Transcending the Addiction Paradigm

In this book, Michael Downing shares his considerable experience, knowledge, off beat humor and profound insights gathered from decades of waring with his own hardcore drug abuse, while he simultaneously worked as a mental health/substance abuse psychotherapist. His career included gigs in rural community mental health centers, large urban hospital emergency rooms, "locked" psychiatric/substance abuse units, private practice and two State prisons. When it all fell down, he spent almost...
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In this book, Michael Downing shares his considerable experience, knowledge, off beat humor and profound insights gathered from decades of waring with his own hardcore drug abuse, while he simultaneously worked as a mental health/substance abuse psychotherapist. His career included gigs in rural community mental health centers, large urban hospital emergency rooms, "locked" psychiatric/substance abuse units, private practice and two State prisons. When it all fell down, he spent almost a decade intermittently homeless and rotating through many of the exact same facilities he had worked in. Determined to find a way out, he grew frustrated with the "Western" medical/disease model and the "quit harder" mentality, so he set about coming to a deeper understanding of chronic substance abuse and how to treat it.. His search took him back to his roots in Taoism and Jungian psychology, and eventually led him to the Jung Tao Institute of Classical;Chinese Medicine. In 2012 he enrolled in the four year Master's program. He graduated in 2016, thirty one years after completing his Master's degree in Clinical Counseling. Through his experiences, he came to see this disorder in a new light, and in the process, created a totally new paradigm of addiction. In "Transcending the Addiction Paradigm" Michael lays out this holistic platform based in Taoist cosmology, Jungian psychology, Classical Chinese medicine and the emerging science of bio-energetics.
This new paradigm represents a fundamental shift away from neurological reductionism and illuminates a path leading far beyond a day to day struggle for "recovery." A path of change and spiritual ascension for those whose lives have been affected by this dis-order. A beautiful simplicity that connects the dots on every level, creating a "unified field theory" of substance abuse and treatment .

:"Addiction is like a paper bag full of dog crap flaming on the front porch. Trying to make it go away by stomping on it just makes everything messier." Md



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