THE SAMADHI OUTPATIENT CLINIC

WHO WE ARE

The Samadhi Outpatient Clinic is an alternative treatment program for those suffering from substance use disorder and related addictive behaviors. This treatment model is based in Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy, MBAR (Mindfulness Based Addiction Recovery), EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization), DBT (Dialectical behavioral therapy), Meditation, Implicit Psychotherapy, Integral Somatic Psychology (ISP) and Somatic Experiencing.

Many of these treatment modalities are evidence based and have shown extremely promising results in recent studies. The current model of addiction treatment in this country has a very low success rate. This has brought about a paradigm shift in the way we treat and heal addiction and the underlying causes of addiction. It begins with mindfulness. The automatic, compulsive quality of addiction is incompatible with the open spaciousness of a merciful, gentle mindfulness.

Where mindfulness is, addiction is not. Cultivation of one, leaves less room for the other. Though many models of recovery perpetuate a disease-based focus, we promote a health based compassionate approach. That is, we emphasize building on health and strength rather than disease or pathology.

Our approach is about facing what hurts and finding answers. We emphasize staying in contact with the positive aspects of life, and living a full, satisfying, meaningful life rather than focusing on sickness or powerlessness. The word SAMADHI means spiritual self-fulfillment and coming together through concentration.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

From Author Marc Lewis’s Book The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction Is Not a Disease

“Addictions are previously helpful coping strategies that have become “really bad habits” embedded in neural networks that are difficult to change. However, in contrast to the disease model, this model explains how they can be changed: The brain has a built-in capacity to continue to learn new and more effective behavior throughout one’s lifetime.”

It is possible to change behaviors that are no longer useful or that have become harmful and develop more effective ways of coping and caring for ourselves. Disease suggests permanence and powerlessness, but this is an empowerment model that inspires hope and motivation to do the work of pursuing positive change.

Often, a user needs to understand the purpose drug use serves for him or her in order to stop use and develop more effective solutions to life’s problems. It is unreasonable to expect people to give up chemical coping strategies until they have found better alternatives.

Some of the basic techniques from evidence-based practices like DBT , Motivational Interviewing and CBT are incorporated into this trauma-based form of addiction treatment. The concept of distress tolerance which involves understanding and managing your emotions in difficult or stressful situations without responding with harmful behaviors is a central technique. Distress tolerance is often mentioned through the lens of DBT but of course there are many modes of mindfulness and trauma healing based therapies that we work with as well.

THE SAMADHI APPROACH

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapeutic practice that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.  Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference.

SOMATIC EXPERIENCING

Somatic experiencing offers a framework to assess where a person is “stuck” in the fight, flight or freeze responses and provides clinical tools to resolve these fixated physiological states. This being ‘Stuck” in fight or flight is a common condition known as P.A.W.S (Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome) within the addiction community. Until now there has not been a successful treatment for PAWS. While these methods have been in use for some time, they are very new in the treatment of addiction. At the heart of addiction and craving is traumatic stress, the stuck, and hence repeating, energetic survival states of fight, flight or freeze. These easily triggered past residual signals of threat-associated flashbacks, bring into consciousness emotional pain too overwhelming to stay in dialogue with. These dissociative states make it hard to remain in the present moment, and send us looking for ways to avoid, deny, distract, or numb ourselves.

One of Somatic Experiencing Therapy’s views of addiction treatment is the orientation to the present moment, the sensorial experience of the present moment. Through orientation we can direct our attention to the sobering reality of the present moment through the senses, and away from the addictive flooding of difficult feelings, thoughts, or sensations left over from unresolved trauma. Somatic Experiencing Therapy includes orientation as a way to create greater relaxation of the mind and body. Attending to the sensorial experience of our current surrounding, we are better able to assess the safety that is. Building up our capacity for assessing current safety protects us from the repeating hypervigilance resulting from traumatic memory, the apex of the highly charged traumatic event.

Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy

The psycho-biosocial model suggests that effective treatment for problematic drug use must bring together therapeutic strategies that facilitate the exploration of the personal and relational meanings of addictive behavior with active strategies that support positive behavior change. The essence of harm reduction is to reduce the harms of drug use and other risky behavior without requiring that people first stop the behavior. This makes treatment accessible, relevant, and appealing to the entire spectrum of problematic drug users at whatever point they are ready to begin their journey toward positive change—whether desiring safer use, reduced use, moderation or stopping altogether.

• Learn to distinguish between thoughts and facts

• Learn to distinguish between thoughts and feelings

• Understand the vicious cycle of addiction

• Understand early warning signs in the body

• How to work with relapse

• Become more aware of the body, thoughts and feelings

• Understand activation in the nervous system that leads to drug use

• Learn how to "Expand Emotions" to help regulate the system

• Learn the practice of "Urge Surfing" to avoid relapse

Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy: A New Treatment for Drug and Alcohol Problems. IHRP brings together relational, dynamic, cognitive, behavioral and mindfulness strategies in a harm reduction frame. IHRP’s core tasks can be applied to therapy or self-guided change Create a compassionate relationship with yourself or the person you are helping as the prerequisite for making positive change.

• Strengthen emotion-management skills for sitting with uncomfortable feelings and interrupting the addictive process

• Discover the meaning and function of addictive behavior

• Embrace ambivalence about change and dialogue with the part that wants to change and the part that is invested in the addictive behavior to increase motivation to change

• Develop new solutions to this dilemma: healthier, coping strategies for what’s being addressed by the addictive behavior that will support positive changes in addictive behavior

• Create a personalized positive change plan for achieving one’s goals

Samadhi: A Trauma Informed and Trauma Based Approach

“Addiction is the result of the inability to know how to feel safe”.- Luis Mojica

Being trauma informed is about thinking ‘what has happened to this person’ rather than ‘what is wrong with this person’.  It is about finding out and understanding what has happened in a person’s life that might have led them to where they are now. It is also about thinking how trauma could affect a person in the future and taking steps to prevent adversity.

We know that trauma in childhood, called adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and trauma in adult life can have a detrimental impact on physical and emotional well-being and they can influence the decisions we make in life including addiction. Having an ACE score of 4 increases the likelihood of becoming an alcoholic by 700%. People with a score of 5 or higher are seven to 10 times more likely to use illegal drugs and become addicted. Those with a score higher than a 7 have a 4721% greater chance of using drugs intravenously.

It is for this reason that The SAMADHI OUTPATIENT CLINIC focuses on the trauma that is the underlying cause of addiction in most cases.

Please reach out with any questions or inquiries about treatment for yourself or a loved one at (845) 481-4728 .

If you would like a tour or orientation to our program, please contact us at: outpatient@samadhiny.org and brendav@samadhiny.org.