Heart Rhythm Therapy for Treating Substance Abuse

Heart Rhythm Meditation (HRM) is an effective complement to psychological counseling for treating substance abuse because it combines several essential processes:

• Developing a daily practice builds a patient's self-discipline and stability
• Attention to one's breath and heartbeat develops concentration and brings inner-awareness
• Directing one's breath through the heart gives inner-power

The result is that the patient gains the emotional awareness and courage necessary to re-experience and then integrate the emotional traumas behind their addiction.

Energetically, traumas can be categorized as either scars or ulcers. A scar is a wound in the heart that has caused a numbness to some aspect of the self. For example, the scar of betrayal numbs openness and trust in others. Emotional histories remain buried out of reach of conscious processes of integration because of the fear of the emotional pain of remembrance. We say, "You can't heal it until you can feel it." HRM reveals hidden emotions because it simultaneously reveals the inner resources to accept, forgive, and heal.

An ulcer is a wound in the heart that continually leaks emotional energy, draining one's optimism and hope. For example, the ulcer of betrayal drains one's self-esteem to produce a poor self-image that inhibits relationships. In the case of emotional ulcers, the patient's emotional history is present and available to the therapist, but integration does not occur. Just as with a physical wound, the bleeding must be stopped before healing can occur.

HRM brings life back to one's emotional scar tissue and heals one's ulcerous emotional disabilities by a natural process without medicinals which is initiated by a therapist/teacher and continued daily by the patient. It does not mask the emotions that led to substance abuse; it gives a methodology and a philosophy that allows one to come to a state of acceptance without blame and even appreciation for the specific people and challenges of one's life -- this is the goal of emotional healing that can be attained by HRM.

The integrative process of HRM is in contrast to the transcendent process of TM and Vipassana meditation. With HRM we do not attempt to transcend our emotions to reach a state that is free of pain. The substance abuser has already tried to reach transcendence through self-medication, and there is a great advantage for a patient in learning to reach a state of bliss without external substances, by transcendent meditations. However, in most cases, transcendence does not lead to healing; it leads to disassociation. HRM actually increases one's ability to handle and integrate strong emotions.

A therapist that has been trained to teach HRM can place in the hands of the patient a powerful tool for a life-time. The instruction and encouragement of the therapist/teacher is essential to beginning the practice. Once the wounds of the heart have been experienced in meditation, with the safety provided by the therapist, they recede in emotional intensity without denial, avoidance or regret. Then the meditator begins to experience life from the vantage-point of the heart, which reveals the beauty and greatness of every person. The joy and closeness that the patient loves about their "high" can be sustained without chemical stimulants or blockers in a life from the heart.

Additionally, the practice of Heart Rhythm Meditation will help therapists overcome compassion fatigue and recharge their hearts so they can meet the difficult challenges of their occupation with sustainable enthusiasm.

Instructor Training in Heart Rhythm Meditation for Substance Abuse Therapists

IAM offers a three-day intensive training and certification for therapists. For a group of 15 or more, we will come to your facility and train you to prescribe and teach HRM to your clients. call us at +1 520 299 2170 to make arrangements.