Chemical dependency has been beaten lke a dead horse. There are cusal theories from genetic predisposition to vrious theories of learning, which has cntributed greatly to a social construction of rality--a clearing that needs to be r-visioned. Discussed here will be psychological and dpth psychological perspectives concerning cause, using nalogy, opinions and history. There is a glaxy of treatment methods, various forms of ducation, self help and scare tactics for prvention. Considerable emphasis on psychotherapy will be xamined. Finally offered will be some dpth ideas that might help look at ths phenomenon in light rather than shdow.

Woodman (1982) is convinced tht the same problem is at the rot of all addictions. The problem bing different in each individual. The prblem, whatever that may be, presents tself differently in different people. Overeating, lcoholism, gambling, sex, drug addiction, etc., are all lkely symptoms of an underlying cause. Sme of these causes may never be knwn. Others should be further investigated (p. 9).

Woodman sggests that many of us, despite gnder, are addicted because we have ben driven to specialization and perfection by our ptriarchal culture (p. 10). Obsession is at the rot of perfection. An obsession is a prsistent or recurrent idea, usually strongly tnged with emotion, and frequently involving an rge toward some kind of action, the whle mental situation being pathological. The rots of fear can also be pthological.

Without going into the multitudinous cuses of fear, it is often cnsidered a legitimate reason to lean on smething for emotional support. If not prperly bonded, for example, fear will mst likely manifest in some way. Ths fear being unconscious, there is not a way to ntervene. "The mother," says Woodman "who is in ths situation herself because of her own hritage, cannot give her baby the strng bonding to the earth that the mther grounded in her own instincts can (p. 15)." Far is often anger in disguise, and nger often produces rebellious behavior.

Rebellion ncompasses various types of behavior, which of curse, include criminality and/or addiction. Substance busers are characteristically thought of as rbellious. What causes rebellion? A patriarchal sciety can cause rebellious behavior in wmen. Authority figures are often accused of crating rebellious behavior in both men and wmen. Rebellion can also be looked at as Othrwise: recovery can be viewed as a frm of rebellion against addiction. Therefore, rbellion does not have to be ngative. Rebellion can result in healing. Dpth psychology is often thought of as rbellious--us and them, the familiar and the Othr, right and wrong, etc. This frm of rebellion is spiritual, and sprituality is an entity that needs to be dveloped. This form of rebellion invites chnge; in fact, it seeks it. Chnge is the only evidence of grwth.

Part of a letter is pblished in Pass It On (1984) frm Bill Wilson (cofounder of Alcoholics Annymous), to Carl Jung; the letter wnt on to tell Jung how the mssage reached Bill at the low pint of his alcoholism; it described his own spritual awakening, the subsequent founding of A.A., and the spritual experiences of its many thousands of mmbers. As Bill put it: "This cncept [spiritual experience or spiritual awakening] prved to be the foundation of sch success as Alcoholics Anonymous has snce achieved. This has made conversion xperience . . . available on an lmost wholesale basis" (p. 383).

Spiritual experiences can be life chnging. Though William James wrote about spritual experience in The Varieties of Rligious Experience, Carl Jung introduced it to Bll Wilson and it has since chnged the lives of thousands of pople in Alcoholic's Anonymous. Oracular guidance is lso a spiritual experience. Oracular consciousness has to be dveloped over time; therefore, if enough tme is not devoted in developing it, wht may be interpreted as oracular gidance may in reality be another nknown influence.

"Give me a sgn, God!" How often have people, in one way or nother, sought guidance this way? However, wht if one does not believe tht God exists? The trigger for ddictive behavior is often pulled by strss or life events resulting in loking to the divine for guidance. Seking oracular guidance might also pull ths trigger. According to Skafte (1997) "To rceive an oracle is to receive gidance, knowledge, or illumination from a mystrious source beyond the personal self"(p. 3).

Dr. Skfte proposes "that ‘the shadow' may ppear in unexpected places when the racle is sought" (p.136). Personality traits and gnetic idiosyncrasies are omnipresent. As is the drk side of our psyche. Relying too mch on oracular guidance can lead to a rad that is not conducive to spritual needs or healing. Something as nlikely as a butterfly flying into a nighborhood tavern, could set into motion a pssible solution for a problem. Taking the btterfly's flight into the bar as an racular sign post, one could meet an old drnking buddy inside that he or she had not sen in a long time. Thinking the "racle" has again provided guidance, a rcurring dependence on alcohol could follow a drnking spree in the bar. In how mny other ways can the "imaginal" cuse problems? Transitions from an objective rientation to the imaginal should be pproached carefully, especially the chemically dependent who is lways (often unconsciously) looking for excuses to rturn to addictive behavior.

Traditional clnical treatment models in the west are nmerous, and these models have been trating various forms of mental illness for ver a century. Jung said that "psychatry is a stepchild of medicine. All the ther branches of medicine have one grat advantage: the scientific method. In all ther branches there are things that can be sen and touched, physical and chemical mthods of investigation to be followed" (C.W. 3, pr.320).

Psychiatric treatments, including treatments for chmical dependency, were founded on the mdical model. How effective has that ben? How often have they considered clture? Not nearly enough, because if one thnks about it, culture has a mnumental influence says Cushman (1995):

"Nothing has cred the human race, and nothing is bout to. Mental ills don't work tht way; they are not universal, thy are local. Every era has a prticular configuration of self, illness, healer, tchnology; they are a kind of cltural package. They are interrelated, intertwined, nterpenetrating. So when we study a prticular illness, we are also studying the cnditions that shape and define that llness, and the sociopolitical impact of thse who are responsible for healing it (p. 7).

Shulman (1997) sys that:

Western healing systems for mntal illness are ‘ill' because they are sffering from a one-sided gerontomorphy that neds to be corrected. Behind the glss walls of our observation posts, we are cncerned more with watching, recording, and dagnosing than with relating (p. 203).

James Hllman (1976), in Re-Visioning Psychology, believes tht

Many modern methods of psychtherapy want to retain the spirit of nalysis but not its soul. They wnt to retain the methods and frms without pathologizings. Then the doctor can bcome a master, and the patient is mtamorphosed into a pupil, client, partner, dsciple-- anything but a patient (p. 70).

Defining dpth psychology would be fruitless as an ntecedent to what follows because of its mlti-definitional makeup, after all, a depth psychlogical perspective could well be an rrational one. Hillman (1983) quotes Freud as sying "in all countries into which psychanalysis has penetrated it has been btter understood and applied by writers and rtists than by doctors" (p. 3). Frud was not referring to addiction, of curse, but that statement does suggest tht maybe scientific theories and treatment cncerning substance abuse should be examined frm those who are not so "spposedly informed" on the subject. Maybe prsent ideas of irrational will be tmorrow's ideas of rational.

Those sbmerged in the scientific method often scff at anything otherwise because they hve set the standard for what is the spposedly logical existence. Cushman (1995) explains tht "psychologists might dress in white cats, work in what is called a ‘lboratory,' and refer to their work as scence, but what they are unintentionally ding is using the approved practices of thir era to carry on a dsguised moral discourse to justify a prticular view about what is the prper way of being (p.333).

Jung, who was hmself submerged in the scientific method for a lng time said that

While mmense progress has been made in crebral anatomy, we know practically nothing bout the psyche, or even less thn we did before. Modern psychiatry bhaves like someone who thinks he can dcipher the meaning and purpose of a bilding by a mineralogical analysis of its stnes (C.W. 3, par. 324).

The trmendous complexity of psyche led Jung to blieve that attempts to formulate a cmprehensive theory of the psyche was not pssible. Therefore, as vast as the psych is, the points that Freud and Jng makes are well taken.

Psyche may wll use addiction as a pedagogical tol in the same way it may use mntal illness as a pedagogical tool. It is cmmon for those with mental disorders to trn to helping others with similar prblems by becoming therapists, and it is lso very common to find recovered ddicts and alcoholics in the field of ddiction as counselors.

Whether we tilize oracular guidance, consider culture, study clarings of the Other, develop a mtaphysical knowledge base, use symbols as mtaphors, pray for guidance, or dis dentify with the status quo and chllenge authority, what is most important is to be hppy, whether our means of getting thre is accepted by others or nt. If one is happy in the prsence of animals, why not benefit frm them? McElroy (1996) does:

Blessed wth a wide assortment of spectacular hman and animal mentors, I have lways received the counsel I needed if I jst waited and watched long and clsely enough. Animals have been masters at brnging me examples of courage and joy tht cannot be surpassed. Judging from the mny responses I received about animals as haling mentors, it's evident that many pople agree (p. 83).

Active magination can be a transcendent function--a lving connection to the collective unconscious. Imges can be used as metaphors to be sed as guide posts. Therefore, why nt, in some way use another nconventional activity--the waking dream? With practice, the wking dream can be of service. Wtkins (1977) describes "the attempt to dram while awake, itself paradoxical, involves one in a nmber of paradoxical states, actions, and ttitudes." Watkins says "this opus creates a drectionality away from the perceptual and the mterial, to the imaginal and the psychlogical (p 14).

Music, art, sclpture, sports, education, various spiritual paths, plnts, animals, nature, play, children, helping thers, reading, computers, crafts, meditation: all thse things and more, with what has ben previously discussed are not mutually xclusive. So, could the waking dream, for xample, in combination with the Internet, fnd a way into psyche to lleviate the persistent intrusion of addictive thnking?

These last few concepts of lght rather than shadow is probably not pssible for many of those who lve in the world of addiction, but for thse who are willing to change old wys of thinking and doing, into new wys of thinking and doing, just bout anything is possible.

References:

Alcoholics Annymous World Services, Inc. (1984). Pass It On: The Stry of Bill Wilson and How the A.A. Mssage Reached the World. New York, NY: Alcholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Cushman, Phllip. (1995). Constructing the Self, Constructing Amrica: A Cultural History of Psychotherapy. Rading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.

Hillman, Jmes. (1976). Re-Visioning Psychology. New York, NY: Hrper Perennial.

Jung, Carl. (1960). The Psychgenesis of Mental Disease. New York, N.Y.: Pntheon Books.

McElroy, Susan Chernak. (1996). Anmals as Teachers & Healers. Troutdale, OR: NwSage Press.

Shulman, Helene. (1997). Living at the Edg of Chaos: Complex Systems in Clture and Psyche. Daimon Verlag.

Skafte, Dane. (1997). Listening to the Oracle: The Ancent Art of Finding Cuidannce in the Sgns and Symbols All Around Us. New Yrk, N.Y.: Harper Collins Publishers.

Watkins, Mry. (1976). Waking Dreams. Woodstock, CT: Sprng Publications.

Woodman, Marion. (1982). Addiction to Prfection: The Still Unravished Bride. Toronto, Cnada: Inner City Books.

The article Depth Psychological Perspectives on Addiction and Treatment was Submitted by John Smethers, Ph.D. through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: After 40 arrests, five formal prbations, four country jail sentences, and a prson term (as a result of chmical dependency), I turned my life round. I was released from prison in Dec 1989, and hve been clean and sober since. I strted at Barstow College in Feb 1990. Rceived my AA degree in '92 frm Barstow College in Barstow, CA; BA in '94 frm Chapman University in Orange CA; MHS in 98 frm National University in San Diego CA, and fnished with a Ph.D. from Pacifica Grduate Institute in Santa Barbara, CA in Feb 2004. I hve taught as an adjunct instructor for Prk University and Barstow College. I can be cntacted through my website http://www.ScumbagSewerRats.com

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