“Mom/dad, will you be home when I get back from school? No there will be the maid to take care of you. And give you food. We have a party to attend.” “Don’t ask me, ask your nanny. I don’t have the time. Don’t you see I am busy?” “Go away! Let me drink!”
“Go to your dad! he is the cause of my drinking “.
In the article previous to this one, The Boy-Man/ Girl-Woman, was highlighted, some aspects of what directions in life kids who are over protected/ pampered / deprived of the right to take decisions for themselves/ over -loved etc., take.
In the current article, we focus on the opposite, wherein, children who genuinely experience neglect and abandonment, not given the right guidance, who have been abused, whose basic human rights are deprived, despite the parents’ being quite capable of providing them.
Different circumstances that a child can face
Children who face the above can grow up to be
Addiction and childhood trauma
These children have not learnt or have not had the right environment in which to learn to deal with their emotions. Hence, they grow up to be complexed individuals emotionally, creating dysfunctional relationships and families for themselves.
In each of the above circumstances, the child in adolescence, or early adulthood can resort to substance use or abuse and end up in addictive use. The substance is seen to have a numbing effect on emotions that seem unbearable. They become an instant escape from uncomfortable and painful emotions, albeit, a temporary one. Substances reduce inhibitions and gives them an altered personality that they start identifying with and believe that ‘that’ is their better version. Soon, what seemed better, becomes worse and life becomes unmanageable. The semblance of control fails.
The Right Treatment
Here, we are not only dealing with addiction to substances, but with a personality that has not grown up healthily at one level and is emotionally dysfunctional and damaged.
As treatment, what is required is a residential rehabilitation programme where the traumatized individual is treated holistically, individualistically, with dignity, compassion and love, in an accepting, non-judgmental ambience. Healing will need time. We are not treating the substance, but the person who was never given the right manure to grow and flourish and whose life force, instead, got over-run by weed.
This therapy, needs to be done, only of one’s own volition, non- medically or with very minimal medication when required. The therapeutic module should be with eclectic, bespoke Counseling methodologies, out of the box therapeutic actions, immense patience, compassion, meditation, yoga and other alternate therapies like hypnotic regression, energy healing et al. Nothing can be done about the life experiences -however, what is painful, are the emotional perceptions that we harbor of the same and carry as baggage over the years. Living through each experience perceived as pain, in a safe environment, in order to get beyond them is achieved through daily journalistic writing, that detaches the emotional component from the experience, thereby enabling healing.
The environment described above, is the one we provide at Anatta to every client of ours; hence treating single clients and/ maximum of three clients, being our forte, in a nurturing, luxurious home situated in natural locales. It is living a normal life that one always wanted to live, but never could because of life circumstances and how one chose to deal with them. This therapeutic living happens, with a physician and experiential counsellors living in the same premises as the client, being available to them 24/7. Thus, just by being ‘present’, gives the client the courage to open up, to be themselves, to accept themselves and grow, eventually. The need to use substances drops and a new Alternate Way of Living is experienced. Co-dependency counselling is an integral part of our therapeutic module and our experienced family therapist guides with patience and compassion towards recovery.
Thus the right ingredients for therapy are – acceptance, dignity, compassion, honesty, eclectic counselling methods, meditation, writing.
Managing Director and Counsellor
Primary Counsellor and Facilitator
Since 2003, he has been actively treating those afflicted and affected by chemical dependency using Meditation and Counseling as cornerstones of therapy.
Psychiatrist and Consultant
M.D(Psych) PhD.D.F.M
Dr. Jerajani is a consultant psychiatrist with a niche practice in Mumbai for the last three decades. He has worked in the field of Chemical Dependency ever since.
Administrative Director & Family Therapist
Management expert & counsellor
Vandana Hiranandani is an important part of the team of Anatta that helps organise Seminars, Workshops and Awareness Programs facilitated by Anatta Humanversity.
Director and Counsellor
B.H.M.S.,PG Hom.(Lon.)
A Bachelor in Homoeopathic Medical Science from Mumbai with a Post Graduation from The Hahnemann College of Homoeopathy – London.
Consultant Cardiologist, expert in Addiction management & HIV-AIDS care
Dr. M. Shashidhara Menon trained at the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune (1974) and Institute of Naval Medicine (Mumbai University), India, has done post doctoral Fellowship training in HIV Medicine and Biostatistics from the University of South Florida, USA