Dr. Cali Estes, The Addictions Coach and Founder of The Addictions Academy recently announced they have partnered with a new coordinator to lead their National Mindfulness-Based Recovery Program. Dr. Valerie (Vimalasara) Mason-John is the program head for Dr. Cali Estes and The Addictions Academy’s newest offering.
Dr. Mason-John is the award-winning author of 8 books, including Eight Step Recovery, Using The Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction. Currently, there are 8-step recovery meetings in several continents based upon Dr. Mason-John’s ground-breaking work.
“These eight steps can be used by people who have not responded to the twelve-step approach, as well as by those who are in twelve-step recovery,” Mason-John explained.
“They are steps that can free us from the prison of our minds, while also a practical guide of how to break the vicious cycle of addiction and habitual behaviors.”
Estes said, “Valerie has an extraordinary approach to helping those who struggle with addiction and obsessive thinking. I couldn’t be more thrilled to have her on our team.”
For those who may find using the Buddhist teachings a challenge Mason-John has co-founded Mindfulness-Based Addiction Recovery (MBAR), a mainstream secular approach for working with addiction and obsessive thinking. Participants learn practical skills to add to their tool kit for recovery. They learn how to become aware of the subtle triggers, and facilitative thoughts that often lead to relapse.
They also become aware of how blame, self-pity, and distraction can be habitual behaviors of turning away from unpleasant, pleasant and neutral experiences, which in turn sabotage their recovery. Participants learn how to cultivate recovery by breaking their vicious cycles of addiction. In Mindfulness-Based Addiction Recovery, participants learn to simply breathe again.
The nation’s opioid crisis reached new proportions in 2018, continuing to increase from the unbelievable 70,000 deaths we saw in 2017. Overdose deaths are now higher than deaths from H.I.V, car crashes, or gun violence at their peaks.
Fox News reported, “For the first time, odds of dying from opioid overdose higher than dying from a car crash.” The story also noted that a new analysis from the National Safety Council says the odds of dying by an accidental opioid overdose (1 in 96) have now surpassed the odds of dying in a car accident (1 in 103).
University of Southern California experts recently reported: “Mindfulness could be a key to recovering from substance abuse.” Researches at the school say their initial studies with young adults show dramatic drops in stress, cravings, impulsivity, and risk of relapse after practicing mindfulness.
“So much of the internal narrative around cravings is not being able to handle it,” said Nicholas Barr, the study’s head clinician and a postdoctoral scholar at USC. “What you get from mindfulness is the realization that you can deal with this, you can tolerate this.”
The Addiction Academy’s Mindfulness-Based Addiction Recovery (MBAR) program is available for anybody wanting to enhance their recovery. There is also a professional training component for those who would like to be facilitators of this course.
We are what we think: Dr. Mason-John at TEDxRenfrewCollingwood
Mason-John works as an inspirational public speaker on the field of Mindfulness Approaches for addiction and is a master trainer in conflict transformation and leadership skills. She is also an accredited Mindfulness Teacher and Life Coach.
“I am delighted to be working with Dr. Cali Estes, and I look forward to contributing to the great work that the Academy offers,” Dr. Mason-John stated.
Dr. Cali Estes and The Addictions Academy have been offering a wide-ranging assortment of advanced training for years in an on-going effort to counteract the growing addiction problem. The Academy has more than 30 faculty teaching over 40 courses in five different languages. Program graduates can be found in 23 countries helping address the addiction problem worldwide.
For more info on The Addictions Academy, go to https://theaddictionsacademy.com.
To learn more about Dr. Cali Estes, The Addictions Coach, visit https://theaddictionscoach.com.