Brain, Body, and Recovery from Addiction

About the Course:

Please note that this course focuses on the neuroscience of addiction. We all seek out pleasure and avoid discomfort. However, for some people these basic tendencies can warp into an addiction. This new webinar reveals how this happens by explaining how recent developments in neuroscience and psychology can expand addiction treatment. It begins by explaining how addiction hijacks the pleasure and motivational systems in the brain. When addictions do develop, what was once experienced as pleasure degrades into displeasure and motivation to engage in the world degrades into dysphoria and apathy. Meanwhile addictions cause and are caused by anxiety and depression. In the past, seminars on psychotherapy generally stay clear of addressing chemical dependency, while addiction seminars defer to mental health providers for insights into people with “psychiatric” disorders. Integrated psychotherapy goes well beyond the one-dimensional conceptual frames of “dual diagnosis” and “co-occurring disorders.” By understanding the neuroscience underlying addictions, therapists can more effectively help clients revitalize their bodies and brains to overcome addictions.

The webinar reveals the common denominators of approaches such as Motivational Interviewing, Relapse Prevention, and 12 Step Programs. Also, this webinar will describe the international movement that originated in Iceland and now adopted by 21 countries. This approach has expanded the bio-psycho-social interventions of the past and is increasingly looked upon as a model to adopt cross-culturally.

This course is based on the recorded webinar, Brain, Body, and Recovery from Addiction created by John Arden, PhD, ABPP in 2022.

Publication Date:

Course Creator and Author

Recommended For:

Counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychologists and social workers. This course is appropriate for **intermediate** levels of knowledge.

Course Objectives:

After taking this course, you should be able to:

1. Describe how internet addiction hijacks the same motivational and pleasure networks hijacked by other forms of addictions.
2. Discuss how most addictions downregulate dopamine receptors, making the range of potential positive experiences narrow to the addictive behavior
3. Discuss how a person had experienced multiple ACEs may epigenetically decrease the number of cortisol receptors, making it difficult to turn off the HPA axis and be more inclined to be addicted to drugs and alcohol.
4. Identify how people who maintain a reduced range of potentially positive experiences represents a set-up to develop addictive behaviors.
5. Discuss how expanding the range of positive behaviors, thereby expanding the number of medium spiny neurons in the pleasure center of the brain should be part of treatment.