Balance Rehab

14/07/2025

To say that research is more objective than personal observation is misleading for a number of reasons. Results from a controlled environment may not be an accurate representation of a natural setting. The factors that they choose to examine in a study may not be the critical ones. Researchers can still, knowingly or unknowingly, influence the results of a study. Observation is also a form of research called qualitative research (rather than quantitative).

13/07/2025

Research is based on the concept of testing and trying to disprove theories, hypotheses and concepts. If someone tries to tell you that you cannot challenge a research finding, that person does not understand research and/or is trying to use research findings to overpower others in the way she or he desires. Beware of power mongers and snake oil salespeople.

10/07/2025

Why should you consider receiving treatment in a beautiful place like Tao Garden? Shouldn’t you be in a place that feels more like prison so that you are punished and taught a lesson for your misdeeds? A lot of people think that is trues. Loved ones who are resentful for all your addiction has put them through often think that way.

Remember that addiction is a mood-altering activity. People do it to feel better. If people go to some horrible environment for treatment and they are miserable there, then they might get triggered back to their addiction. Also remember that lasting recovery involves creating a life and lifestyle that is so enjoyable that the idea of returning to an addiction is not appealing. How can you learn how to do that in an environment that feels like a prison?

09/07/2025

Did you know that correlation and causation are not the same? Correlation just refers to the tendency for things to change at the same time. It doesn’t mean that one factor causes another. For example, decades ago a study found that eating ice cream was correlated with increased violence. Some people thought that meant that eating ice cream caused people to be violent. However, both of those factors were associated with a third factor - hot weather. If someone says or implies that research has found that some factor causes another, be suspicious. A red flag for misinterpretations of research results is when someone says “the research says…”. Research does not talk. It doesn’t think. It just reports.

09/07/2025

Be a good consumer. Sometimes results from research are used to support a particular approach or kack thereof that a program or therapist uses. Read the research yourself. For example, many people cite a study by Smith & Glass (1977) called Meta-analysis of psychotherapy outcome studies. It was published in the American Psychologist journal, volume 32, pages 752-760. Many people refer to that article as proof that all counselling approaches work as well as the others. If you read the Discussion section of that article (which is one of the longest ones I’ve ever read, by the way) the researchers discuss at length the dangers of coming to any black-and-white conclusions based on their results. The studies they compared used different subjects, different locations, different numbers of sessions, and varied on many other factors. There are lots of reasons to be skeptical of research results. That’s research, after all.

04/06/2025

23/04/2025

Master Mantak Chia Official Fanpage

06/04/2025

How long should you wait after you have halted active addiction before going to residential treatment if you want to get the most out of the program?

Residential treatment focused a lot on helping you connect or reconnect with your feelings and learn how to effectively manage them without resorting to using mood-altering drugs or activities. For at least two weeks after a person stops using addictive things their emotional processing system is still readjusting and returning to normal. Therefore it is often difficult to fully benefit from what treatment has to offer until that readjustment has finished. That is why many treatment programs emphasize that participants in the program should be free from their addictions for at least two weeks before entering the program.

Some friendly advice would be to think of that concept not as someone else’s rule but as a guideline that you can use for your own benefit to make sure that you get your time and money’s worth out of the program.

05/04/2025

What should you do if you find out that another participant is breaking the rules of the program?

Talk to the person directly if it seems safe to do so. Use the skills that you’ve learned in the program so that you come across with a tone of care and concern rather than judgment. Come from the heart and express yourself so that you come across as an ally rather than an enemy. Encourage the person to let the staff know what she or he has done. If the person refuses, it would be good to let the staff know so they can deal with the situation. Otherwise you are enabling thst person to get away with the kind of behavior that he or she came to treatment to change.

04/04/2025

Why do people sometimes leave a residential treatment program before they have completed the program?

People leave for a variety of reasons. They might feel overwhelmed by their feelings because they are not able to medicate them with their usual addictive activities or substances. The treatment program may not be living up to their expectations. They might have issues with attachment and abandonment and do they would rather end their stay on their own terms than have to deal with an emotional goodbye at the end of the program. They might have been asked to leave due to inappropriate conduct while they were involved in the program.

Consciously commit to the idea of staying until the end of the program. Reinforce that idea daily. Doing that helps you learn how to discipline your mind and helps you work through some issues that would remain unaddressed if you hadn’t stayed.

03/04/2025

Master Mantak Chia and I have written a second book. It is called The Tao of Addiction and Recovery. It describes the benefits of integrating Taoism and Taoist Chi Kung into residential treatment programs. It describes many of the practices that are taught in Balance Rehab. It will be availsble to the public on November 11, 2025. The book is already available for pre-order. Click the links below to pre-order the book.

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Tao-of-Addiction-and-Recovery/Mantak-Chia/9798888502815

https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/The-Tao-of-Addiction-and-Recovery/Mantak-Chia/9798888502815

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0DSV24LZM?tag=simonsayscom

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-tao-of-addiction-and-recovery-mantak-chia/1146821539?ean=9798888502815

https://www.innertraditions.com/the-tao-of-addiction-and-recovery

https://www.booksamillion.com/p/9798888502815

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-tao-of-addiction-and-recovery-chi-kung-practices-for-restoring-the-energy-flow-in-mind-and-body-doug-hilton/3a01ca1bc43211d1?ean=9798888502815&next=t&affiliate=1688

A Taoist guide to recovering from addiction• Systematically explains the nature and development of addictions, the process of recovery, and how the...

02/04/2025

If you’re not enjoying some part of your treatment in a residential/rehab centre, what should you do? Leave? Complain? Isolate?

If you treat every experience you have in treatment as an opportunity to learn and grow, you will find the whole experience as a lot more meaningful than if you just hope that everything goes well. Treat the whole experience like a training ground. Try some new approaches that you have seen work for other people. Take some risks.

Think about what might be the best approach and then try it out. Remember - you’re responsible for the effort, not the outcome. Don’t measure your success based on how other people respond to what you tried to do. Maybe a negative reaction just means that those people are being presented with a healthy challenge to change their less effective habits.