Pubdate: Wed, 4 Apr 2001 Source: Esquimalt News (CN BC) Copyright: 2001 Esquimalt News Contact: http://www.esquimaltnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1290 Author: Mark Browne ADDICTION COUNSELLOR SEEKS TO HEAL THE SOULS OF ADDICTS Addicts trying to kick their habits should connect with their souls - not their egos - if they want to recover. That's what a local addiction counsellor has to say about the spiritual approach he uses to treat addicts. "What happens with addiction is that it's more of an ego trip than anything else," says Ron Quesnel, who just started up Ron Quesnel Counselling Services in Esquimalt. He says addicts deal with the guilt they have about being dependent on various substances by sabotaging themselves. Quesnel stresses that while he takes a spiritual approach to counselling addicts it's not a religious approach. He says the model he uses is the 12-step recovery system that originated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quesnel says the 12 step program essentially involves the addict moving from an ego-based "me myself and I attitude" to realizing that it's time to make a spiritual connection and start following his or her dreams. "That's basically what I do in my workshop. I teach people to be inner spirit directed," he says. Quesnel treated addicts for more than 20 years before staring up his own operation in Esquimalt. From 1993-97 he worked as an addictions counsellor at the Dallas House where he notes he had about 200 people go through his program. Quesnel has treated addicts of all types - from alcoholics to drug users. Whether someone has a drinking problem or they're hooked on heroin or cocaine their addictions are essentially behavior addictions, he says. "Much of it is learned. There's all kinds of theories, it's not just genetic," says Quesnel, who had a drinking problem himself before earning an MA and becoming an addiction counsellor. When someone does overcome an addiction they undergo tremendous transformations, he says. People who recover from addictions develop a better sense of themselves and they become more compassionate, Quesnel explains. "It's kind like undergoing a resurrection," he says. "A whole new person develops from the humbling of finally admitting that they have a problem and facing it, and going through the steps." People who use Quesnel's services pay for treatment out of their own pockets. He says addicts can access subsidized treatment in provincial government-run harm reduction programs. But the harm reduction approach, which he says involves getting addicts to cut down on their habits, doesn't have a very good track record. Quesnel says he stopped working for government-run programs for that very reason. Other consequences of addictions that can also be quite severe. Addicts aren't the only people who suffer as their addictions can be devastating on their families. Addictions are also bad for creativity, he says, noting he does work in the area of "creative recovery". "People lose their sense of direction in life and they lose their ability to be creative. They develop some very strong creative blocks because they're sabotaging themselves," says Quesnel. "So once they get through this all of a sudden all of their creativity comes out." - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D