Cold Turkey in a Hot Climate: Detox Treatment at Wat Tham Krabok

Addiction treatment from a unique Buddhist perspective.

I wrote the article ‘Cold Turkey in a Hot Climate: Detox Treatment at Wat Tham Krabok‘ for the special ‘Addiction‘ issue of the Buddhist magazine ‘Inquiring Mind‘ in 2010. It seems like a long time ago now but the content is still just as valid today.

This special edition of ‘Inquiring Mind’ also features articles by:

Interview with Martine Batchelor: Let Go
By Barbara Gates, Kevin Griffin
Learn how to break some bad habits with author and teacher Martine Batchelor. Meditation can help, unless, of course, your bad habit is to avoid the hard work of sitting on the cushion.
The Suffering of Separation
By Janet Surrey
Sangha, Dharma, Buddha—and the Twelve Steps: Reflections from a clinical pscychologist who is also a community dharma leader.
Twelve Step Dharma
By Kevin Griffin
The metaphor of “path” is central to the Dharma and also to the Twelve Step process of recovery. A leader in the mindful recovery movement, Kevin Griffin tells us how these two healing paths converge.
Alone Behind Enemy Lines
By George Johns
Only three months into sobriety, George Johns, a self-proclaimed “Jedi Knight of unmindfulness,” survives his first vipassana retreat.
The Four Truths of Recovery
By Noah Levine
Dharma Punx founder Noah Levine leaves a “God” concept aside as he proposes a new recovery model based on Buddhist teachings.
Six Teachers on the Fifth Precept
By Don Lattin
Journalist Don Lattin questions prominent Dharma teachers—some of them veterans of the psychedelic era—about the precept on refraining from the use of intoxicants.
Selfaholics Anonymous
By Santikaro
Teacher, translator and former monk Santikaro shares his steps for staying clean from the ultimate addiction—the one that’s got us all hooked.
The Pleasure Circuit
By Kathleen Lustyk
Scientist Kathleen Lustyk untangles the brain’s biochemical response to substance use and presents encouraging findings on meditation and mindfulness.
Interview with G. Alan Marlatt: Surfing the Urge
By Kevin Griffin
Dr. G. Alan Marlatt on Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP), an outpatient treatment program.
Cold Turkey in a Hot Climate: Detox Treatment at Tham Krabok
By Vince Cullen
Wat Tham Krabok monastery’s notorious herbal medicine is only part of this unique Buddhist detox program, reports Vince Cullen; the rest requires a commitment to a new life.
Interview with Jean Kristeller: Know Your Hunger
By Barbara Gates, Kevin Griffin
You can learn to eat even brownies with awareness through Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training (MB-EAT). Psychology researcher Jean Kristeller teaches people how to create a new relationship to food.
Compulsion: Sex & Love Addiction
By Paldrom Collins
Former Buddhist nun Paldrom Collins now counsels sex addicts.
Disconnect: Trying to Live Mindfully in the Information Age
By Soren Gordhamer
iPhones, iPads, MySpace—the names themselves should alert us to the focus of our new technologies. Tech expert Soren Gordhamer, author of Wisdom 2.0, examines the impact of our new toys and so-called social networks.