Aikido for Adults with Addiction and Comorbid Mental Health Issues

Penn Foundation
Sellersville, Pennsylvania

1998 – 2001

“Upon reflection after the lesson, I realized that for more than two hours I focused on neither the past nor the future, neither on my failures nor my dreams. Instead I was able to concentrate on the moment, the now, and by doing so, experienced great serenity.”

Intro

In Sellersville, Pennsylvania, about 40 miles north of Philadelphia, adults with addiction and comorbid mental health issues are training aikido as part of their treatment program. The project is supported by my sensei, Lia Suzuki, 4th dan of Santa Barbara, CA, and Penn Foundation for Behavioral Health, a non-profit, community mental health agency. I am an addiction counselor and aikido student both for over six years. The members of Suzuki Sensei’s Pennsylvania dojo , Aikido Kenkyukai (translation: Aikido Research Group) train three times a week in Penn Foundation’s gym and, for the past two years clients in the dual diagnosis rehab and half-way house have been encouraged to train with us.

I find that the clients benefit in many ways from the experience. Just the physical workout itself begins to help reduce stress and anxiety, and stabilize mood and disrupted sleep patterns (This phenomenon has, on several occasions led to lowered dosages or discontinuation of some psychiatric medications). The experience is also physically challenging and clients come away from even their first class with a sense of accomplishment and an improved sense of self-esteem. In keeping with a Gestalt-influenced approach, aikido provides immediate non-verbal feedback – an object lesson in staying centered in the “here and now.” This carries over into therapy groups where aikido principles are also applied to inter and intra-personal conflict resolution. Clients are asked to keep a journal of their experience and many have observed parallels between aikido principles and 12-Step philosophy. Here are two excerpts from clients’ journals (quoted with their permission):

Testimonials

Joe V., 1998: Aikido and Recovery

“One must have willingness and acceptance in order to succeed. One must be willing to learn new things even though they feel awkward and uncomfortable. One’s own will or strength must now be conformed to the will of the sensei or sempai – if the newcomer attempts to defend himself using preconceived or comfortable means, he will experience failure (and pain.)”

“The sensei/sempai is the higher power in the dojo. The newcomer must accept the teacher’s will and focus on the moment at hand. When frustration occurs, the newcomer must ask the sensei for help, and help is always forthcoming.”

“There are certain steps the student must take towards the goal of perfection of the technique. Although the steps are simple, the student realizes that perfection is elusive, so he must settle for progress instead.”

“Upon reflection after the lesson, I realized that for more than two hours I focused on neither the past nor the future, neither on my failures nor my dreams. Instead I was able to concentrate on the moment, the now, and by doing so, experienced great serenity. This is also the promise of recovery, that through willingness, belief in a Higher Power, and living life one day at a time, the addict may experience serenity and joy in his accomplishments.”

Linda H., Early Spring, 1999

“To me aikido was not what I expected. There was pain, lots of pain. (*Linda is not talking about being hurt in training. Her body was not used to much physical activity and for the first two weeks she was very sore. Also, we’re always encouraged to keep training even when we get tired – we can slow down but we try to keep moving. Linda often struggled to “keep coming back” even when she felt like giving up.*) It gave me a sense of being. I had to learn acceptance which was so hard when I first started recovery. If only I had surrendered to my addiction sooner I could be enjoying a happy serene life by being at peace within myself instead of always fighting everything.”

“Respect is a true challenge to my addiction. I was scared to death because of the change of the class size. (*Linda’s second time training – a larger turnout that day.*) You see, in my addiction I was scared of change. I would always normally run away and hide. I had to remember it’s just like meetings – their sizes always change all the time.”

“Being told to do 25 rolls at the end of training was very hard, but a newcomer kept working with me and got me to do 30. It’s like 30 meetings in 30 days. Learning from someone who has more knowledge always seems to stimulate the brain, wanting to reach out and get more. It lets me know I’m striving towards recovery the same way.”

“… deep inside I know I must push on – you just don’t give up. And in recovery once you give up, you’re back in the same old boat. To be patient is what is a great part of recovery. Focus, don’t think, because thinking got me in so much trouble. So focus is the great lesson you learn in recovery.”

At present, the biggest challenge for this ongoing project is the rather small membership of the dojo. In order to maintain a high sempai to kohai ratio, the number of clients who can participate remains lower than what we would like to see.

Questions, suggestions, comments and shared experiences are greatly appreciated.

Stephen Trinkle