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conferenceseries
.com
Volume 09
Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy
Addiction Summit 2018
May 17-18, 2018
May 17-18, 2018 Singapore
8
th
International Conference on
Addictive Disorders and Alcoholism
The trauma heart
Judith T Crane
Institute of Technology, USA
W
e live in an age of trauma. The majority of people who are addicted to substances and/or afflicted with process addictions
are trauma survivors. Many people who are caught in the web of addiction don’t identify as trauma survivors until their
personal, familial, intergenerational and in-uterine history is fully understood. When we recognize that childhood trauma,
including abandonment and neglect are the building blocks of a person’s blueprint for functioning and thriving, we can
understand the power of addiction as a soothing and survival mechanism offering relief and release from the emotional and
psychic pain of trauma. These addictions are learned very early in life. Unfortunately, research shows that relapse is inevitable
without trauma resolution. The core of this presentation is this realization that 90% of addicts are trauma survivors. Families
often believe that their loved one must be bad and the addict begins to believe it too and the hopelessness ensues. When we
unravel the trauma the behaviors make sense. When one of our clients begins to “act out” at 8 or 12, they are often diagnosed
with ADHD or oppositional defiance when in fact they’re holding a secret of sexual abuse or a family secret of domestic
violence, infidelity or substance abuse. The truth of the behavior is that “we are not bad people trying to get good we are
wounded people trying to heal”. The whole family is embroiled in their own survival coping mechanisms the addicted member
is often the red flag indicating that the whole family needs healing. This presentation explores making sense of behaviors, how
to identify the signs that trauma may be an issue with your client and their families and offers the stories and process of healing
that has worked with the most “resistant” clients which translates to our most wounded clients.
jcrane@theguesthouseocala.comJ Addict Res Ther 2018, Volume 9
DOI: 10.4172/2155-6105-C1-037