We’ve had some fantastic discussions with colleagues on different aspects of consciousness and mind and their ability to be restorative to our health, to be allies for our well-being. We can bring together a sense of wholeness that is based on spiritual, psychological, emotional, and physical well-being. As a Psychiatrist and Addictionist, Vernon spent many years working in the worlds of Medicine, Metaphysics, and science, and also in the worlds of emotions and Psychology. One of his biggest areas of interest has been addiction. We will address some of the issues of the role of mind in addiction, expand to the transcendent components of mind, consciousness, and spirituality, and how they may all integrate. These efforts for our health and well-being are so crucial to our spiritual and physical well-being.
One of our colleagues in the Addiction world, Chana (pronounced “Hana,” like the road to Hana, Hawaii) Carro, is a diplomate of the American Academy of Social Work, a licensed clinical Social Worker, and a licensed independent Substance Abuse Counselor, with over 24 years’ experience. She’s done a lot of research on the impact of spirituality in addiction; the impact of culture and trans-cultural issues, and how the concepts of spirituality and addiction treatment blend.
Addiction touched her family personally in a very powerful way. She was driven by her experience to study things that could help her family and others. One of the first things she learned about addiction was from Father Joseph Martin, who talked about addiction as a dis-ease. People have a dis-ease. They are ill at ease. Addiction can be studied from a medical perspective. There is a predictable course and symptoms, but that doesn’t capture the nature of addiction. At its core, addiction is a dis-ease. She explains, “I believe that that dis-ease, that ill-at-ease-ness with self, is essentially coming from the fact that man is not, as we might imagine, only homo sapiens, but also and predominantly, homo-spiritus. If a man is homo-spiritus, then he is essentially a spiritual being. A soul comes into the physical body and comes to this planet for a purpose. The purpose is to make a home for God, to make the Earth a place of spiritual wellness and beauty and wholeness, a holy place that God can inhabit, and to transform this place and to bring heaven down to Earth. In this endeavor, a person who is at ease, who is spiritually centered, who lives by positive spiritual principles and behaviors, across a variety of traditions, has the potential and the opportunity to fulfill that mission and to make the world a better place for themselves, for their family, and for the people. When a person is driven by dis-ease, that characterizes addiction.”
What an intriguing way to describe a sometimes catastrophic experience! We’ll be sharing more details and insights on this often excruciating challenge to happiness.
Vernon and Louise Taber Barksdale
