European Scientific Journal, ESJ

Healing Addiction at Its Core: Insight into Resolving the Subconscious Drivers of Cravings and Compulsions

2025-07-06T18:26:39+00:00

Background: Addiction remains a persistent challenge in psychology and neuroscience, with high relapse rates despite various treatments. Conventional models often manage symptoms without addressing the suppressed emotional states and subconscious narratives that sustain compulsive behaviors. This study investigates the impact of restructuring subconscious belief systems through a pioneering methodology: Quantum Leap Technique (QLT), which employs structured linguistic interventions to systematically surface, deconstruct, and replace internal narratives with self-affirming beliefs in combination with an internal locus of control. Methods: Twenty individuals participated in QLT sessions for non-addiction-related concerns, such as self-worth, career challenges, health concerns, and emotional well-being. Despite addiction not being their primary focus, all participants reported significant changes in their relationships with addictive substances and compulsive behaviors. A survey with Likert-scale assessments and open-ended questions evaluated addiction-related experiences post-intervention. Results: Participants reported reduced compulsive behaviors, cravings, and emotional distress, with an increased sense of self-regulation. QLT facilitated shifts in self-narratives, promoting resilience and self-determination. The breadth of addiction types - including substance use, food cravings, and behavioral compulsions - highlights the intervention's broad applicability. Discussion: Findings suggest that addiction is driven by subconscious programming and unresolved trauma rather than solely biochemical dependency. By transforming self-perception and belief systems, QLT facilitated meaningful behavioral change. Limitations include a small sample size and reliance on self-reported data. Future research should explore diverse populations, those actively seeking treatment for these self-destructive behaviors, and objective outcome measures. Conclusion: This study supports language transformation and subconscious restructuring as critical components of addiction recovery, encouraging further research into integrative treatment models that address core belief systems for sustainable healing.

Mind-Body Integration Strategies in Health Promotion and Care: Special Edition Introduction

2025-07-06T18:27:02+00:00

Behavioral health, mental health, and primary physical health care have integrated services since the 1970s. With this growth, there has also been growth in integrating treatment strategies for mind and body collaboration in the healing process. Many of these have roots in Traditional Chinese Medicine or Ayurvedic Medicine and have included assessment of physical presentations to denote physical or mental health issues, the use of mind-based strategies to promote healing of both mental and physical health conditions, and the use of physical strategies to promote healing of both mental and physical health conditions. Review and background are provided for mind-body integration healthcare strategies and rationale for journal article contributions. Practitioners share articles in representative approaches with further explanation of these modalities and presentation of examples of work for efficacy in the modalities. These representative approaches reflect the employment of the mind to heal the body and the body to heal the mind, resulting in efficacy in synergistic whole-person healing. A conclusion is provided with a summary of both efficacy attained and continuing needs for further research.

A Phenomenological and Qualitative Pilot Study Addressing the Necessary Competencies for Becoming a Competent Sandtray Therapy Practitioner

2025-07-06T18:26:54+00:00

This phenomenological and qualitative pilot study aimed to understand mental health practitioners' perspectives on the competencies that sandtray therapy providers should include in their training programs for individuals to become competent sandtray therapy practitioners. While this creative and sensory-based approach was developed for young children, mental health practitioners have found it a valuable therapeutic tool for non-verbally communicating their innermost thoughts and feelings across the lifespan. Even though sandtray therapy has been used by mental health practitioners for over thirty years as an alternative to traditional talk therapy, it is not widely recognized as an evidence-based psychotherapeutic approach by the mental health profession. Through semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion, the study’s four participants articulated how the International Association of Sandtray Therapy (IAST) training program imparted specialized knowledge and skills essential for mental health practitioners in developing vital competencies to become competent sandtray therapy practitioners. While the World Association of Sand Therapy Professionals (WASTP) has proposed that sandtray therapy training programs adopt a universal set of competencies, the study’s four participants debated whether this is necessary. Analysis of the study’s data revealed three themes: professional integration of sandtray therapy, integrating somatic experiences and neurological processes, and establishing criteria for becoming a competent sandtray therapy practitioner. This pilot study examined how these three themes relate to the competencies these participants perceived as critical for becoming competent sandtray therapy practitioners.