I'm
reading In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction by Gabor Maté, a well-referenced treatise on many types
of addiction, which keeps the reader interested with personal stories and
vignettes. His approach is compassionate. It is fascinating, if a bit wordy, although he’s got a lot to say,
so trudging through the pages has a definite payoff. He focuses on trauma as the reason that people turn to addictive
behaviors to relieve pain.
Dr. Gabor Maté's image from his website
I
found an interesting recent interview of him that brought up his impression of 12-step
programs. I hope you’ll take 11 minutes out of your day and listen to it. I’ve
been thoughtfully chewing on his responses. Personally, I believe the study of
the 12 steps can help anyone who has an intractable behavior problem that they
want to change. Really, I’m all about the 12 steps, my friend.
Maté said
that practice of 12-step programs can be helpful, but described the following
problems: 1) 12-step programs completely ignore trauma, even though Bill Wilson
was traumatized as a child, 2) people are often forced into 12-step
participation, even though coercion is counterproductive, and 3) 12-step
language of God is a fundamentalist relic of a punishing God that people may
not want to embrace.
Alcoholics Anonymous
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While I
fully agree with his first two 12-step program criticisms, the third response
made me wonder what kind of 12-step groups he has been exposed to. I understand
his concern in that area. The AA third step is, “Made a decision to turn our
will and our lives over to the care of God, as
we understood Him.” Even though the “as
we understood Him” addendum was inserted, italicized in the Big Book and on
placards that hang in AA halls to stress its importance, and cited as an
example of the spiritual, not religious, nature of AA, Maté’s impression of
AA’s God is not unique.
So
those are my thoughts on Maté’s interview. What did you think?
So those are my thoughts on Maté’s interview. What did you think?
