KILLING THE DRAGON

Tulsa Recovery House Focuses on the Spiritual

"Jerred" (not his real name) had always been a violent person. There
seemed within him an angst, a pain too deep for his understanding, yet
prevalent in every part of his being. That pain expressed in rage, and
that rage in violence. Where did the pain come from? It had always
been there. Why was he different? He didn't know, but his difference
would dominate. Power was essential, and that was the draw of
methamphetamine, otherwise known as "speed", "crystal", "zoom", "ice".
When he was on it, he felt powerful.

That powerful rage often caused pain. His need to control frequently
controlled him. He hurt the ones he loved, and could not stop it
regardless of the consequences. He lost his wife and children, and his
pain only became worse. No longer could he hide it under the guise of
power as it came throbbing to the surface, leaking out in his shame.
His pride often triggered his rage, yet his life seemed to be cloaked
with a shame he could not shed.

Jerred was from the Yaki (a.k.a., Yaqui) tribe who inhabited Arizona
to Northern California, a fierce people who caused even the famed
Apaches to tremble. The Yakis were also known for their religious
rituals using mind-altering substances. This practice was brought to
public attention in the 1960's drug culture when Carlos Castaneda's
wrote of his association with the Yaki Indian sorcerer don Juan Matus
in "The Teachings of Don Juan." The entry into "Mescalito" was through
eating the hallucinogenic peyote buttons. This sorcery was the source
of the great Yaki's power.

Jerred's story is an illustration of the many facets and layers
contributing to addiction and compulsive behavior. There are a variety
of addictions that have nothing to do with alcohol or drugs. Sometimes
we participate in several addictions, or leave one and find another
addiction that substitutes for the old one. Simply stopping the
compulsive behavior doesn't stop the problem. Someone once said that
addiction is like a four-headed dragon. Cutting off one head doesn't
kill the dragon.

At the Addiction Recovery Ministry (ARMy), at Father's House Church,
7727 E 41st St, Tulsa, OK, a Spirit-Bio-Psycho-Social approach is
taken, addressing each head of the dragon. In Jerred's case, a
heritage of sorcery-empowered violence had passed generation to
generation. Jerred had experienced abuse as a child. As studies have
shown, alcohol and drugs are most frequently associated with domestic
violence. Such trauma alone is often insufficient to provoke violence
toward the next generation. Most often alcohol or drugs are necessary
to lower natural inhibition and empower violence, just as the Yakis
experienced centuries ago.

In Gal 5:19-21 we see a whole list of behaviors identified as "works
of the flesh": "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are:
adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery,
hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish
ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness,
revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I
also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will
not inherit the kingdom of God."

In a clinical or ministerial setting one often sees many of these
behaviors clustered together in one's clients. Jerred exhibited many
of them, as well, but we want to focus now upon "sorcery". Looking at
Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, the original Greek
word translated in English as "sorcery" here is pharmakia, from which
we get the English word "pharmacy", and which Vine's says means, "the
use of medicine, drugs, spells"; then, "poisoning"; then, "sorcery,"

Throughout ancient times witchcraft and sorcery have been associated
with the use of drugs and alcohol, mind and mood altering substances.
Through the manipulation of the soul, i.e., the mind, will, and
emotions, a spiritual portal is opened allowing spiritual presence to
empower. Yet this power is short-lived. This presence takes a high
price for power, as it extracts all personal power commanding
subjection, thus the addiction or compulsion. It is this spiritual
component that empowers or commands the other "works of the flesh".

Many traditional approaches to treating addiction fail to address the
spiritual component at all. If it is addressed, too often it is
addressed in an anemic fashion without understanding the nature of the
spiritual problem. Many times our desire to respect all religious
traditions would have us honor the Yakis' tradition of drug abuse
pursuing spiritual power and experience while, at the same time,
trying to address one's addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Obviously, traditional approaches to the spiritual aspect of addiction
have often fallen short of what is needed. Unfortunately, many
churches fail to meet other aspects of addiction, leaving those heads
of the dragon alive and well. For this reason many "born again" or
"spirit-filled" former addicts who now go to church, either find their
way back to their primary addiction or find a substitute addiction.

Jerred got free from meth, and has been for years, but struggles with
a sexual addiction. Sam, the great grandson of a great Creek chief and
a Bible School graduate, came to ARMy in the clutches of a meth and
alcohol addiction. He discovered that his core addiction was a sexual
addiction. That addiction was a preoccupation with a need to be loved,
stemming from his mother's abandonment of him as a child. Substances
masked his pain yet, like Jerred, they removed his inhibitions to
violence, acting out his pain. So, Sam kept getting arrested for
fighting. Sam would not have gotten clean and sober had he not
addressed his core psychological issues that kept drawing him back
into old behavior.

Jerred's heritage was both that of substance abuse and violence. These
traits have been passed down from generation to generation until
Jerred's childhood was traumatized with domestic violence, which he
continued in his own adult life. Belonging to a people of once great
warriors, frustrated with current diminished life circumstances,
Jerred exemplifies the frustration of so many Native Americans. But
Jerred has the added issues of child abuse. While this factor has
definite psychological and spiritual components, we want to address
the sociological factors.

The sociological factors can be divided into two categories, those
that are cultural, and those specific to a particular dysfunctional
family system. We read about both categories in the Bible, indicating
the spiritual element woven into the framework of these other factors.
We cannot separate the effects of one factor from another. In certain
cultures, Native American and other, we often see dysfunctional
patterns that reproduce themselves in subsequent generations.

However, it is the specific family dynamics that tend to have the
greatest impact on the formation of addiction triggers or mechanisms.
Nevertheless, there are people from every culture, and even from
dysfunctional family systems, that appear to be free from addictions.
It should be stressed that every individual is responsible for their
own behavior, and their own recovery. Blaming addiction on our
victimization does little to help us get free. Rather, it interferes
with our taking the steps we need to take to heal and become free.

Science has identified that years of history and genetics has bred a
genetic predisposition to certain addictions. It is a fact that Native
Americans, Irish, and others, have a greater incidence of substance
abuse and dependency than other ethnic groups. This represents a
biological factor. Other aspects of the biological factor include the
tolerance and withdrawal physiology of substance addiction. Still
others are related to the development of neuropathways in the brain
that cause the brain of an addict to behave differently than another.

Biologists have discovered that the neuropathways of sexual
stimulation are similar to the neuropathways of stimulant drugs,
explaining why there seems to be a cross-addiction between
methamphetamines or cocaine and sexual addiction, as Jerred and Sam
have discovered. Quitting one only sets up the addiction to the other.
If that addiction is not addressed, there is a good chance that the
person will find their way back to their primary addiction of choice.
Until the addiction trigger, the core issue, is addressed, the person
is at serious risk of relapse into one of the former addictions, or
finding a new substitute. It can seem like a hopeless, bottomless
canyon with no way out.

At ARMy we identify addiction triggers, management and avoidance
strategies, and warning signs that our relapse prevention planning is
not currently being effective. The warning signs signal when we need
help, something often difficult for us to ask for. We provide a group
of understanding people that are resources for each person to reach
out to when they need help. This is the framework for building new and
healthier routines and thought patterns until our emotional responses
follow suit. This framework for recovery offers an opportunity for a
lasting freedom from the bondage we have experienced.

The addict no longer has to continue falling into a bottomless canyon.
Cutting off all four heads of the dragon provides a pathway out of the
abyss. There is hope. That pathway is an opportunity the addict must
seize in order to walk out of the canyon of addiction. No one can walk
it for the addict, but the addict can't walk it alone. They need the
strength of a Power greater than themselves. That pathway leads to the
sunrise of a new day, a new beginning. If you suffer from an addiction
contact one of the resources for recovery listed below. Take your
first steps along that path.

[sidebar]

INDIAN RESOURCES FOR RECOVERY:

Addiction Recovery Ministry (ARMy) which is free to the public on
Tuesday evenings at Father's House 7:00 PM, 7727 E 41st Street, Tulsa,
1 block west of Memorial on 41st Street.

Indian Healthcare Resource Center of Tulsa
Substance Abuse Services
550 South Peoria Avenue
Tulsa OK 74120
Phone: (918) 588-1900

Absentee Shawnee Tribe
Substance Abuse Program
2029 South Gordon Cooper Drive
Shawnee OK 74801
Phone: (405) 878-4716 ext. 140

Behavioral Health Services of Creek Nation
Substance Abuse Services
200 Selmon Road
Eufaula OK 74432
Phone: (918) 618-2168

Choctaw Nation
Chi Hullo Li
Highway 63-A
Talihina OK 74571
Phone: (918) 567-2905

Choctaw Nation Recovery Center
Substance Abuse Services
Highway 63 and 1
Talihina OK 74571
Phone: (918) 567-2389

Creek Nation Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse Services
Substance Abuse Services
100 West 7th Street Suite 102
Okmulgee OK 74447
Phone: (918) 758-1910

Inter Tribal Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Center
Substance Abuse Services
101 South Main Street
Miami OK 74354
Phone: (918) 542-5543

Native American Center of Recovery
Substance Abuse Services
420 North Kickapoo Street
Shawnee OK 74802
Phone: (405) 275-5270

Osage Nation Counseling Center
Substance Abuse Program
518 Leahy Street
Pawhuska OK 74056
Phone: (918) 287-5422

Otoe Missouria Tribe
Substance Abuse Program
8151 North Highway 177
Red Rock OK 74651
Phone: (580) 723-4466

Quapaw Tribal Family Services
Substance Abuse Services
17 Seneca Street
Miami OK 74354
Phone: (888) 333-4902

Tonkawa Tribe Substance Abuse Program
Substance Abuse Services
1 Rush Buffalo Road
Tonkawa OK 74653
Phone: (580) 628-2561 ext. 19

Wewoka Indian Health Center
Chemical Abuse Prevention Program
Junction U.S. 270 and Route 56
Wewoka OK 74884
Phone: (405) 257-6281

Celebrate Recovery
http://www.celebraterecovery-sw.org/Contacts/oklahoma.htm
State Representative: Norma Murphy
Phone: (918) 743-8897
email: Norma at celebrate@shbc-tulsa.org

Alcoholics Anonymous http://www.aaoklahoma.org/ Oklahoma State
Committee Area 57 Office P.O. Box 18415 Oklahoma City, OK 73154
405-842-1200 (9:00am to 1:00pm, Monday - Thursday) 4900 Richmond
Square, Suite 204, Oklahoma City

Narcotics Anonymous http://www.okna.org/
Eastern Area: (918) 747-0017 - Inside Tulsa area
(888) 749-0017 - Outside Tulsa area
Plains Area: (800) 982-0242
Western Area: (405) 524-7068 - Inside Oklahoma City
(866) 524-7068 - Outside Oklahoma City Area
Red River Area: (888) 629-6757 - (888-NAWORKS)