How Aristotelian and Thomistic Virtue Prescribe Recovery for an Addicted Soul: a Trading Zone Between Aristotelian-Thomistic Psychology and Psychotherapy

Abstract

This is an essay about addiction recovery based on a trading zone psychological methodology between an Aristotelian-Thomistic [A-T] psychology of addiction, particularly alcohol/drug addiction. It is an applied psychology where we cross over to other disciplines and exchange theories and practices with a specific target of addiction recovery in mind. We could say that we are interested in learning and borrowing for the sake of problem solving within complementary disciplines. The complimentary disciplines in this A-T psychology trading zone are psychoanalytical psychodynamics and a psychoanalytical ethnographic analysis of Alcoholics Anonymous. We use the terminology in the essay of module construction, i.e. module 1) The Habituation Perspective of the Addiction Trading Zone, 2) A-T Addiction Psychology and a Psychodynamics of the Searching-Recovering Soul, and 3) The Searching Recovering Soul, A Psychodynamic Conversion of Anxiety & Habituation. Each module contains psychological concepts that are considered as necessary for a synergistic action solution to the issue of alcoholic/addiction recovery. An A-T psychological trading zone module construction is hierarchical. It, therefore, requires that module one is grounded on an A-T metaphysical psychology that allows for a fitting exchange of principles, concepts, and techniques on the issue of addiction.