aftercare' Archives - Iboga Tree - Ibogaine Treatment Centers Europe

17th June 2020

Post-Treatment Support: 3 Reasons it's Crucial

When you leave a treatment facility, you will almost certainly feel triumphant. You’ve conquered detox and withdrawals. You’ve faced down some demons and persevered. You’re ready for a wonderful new challenge, ready to find fulfillment in all the areas of your personal and professional life that you’ve neglected for too long. But it is a huge mistake to assume that you can conquer addiction in isolation. Almost everyone who succeeds in recovery needs support as they navigate life after addiction, and here’s why:

1) Life's Stressors

Post-Treatment Support: 3 Reasons it's Crucial

Your parents and teachers probably told you this long ago, and they told you for a reason. Addiction simplifies all of life’s problems, allowing the addict to substitute the worries and cares that most people deal with into one problem: how do I get more of the substance I need to function? After addiction, you are exchanging that one simple problem for a host of other concerns.

And life can be especially hard when you’re facing challenges that you have avoided for years. Most addicts emerge from treatment to find that their finances are a mess, their health has deteriorated, their professional prospects have changed for the worse, and their personal relationships are in dire need of attention and repair. It is easy to feel overwhelmed, and your mind has been conditioned to turn to a substance when faced with difficult situations and emotions.

This is why a sponsor, a peer-support group, or a counselor is fundamental to the recovery process. You’ll need encouragement and advice to get your finances in order, to make amends with the people you’ve wronged, to re-connect and repair relationships with loved ones, and to build healthy habits for your sober life. Someone experienced in the logistics of rebuilding lives destroyed by addiction can guide you through a process which will appear hopeless and impossibly daunting at first. You’ll need to learn how to live a responsible and productive life, and it’s almost impossible to learn without a teacher.

2) All It Takes is One Slip

We tend to think differently of relapse when dealing with addiction than we do with “medical” diseases. But as with cancer in remission, the specter of relapse will always be looming behind you. Addicts suffer relapses at rates similar to those for “chronic medical illnesses” according to the National Institute for Health. While relapse doesn’t necessarily mean that treatment has failed, many addicts immediately return to their previous, self-destructive patterns of substance use and behaviour.

But relapse doesn’t happen in a single, disastrous moment. Addictions experts have broken relapse down into a series of stages. It begins with “emotional relapse”, where denial, isolating, bottling-up of emotions, and poor self-care put those in recovery in vulnerable positions. This is followed by “mental relapse”, which typically includes minimizing the damage caused by substance misuse, glamourizing past substance use, lying, bargaining with yourself, and creating scenarios where substance use would be acceptable. The final stage is “physical relapse”, where an addict begins using once again.

Because professionals and peers with experience of addiction are aware of this cycle and have dealt with these situations before, they are an absolutely invaluable resource for preventing relapse. A sponsor, counselor, or close friend who has been through these battles will recognize the signs of relapse in the stages leading to a physical relapse, and prod you back onto a healthy path. Having someone you trust and respect point out negative patterns in thought or behaviour can often be enough to keep you on the road to recovery. An NCBI review found that participation in peer-support programs led to higher rates of abstinence, greater satisfaction with treatment, and significant reductions in relapse rate.

3) People Need People

Over 2000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote that “Man is, by nature, a social animal.” He argued that humans derive happiness and meaning from building connections with others, and that anyone who didn’t need others was “either a beast or a God”, something more or less than truly human. Modern philosophers have explored and challenged his ideas, but we think most would agree with his assertion that we need to interact with and care deeply about others in order to live meaningful lives.

Johann Hari, a journalist and thinker who has explored addiction in-depth, would certainly agree with the Greek. After studying the affliction, he concluded that addiction was based not on brain chemistry, but on an inability to connect with others. The Canadian psychologist Dr. Bruce Alexander conducted the seminal “Rat Park” study, an experiment which influenced Hari’s thinking. He offered morphine-laced water to rats that were isolated, and to others placed in environments with companions, toys, exercise equipment, and sexual partners. Alexander found that the isolated rats quickly became dependent on opiates, while the happy, socially fulfilled rats did not.

Why is this important for you? Post treatment, you’ll be particularly vulnerable to feelings of isolation. You’ll want to avoid many of your former friends and associates in order to stay sober, and it will take time to re-build meaningful connections with family and loved ones. Peer-support groups are a tremendous way to manufacture a sense of connection and belonging as you begin to build a sober life. Most groups are supportive and welcoming, and the encouragement, advice, and guidance they can offer will be invaluable.

At Iboga Tree Healing House, we recommend peer-support fellowships to anyone who’ll listen. Even if you’re put off by the 12 Step model, there are promising alternatives out there, such as Smart Recovery, which might work for you. We’ve even launched our own peer-support network tailored for those who’ve found sobriety through iboga therapy, which allows individuals around the world to come together for weekly video conferences. Recovery isn’t easy, and it’s even harder if you try to do it alone!

2nd September 2019

Making Recovery Last: The Importance of Iboga Aftercare

If you’ve been paying attention to the rapidly evolving world of addiction treatment, you’re probably already aware of iboga’s remarkable ability to interrupt the debilitating downward spiral of substance misuse. Iboga has allowed thousands of addicts to effectively treat their withdrawal symptoms. It re-wires neural pathways that have been warped by substance misuse, returning sufferers to a pre-addicted state. But Iboga isn’t a cure-all or a magic bullet. It interrupts addiction and allows people to enter recovery with a blank slate on which to write a brand-new life story. But in order to give that story a happy ending, addicts absolutely must dedicate themselves to iboga aftercare.

Today we’ll be taking a look at some iboga aftercare options that can help your recovery last a lifetime...

Addiction's roots

As we’ve gained a greater understanding of addiction, the idea of the “demon drug” that robs addicts of free will has fallen by the wayside. Addiction is increasingly being viewed as a response to physical and mental pain, and treatment has been evolving to address the psychological roots of the affliction. Influential thinkers like Dr. Gabor Mate and Johann Hari have inspired many to explore the traumas that allow addiction to develop and to treat the ailment with understanding and compassion. As our understanding of addiction has increased, we’ve come to realize that it isn’t an affliction that can be treated uniformly. Every recovering addict must deal with their pain and their triggers in the manner that works best for them. Finding aftercare solutions that offer you the tools you need to address, cope with, and move forward from trauma and pain is an essential step in the recovery process.

Mindfulness and Meditation

Mindfulness and meditation are two tools that we would unreservedly recommend to those in recovery. Mindfulness therapy can allow you to avoid negative and self-destructive mind-frames, and allow you to deal with cravings and emotions in a positive way. Mindfulness and meditation and Kundalini yoga have been proven to reduce levels of cortisol, a stress-related hormone, and other toxins in the body. Addiction allows those in pain to numb themselves, and a fundamental part of the recovery process is learning to live with your pain. Mindfulness therapy is an incredibly powerful tool for learning to live with and love yourself!

The CBT Difference

Like mindfulness, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), is an effective way to explore and learn to cope with the problems at the root of addiction. Most addicts begin their downward spiral when a substance offers them powerful positive (“this drug makes me feel great”) or negative (“I need to eliminate this stress/pain”) stimuli. Over time they program themselves to unconsciously respond to feelings or situations with “automatic thoughts” or “triggers”: a certain stimulus causes an automatic desire to use a substance to bring pleasure or eliminate pain.

CBT teaches patients to identify and avoid triggers and replace unhealthy behaviors with beneficial ones. It also seeks to change belief systems and alter unhealthy and negative automatic thoughts that spur addiction. Like mindfulness, CBT promotes attention to the self and self-regulation of emotions, two mental tools that can help those in recovery recognize and deal with negative patterns of thought and behavior.

Making Connections

We’ve already written about Johann Hari and the social connection theory of addiction, as well as Dr. Bruce Alexander’s influential Rat Park study. Both are somewhat controversial, but every addiction professional will agree that connecting with others in recovery is an essential piece of the aftercare puzzle. As the SAMHSA fact sheet notes, “research indicates that active participation in any type of peer support group increases the likelihood that members will abstain from alcohol and nonprescription drugs. Furthermore, abstinence rates increase with greater group participation.” The Surgeon General has also found that “controlled studies have demonstrated benefits for consumers participating in self-help" and that "participation in self-help groups has been found to lessen feelings of isolation, increase practical knowledge, and sustain coping efforts."

There are a number of peer support organizations out there, ranging from traditional 12 Step groups to Double Trouble in Recovery for addicts suffering from co-occurring disorders, to SMART Recovery (an alternative to 12 step programs that focus on teaching the skills necessary for building a balanced life). At Iboga Tree Healing House we offer a weekly online aftercare session, which allows up to 8 former clients to meet once a week and share their experiences, trials, and triumphs. Being close to those who have shared your Iboga experience can offer the support and encouragement that everyone on this journey will need.

HALT!

Relapse is always a danger for those in recovery, no matter how careful or committed they are. In fact, many experts would argue that addiction is an affliction that lasts a lifetime and can never be “cured.” Self-care and self-awareness are a must for successful relapse prevention, and one of the simplest tools for ensuring you aren’t vulnerable to triggers is the HALT principle. HALT (asking yourself if you’re hungry, angry, lonely, or tired) allows you to recognize and deal with problematic emotions that can lead to relapse before they create significant harm. Focusing on nutrition, dealing with emotions constructively, avoiding isolation, and recharging your body and mind will allow you to deal with everyday stresses in a positive fashion and build a healthy and rewarding life for yourself.

The holistic aftercare options we offer at Iboga Tree Healing House, ranging from equine-assisted therapy to Kundalini Yoga and massage, are intended to foster the ability to deal with problematic thoughts and emotions in a positive way. Arming yourself with strategies and techniques for combating cravings and dealing with difficult situations should be a key component in your aftercare plan.

Iboga Aftercare: Staying On The Path

It’s a mistake to think of iboga therapy as a cure for what ails you. Maintaining your sobriety requires careful preparation and a lifetime’s worth of effort. But trust us, emerging from addiction as a healthy, positive, and well-adjusted individual is worth the time and effort. At Iboga Tree Healing House we work with all of our clients to create a personalized ibogaine aftercare plan that will help you to deal with the challenges that lie ahead. If you’re ready to change your life for the better, don’t hesitate to get in touch !