ourselves, but God who chooses to awaken us…”

Zen Meditation & EnlightenmentChop Wood-Carry Water

Bodhidharma (Indian Monk, Founder of Zen 5th century)

• Intent is to achieve “enlightenment” [satori] the state of being able to meditate continually (washing

dishes, sweeping the floor, chopping wood, walking the beach, woods, shooting an arrow)

• Zen (different than Buddhism) IS NOT a journey; rather it is the sudden attainment of enlightenment or illumination.

• When enlightenment or illumination is attained it is spontaneous where one lives completely in the present moment; there is no past or future.

KoansMeaning is found in actions not rationale thoughts-

Purpose is to enlighten

“What is the sound of one hand clapping?

“Show me your face before you were born?”

A monk came to the famous teacher Choa-chou and asked to be enlightened. The teacher asks “have you eaten yet?” The monk responds “Yes”. Teacher states: “Then go wash your dishes”

THE Most Important Questions or East vs West Koans

1. Where did we come from and where are we going after we leave planet Earth?

2. Is there a grand design or unified theory at the quantum level that remains unchanging, static, or fixed?

3. Do all things happen for a reason- or can we control and change things?

4. Why do bad things happen to good people?

Zen Master

Could Be Good- Could Be Bad

Mindfulness

• IS a meditative practice evolved from the Buddhist practice of vipassami. It has no dogma or list of other rituals required.

• IS (not a technique) but described as: a heightened state of awareness about yourself in your environment, sensing others around you, an emotional release, a deliberate choice just to “be” is enough, experiencing many feelings (vulnerability, compassion), being in a here-and-now state of total unconditional experience with the world.

Mindfulness• IS a Meditation practice that requires skill and training

to be present-in-the-moment in a totally unconditional, objective, non-judgmental way.

• IS a practice of acceptance of our inner and outer experiences as it unfolds in the present moment.

• IS a practice that has the intent to fully experience our all-body consciousness at the highest optimal level.

• MBSR (Kabat-Zin) est. 1979 UMASS Med CenterDeveloped as a model approach to treat stress, pain, illness, and disease.

Breathing In- Visualizing- Letting GoWhat do You need more of in Your life?

Joy

Love

Compassion

Healing

Peace

Creativity

Part 2

Western Medicine and the Sympathetic-Parasympathetic Nervous System

Emoto’s Hidden Message in Water

http://www.whatthebleep.com/crystals/

• Experiment: using high speed photography, the positive/negative energy could change the consistency and patterns of water crystals.

7th- Crown {Consciousness,

Spiritual awareness}

6th- Third Eye {Intuitive/Inner vision}

5th- Throat {Self-expression}

4th- Heart {Love of self/others}

3rd- Solar Plexus {Power, Strength}

2nd- Sacral {Self-esteem, Relationships}

1st- Root {Survival, fertility}

Meridians of the Body

Neurons: The Function & Structure of the Nervous

System• Neurons are a highly specialized cell used

to transmit messages to-from the brain.• Process uses chemical (neurotransmitters)

and electrical impulses (generates 20 watts) that send and receive messages in the body through long nerve fibers (axon).

• Two highly specialized neurons: sensory (afferent) & motor (efferent) carry information from the brain to different body systems within milliseconds (250 mph).

• Avg. neuron makes 15,000-200,000 connections.

It’s all just a big shell game

Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: Relationship between Stress & Disease

Dr. Robert Sapolsky

Stress and Disease: Result of Too Many Unhealthy Thoughts,

Perceptions & Feelings• Excessive, recurrent, and intense

emotional arousal of an unhealthy nature results in stress and disease;

• Repeated reactivation of our perceptual-cognitive-affective response that is unhealthy in nature…;

• Stored unhealthy thoughts, perceptions, and emotions, become a worn neural pathway which leaves an imprint on our cognitive unconscious and causes a mind-body interaction.

So Why Don’t We All Die from Stress?

• We all differ as to the:-pattern- frequency-exposure-magnitude/intensity-immune competence & resistance…..of how we turn-on our own stress response

“The tragedy of life is not death; itself but what dies inside of us as we live”-Norman Cousins

Inflammation: The Cornerstone of the Body’s Healing Response

• Inflammation evidenced on the surface of the body (externally) as redness, heat, swelling, pain.

• Inflammation not as obvious (internally) – but occurs in lining of arteries, in the brain, various tissues and organs.

• Any biological, psychological, social, emotional, physical, ANYTHING that promotes inflammation increases the risk of cell proliferation, and increasing the risk of malignancies.

Inflammation: No Friend of Mine•INFLAMMATION IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF MOST COMMON AND SERIOUS DISEASES OF AGING, CARDIO, ALZHEIMER’S, CANCER, OTHER DISEASES OF THE CNS.

• Cytokines - substances secreted within the immune system (hormones, proteins, peptides, glycoproteins) used to regulate immune response to disease, viruses, and IS the principal chemical cause of the inflammatory response.

Evidence for Spontaneous Healing from M-B-S Level

•Human body is in a constant state of equilibrium- it requires a high degree of coherence and organization to produce 600 billion cells every 24 hrs (or 10 million cells per second).•Every 90 sec. millions of antibodies are synthesized from about 1200 amino acids (200/hr).•No matter how diverse cells and organs are- they co-exist in the same body maintaining harmony, balance, and an interconnected vibrational energy.

Your Body Can Heal Itself- It Wants to be Healthy

• A natural healing system is in place at the very biological-physiological level (DNA, Cell structures, immune functioning)

• Our DNA IS our natural repair system because it goes through the complex chemical process of replication-transcription-translation.

Immune Responsehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90hSVkaOG_w&feature=related

• Check-point Charlie-Sorting-Analyzing-Memorizing-Educating-Seek & Destroy

Impaired Defenses Stress Research

• Persistent and overwhelming infections or a physiological assault on our immune system.

• Toxins in our body:

- water we drink

- air we breathe

- food we eat

- pharmaceutical products we take

- thoughts, feelings, cognitions we have

Journey to Spirit Mountain

Self Regulation1. Compassion & Empathy

2. Behavioral Health [exercise, diet, supplements]

3. Body-Physiological Awareness

4. Breathing, Meditation, Relaxation, Stress Inoculation

5. Visualization, Spontaneous Belief, Hopefulness

6. Sound, Aroma, Environmental Therapy

The Resiliency AdvantageDr. Al Siebert

1. Making conscious choices in life.2. Power of Positive Thinking.3. Take responsibility.4. Internal locus of control.5. Self motivate yourself.6. Don’t fear trying-out new things.7. Take control of your life.8. Practice positive approaches to life.