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Old 11-03-2006, 06:43 PM   #1
Aran Bright
Dojo: Griffith Aikido Yuishinkai
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Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

I have recently begun to teach aikido to groups involved in alcohol and drug rehabilitation and was wanting to know if there is anyone else out there with experience with this sort of thing.

http://brisbaneaikido.com

Brisbane Aikido Republic
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Old 11-03-2006, 08:48 PM   #2
acot
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Great! You've found Aikido's most practical purpose. I've recently begun to teach Aikido at a shelter for victims of human trafficing. (slaves). Sorry that probable not what your looking for, but kudos for your efforts..

Ryan
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Old 11-04-2006, 08:47 AM   #3
SeiserL
 
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

While I don't teach the physical techniques in my work, I sure teach and apply the principles.

Also, check in with the good people at Aiki-Extensions.

Lynn Seiser PhD
Yondan Aikido & FMA/JKD
We do not rise to the level of our expectations, but fall to the level of our training. Train well. KWATZ!
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Old 11-04-2006, 02:57 PM   #4
markwalsh
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Yup - there's a bunch at AE - was article in the last newsletter from a gent in the States called Ron Hule. Extract:

CLINICAL MARTIAL ART PROGRAM - Participant questionnaire:

How is this program helping you in your daily life?


This program has helped me to be more content with the way that some things in my life are going. It helps me to understand my feelings and when I'm angry, sad, mad, happy just to be able to sit with it instead of acting negatively on myself, by self destructing. When I first came to Day One (Rehab) I had a lot of anxiety problems and it was hard for me to sit with myself. In this class we do a lot of relaxation meditation also, and that helps me throughout my days with my anxiety. I have anxiety problems, and most people with anxiety problems just have problems breathing. Sometimes it will just be hard for me to not, not breath, if that makes any sense. But, the counting meditation, where you take a deep breath and then count 1, and exhale then breath in and count 2, that helps me throughout my day when I'm having anxiety problems. I use that as a coping skill with my anxiety. Also I do a lot of the warm up stuff throughout the day just to get my blood pressure up and help me relax.


What do you like best about the program and what would you like to see more of?
The thing that I like best about this program is how patient the instructors are and how they never give up on me. No matter how negative I am or the other people in the class are. Ron and Richard are very kind, patient and understanding people. That really do care about their students, and how they can help them develop their skills in Aikido and help them grow. They are positive influences on our lives and help me personally to be more open minded about living a sober life. I really also enjoy the way in every class they relate drugs and alcohol addiction problems to Aikido. And how it can help you get through those cravings.

Elena 17
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Old 11-04-2006, 04:41 PM   #5
SteveTrinkle
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

I've been training aikido for about 12 years and working in the addiction/dual diagnosis field for about 15 years. Aikido has had a hugely transforming effect on my aproach to doing individual, group, and family therapy. Started working with Lia Suzuki Sensei in this area about 9 years ago. ( *See the links at the bottom of this page: http://www.akisb.com/ ). I'm especially interested these days in teaching aiki-thinking to other therapists and staff. I could go on and on with this as it is a real passion of mine.

I wish you great fortune in this endeavour. Pease contact me at any time if I could be of use.

Steve
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Old 11-05-2006, 02:57 AM   #6
Aran Bright
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Quote:
Lynn Seiser wrote:
While I don't teach the physical techniques in my work, I sure teach and apply the principles.

Also, check in with the good people at Aiki-Extensions.
I am curious to know, what is your work, psychology? counselling?

http://brisbaneaikido.com

Brisbane Aikido Republic
Brisbane
Australia
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Old 11-05-2006, 03:47 AM   #7
ian
 
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Though its not aikido, I think it shows something about our society...

I was listening to the radio about juevenile re-offenders rates. Apparently those that were taught to fish as rehabilitation had a 0% re-offence rate!

I think for many of us, we just want to feel some value in our lives; that we are useful, important, good at something or valued. Be that from our work, an activity, from religion or whatever.

---understanding aikido is understanding the training method---
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Old 11-05-2006, 07:38 PM   #8
SeiserL
 
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Quote:
Aran Bright wrote:
I am curious to know, what is your work, psychology? counselling?
Believe it or not, for 28 years I have had some international respect in the clinical treatment of violence, trauma, abuse, and addiction. Go figure.

Lynn Seiser PhD
Yondan Aikido & FMA/JKD
We do not rise to the level of our expectations, but fall to the level of our training. Train well. KWATZ!
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Old 11-05-2006, 09:31 PM   #9
aikidodragon
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

I think that Aikido is grate for abusers and ther victoms.

First of all some one who is abusing a drug, or lashing out at people can binifit from the principles. Aikido i think teaches one to bewere of them selves. If you feel a craving coming on, you can practicing medation, kata, or worm ups. If you feel like hurting others you may be aware enough that you can stop and practice the breathing excersises.

For the victoms aikido gives them a safe outlet for there emotions. For me theripy did not work, i would tell them what ever they wanted to hear to get them to leave me allone, and the medications eventually stopped working. The first art i took up after the abuse was Judo. It allowed me a chance to learn how to manage my rage and hate. However i think aikido has helped me the most. Being able to go to practice has kept me from going back to the self destructive habits i had. i find myself doing meditative breathing when some thing presents its self and and starts to bring back flashbacks. It has also helped me to learn to trust people again. i have to trust them not to hurt me, and that was the hardes thing for me to relearn.

this may not help you, but this is how aikido is helping me deal with the depression and the P.T.S. It has also helped keep me off drugs and out of the mental words.

I wish you the best of luck with your program.

:kiAikido is just origami with people.
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Old 11-10-2006, 05:36 PM   #10
markwalsh
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Sara respects - brave post, thank you.

Sensei out there - please, please, please, read Paul Linden Senseis work on abuse, if you run even a medium sized dojo you PROBABLY TEACH SOMEONE WHO WAS ABUSED as a child in your dojo and almost certainly teach someone who has been raped. I think this is important as aikido deals with issues of self-defense, power, vulnerability, close physical contact and other things that will bring up strong reactions and can be used to heal or hurt.

Look up the stats if you think I'm exagerating.
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Old 11-10-2006, 07:11 PM   #11
Carol Shifflett
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Quote:
Mark Walsh wrote:
Look up the stats if you think I'm exagerating.
Excellent advice Mark! Actually, back in the early 80's, before the days of Karate Day Care, it started to dawn on me that there were two basic groups of students.

1. One was fascinated by the physics.

2. The other had been abused as child or adult and was still fighting demons.

The two groups overlap.

On wandering into Contract Job Shopping (long before it was as common as now), I discovered that if you watched and listened you would spot many abused children. They self-selected in that population simply because they were the ones best able to deal with the appalling contractor policies of an IBM or other Big Company determined not to let you forget for one minute that you weren't really part of The Family. Adult Abused Children survived the best because they were *accustomed* to abuse. I heard horrific gut-wrenching stories that made 120-hr work weeks a walk in the park. Business as Usual. I also noticed that almost all of them were in or had been in some form of martial arts -- which at the time was relatively rare in the population as a whole.

I think the bottom line is this: As in blood-borne pathogen policies, if teaching martial arts, assume abuse until proven otherwise. Very often the ones who show up in rehab are little different from the ones on the mat -- they've merely come out or been dragged out of the closet.

Hope for a matful of budding physics students.
Plan for the broken and the shattered.

And if in doubt, talk to Sensei Seiser <BOW>

Carol Shifflett
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Old 11-11-2006, 04:39 AM   #12
markwalsh
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Carol,

Was expecting a really hostile response to my messsge , which I almost didn't dare write, so very glad of your supportive words, wisdom and contribution.

E-hugs,
Mark
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Old 11-11-2006, 05:07 AM   #13
SeiserL
 
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Quote:
Carol Shifflett wrote:
And if in doubt, talk to Sensei Seiser <BOW>
Who me? Yep, gotta confirm what 28 years of clinical practice with offenders and victims of violence, trauma, abuse, and addiction has taught me: that we all have windmills and demons to face and fight.

Aikido is an excellent tool.

BTW, I am only an old perpetual student, perhaps a Sempai, but certainly not a Sensei.

Lynn Seiser PhD
Yondan Aikido & FMA/JKD
We do not rise to the level of our expectations, but fall to the level of our training. Train well. KWATZ!
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Old 11-11-2006, 06:45 AM   #14
Carol Shifflett
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Quote:
Lynn Seiser wrote:
Who me? . . . .BTW, I am only an old perpetual student, perhaps a Sempai, but certainly not a Sensei.
Yeah, YOU! <grin>
That's a PhD next to your name, right? = Eng. doctor, teacher, from Latin, docere, to teach. And slipping sideways into Japanese where regardless of the topic, teacher = Sensei, neh? And I've noticed over the years at this here Dojo of Virtual Life Skills that you teach very VERY well in this topic particularly.

Cheers!
Carol
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Old 11-12-2006, 02:03 AM   #15
Aran Bright
Dojo: Griffith Aikido Yuishinkai
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Thank you for replying to this thread.

What are the core principles that you maintain to allow the healing to occur rather than further damage. I know when someone who is ready to face there demons are already very unsettled to begin with how can stop from making it worse?

http://brisbaneaikido.com

Brisbane Aikido Republic
Brisbane
Australia
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Old 11-12-2006, 07:25 AM   #16
SeiserL
 
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Quote:
Aran Bright wrote:
What are the core principles that you maintain to allow the healing to occur rather than further damage. I know when someone who is ready to face there demons are already very unsettled to begin with how can stop from making it worse?
Core principles? IMHO ...

Unsettled? Absolutely. Welcome the lack of center and balance so you can find a new one. Its a transition state. Shift from the judgmental learned ego identity to the spiritual identity we all really are.

Accept what was and what is. You can't change the past or that everything didn't happen the way you want it to. Its not all about you. We often feel helpless because we are. These are just statements of fact.

There is no judgment. That is a part of the learned ego identity. We learned it as a reflection to others, so its not really about us, its about them.

According to the big book, all addiction comes from spiritual bankruptcy, which equates to psychological self judgment, we falsely believe in our identity that if our higher power calls we are unworthy to pick up the phone. Spiritual abundance to to honest believe that we are all worth it, including me, and that our spirituality (our true identity) is already just fine.

There are no problems, just solutions we keep trying that don't work.

The miracle is to see through the illusion to who we all really are. Its a shift in perception. Choose the miracle.

Okay, okay ... he catches himself, ends the mini-lectures, steps away from the podium, bows, and returns to the mat. (Sorry, you hit a subject I am very passionate about.)

Lynn Seiser PhD
Yondan Aikido & FMA/JKD
We do not rise to the level of our expectations, but fall to the level of our training. Train well. KWATZ!
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Old 11-12-2006, 12:32 PM   #17
Carol Shifflett
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Quote:
Lynn Seiser wrote:
There are no problems, just solutions we keep trying that don't work.
The miracle is to see through the illusion to who we all really are. Its a shift in perception. Choose the miracle.
Okay, okay ... he catches himself, ends the mini-lectures, steps away from the podium, bows, and returns to the mat. (Sorry, you hit a subject I am very passionate about.)
Hai! Thank you Sensei!
<BOW>
CS
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Old 11-13-2006, 02:06 AM   #18
Aran Bright
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Quote:
Lynn Seiser wrote:
The miracle is to see through the illusion to who we all really are. Its a shift in perception. Choose the miracle.
So then, are you saying that we are all one and that we forget this and that by embracing all of our behaviour and attitudes in a non-judgmental way this will serve to break this illusion?

The sessions that I teach are actually not aiki waza but more the meditation, breathing and taiso. Also I borrow a lot from Seitai and Sotai exercise traditons. The aim of what I do is to let people calm down and except the movements of there body and then hopefully the movements of there mind.

I try to creat an atmosphere where people can have there own space but still operate in a space with others. This teaching is done at hospital so there are restraints on what we can do ie. no contact.

I guess I looking for practical techniques, meditations or just advice on how to conduct these sessions.

I have really appreciated all of the feedback so far and as someone said earlier, this is the most important purpose of aikido so please if you have some thoughts, even if you think I am crazy, please let me know.


http://brisbaneaikido.com

Brisbane Aikido Republic
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Old 11-13-2006, 06:43 AM   #19
SeiserL
 
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

IMHO, it will help. Many of our neurosis and psychosis start from a judgmental and separated (existential angst) position. Accepting "what is" and who we really are beyond the the learned ego identity, shifts the identity frame of reference to a more positive and workable one.

Go slow.

Always build in a security anchor, sense many of the trance states associated with meditation work can be triggers for the defense mechanism trance states.

Slide above their life time line and find a time before they had problems. Who and where were they? How did they do that then? Slide forward to the future, ask them to do it again.

"Judgment" and "separation" according to who? Find the referential index. Its not ones "self". Its in reference to some "other".

Enter, blend, and redirect. Pace, pace, pace, lead.

To go from "crazy" to "sane" often feels like "in-sanity". Many think that going "crazy" is the "sane" way to deal with the "insane" reality from which they come.

Compliments an appreciation for being "crazy" enough to enter and blend. No advancement was ever made by people playing it safe and not having the courage to reach out to each others pain and suffering.

Lynn Seiser PhD
Yondan Aikido & FMA/JKD
We do not rise to the level of our expectations, but fall to the level of our training. Train well. KWATZ!
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Old 11-13-2006, 07:57 AM   #20
markwalsh
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Lynn - Looks like material for a good article here - would encourage Aiki Extensions to publish. You may also like to be in contact with David Lukoff AE Board Member and clinical psychologist, responsible for adding a spiritual dimension to DSMV.
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Old 11-14-2006, 06:39 AM   #21
Aran Bright
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Quote:
Mark Walsh wrote:
Lynn - Looks like material for a good article here - would encourage Aiki Extensions to publish. You may also like to be in contact with David Lukoff AE Board Member and clinical psychologist, responsible for adding a spiritual dimension to DSMV.
No way, I wouldn't have thought that possible.

thank you all for your feed back, I hope this thread continues...
.

http://brisbaneaikido.com

Brisbane Aikido Republic
Brisbane
Australia
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Old 11-14-2006, 08:13 AM   #22
markwalsh
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

[
Quote:
No way, I wouldn't have thought that possible.
Yeah, radical stuff!
David's a great guy - a true gentleman - and I don't say that just because he gave me a ride to the pub every Thursady after training, when I lived as a deshi on a ranch far from anywhere :-) He understood my spiritual needs :-)
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Old 11-14-2006, 02:50 PM   #23
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

I am always open to share what I can to be of help.

If some one wants to suggest it to AE, they are welcomed to. I am sure you could get some excellent contribution from their members.

Lynn Seiser PhD
Yondan Aikido & FMA/JKD
We do not rise to the level of our expectations, but fall to the level of our training. Train well. KWATZ!
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Old 11-14-2006, 05:57 PM   #24
markwalsh
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Lynn - write a piece and I'll have it uploaded for you, and will also link it back to this thread - be good to share what you have to offer.
Mark
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Old 11-15-2006, 04:41 PM   #25
SeiserL
 
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Re: Aikido for Drug/alcohol Rehab

Quote:
Mark Walsh wrote:
Lynn - write a piece and I'll have it uploaded for you, and will also link it back to this thread - be good to share what you have to offer.
Thanks for the offer, but I would suggest you run just the idea of this thread up the flag pole and see if anyone at AE salutes it.

IMHO, it would be far better to have the perspective of multiple people sharing their experience.

Lynn Seiser PhD
Yondan Aikido & FMA/JKD
We do not rise to the level of our expectations, but fall to the level of our training. Train well. KWATZ!
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