Mindfulness and Substance Abuse

Hello everyone! This week I have been looking for resources to incorporate further mindfulness into substance abuse counseling. I found a wonderful article from Berkeley University of California written by Emily Nauman, and based on the studies of Dr. Sarah Bowen. I would like to share what I learned about incorporating mindfulness into relapse prevention and will also provide the link the the article (it is a great read).

Fundamentally we know that substance abuse is an example of the human drive towards pleasure and away from pain. When it becomes trick is when that urge takes over the limbic system and controls the decision making. Traditionally substance abuse counseling focuses on identifying triggers that result in craving and then substance use.

Dr. Sarah Bowen sought to work mindfulness (cultivating moment-to-moment, nonjudgmental awareness of surrounds, emotions, and thoughts) into making substance abuse counseling more effective, and to help prevent relapse. Dr. Bowen and her colleagues have developed a program called Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP). This approach aims to help clients learn to identify  and tolerate negative emotions and to tolerate their cravings.

This program seeks to alter the way clients relate to their thoughts. One example cited in the article was about a client Dr. Bowen worked with who was struggling with an addiction to alcohol. The client was invited toa party that she knew would provide her plenty of access to alcohol. The client's mind starts racing and going through how she "knew" the night would go. The client would drink all night. She would drink during the party setup, drink throughout the entire party into the wee hours of the day, and then would not be able to go to work the next day. The client realized that she was telling a story of what she thought would happen. Through using techniques she had learned in her MBRP support group she decided that she did not believe her story. She had a choice not to drink. She realized she had written out how she thought things would go in the split second from when she was invited to that party, and that she could change those automatic thoughts. Dr. Bowen referred to the technique her client used as "telling a new story."

Using mindfulness the clients can be aware of their thoughts and triggers and realize they are trying to seek pleasure and avoid pain. They can then be aware of these automatic urges and make choices to not engage in substance abuse. Dr. Bowen also emphasized that with the awareness of these thoughts and feelings and responding to them with compassion the clients will be less likely to engage in the automatic addictive behavior.

There is still much research to be done in regards to MBRP. The main advantage this approach is that it provides day-to-day coping skills that will be applicable even years after receiving treatment. The self-awareness gained in mindfulness is beneficial to continuously keeping track and control of triggers and responses to those triggers.

Motivation to engage in this type of treatment is important of course. Mindfulness skills can be taught almost anyone but not everyone is willing to participate. This is important to consider when working with clients because you always want to keep in mind what is best for their treatment.

Sources:
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/can_mindfulness_help_stop_substance_abuse
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