Addiction recovery is a constantly changing science. From its earliest medical beginnings in 1931 at New York’s famous Charles B. Towns Hospital (Kurtz 2008), to the emergence of Hazelden’s Minnesota Model almost two decades later in 1949 (Hazelden Foundation, 2008), treatment for alcoholism and other chemical dependency has continued to evolve.

Moonview Sanctuary in Santa Monica, Calif.

The Moonview Model is a stunning prototype for modern holistic treatment. Focusing on customized, multimodal treatment protocols, this model can be applied to all forms of psychological distress and crisis, including addictions. Developed during seven years of research, and utilizing the combined expertise of literally dozens of recognized experts in medicine, psychology, holistic healing and spirituality, the Moonview Model represents a breakthrough in multidisciplinary treatment. A dedicated team of holistic practitioners and experts seamlessly combine traditional and conventional therapies with cutting edge neuroscience and medicine to create a completely individualized treatment protocol.

Our treatment philosophy

The founder of Moonview Sanctuary, Dr. Laurie Ann Levin, together with her original partners Dr. Terry Eagan, and Dr. Stephen Sideroff, understands that the complexity of human beings demands an approach to healing that is both holistic and intricate, taking into account the unique attributes of each client. A core philosophy of Moonview is that no single approach or theoretical orientation can fully explain the diverse nature of human experience. Therefore, the Moonview Model integrates a variety of techniques from various disciplines of medicine, psychology, sociology, philosophy, religion and spirituality.

“Moonview has crafted an innovative multidisciplinary approach based on a ‘dynamic collaboration’ between experts in a variety of fields, both conventional and holistic. This allows us to view a client through the lens of several different philosophical approaches,” says Dr. Laurie Ann Levin, Founder and CEO of Moonview Sanctuary. “We believe that this approach yields the most comprehensive and effective treatment protocols which can address the needs of the whole person – mind, body and spirit.”

The Moonview Model addresses psychological disturbances through a custom formulation of mental, physical and spiritual treatments designed to unravel all of the complex thoughts, emotions, beliefs and physical responses connected to that distress. Moonview treatment plans are designed using the same algorithm that is used to create medications or homeopathic remedies: combine a specific set of treatments presented in a specific sequence, in a specific frequency and intensity, to achieve the optimum level of healing and restore a state of balance, with minimal unintended impact (side effects).

The Moonview Model is designed to be flexible and adaptive. Each modality is carefully selected to address the specific needs of that individual client, and the sequence of treatments is deliberate, designed to maximize the inherent benefits of each approach. Intensive sequential treatment is cumulative. Each process the client experiences builds upon the previous process, thereby taking the treatment to a deeper level. The effectiveness of the individualized treatment plan is evaluated daily in team consultation and continually adjusted to match the client’s progress, creatively overcoming any resistance and modulating the intensity of treatment to prevent the client from becoming overwhelmed.

Conventional forms of talk-therapy — in particular, psychodynamic therapy and psychoanalysis — may be effective treatments for many types of distress, but these treatments can be limiting because they do not replicate the holistic manner in which a person experiences events. Therefore, a comprehensive approach that works on all body systems — not only thoughts and beliefs — is often more effective in initiating change or providing relief from suffering.

Multidisciplinary treatment

Multidisciplinary treatment is not a new idea. First developed in 1945 by industrialist Henry Kaiser and physician Sydney Garfield, over the last half-century, the concept has permeated clinical medicine and the addiction recovery field. However, the application of multimodal treatment in broad settings has presented many challenges, primarily logistics and cost, which resulted in highly structured treatment protocols that could not easily adapt to the particular needs of the individual. The treatments were comprehensive, but not very ‘patient sensitive.’ They often were impersonal — with the individual becoming part of the allopathic system of medicine which treated diseases and disorders, rather than people.

The Moonview Model is a totally unique configuration of multidisciplinary treatment, especially in the field of addiction recovery. In this model, 10 therapists and related health professionals are selected from a roster of more than 70 treatment professionals representing expertise in over 25 different modalities to create a team wholly engaged in the treatment of one individual. Clients receive a series of intensive one-on-one sessions. Each member of the clinical team is selected based on his or her area of expertise as it applies to the overall treatment plan for that client, with an emphasis on the synergy or “goodness of fit” between practitioner and client, as well as the ability of the practitioner to work collaboratively within a team.

“Although each of our practitioners is a recognized expert in their own field,” states Dr. Terry Eagan, Medical Director at Moonview, “because each person is influenced by their own frame of reference or worldview, in a sense, a healing practitioner may be limited by their training in a particular area. Utilizing a multi-disciplinary team allows for different perspectives and a more comprehensive interpretation of the client’s needs.”

The goals and objectives for treatment are clearly identified at the outset, and each therapeutic modality is intended to augment the others in a synergistic, cumulative effect that greatly facilitates the client’s progress.  For this reason, daily clinical meetings monitor progress and can make immediate changes in the modalities or personnel based on emerging needs of the client.

According to Dr. Stephen Sideroff, Moonview’s Clinical Director, “the true power of this approach is its responsiveness to the client’s evolving therapeutic needs. By integrating the approaches of many different therapists and changing treatments in response to progress, the client benefits from a synergistic effect and achieves much greater results. The Moonview Model is one of the most responsive and adaptive treatment protocols ever implemented in a clinical setting.”

Addiction as a disease

Addiction treatment has faced many unique challenges. Although the medical establishment has been treating the effects of alcoholism and chemical dependency for over two centuries, alcoholism was not officially recognized as a disease in the United States until the mid 1950s (NIAAA, 2008).

In ancient times, intoxication was considered to be possession by a god or demons (which lead to the description of alcohol as “spirits”). Sufferers were commanded to pay homage in the temple of the god that had possessed them — in Roman tradition, usually the god Bacchus — in order to be released from the obsessions that would lead them over and over again to drunkenness. During temperance movements of the early 1900s and prohibition (1920-1933), alcoholism was considered to be a weakness in character and a moral flaw that could be overcome by piety, discipline and will-power (Towns, C.B., 1917).

In the early 1930s, Dr. Silkworth, chief physician at Towns Hospital, had proclaimed that alcoholism was an illness, “an obsession of the mind coupled with an allergy of the body,” however the medical community was at a loss to determine how to treat this newly defined “disease” (Oxford Group, 2008). For the first time in the modern scientific era, allopathic medicine looked toward social support and spirituality to treat this puzzling affliction.  The advent of the Minnesota Model in 1949 challenged most of the earlier assumptions about alcoholics and codified the “disease” concept for alcoholism. More than just a medical intervention, it also represented a social reform movement that forged a partnership between the medical community and self-help groups, laying the foundation for modern addiction treatment. The Minnesota model expanded greatly during the 1960s, and has been emulated worldwide merging the talents of people in many disciplines: addiction counselors, physicians, psychologists, social workers, clergy, and other therapists. These people found themselves working on teams, often for the first time. And what united them was the notion of treating the whole person — body, mind and spirit (Hazelden Foundation, 2008).

However, alcohol abuse and alcoholism did not receive full recognition as a major public health problem until the mid-1960s, when the National Center for Prevention and Control of Alcoholism was established. Legislation in 1970 and 1972 improved the quality of hospital-based treatment programs and gave birth to an entire addiction recovery industry. The late 1970s saw alcoholism and chemical dependency treatment centers become a cottage industry with literally dozens of private, residential facilities springing up throughout the United States. Then, as an ‘unintended consequence’ of the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 and the deregulation policies of the Reagan administration, many individuals with mental illness and chronic addictions were no longer able to receive treatment in hospitals and were forced to access community-based and privately-funded programs (Hobbs, T., 1998); (NIAAA, 2008).

Today, alcohol dependency disorder in the United States is reported in about 8 to14 percent of the adult population, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), created in 1992. Experts largely agreed that addiction not only has a tremendous impact on all areas of the addict’s life, including relationships, health and career, but addiction is a social dilemma that has broad implications for public policy and public health (Wollschleager, B., 2007).

While the goal of addiction treatment is typically to discontinue use, detoxify the body (to break physiological dependence) and maintain abstinence from the addictive substance or activity, treatment frequently uncovers core psychological issues that, if not resolved, can increase potential for relapse. Recidivism is reported by SAMHSA at rates of approximately 70 to 80 percent one year post treatment. At least part of this high rate of relapse is due to untreated psychological issues such as unresolved childhood trauma or cognitive deficits, as well as untreated neurological changes in the brain caused by the disease itself. In addition, numerous studies have shown that stress and poor coping skills can also increase relapse rates (NIMH, 2007). For these reasons, it is vital that any addiction recovery protocol address the underlying emotional, psychological and social issues of the client .

The Moonview Model and addiction recovery

The Moonview Model has been used effectively for intensive outpatient treatment of chemical dependency and behavioral addictions. This novel approach strategically combines conventional and holistic techniques to reveal the underlying causes of addiction and manage the physiological attributes of the disease. A customized treatment plan is developed using techniques such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, massage, polarity, neurofeedback, pharmacology, psychotherapy, somatic experiencing, EMDR, psychodrama and experiential treatments (equine assisted psychotherapy, challenge courses, martial arts). The immediate effect of this protocol is to reduce the client’s psychological dependence on the substance or behavior and manage the emotional distress associated with sustained recovery. Most often, this protocol is initiated after a client has completed 30 days of inpatient primary care (including detoxification) and serves to augment conventional aftercare programs.

The goal of the Moonview Model is not only maintaining sobriety, but also helping a person restore a sense of purpose and direction to their life. As a result, clients enjoy improved psychological insight, resilience, social and professional functioning and overall quality of life. Often, clients presenting for addiction recovery treatment at Moonview are suffering from multiple mental and physical complaints and have been abusing substances to self-medicate emotional distress. An important consideration with drug addiction is addressing the client’s ability to cope with stress and handle extreme tension or anxiety.

Frequently, addicts have difficulty managing stress or responsibility and become easily overwhelmed and despondent. Addicts may also have an inherent (perhaps, biological) inability to relax or calm down after stressful events. As a result, they become locked into a constant state of arousal or anxiety that permeates every aspect of their lives. When the level of anxiety or stress becomes unbearable, they attempt to numb themselves from the physical and emotional discomfort by using drugs or engaging in compulsive behaviors. The Moonview Model examines the client from several different points-of-view to determine the interplay between biological propensity and learned behavior patterns. This allows the client to more fully understand their internal make-up and de-stigmatizes their former behaviors as ineffective coping strategies rather than character flaws. Once a hypothesis is formulated, the treatment team begins to help the client develop new coping strategies and psychological attributes, while medical and psychiatric interventions are employed to provide biological support for change.

Moonview Model — ‘Releasing Addictions’ protocols

After an intensive three-day assessment with approximately 12 different professionals, Moonview clients are presented with a comprehensive treatment plan that addresses their needs in eight main areas:

1. Maintaining sobriety and managing stress or triggers
2. Developing effective stress management coping skills
3. Breaking destructive thought patterns and negative beliefs
4. Improve cognitive and executive functioning
5. Developing the ability to self-regulate emotions, self-soothe and relax without use of drugs — including autonomic self-regulation
6. Defining a compelling future and goal setting
7. Self care (on all levels — physical, emotional, psychological, social)
8. Spiritual awareness and practice (in accordance with individual culture, beliefs or traditions) to provide a sense of purpose and direction

Moonview’s Releasing Addictions programs entail two-weeks to six months of intensive outpatient treatment, followed every six to eight weeks thereafter with two-day intensive follow-ups. Clients participate in three to five 60- to 90-minute therapy sessions per day focusing on addiction recovery, coping skills, trauma and personal healing. Sessions address interpersonal relationships, mind/body connection, self-regulation and stress management. The initial assessment and subsequent treatment incorporate the perspectives of multiple therapeutic approaches.

As a voluntary outpatient program, Moonview’s treatment is designed to overcome resistance and facilitate the client’s goals while making them personally responsible for the success of their treatment. The first task is to strengthen the client’s commitment to their goals by examining deeply held belief systems and self-concepts, including self-recrimination, guilt and shame. These beliefs may contribute to feelings of hopelessness and despair and perpetuate relapse. The second task is to systematically challenge and reorganize the client’s belief systems into a more positive, asset-based worldview that acknowledges that client’s resilience, self-efficacy and accomplishments.

In the initial stages of treatment, clients identify their cognitive map, the perspective that organizes their self-perception and view of the world, as well as their patterns of interaction with others. They will engage in neurofeedback to enhance brain function, and autonomic balance, while remediating deficits caused by the addiction and the healing of emotional trauma. Counselors help them determine their “primary story” and the unfinished emotional business that unconsciously motivates their behavior. Through the Moonview Model, clients begin to conceptualize their substance use or addictive behaviors within the context their whole being — mind, body and spirit, and they realize that true recovery can only be achieved by a concerted effort to heal all of these aspects of themselves.

Next, bodywork practitioners connect the client’s cognitive and emotional symptoms to body tension or other biological markers (high blood pressure, racing heart beat, etc). The awareness is invaluable. Clients begin to understand how their emotional state and mental responses to stress or tension may relate to drinking or using patterns. They also begin to assess the damaging effects on their physical body of alcohol or drug use.

In the holistic Moonview Model, it is important to also address a person’s social environment and ability to maintain healthy relationships. Therapeutic interventions such as the adult attachment interview, Gestalt therapy and psychodrama are used to help clients develop healthy communications skills and boundaries which can be applied to their current relationships. By integrating a family-systems approach, which gives emphasis to the relationship patterns in one’s family of origin, clients can often recognize dys- functional adaptations from childhood manifesting in their adult life.

Spirituality and recovery

Addiction is largely a disease of isolation. Addicts retreat into a lonely, destructive inner world that is devoid of positive, loving relationships and they come to rely solely on their drug of choice for support. The addiction becomes the central focus of an addict’s life, displacing careers, hobbies, and relationships. Finally the addiction becomes the source, the thing an addict turns to for comfort, relief, or empowerment. In essence, the addiction becomes their personal deity, replacing God or any higher power, leaving the addict hopeless and alone. Addiction, at its core, is always a spiritual crisis. Therefore, healing addiction is an intrinsically spiritual process. For this reason, the centerpoint of the Moonview Model is spirituality.

In 1934, Bill Wilson, who eventually co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous with Dr. Bob Smith, admitted himself for the fourth time to Towns Hospital for treatment of his severe alcoholism. He was administered the “Belladona Cure” — a strong concoction containing the deliriants Belladonna and Hyoscyamus niger. He experienced what would later be described as a “spiritual conversion experience” (Kurtz, E., 2008).

After his discharge, Bill W. was introduced to the self-help spiritual principles of the First Century Christian Fellowship (Oxford Group) by his good friend Ebby Thatcher. Ebby T. told Bill. W. about the powerful impact of the spiritual group and related the story of his friend Roland Hazard, an alcoholic who ‘sponsored’ Ebby T. into the group after therapy with famed psychoanalyst, Carl Jung. Several years before, Roland H. consulted with Dr. Jung to find a cure for his chronic alcoholism, which was considered at the time to be a moral flaw in one’s character. Jung pronounced that Hazard’s alcoholism was untreatable by current medical science and that his only hope would be a life-changing “vital spiritual experience” (Jung, 1977).

In a 1963 Grapevine article describing his exchange of letters with Dr. Jung, Bill W. wrote that hearing the message from Ebby T. about Jung’s advice to Roland H. was “the first in the chain of events that led to the founding of AA.” This was also the origin of the AA traditions to “carry the message to those who are still suffering” and sponsorship (AA., 2008).

Drawing upon his own experience at Town’s Hospital and the testimonials of Ebby T. and Roland H., Bill W. decided that “a spiritual awakening” was the missing piece in the treatment of alcoholism. Incorporating the principles of the Oxford Group with concepts from William James’ book, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Bill W. began to create a doctrine which would later become the foundation for Alcoholics Anonymous. Together with Dr. Bob Smith, Bill W. published the first copy of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1939. Later that year, they adopted the serenity prayer, credited to Dr. Rheinhold Niebuhr, as an unofficial motto of A.A: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference” (AAWS, 2008)

Spirituality — centerpoint of the Moonview Model

There are few things more personal then one’s religious and spiritual beliefs, and few things more characteristically human. Beyond being simply an attempt to explain the mysteries of the physical world, spirituality endeavors to connect each of us to a power that is vastly greater, and more elusive than we can even conceive. Throughout recorded history, religious and spiritual beliefs have permeated the foundation of culture and civilizations, and yet even after several millennia, humanity has yet to reach consensus on our spiritual lineage. “It may have been the first question asked by primitive man,” suggests Dr. Gaetano Vaccaro, a Jungian psychologist who conducts Moonview’s spiritual assessments. “And it may be the final question at the end of civilization… why am I here?”

With the vastness of the universe spread out before us in the night sky, we can’t help but wonder how it all came to be and where each of us fits into this grand design. And even as we examine our presence on this Earth, we can be awed by our greatness, yet humbled by our insignificance. It is the seminal junction between science and religion, philosophy and psychology, the physical world and boundless eternity. “Spirituality is the great paradox,” says Dr. Vaccaro. “It binds us and yet keeps us separate.”

In the Moonview Model, all therapies and interventions balance on the fulcrum of spirituality. Every belief and tradition is honored and treated with complete respect. Each client is encouraged to express and explore his or her own spiritual approach and the Moonview treatment team will integrate that client’s belief system into the overall treatment plan. In fact, the founders of Moonview believed so fervently that spirituality is an essential component to the healing process that they interviewed dozens of practitioners representing all religions and various spiritual traditions, from rabbinical scholars to Vedanta yogi, from mystics to native shaman, including scientists, teachers, healers and masters of the martial arts.  The practitioner who best matches a client’s spiritual approach is invited to be part of the treatment team, working with the client to deepen his or her spiritual practice.

“Intuition is the greatest untapped resource we have,” says Dr. Laurie Ann Levin. “When appropriate, we encourage our clients to practice the skill of listening to their own intuition — to quiet their mind through contemplation, prayer or meditation so that they can find their own inner guidance — to go inside and connect with their own higher power.”  No matter where the client finds this, it typically leads to a greater level of empowerment.

Some Moonview clients prefer a more pragmatic, less philosophical approach. These clients may choose to explore science, or metaphysics as a way of expanding their worldview, or simply focus on their purpose in life. The Moonview Model is, above all, respectful of the uniqueness of each individual client and it is intended to enhance the recovery process, not inhibit it by imposing beliefs and ideology on a client. “Spirituality can come in any form,” states Dr. Eagan. “We encourage a client to explore their spiritual nature or connect with a higher power, but we respect an individual’s right to choose what they will believe.”

Choice and respect

As with any responsible therapy program, each component of a Moonview Model treatment protocol is selected to ‘meet the client where they are’ and provide a safe container for the therapeutic process to occur. Because of the diversity of Moonview’s treatment pool, consisting of 70 practitioners representing over 25 different modalities, some of the treatments may be outside of the client’s comfort zone. Undoubtedly, most clients have had little or no experience with some of the more esoteric techniques, or they may not have been able to gain access to experts in cutting-edge technologies. In some ways this can be a benefit, because the client can approach the sessions without any preconceptions. However, clients are always in complete choice about the type of treatments in which they will participate. Each new modality is fully explained to the client by the treatment team leader before the session begins. The client provides informed consent, or has the opportunity to decline treatment, before engaging in any modality or after experiencing it. Professional ethics and confidentiality are paramount in the Moonview Model and are never compromised.

The Moonview Model represents a groundbreaking concept — integrating all types of therapy, traditional and non-traditional, Eastern and Western approaches, into a cohesive treatment protocol that heals the mind, body and spirit. All treatment at Moonview Sanctuary is conducted in accordance with the motto: “Entrance to the Human Soul is a Sacred Honor,” and as such, great care must be taken to always be worthy of that honor.

References

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Towns, C.B. (1917). The Alcoholic Problem Considered in its Institutional, Medical, and Sociological Aspects, in Three Parts (1917-1920) New York, The C. B. Towns Hospital.
Towns, C.B. (1919) Habits That Handicap: The Remedy for Narcotic, Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Addictions. New York; London: Funk & Wagnalls.
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To learn more about the Moonview Model and Moonview Sanctuary, go to: www.Moonviewsanctuary.com.

Acknowledgements

Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Act (1970)  (P.L. 91-616) established the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism within NIMH. National Center for Prevention and Control of Alcoholism was established as part of NIMH.

The Drug Abuse Office and Treatment Act (1972) established a National Institute on Drug Abuse within NIMH. A  research program on drug abuse was inaugurated within NIMH with the establishment of the Center for Studies of Narcotic and Drug Abuse.

Dr. Stephen Sideroff, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, consultant and Assistant Professor in the Psychiatry Department at UCLA and one of the Clinical Directors at Moonview Sanctuary. Dr. Sideroff is an internationally recognized
expert in behavioral medicine, biofeedback and peak performance, and wa the founder and former clinical director of Santa Monica Hospital’s Stress Strategies, which presented programs for individuals and corporations to better cope with stress.

Gaetano Vaccaro, PhD, is Director of Program Development and Deputy Clinical Director at Moonview Sanctuary. Dr. Vaccaro, who has a doctorate in Jungian Depth Psychology, formerly served as the Manager of Clinical and Behavioral Research at the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, and for 11 years, specialized in HIV/AIDS treatment and education, as well as treatment for sexual compulsivity, addictive behaviors and mood disorders. He is a nationally recognized lecturer on addiction recovery, human development and personal growth, and specializes in Institutional & Organizational Psychology and organizational change management.

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