When Women Heal, The World Heals

There is a hole in the sole of America. It is a hole that has been at the root of many a broken family, fallen community, and social and economic ill that our country faces, including our criminal justice system, our welfare system, and our child protective system. This is a hole caused by an epidemic of mass proportion, the epidemic of addiction. Every three minutes, a woman goes to the E.R. as a result of misusing prescription painkillers. As of 2014, SAMSHA reported that 15.8 million women have used illegal drugs and 4.6 million women have misused prescription drugs. Mothers, wives, sisters and daughters, these are women who lead companies, head charities, form social groups, and guide future generations. These are women who foster relationships with men, children, parents, neighborhoods, and communities. Spiritually speaking, these women are the Mother Earth and the Mother Womb, the nurturers, the child bearers, the nurses, the caretakers, the healers of our world.

In all forms, be it substance, sexual, or behavioral, addiction is the spiritual malady of our time, tearing apart the human connection, leaving ripples of devastation in its wake. Sadly, it is the women silently affected by addiction who are the most unnoticed and untreated. They are the gender who unintentionally, and unknowingly, perpetuates the generational difficulties passed on to their children, with 40,000+ babies born annually with some degree of alcohol-related damage. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is the leading cause of intellectual disabilities in our country and 100 percent preventable.

The women in our culture and our society are the moving force within their families and their communities. And as women, they are, by design, relationshipbased. A woman with a Substance Use Disorder, SUD, or other form of addiction, is most likely in a relationship with an addict or codependent individual. It is also likely that she is connected to an extended family, a neighborhood, and a community, all of which have been influenced by the addiction. By virtue of this, when the woman gets well, it is highly probable that those in relationship with her will also get well. And with that, the children, grandchildren and parents involved will, most likely, embrace the idea of healing, as well. All in relationship with her will either seek recovery for their own addictions and behaviors, or they will begin to make healthier choices. Thus, the cycle of addictive patterns can be broken.

Consider the not uncommon story of Marie (not her real name), a 39yearold business owner, mother, and recovering addict. From age 19 to 23, it was not unusual for Marie to drink a dozen or more cocktails and swallow several amphetamines to reach her desired state of numbness, and eventual black out. Despite two DUIs, she sought treatment from a life spun out of control. She recovered not only her sobriety, but her family relationships, her selfesteem and her will to live a clean life. She knew that her newborn goals were what most would consider a given, a loving relationship, obtaining her college degree, and children. My parents are proud to have their daughter back, and I have reconfirmed where I came from, and where I am today.

In order for the addiction cycles to be broken and generations healed, these women need to get into treatment. So why arent they? There are many reasons. Highest among them is the stigma of the female addict, the pressure put on her by family and society, and the guilt and shame at the false belief that she is at cause for her addiction. In addition, former treatment protocols and therapies, that werent specifically designed for women, had low success rates. In a majority of cases, other types of abuse also typically lay beneath the surface, with as many as 70 percent of these women having had histories of physical and sexual abuse. The pressure put on women to look like models or sex icons, or the opposite, take on the role of the man and compete for positions, respect, and income equal to a man.

In removing these challenges, remaining at the forefront of new research, and addressing the spiritual healing element, we in the industry have been increasingly able to improve outcomes, previously unattainable. Throughout the last decade, more treatment programs have been designed exclusively for womens needs, as well as for their children, and family, so that there is an integrated approach to the healing process. When we use a holistic and spiritual model of treatment, we see them get well. Programs for women have slowly begun to incorporate the communities they live and work in.

When her body is rejuvenated and her soul ignited, the mending of the family begins, and the rippling effect is seen in relationships healed and lives changed. There is a joy in recovery that others dont feel; a deep gratitude for a revitalized life in the everyday beauty that most take for granted. That joy is contagious, illuminating everyone like the sun. And there is nothing like the light of a woman who has achieved the ability to experience her full capacity for self empowerment, self love, and deep inner joy.

With each step taken to heal women, the healing circle is widened. Men, children, and families get well. Communities heal, and multi generations heal. And the hole in the sole of America can begin to heal.