As a PhD expert dedicated to elucidating complex psychological and neurobiological models, I can provide a detailed discussion of the Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM), drawing extensively from the qualitative and evidence-informed insights presented in the sources. The ADM is a foundational theory and comprehensive framework developed by Dr. Adam O’Brien and Dr. Jamie Marich, designed to redefine and conceptualize the interconnectedness of trauma, dissociation, and addiction.

The core observation underpinning the ADM is that addiction is a form of dissociation, and these phenomena are intrinsically linked and interdependent. The model challenges traditional quantitative definitions by asserting that genuine understanding and effective treatment require acknowledging the qualitative reality of lived experience.

I. Foundational Definitions and Interconnectedness

The ADM provides operational and phenomenological definitions for its core concepts, emphasizing that these phenomena exist on a transdiagnostic spectrum, ranging from normative (universal) to pathological.

A. Definitions of Core Phenomena

The ADM’s insights arose from doctoral research and clinical experience, leading to the following key definitions:

• Trauma: Defined simply as an event that leaves an impression on the psyche/memory system or something that stays with you that has negative consequences. Trauma is pervasive, with statistics suggesting that potentially 90%–95% of people have experienced trauma in childhood, according to the ACE Study.
• Dissociation: Defined as the act of severing, separating from, or living independently from something. The sources assert that dissociation is fundamentally a state of healing, a natural, unavoidable, and essential process for survival and thriving.
• The Unconscious: A core definition is that the psychological unconscious is the body. This perspective suggests that the body keeps the score of lived experiences and communicates through non-verbal language (emotions, symptoms, etc.).
• Addiction: The ADM defines addiction as a conditioned bond to a dissociative state of being whose purpose is to ensure survival and regulation by any means necessary. The active addictive state is a dissociative state involving psychological reenactments of previous unresolved memories and experiences, intending to repair or bring attention to an unconscious issue.

B. The Symbiotic Relationship

The ADM posits that trauma, dissociation, and addiction are dependent on each other to exist. The relationship is characterized as follows:

1. Trauma Produces Dissociation: Trauma is the event, and anything that occurs post-event is dissociation. The stress/traumatic event produces dissociation as a survival and stress response.
2. Dissociation Fuels Addiction: Addiction is the relationship created between unresolved trauma and the continued and unchecked progression of dissociative responses. The unchecked progression of dissociative responses is what individuals become addicted to.
3. Addiction as Pathological Dissociation: Addiction is argued to define what the field calls pathological dissociation. This occurs when one is addicted (trauma-bonded) to the dissociative process that trauma caused. The “disease” of addiction is seen as pathological dissociation stemming from dissociation-in-trauma.

II. Neurobiological and Psychological Mechanisms

The model integrates neurobiology to explain how addiction and dissociation become intertwined at a fundamental level, particularly focusing on survival, memory, and endogenous chemical systems.

A. The Role of the Pain/Reward System and Conditioning

Addictive behaviors are often survival-oriented, substituting for attachment, seeking connection, and managing stress. This conditioning occurs in the limbic and reptilian parts of the brain, overriding higher-level thinking when survival is perceived to be at stake.

• Endogenous Systems: Dissociation utilizes the body’s natural chemical systems: the endogenous opiate system (instrumental in numbing and implicated in trauma bonding) and the endocannabinoid system (instrumental to healing). People can become addicted to trauma because the endogenous opiate system is conditioned during the dissociative response.
• Addiction Memory: A single drug use, or powerful experience, can be considered “traumatic” to the unsuspecting body, creating an addiction memory akin to a traumatic memory. This memory is stuck and can produce intrusive symptoms and reenactments.

B. The Universal Healing System: Memory Reconsolidation (MR)

The solution offered by the ADM relies on accessing the body’s universal healing process: Memory Reconsolidation (MR).

• MR and Dual Attention: MR is defined as adaptive memory reorganizing and resolution. It is foundational to trauma therapies and involves intentional or unintentional memory recall combined with a Mechanism of Action (MoA) that creates a state of dual attention.
• Dissociation as Adaptive: The states needed for MR (dual attention/adaptive dissociation) are described as a grounded dissociative healing state. The ADM views Mindful Dissociation (intentional awareness of being dissociated to access adaptive information) as the key practice for activating MR and self-healing.

III. Implications for Clinical Practice and Societal Critique

The ADM’s conceptualization has profound implications for how addiction and mental health are assessed, treated, and understood at a macro level.

A. Challenges to Normative Pathology

Since trauma, dissociation, and addiction are demonstrated to be normative and transdiagnostic experiences, the ADM argues that traditional quantitative systems pathologize normal human behavior.

• Universal Addiction: Addiction is seen as universal, manifesting not just as substance use, but also as normative or process addictions (e.g., perfectionism, ambition, work, technology, control, safety, political party, religion, or even healing itself).
• Diagnosis and Stigma: The field’s failure to accurately define these phenomena limits effective treatment and perpetuates the denial system, often reinforcing a pathology of learned helplessness.

B. The Path of the Wounded Healer (PWH)

The Addiction as Dissociation Model forms the theoretical basis for the Path of the Wounded Healer (PWH), a dissociation-focused phase model designed to address these phenomena in both normative and pathological states.

• Regulation First: PWH follows the trauma care consensus model, prioritizing regulation as paramount and a prerequisite for memory healing work. Regulation is seen as essential because most people, including professionals, are not regulated to the degree they believe they are.
• MASA: The model uses the Meeting Area Screening and Assessment (MASA), a qualitative tool based on the dissociative table, to obtain unconscious informed consent by engaging the client’s inner psychological structure (“inner rings of their tree,” “parts”).
• Trauma Resolution: Resolution of addiction pathology is predicated on resolving the underlying traumatic memories (including drug use memories) using MR, achieved through methods like EMDR, Brainspotting, and Mindful Dissociation.

In summary, the Addiction as Dissociation Model offers a highly integrated, spiritual, and trauma-focused re-conceptualization, asserting that trauma produces dissociation, and addiction is the subsequent bonding to that dissociative response, making healing contingent upon the resolution of these implicit, trauma-based memories.

As a PhD expert dedicated to advanced understanding in psychological phenomena, the relationship between trauma and dissociation is considered foundational to the Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM) and the Path of the Wounded Healer (PWH). The sources emphasize that trauma and dissociation are universally linked, transdiagnostic, and essential components of the human experience, operating on a spectrum from normative to pathological.

Here is a detailed discussion of trauma and dissociation based on the provided expert sources:

I. Defining Trauma and Dissociation

The sources provide clear and functional definitions that shift the focus from pathology to universal human response:

• Trauma: Defined as an event that leaves an impression on the psyche/memory system or something that stays with you that has negative consequences. Trauma is pervasive, with studies like the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Study suggesting that potentially 90%–95% of people have experienced trauma in childhood.
• Dissociation: Defined as the act of severing, separating from, or living independently from something. Fundamentally, dissociation is conceptualized as a state of healing; it is a natural, unavoidable, and essential process for survival and thriving. Trauma is the event, and anything that occurs post-event is dissociation.

II. The Interdependent and Universal Nature of the Phenomena

Trauma and dissociation are inseparable, dependent on each other to exist, and represent universal aspects of the human experience.

A. Dissociation as a Stress Response and Survival Mechanism

The primary function of dissociation is survival. When the physical or psychological self is threatened, the stress response invokes basic survival choices: fight, flight, or freeze.

• Trauma Produces Dissociation: A traumatic event stresses the body, and the subsequent psychological reaction needed to cope is dissociation. Trauma, stress, and dissociation exist on a spectrum, and the symptoms of PTSD are fundamentally seen as defining dissociation because anything post-trauma event is a bodily dissociative/stress response attempting to return to homeostasis.
• Physiological Basis: Dissociation involves both the endogenous opiate system (instrumental in numbing and pain-based dissociative responses) and the endocannabinoid system (instrumental to healing). These neurochemical systems, maintained by the brain’s survival centers, are implicated in how addiction to dissociation forms.
• Normative Functioning: Dissociation is not solely pathological; it is innate to all humans and a birthright. The source suggests that dissociation is the statistical norm and a normal response to stress. The high levels of stress in modern life may trigger high levels of dissociation, leading to a physical and psychological health crisis.

B. The Unconscious as the Body

A key conceptualization within this framework is defining the psychological unconscious as the body. The body keeps the score of lived experiences, and the unconscious communicates through non-verbal language like emotions and symptoms.

• Mind-Body Connection: The mind (conscious) and body (unconscious) are interdependent but can operate independently of one another. Dissociation represents the disconnection from bodily reality, often leading to a lack of awareness of internal processes or stress responses.
• Unresolved Trauma: When overwhelming experiences disrupt the natural biological order, memories become “stuck” in the emotional brain, preventing them from moving into long-term storage. This unresolved material is held differently than normal memories and continues to feel like it is happening today.

III. Trauma Resolution and Healing through Dissociation

The path to healing trauma involves utilizing dissociation adaptively to access the memory system’s innate ability to resolve conflicts.

A. Memory Reconsolidation (MR)

The sources identify Memory Reconsolidation (MR) as the universal template for psychological healing. MR is the process of updating or rewriting the emotional content of a memory, moving adverse life experiences into long-term storage so they feel like a past event.

• Adaptive Dissociation/Mindful Dissociation: Healing requires activating a state of dual attention—being conscious (“here”) and accessing the unconscious memory (“there”) simultaneously. The ADM promotes Mindful Dissociation as an intentional, adaptive use of dissociation to access adaptive information and activate MR.
• The Healing State: Dissociation, particularly the adaptive dissociated state, is characterized as a healing state produced by the body’s regulatory system. This healing state is what allows trauma resolution methods (like EMDR and Brainspotting) to successfully process memories.

B. The Spectrum of Trauma and Pathology

Trauma and dissociation are normalized to such an extent that they are often considered everyday life. However, pathology occurs when dysfunctional behaviors are sustained due to unresolved trauma and unchecked dissociative responses.

• Developmental Trauma: Trauma experiences, especially “little t” traumas like bullying or negative parenting styles, are cumulatively impactful. Developmental Trauma Disorder (DTD) is considered unnecessary as a diagnosis because, if included, virtually everyone would be diagnosable, which benefits those who profit from treating normative disorders.
• Pathologizing the Norm: By arguing that trauma is the norm, the sources conclude that dissociation is also the norm, and the system is pathologizing normal human responses. This pathologizing limits the global cultural and spiritual growth of individuals.

In essence, trauma triggers dissociation as a survival mechanism, and the subsequent healing of that trauma requires intentional engagement with these dissociative states to leverage the body’s innate MR process.

Memory Reconsolidation (MR) is a core construct underlying modern trauma resolution therapies and is identified within the sources as the universal template for psychological and physical healing. Within the philosophical framework of the Path of the Wounded Healer (PWH) and the Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM), MR serves as the foundational, evidence-based process that defines how healing occurs across normative and pathological experiences of trauma, dissociation, and addiction.

I. Definition and Core Process of Memory Reconsolidation

As an expert-level concept in neurobiology and psychology, MR is defined as adaptive memory reorganizing and resolution. It is a biological process through which consolidated memories, particularly those associated with traumatic experiences, are moved into long-term memory storage after being reactivated and reviewed.

The distinction between Memory Consolidation (MC) and Memory Reconsolidation (MR) is critical:

• Memory Consolidation (MC): This is the natural process where memories are formed in working memory, condensed, and stored in long-term storage, typically occurring during the sleep cycle. MC is generally responsible for memory systems functionality when life proceeds as expected.
• Memory Reconsolidation (MR): This occurs after the original consolidation process. The consolidated memory is reactivated, reviewed, and subsequently stored in a new location. The key result of successful MR is an updated understanding of the event, accompanied by less emotional content, sometimes resulting in the erasure of the emotional charge associated with the memory. In psychological terms, MR moves adverse life experiences from feeling “stuck”—like they are still happening today—to feeling like a past event, akin to remembering “last Wednesday’s lunch”.

MR is fundamental to therapeutic change because memories become a permanent part of the body; therefore, resolving trauma is essentially healing the brain and allowing the person to gain helpful insight into the nature of life.

II. The Algorithm of Memory Reconsolidation

The mechanism for unlocking the MR process follows a specific algorithm, often summarized in three key steps:

1. Activation: The traumatic memory or felt experience is intentionally or unintentionally recalled and emotionally activated in a therapeutic context. In the context of Psychedelic Therapy (PT), this involves destabilization and activation of an implicitly held memory.
2. Contrast/Conflict: The retrieval of the original problematic learning (the symptom-requiring schema) is identified, creating dissonance or conflict with newly acquired knowledge or current reality. This contrast between “what is believed” and “what is” allows resolution to occur.
3. Integration/Erasure: Adaptive conclusions and new perspectives are integrated into an updated narrative. This typically involves guiding further disconfirming experiences within a specific time window to complete the erasure of the emotional material. The emotional release and reintegration allow the breakdown of maladaptive learning acquired during the original event.

III. Mechanisms of Action (MoA) and Dual Attention States

A crucial component for achieving MR is the induction of a state of dual attention. Dual attention is the ability to be present in the conscious mind (“here”) while simultaneously accessing the unconscious mind (“there”).

This state is created via a Mechanism of Action (MoA), defined as any stimulation or catalyst that influences the memory system, consciousness, or present state of awareness, allowing for shifts in mind states to occur.

Examples of MoAs accessing MR include:

• Dual Attention Stimulus (DAS) / Bilateral Stimulation (BLS): These are distractions or sensory inputs that tax the working memory system or facilitate grounding, allowing the individual to witness the experience safely. Examples include rhythmic activity like walking, running, playing musical instruments, eye movement, or focused attention/gazing.
• Trauma Resolution Therapies: All trauma resolution methods incorporate MoAs to access MR, including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Brainspotting (BSP), Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR), and Progressive Counting (PC). These are acknowledged as memory reconsolidation therapies.
• Psychedelic Medicines: Psychedelics, such as MDMA, THC, and CBD, function as powerful MoAs because they create the conditions necessary for dual attention and MR. They lower physiological and psychological defense mechanisms, causing the mind to quiet and the more feeling body (the unconscious) to emerge with symbolic imagery and implicit memories. The euphoric stress of the psychedelic drug acts as a dual attention stimulus, bringing unconscious awareness into conscious awareness and thinning the amnesia barrier (AB)—the veil between the conscious and unconscious self—allowing MR to take place naturally.

IV. Neurobiological and Chemical Underpinnings

MR is supported by objective neurobiological findings:

• Brain Activity: During the reprocessing phases of EMDR, neurobiological changes are seen in the maximal activation from emotional limbic regions to cortical cognitive brain regions. Brain imaging confirms that psychedelics, which access MR, decrease activity in the Default Mode Network (DMN), a key indicator that unconscious material is being accessed and processed.
• Receptors and Neurochemicals: MR involves the 5-HT2A receptors, mainly located in the cerebral cortex, which are crucial for enhancing memory consolidation and fear extinction. The activation of the endocannabinoid system, instrumental in healing, also supports the body in performing MR, suggesting it could be a common neurochemical grounding agent. Furthermore, the endogenous opiate system, associated with numbing, is implicated in dissociation, which fuels the addictive state of bonding to trauma.

V. MR in the Context of PWH and Spiritual Healing

In the framework presented, MR is not merely a biological phenomenon but a spiritual and universal path to truth.

• Spiritual Equivalence: MR is referred to as re-coding in coaching (using Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP)), reprocessing or trauma resolution in therapy, and rebirth in the spiritual and religious contexts. Healing is viewed as a universal right and a process of adapting and resolving conflicting experiences.
• PWH Operationalization: The PWH phase model supports MR through various non-therapeutic methods, including Neurofeedback, Brainspotting, BEMER technology, and legal psychedelic medicines, to enhance wellness and post-traumatic growth potential. The curriculum teaches participants how to activate innate states of healing that are endogenous to all human beings.
• The Unconscious Educator: The fundamental realization is that the unconscious mind is the body, and it already possesses the wisdom and capacity for healing. The healing process works by listening to the body’s wisdom. The knowledge provided by MR allows professionals to understand that healing is achievable because the memory system is designed for resolution.

Ultimately, the understanding that MR is universal confirms that healing is accessible to everyone, regardless of professional background or belief system, provided they engage with the process of reactivation, confrontation, and integration of their deeply held traumatic memories.

As an articulation of expert knowledge in the intersection of psychology, spirituality, and quantitative methods, a detailed discussion of the qualitative and quantitative paradigms is imperative, particularly within the framework of the Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM) and the Path of the Wounded Healer (PWH). The sources present a rigorous critique of the traditional dominance of quantitative reasoning in scientific, medical, and governmental systems, advocating instead for the vital role and equal stature of qualitative research.

I. The Dualistic Nature of Inquiry: Qualitative vs. Quantitative

The distinction between qualitative and quantitative methodologies is framed fundamentally as a psychological and physiological dualism, corresponding to the right and left brain hemispheres.

• Quantitative Reasoning: This approach is equated with the rational, logical, and linear thinking processes typically associated with the left side of the brain. Quantitative thinking prioritizes objective metrics and seeks “facts” as truths. It often represents the “conscious thinking mind,” particularly prevalent in legal and industrialized medical practices.
• Qualitative Reasoning: This methodology is rooted in the emotional, intuitive, somatic, and lived experience, linked predominantly to the right side of the brain. Qualitative thinkers (often referred to as artists, philosophers, or mystics) perceive the world through symbolism, emotions, and the nonverbal landscape. Crucially, qualitative existence is defined by the lived experience, and the body is defined as the psychological unconscious. The body keeps the score of history and lived experience, and this felt sense constitutes the qualitative truth.

The intersection of these two forms of communication—thoughts (conscious mind) and feelings (unconscious body)—is where insight is said to arise. The body’s emotional states serve as a universal language connecting these two interdependent worlds.

II. The Critique of Quantitative Dominance

The PWH framework strongly contends that the current societal and professional hierarchy unjustly subordinates qualitative reasoning to quantitative research. This preference is seen as a fundamental blind spot that contributes to ongoing systemic issues and a denial of deeper truths:

1. Systemic Blindness and Denial: Historically, quantitative approaches, particularly within the medical and psychological fields, have failed to accurately define fundamental phenomena like addiction, dissociation, and trauma. This failure is attributed to a denial system and a lack of qualitative understanding. The quantitative mind is criticized for being developmentally behind the basic qualitative wisdom derived from lived experience.
2. Flawed Research Methodology: Quantitative research is often performed without formally and explicitly conducting qualitative research beforehand. This informal process minimizes qualitative data, labeling it as anecdotal, and increases the likelihood of creating misinformation. The quality of quantitative research is thus limited by the cognitive minds that created it, demonstrating a reliance on flawed reasoning that history has repeatedly shown leads down the wrong path.
3. Reinforcement of Power and Pathology: The industrial medical model and related systems (insurance, government, legal) are seen as benefiting exponentially from illness and pathology, lacking the ethical fortitude to follow research that might undermine their business models. The reliance on quantitative justification creates a “quantitative tyranny” that restricts freedom and maintains the status quo. This dominance often leads to the pathologizing of normal human experiences (such as normative dissociation and trauma responses) to justify treatment and reimbursement, thereby increasing pathology where none truly exists and fostering learned helplessness.
4. Historical and Cultural Bias: The lack of value placed on qualitative research mirrors historical patterns of minimizing the contributions of marginalized groups, such as dismissing women’s contributions as “women’s work”. The source argues that this quantitative dominance contributes to developmental delay, moral decay, and limits global cultural and spiritual growth by promoting consumptionism and egotism.

III. The Path Forward: Integration and Qualitative Primacy

The ADM and PWH emphasize that genuine understanding and comprehensive healing require the conscious integration and alignment of both qualitative and quantitative realities.

• Q-Methodology: The goal is explicitly stated as utilizing Q-methodology, the term for combining qualitative and quantitative methods, which is necessary for a well-rounded and inclusive perspective. The foundational research of ADM and the development of the PWH are grounded in qualitative research, using a qualitative style of writing to challenge the reader’s quantitative assumptions.
• The Unconscious as the Educator: The spiritual path of healing is achieved through actively engaging the unconscious mind (the body). Qualitative research is viewed as essential for deciphering, translating, and understanding this unconscious language. It is the qualitative experiences of artists, philosophers, and healers that consistently revealed the answers to life’s difficult questions.
• Healing through Lived Experience: Healing is experiential and emotional, requiring individuals to truly know by doing. The knowledge gained from lived experience is asserted to be as factual as quantitative measures. The insights derived from qualitative methodologies inform the universal principles of healing taught by the PWH.
• Memory Reconsolidation (MR) as Universal Truth: The inherent healing system—memory reconsolidation (MR)—is a universal biological process that occurs naturally through practices like meditation and dual attention states. While MR provides the quantitative framework for psychological healing, the core understanding of this healing process (the why and how) is qualitatively and spiritually informed. The emergence of healing states of consciousness, sometimes equated to the spiritual realm, is supported by objective quantitative measures (like the deactivation of the default mode network) but is accessed through qualitative, experiential means (mindful dissociation/adaptive dissociation).

In essence, the spiritual healing path offered by PWH serves as the crucial link between the quantitative and qualitative worlds, acting as the necessary interpreter (corpus callosum) to ensure that the inherent wisdom of the emotional, qualitative self guides the rational, quantitative systems towards authentic recovery and self-actualization.

The Path of the Wounded Healer (PWH) is presented as a profound spiritual journey and a comprehensive dissociation-focused phase model designed for engaging with both normative and pathological states of consciousness. Drawing upon deep qualitative research, the PWH offers a framework for spiritual healing and personal transformation, rooted in the idea that recovery and self-awareness are universally accessible,,.

As an articulation of the universal solution to healing and recovery, the PWH is seen as the eternal path to truth and to obtaining the spiritual bliss of acceptance,,.

I. The Nature and Philosophy of the Spiritual Healing Path

The Path of the Wounded Healer is fundamentally a spiritual healing path,,,. The Wounded Healer archetype itself symbolizes the transformation of consciousness leading to constructive action in one’s life. The underlying philosophical premise is that the phenomena of trauma, dissociation, and addiction are intertwined, dependent on each other to exist, and operate on a transdiagnostic spectrum from normative to pathological,,.

Key philosophical tenets of this spiritual path include:

• Recovery and Transcendence: The path facilitates finding “god,” “enlightenment,” and “nirvana,” leading the individual to drop out or unplug from the stresses of industrial modernization. It promotes spiritual freedom, aligning with the insights offered by world religions and the founders of Self-Help movements,. Recovery, by its nature, is spiritual and embodies the path to self-actualization, being whole, being alive, and finding one’s destiny.
• The Unconscious as the Body: A core conceptualization is defining the psychological unconscious as the body,. This means that the body keeps the score of lived experiences,,. The emotional states produced by the body serve as a universal language connecting the conscious and unconscious minds.
• Healing through Humility and Acceptance: The PWH leads to humility, often through a process of deconstruction, metaphorically described as the erosion or shedding of the Self (ego death),. Humility is posited as the solution to developmental trauma, normative dissociation, and universal addictions. Acceptance is considered the only known “cure” for addictions.
• Spiritual Intent in Healing: The work is viewed as a spiritual and existential life and death cycle preparation,. The goal is to help people live a life well-lived and achieve a grateful death by resolving internal conflicts and finding their way home,.

II. Foundational Models and Processes

The PWH framework is based on the Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM), which provides the theoretical basis for working with trauma, dissociation, and addiction,.

Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM): ADM suggests that addictions are the consequence of a spiritual war and that the unchecked progression of dissociative responses is what individuals become addicted to. Critically, ADM highlights that dissociation is intrinsically a state of healing—a normal response to stress and traumatic events, even if it manifests pathologically,,,.

Memory Reconsolidation (MR): The spiritual healing provided by PWH is grounded in accessing the biological process of Memory Reconsolidation (MR). MR is an innate, universal biological system that provides the template for healing,. MR psychologically involves updating or rewriting the emotional content in a memory, moving adverse life experiences from being “stuck” experiences into long-term memory, thereby resolving them,,.

Dual Attention States: MR relies fundamentally on achieving a state of dual attention,, which is a state of mind or consciousness necessary to produce the conditions for memory resolution. These dual attention states—also referred to as adaptive dissociation or mindful dissociation—create the contrast needed for resolution between conscious (mind) and unconscious (body) awareness,,,. These states, induced naturally by the body’s endocannabinoid and endogenous opiate systems, are equivalent to the altered states of consciousness associated with the spiritual realm,.

III. Practices and Training Components

The PWH utilizes a transtheoretical wellness phase model that aligns with the Consensus Model of Trauma Care (stabilization, memory work, and maintenance),. It is an experiential process that focuses on regulation, specialized assessment, and ongoing practice.

Core Practices Taught in PWH:

1. Mindful Dissociation (Adaptive Dissociation): This is the intentional dissociation used to access adaptive information and is key to the curriculum,,,. It is taught through body and mind regulation and spiritual practices.
2. Regulation and Preparation: Regulation is considered paramount and a prerequisite for memory resolution work,. Methods include Neurofeedback (NFB), Biofeedback, and BEMER technology to establish a regulation point and ensure readiness for deeper work,,,.
3. The Meeting Area Screening and Assessment (MASA): MASA is a qualitative tool used to observe levels of consciousness and obtain unconscious informed consent by having the client connect with their inner world (ego states, inner child, past selves), viewing them as “rings in a tree”,,,.
4. Conscious Use of Medicines: PWH supports the responsible and conscious use of legal psychedelic medicines (e.g., cannabis, CBD) for learning and spiritual care, emphasizing that medicines help create the conditions (dual attention) for healing to occur, but the medicine itself does not heal,,. The process emphasizes Honoring the Medicine with gratitude and asking the Meeting Area for permission to partake, acknowledging the traditional wisdom,.
5. Therapeutic Modalities: PWH incorporates trauma resolution methods like Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Brainspotting (BSP), Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR), and Progressive Counting (PC), all of which access MR,,. The program also utilizes enhanced bracketing techniques (EBT) for research and clinical integration,,.

IV. The Healer as a Spiritual Profession

The PWH manual argues for the creation of “Healer” as a distinct spiritual profession, separate from the industrialized medical and psychological models,,. This separation is necessary because the industrialized models are often seen as complicit in maintaining systemic addiction, lacking accurate definitions of addiction and dissociation, and profiting from pathology,,,,.

• Healer Distinction: A healer sells themselves and their knowledge, promoting others’ intrinsic healing. They work with the intangibles of life in spiritual ways, relying on moral code, humility, intuition, and attunement,. In contrast to professionals who adhere strictly to protocols, the healer is not divorced from the client’s experience and actively joins in the healing process,.
• Spirituality as Religion: The spiritual path of recovery, such as Self-Help Recovery (like Alcoholics Anonymous), is argued to meet the necessary standards to be considered a legal religion,. This distinction is crucial for protecting the right to spiritual and medical freedom, especially concerning the use of medicines and practices that activate innate healing systems,,. The purpose is to provide legal and religious exemption against unjust governmental policies or laws.

In conclusion, the Spiritual Healing Path, operationalized through the PWH, offers a comprehensive, qualitative, and experiential means of healing developmental traumas, normative dissociation, and universal addictions by accessing the body’s innate memory reconsolidation processes through mindful dissociation and spiritual practices.

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References

O’Brien, A. (2023a). Addiction as Trauma-Related Dissociation: A Phenomenological Investigation of the Addictive State. International University of Graduate Studies. (Dissertation). Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/courses/addiction-as-dissociation-model-course/

O’Brien, A. (2023b). Memory Reconsolidation in Psychedelics Therapy. In Path of the Wounded Healer: A Dissociative-Focused Phase Model for Normative and Pathological States of Consciousness: Training Manual and Guide. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/courses/addiction-as-dissociation-model-course/

O’Brien, A. (2023c). Path of the Wounded Healer: A Dissociative-Focused Phase Model for Normative and Pathological States of Consciousness: Training Manual and Guide. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/

O’Brien, A. (2024a). Healer and Healing: The re-education of the healer and healing professions as an advocation. Re-educational and Training Manual and Guide. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/

O’Brien, A. (2024e). Path of the Wounded Healers for Thrivers: Perfectionism, Altruism, and Ambition Addictions; Re-education and training manual for Abusers, Activists, Batterers, Bullies, Enablers, Killers, Narcissists, Offenders, Parents, Perpetrators, and Warriors. Re-Education and Training Manual and Guide. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/

O’Brien, A. (2025). American Made Addiction Recovery: a healer’s journey through professional recovery. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/

*This is for informational and educational purposes only. For medical advice or diagnosis, consult a professional.