At an AUSWEGE/WAYS OUT therapy camp, an alcoholic experiences a week full of
“healing magic” that “deeply touches” him, as he says. At the end, he feels
“completely symptom-free.”
Robert* (64), a self-employed engineer, has been addicted to alcohol for a long time. In 2019, he was diagnosed with fatty liver disease. A doctor whom Robert consulted in May 2021 noted in a medical certificate that this was apparently due to “real family and work problems.” The patient told him of “massive depression” combined with sleep and concentration disorders, severe self-doubt, and fears of failure and existential anxiety.
Accordingly depressed, Robert arrived at an AUSWEGE/WAYS OUT therapy camp in the summer of 2024 – nine days later, he left it “completely symptom-free,” as he stated in a patient questionnaire at the end of his stay. “During the camp, I had no withdrawal symptoms, no depressive moods, and no desire to consume alcohol. I am rested and full of energy, and I feel more powerful.”
How did this happen? During the camp, Robert received advice and treatment several times a day from the doctors, alternative practitioners, psychotherapists, healers, and other specialists of the AUSWEGE team. However, it was not just individual therapy sessions that helped him decisively. “Without exception, all the team members of the foundation,” Robert explains, “made every effort to attentively and
competently meet all the concerns and needs of those of us seeking help. From the very beginning, this led to a harmony that enabled open and healing communication from heart to heart.
Ultimately, we were all here to free our minds from entrenched patterns and to find out in which direction we wanted to direct our will, our unique mental potential, and emotional powers. The healing magic of this camp was created by the doctors and therapists present, who created a field, a space in which we participants were given the opportunity to focus our own will.”
Robert felt “deeply moved” by this: it “reawakened long-buried potential” within him.
He felt that individual AUSWEGE therapists had guided him “in a warm, loving way,” enabling him to “open up unconditionally and receive pure love.” Could it be that conventional withdrawal programs often fail because they do not reach addicts on such levels?
What if he relapses?
It is a well-known phenomenon in addiction therapy that a long-term alcoholic suddenly becomes symptom-free in a new environment – “far from home.” When a relapse occurs after returning home, it often feels like a total defeat for family members and those affected.
But from a therapeutic and neurobiological point of view, this week was by no means worthless. Why can the “dry” period have laid an important foundation?
1.Proof of biological regenerative capacity. The absence of symptoms shows the affected person—often for the first time in years—that their body and brain are still capable of functioning without the substance. The week proves that the receptors in the brain can regulate themselves. The experience of “I can do it in theory” is a psychological anchor. In the event of a relapse, the memory remains: “I was free for seven days and it felt good.” This is a powerful weapon against despair.
2.Identification of the “trigger architecture.” If the symptoms only recur at home, this provides a precise diagnosis. It is not physical dependence alone that fuels the problem, but the environment. Conditioning appears to be at work: certain places, routines, times of day, smells, or social dynamics at home are associated with drinking. The person affected now realizes that the problem lies in everyday life, not just in the patient themselves.
3. “Drying out” – Physical relief. Every day without alcohol is a break for the liver and central nervous system. Inflammation levels decrease. Sleep quality often improves in the short term. Even when drinking, the body starts its next attempt from a better – albeit only minimally – level of health.
Why do relapses occur in the first place? Often, they are not a sign of weak willpower, but rather of “stimulus-induced craving,” as psychologists say. In modern addiction treatment, a relapse is not seen as the end of therapy, but rather as a learning step. No week is worthless as long as it is analyzed:
- What exactly worked during the camp week?
- What specific stimulus triggered the relapse at home?
- How can the “holiday feeling” of security be imported into everyday life, e.g. by redesigning the home or avoiding certain routes?
The week at the “Auswege” camp showed that people who are ready to quit are still there – they just need a better strategy for the transition to reality.
The week at the “Auswege” camp showed that the person who is ready to quit is still there—they just need a better strategy for transferring this to reality.
(*: pseudonym)
(Harald Wiesendanger)
Image Alcoholism: lechenie-narkomanii/Freepik