Treatment of addiction begins with an acknowledgment of the fundamental problem the addiction is attempting to resolve in the person’s life. In other words, what needs to be explored is not what’s

wrong with the addiction, but what is “right” about it.

People experiencing addiction already know that their habits are body and soul-annihilating, not to mention socially nihilistic. They require validation, not for the way the addiction wants to meet these needs, but for the fundamental needs themselves.

Of course, the needs of someone experiencing addiction are the same as what all humans

need: self-acceptance, relief of pain, peace of mind, social connection, and a sense of power

and place.

Treatment, thus, should explore how, in a person’s life, these needs were not fulfilled; why that person developed the belief that only through particular substances or behaviors would they be met: or what, in other words, created the susceptibility.

Here we get to recognize that no substance in itself or by itself is addictive: most people can use most “addictive” substances (e.g., alcohol or opiates for pain relief), even repeatedly, without becoming addicted to them.

The next question is: how do we help people legitimize their needs without having to resort to self-harming and self-defeating habits? The treatment of addiction needs to be devoid of moral judgments, blame, and ostracizing—either of the person experiencing addiction or their family members, or of their addictive behaviors. As the spiritual master A.H. Almaas writes, “Only when compassion is present will people allow themselves to see the truth.”