The Role of Meditation in Addiction Recovery

Abstract

The authors examined the role of meditation as an important component in addiction recovery. Successful addiction recovery is often related to an individual's ability to develop and use a repertoire of coping behaviors, including the ability to maintain an ongoing awareness of one's vulnerability. These learned behaviors serve as reliable alternatives to the routine behavior patterns of individuals who are addicted, which, in the past, have led to often-repeated destructive outcomes. The authors contend that incorporating meditation into the lifestyle of individuals recovering from addiction provides a consistent means of preparing for inevitable, addiction-related life challenges and a coping skill that can help maintain equilibrium in living with ever-present peril.

Applying Buddhist Practices to Advocacy: The Advocacy-Serving Model

“…The creative approach of applying Buddhist practices to the potentially stressful realities of advocacy work can allow the practitioner to consider diverse solutions (Kaufman & Sternberg, 2007) in a situation where unaware and constricted responses might be the norm (Roysircar, 2009;SommersFlanagan, 2007;Toporek et al, 2009) and in a time where wellness habits such as mindfulness and meditation may be helpful (Baer, 2003;Cashwell et al, 2007;Germer, 2005;Greason & Cashwell, 2009;Kabat-Zinn, 1990;Logsdon-Conradsen, 2002;Pruett et al, 2007;Robins, 2002). The reflective mind can inspire creative ways to solving problems (Griffith, 2000;McAuliffe, 2002) and visualize change (Adarkar & Keiser, 2007).…”

“…Mindfulness means working with the mind by knowing it, shaping it, freeing it, and paying attention to how life is experienced every moment (Germer, 2005;Pruett, Nishimura, & Priest, 2007).…”

“…Meditation is a way to acquire mindfulness through commitment to practice, intentional self-regulation, full attention, a restful attitude, and moment-to-moment concentration (Baer, 2003;Pruett et al, 2007). Through mindfulness and meditation, the habits of the mind are recognized (Germer, 2005) and wellness is enhanced (Baer, 2003;Cashwell et al, 2007;KabatZinn, 1990;Logsdon-Conradsen, 2002;Robins, 2002).…”

Using Meditation in Addiction Counseling

“…Counselors have an ethical responsibility to receive appropriate training before practicing meditation with clients, should present it as a helping technique (not a cure-all), and should use it with clients who are open to meditation and who remain committed to the recovery process (Pruett et al, 2007). Furthermore, as in most counseling settings, a counselor should seek to understand a client's cultural identity before using meditation with the client.…”

“…Although a number of therapeutic frameworks have been created to lend organization and logic to meditation practices in recovery settings (Curtis, Martin, & Shelley, 2002;Marlatt & Gordon, 1985), there are still limitations when attempting to adequately address the multidimensional nature of addiction through meditation (Pruett et al, 2007). One of the difficulties in arriving at conclusions about meditation research is that there is no standard form of meditation treatment and little agreement about length of treatment.…”