Pubdate: Tue, 25 Jul 2006 Source: Native American Times (US) Copyright: 2006 Native American Times Contact: http://www.nativetimes.com/letterstotheeditorquestions.asp Website: http://www.nativetimes.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3997 Author: Dan Cross Note: About the author: Dan Cross', M.Div., L.A.D.C., is a Licensed Alcohol & Drug Counselor and Associate Pastor of Father's House Church, www.fhtulsa.org, where he runs the Addiction Recovery Ministry (ARMy) which is free to the public on Tuesday evenings at 7:00 PM, 7727 E 41st Street, Tulsa, 1 block west of Memorial on 41st Street. KILLING THE DRAGON Tulsa Recovery House Focuses on the Spiritual "Jerred" (not his real name) had always been a violent person. There seemed within him an angst, a pain too deep for his understanding, yet prevalent in every part of his being. That pain expressed in rage, and that rage in violence. Where did the pain come from? It had always been there. Why was he different? He didn't know, but his difference would dominate. Power was essential, and that was the draw of methamphetamine, otherwise known as "speed", "crystal", "zoom", "ice". When he was on it, he felt powerful. That powerful rage often caused pain. His need to control frequently controlled him. He hurt the ones he loved, and could not stop it regardless of the consequences. He lost his wife and children, and his pain only became worse. No longer could he hide it under the guise of power as it came throbbing to the surface, leaking out in his shame. His pride often triggered his rage, yet his life seemed to be cloaked with a shame he could not shed. Jerred was from the Yaki (a.k.a., Yaqui) tribe who inhabited Arizona to Northern California, a fierce people who caused even the famed Apaches to tremble. The Yakis were also known for their religious rituals using mind-altering substances. This practice was brought to public attention in the 1960's drug culture when Carlos Castaneda's wrote of his association with the Yaki Indian sorcerer don Juan Matus in "The Teachings of Don Juan." The entry into "Mescalito" was through eating the hallucinogenic peyote buttons. This sorcery was the source of the great Yaki's power. Jerred's story is an illustration of the many facets and layers contributing to addiction and compulsive behavior. There are a variety of addictions that have nothing to do with alcohol or drugs. Sometimes we participate in several addictions, or leave one and find another addiction that substitutes for the old one. Simply stopping the compulsive behavior doesn't stop the problem. Someone once said that addiction is like a four-headed dragon. Cutting off one head doesn't kill the dragon. At the Addiction Recovery Ministry (ARMy), at Father's House Church, 7727 E 41st St, Tulsa, OK, a Spirit-Bio-Psycho-Social approach is taken, addressing each head of the dragon. In Jerred's case, a heritage of sorcery-empowered violence had passed generation to generation. Jerred had experienced abuse as a child. As studies have shown, alcohol and drugs are most frequently associated with domestic violence. Such trauma alone is often insufficient to provoke violence toward the next generation. Most often alcohol or drugs are necessary to lower natural inhibition and empower violence, just as the Yakis experienced centuries ago. In Gal 5:19-21 we see a whole list of behaviors identified as "works of the flesh": "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." In a clinical or ministerial setting one often sees many of these behaviors clustered together in one's clients. Jerred exhibited many of them, as well, but we want to focus now upon "sorcery". Looking at Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, the original Greek word translated in English as "sorcery" here is pharmakia, from which we get the English word "pharmacy", and which Vine's says means, "the use of medicine, drugs, spells"; then, "poisoning"; then, "sorcery," Throughout ancient times witchcraft and sorcery have been associated with the use of drugs and alcohol, mind and mood altering substances. Through the manipulation of the soul, i.e., the mind, will, and emotions, a spiritual portal is opened allowing spiritual presence to empower. Yet this power is short-lived. This presence takes a high price for power, as it extracts all personal power commanding subjection, thus the addiction or compulsion. It is this spiritual component that empowers or commands the other "works of the flesh". Many traditional approaches to treating addiction fail to address the spiritual component at all. If it is addressed, too often it is addressed in an anemic fashion without understanding the nature of the spiritual problem. Many times our desire to respect all religious traditions would have us honor the Yakis' tradition of drug abuse pursuing spiritual power and experience while, at the same time, trying to address one's addiction to drugs and alcohol. Obviously, traditional approaches to the spiritual aspect of addiction have often fallen short of what is needed. Unfortunately, many churches fail to meet other aspects of addiction, leaving those heads of the dragon alive and well. For this reason many "born again" or "spirit-filled" former addicts who now go to church, either find their way back to their primary addiction or find a substitute addiction. Jerred got free from meth, and has been for years, but struggles with a sexual addiction. Sam, the great grandson of a great Creek chief and a Bible School graduate, came to ARMy in the clutches of a meth and alcohol addiction. He discovered that his core addiction was a sexual addiction. That addiction was a preoccupation with a need to be loved, stemming from his mother's abandonment of him as a child. Substances masked his pain yet, like Jerred, they removed his inhibitions to violence, acting out his pain. So, Sam kept getting arrested for fighting. Sam would not have gotten clean and sober had he not addressed his core psychological issues that kept drawing him back into old behavior. Jerred's heritage was both that of substance abuse and violence. These traits have been passed down from generation to generation until Jerred's childhood was traumatized with domestic violence, which he continued in his own adult life. Belonging to a people of once great warriors, frustrated with current diminished life circumstances, Jerred exemplifies the frustration of so many Native Americans. But Jerred has the added issues of child abuse. While this factor has definite psychological and spiritual components, we want to address the sociological factors. The sociological factors can be divided into two categories, those that are cultural, and those specific to a particular dysfunctional family system. We read about both categories in the Bible, indicating the spiritual element woven into the framework of these other factors. We cannot separate the effects of one factor from another. In certain cultures, Native American and other, we often see dysfunctional patterns that reproduce themselves in subsequent generations. However, it is the specific family dynamics that tend to have the greatest impact on the formation of addiction triggers or mechanisms. Nevertheless, there are people from every culture, and even from dysfunctional family systems, that appear to be free from addictions. It should be stressed that every individual is responsible for their own behavior, and their own recovery. Blaming addiction on our victimization does little to help us get free. Rather, it interferes with our taking the steps we need to take to heal and become free. Science has identified that years of history and genetics has bred a genetic predisposition to certain addictions. It is a fact that Native Americans, Irish, and others, have a greater incidence of substance abuse and dependency than other ethnic groups. This represents a biological factor. Other aspects of the biological factor include the tolerance and withdrawal physiology of substance addiction. Still others are related to the development of neuropathways in the brain that cause the brain of an addict to behave differently than another. Biologists have discovered that the neuropathways of sexual stimulation are similar to the neuropathways of stimulant drugs, explaining why there seems to be a cross-addiction between methamphetamines or cocaine and sexual addiction, as Jerred and Sam have discovered. Quitting one only sets up the addiction to the other. If that addiction is not addressed, there is a good chance that the person will find their way back to their primary addiction of choice. Until the addiction trigger, the core issue, is addressed, the person is at serious risk of relapse into one of the former addictions, or finding a new substitute. It can seem like a hopeless, bottomless canyon with no way out. At ARMy we identify addiction triggers, management and avoidance strategies, and warning signs that our relapse prevention planning is not currently being effective. The warning signs signal when we need help, something often difficult for us to ask for. We provide a group of understanding people that are resources for each person to reach out to when they need help. This is the framework for building new and healthier routines and thought patterns until our emotional responses follow suit. This framework for recovery offers an opportunity for a lasting freedom from the bondage we have experienced. The addict no longer has to continue falling into a bottomless canyon. Cutting off all four heads of the dragon provides a pathway out of the abyss. There is hope. That pathway is an opportunity the addict must seize in order to walk out of the canyon of addiction. No one can walk it for the addict, but the addict can't walk it alone. They need the strength of a Power greater than themselves. That pathway leads to the sunrise of a new day, a new beginning. If you suffer from an addiction contact one of the resources for recovery listed below. Take your first steps along that path. [sidebar] INDIAN RESOURCES FOR RECOVERY: Addiction Recovery Ministry (ARMy) which is free to the public on Tuesday evenings at Father's House 7:00 PM, 7727 E 41st Street, Tulsa, 1 block west of Memorial on 41st Street. Indian Healthcare Resource Center of Tulsa Substance Abuse Services 550 South Peoria Avenue Tulsa OK 74120 Phone: (918) 588-1900 Absentee Shawnee Tribe Substance Abuse Program 2029 South Gordon Cooper Drive Shawnee OK 74801 Phone: (405) 878-4716 ext. 140 Behavioral Health Services of Creek Nation Substance Abuse Services 200 Selmon Road Eufaula OK 74432 Phone: (918) 618-2168 Choctaw Nation Chi Hullo Li Highway 63-A Talihina OK 74571 Phone: (918) 567-2905 Choctaw Nation Recovery Center Substance Abuse Services Highway 63 and 1 Talihina OK 74571 Phone: (918) 567-2389 Creek Nation Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse Services Substance Abuse Services 100 West 7th Street Suite 102 Okmulgee OK 74447 Phone: (918) 758-1910 Inter Tribal Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Center Substance Abuse Services 101 South Main Street Miami OK 74354 Phone: (918) 542-5543 Native American Center of Recovery Substance Abuse Services 420 North Kickapoo Street Shawnee OK 74802 Phone: (405) 275-5270 Osage Nation Counseling Center Substance Abuse Program 518 Leahy Street Pawhuska OK 74056 Phone: (918) 287-5422 Otoe Missouria Tribe Substance Abuse Program 8151 North Highway 177 Red Rock OK 74651 Phone: (580) 723-4466 Quapaw Tribal Family Services Substance Abuse Services 17 Seneca Street Miami OK 74354 Phone: (888) 333-4902 Tonkawa Tribe Substance Abuse Program Substance Abuse Services 1 Rush Buffalo Road Tonkawa OK 74653 Phone: (580) 628-2561 ext. 19 Wewoka Indian Health Center Chemical Abuse Prevention Program Junction U.S. 270 and Route 56 Wewoka OK 74884 Phone: (405) 257-6281 Celebrate Recovery http://www.celebraterecovery-sw.org/Contacts/oklahoma.htm State Representative: Norma Murphy Phone: (918) 743-8897 email: Norma at Alcoholics Anonymous http://www.aaoklahoma.org/ Oklahoma State Committee Area 57 Office P.O. Box 18415 Oklahoma City, OK 73154 405-842-1200 (9:00am to 1:00pm, Monday - Thursday) 4900 Richmond Square, Suite 204, Oklahoma City Narcotics Anonymous http://www.okna.org/ Eastern Area: (918) 747-0017 - Inside Tulsa area (888) 749-0017 - Outside Tulsa area Plains Area: (800) 982-0242 Western Area: (405) 524-7068 - Inside Oklahoma City (866) 524-7068 - Outside Oklahoma City Area Red River Area: (888) 629-6757 - (888-NAWORKS) - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake