0:00
This is the show where we slow things
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down and we get curious about behavior
0:04
and focus on understanding rather than
0:07
pathizing, blaming, or judging. In the
0:11
last episode, we talked about addiction
0:13
through a trauma-informed lens and not
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as a moral failing or lack of willpower,
0:18
but as an adaptation to pain,
0:21
disconnection, unmet needs, and
0:24
emotional distress. Today, I want to
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build on that conversation and talk
0:28
about how trauma-informed recovery.
0:31
Specifically, how EMDR therapy works
0:33
with addiction and why healing the root
0:35
of addiction changes everything. This
0:38
episode is for anyone who's ever
0:40
wondered if addiction isn't the real
0:41
problem. If you aren't fully subscribed
0:44
to a disease or a medical model, and how
0:47
do we actually heal from addiction? So,
0:49
if you are someone who struggles with
0:50
addiction or overuse or misuse of
0:52
substances or loves someone who does,
0:54
then this is probably a good show for
0:56
you. So, here's something I want you to
0:58
hear right away. You cannot shame your
1:00
nervous system into healing. And you
1:02
cannot logic your way out of trauma-
1:04
based coping. It's not possible. We're
1:06
not wired for it. And recovery doesn't
1:08
happen by forcing someone to stop using.
1:11
It happens by helping the nervous system
1:13
no longer need to use. Using substances
1:16
is a symptom of the problem that's
1:18
greater and it's deeper. I want to help
1:21
educate you on why traumainformed
1:23
recovery matters. And a lot of inpatient
1:25
places and recovery facilities don't
1:28
offer the trauma support and the healing
1:30
that's needed to make relapse not just
1:33
be a default thing that happens. So when
1:35
addiction is treated without addressing
1:37
trauma, people are often asked to give
1:39
up the only thing that has ever helped
1:41
them regulate. and they're not given any
1:44
other way to manage distress in their
1:47
nervous system. And that's why relapse
1:49
is so common. Not because people don't
1:51
care. It's not because people don't want
1:53
to get better, but because their nervous
1:55
systems are still stuck in that survival
1:57
mode. And so trauma-informed recovery
2:00
asks us different questions. It's what
2:02
happened to you? Uh when did you start
2:04
using? How was it beneficial? What did
2:07
your nervous system learn? And how do we
2:10
need to help your brain access more
2:11
adaptive information so that you can
2:14
remember the natural consequences that
2:16
are more negative than the positive
2:18
feelings that go with the use or the
2:20
escape or the relief. And so this is
2:23
where EMDR becomes especially powerful
2:26
because we can uncouple the positive
2:28
feelings that have worked so that they
2:31
don't have such a stronghold. So let me
2:33
give you a little background. EMDR
2:35
really addresses the nervous system and
2:37
the brain and it is uh short for eye
2:39
movement desensitization and
2:41
reprocessing. Uh and historically it's
2:43
known more widely acceptable for PTSD
2:47
but it's incredibly effective in
2:49
addiction in recovery and trauma that's
2:52
at the roots of often why people use and
2:55
we understand addiction as trauma linked
2:58
learning. So addictive behaviors become
3:01
paired with positive internal states
3:04
like I said relief, calm, numbing,
3:07
belonging, freedom, control. And over
3:12
time, our brain learns this is how I
3:14
survive. This is what gets me out of
3:16
that feeling I was having before I used
3:18
the substance. EMDR doesn't rip that
3:22
belief away. It just updates the BIOS.
