Living a Life in Balance

Recovery is ALWAYS Possible: The Neuroscience of Addiction and How to Help a Loved One

• Abdullah Boulad • Season 1 • Episode 3

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Enrique Balasch, Head of Addiction Therapy at The Balance, breaks down what it truly means to recover from addiction—not just physically, but emotionally and mentally.

In this episode of Living A Life In Balance, Enrique shares his deeply personal journey from battling addiction to becoming a therapist dedicated to helping others heal. With raw honesty and compassion, he speaks about the inner struggles of addiction, the fear of facing oneself, and the courage it takes to change.

🔗 Watch now for a real conversation that challenges the way we view addiction.

About Enrique Balasch: Enrique is an experienced Addiction Specialist and Behavioral Therapist at The Balance, with over 10 years of hands-on work in group therapy and individual recovery support. His approach combines Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, life coaching, and tailored addiction treatment to meet each client’s unique journey. Enrique’s work is grounded in real-life understanding, making him a trusted guide for those navigating the path to lasting recovery.

For further mental health information and support, visit The Balance RehabClinic website: https://balancerehabclinic.com/

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You can order Abdullah’s book, ‘Living A Life In Balance’, here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/...

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Enrique Balasch Torres 00:00:00  It goes like this. You find what is most available, and alcohol in our society is the most accepted. And then you progress at the age of 22. I started falling into other drugs. I tried cocaine and that that triggered everything. Speed up the process by the age of 25. It was just a downfall. And at the age of 28, I was about to die. Really? Recovery is a fantastic journey if you surrender.

Abdullah Boulad 00:00:37  Welcome to the Living Alive and Balance podcast. My name is Abdullah Bullard. I'm the founder and CEO of the Balance Rehab Clinic. My guest today is Enrique Torres, addiction therapist and interventionist at the balance. In this episode, we dive into his personal journey with addiction, the role of relapse and recovery. How to help a loved one and a family member. And when it's time to stage an intervention. The science behind addiction, including the relationship between substances and dopamine, and how neuroplasticity and homeostasis make recovery possible. I hope you will enjoy, Enrique. What motivates you to do what you do and what has brought you to the field of addiction?

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:01:33  Well, I would say my my motivation is my own, my own story.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:01:40  I developed this program in the past, and I think, through the journey of recovery, you learn, things that you you can't you can't, never forget. And it becomes such an important part of yourself that it's it's something that you you come to love. I always say that if you recover properly from from addiction, you will love, you will come to love to be an addict, becoming a recovered addict. It's a fantastic thing. It makes you live a life of, you know, meaning, it makes you be grateful for every, every day of your life. It makes you be extremely connected with yourself. There is so many, so many goods. And, one of the things that you learn very quickly through the process is how much different life is. If you do overcome this problem, then what you were imagining when you were in it. There is a lot of suffering. There is a lot of fear. There is a lot of insecurity. There is a very negative vision of the future.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:03:05  There is a block, a blockage there triggered by these fears. And when I came in the other side and I saw what life looks truly looks like, and I saw that everything was on my mind. I saw that all those were just fears. And, and I saw everybody alongside myself in the process. Living through this difficult moments. Not being able to see the light in the other side. And when I saw what it was, when I saw what how life looks like in the other side, I wanted to just go and and tell everybody that is suffering from this problem. I found, you almost find like a mission. You almost find, like, an internal calling. you. You have tremendous amount of empathy for the people that are suffering like you are suffering. They are exactly in the same place. And and you want to pull them out. It's it just comes natural. And that's what triggered everything. I, I didn't become a therapist at the beginning. I just wanted to help.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:04:15  So I never disengaged from from therapy. I always was there helping almost for free. just just because it was also good for me because he was fulfilling something. I went on and do the businesses and figure out my life and and I found that nothing was clicking the same way as what I was experiencing in the therapy room. so one day I, I decided that this this was it. I need to do this. This is where I feel more connected. every hour that I spend doing this, I feel good about. And, Yes. And then I took this journey.

Abdullah Boulad 00:04:57  Yeah. Beautiful. Beautiful calling. which led from one thing to another. What if you put yourself in the moment of your life where everything has started to become, addicted to whatever. you've been? What? What was this feeling like? How was your life at that moment?

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:05:24  Well, this is a difficult. You cannot, define a specific moment where you become an addict because, I believe that we we addict people that develop addictions.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:05:37  They have a specifically built brain that their their brain, their nervous system is already, from from birth already, shaped in a specific way. This is very highly sensitive individuals. Very, let's say the part of the brain that is in charge of emotions and feelings. It's highly active. This makes them be people that have, you know, usually a great depth. Now when life starts becoming difficult and it starts becoming difficult quite early. Right. Bullying in the school there is a lot of situations like a a difficult environment at home. Right. Anything that really is emotionally difficult for other individuals is easy to regulate. It's easy to navigate. They find their ways around it. But for an addict, he just runs on these very difficult emotions precisely because he's very sensitive. Right.

Abdullah Boulad 00:06:42  What were your difficult moments?

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:06:45  Very common. you find like, for instance, ADHD. So for me, I couldn't read properly. I also learned down the years that I had some problem in one of my eyes that couldn't, like, focus on on the letters.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:07:02  Yes. so I had a lot of hard times in, in early school. That was really hard. My parents divorced very quickly. They were married really early. 19. Wow. So they had a lot of problems also. and then in that being, a divorce when I was seven. we went through hard times in that moment. me, as a kid, my world collapsed. I had to. You know, there is there is, so many things that can influence her. And I think if you're highly sensitive, you just have a harder time dealing with it. I at the beginning. You know, you do you you react to this in different ways. You rebel. by the age of 13, I was, quite, quite a rebellious kind of personality and, problems in school because of this. You know, one thing links to another is kind of, contribution of of events. And then, you know, I guess alcohol is is part of our culture very quickly, you know, people, what they, what kids are doing is just going out and drinking and nobody says anything, even it's in the culture, wine in the dinner table.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:08:44  That's when you know that some people react differently to the substances, right? I started using socially, but in reality, not in reality. The first time I ever drink, I found peace, I found courage, I found that my anxiety was gone. my fears were also gone so I could engage much better within society. The world seemed a massive place, a scary place. I was a kid and I remember thinking being very afraid of the world, right? The scale of it and the people and the adult world and me becoming an adult, everything was like too difficult to think of. And and the alcohol allowed me to, to become more relaxed. Relax.

Abdullah Boulad 00:09:42  At what age was that?

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:09:45  I stopped drinking when I was 13. 14. Wow. Yes. At the beginning, it's just with fun. With the. With friends. But very quickly. For the addicts, it's very quickly. The relationship bonds very quickly. You know that it's doing something for you. You're not drinking just because.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:10:04  Or you're not drinking just because it's socially accepted. You are drinking because you are calming yourself down. You're already self-medicating without you even being conscious. This is absolutely subconscious, right? But now, looking back, I know that this was the case. I was, I was using substances to help me navigate the difficult emotions and difficult, feelings. And I think this is common for most of the addicts when I talk with them, they all have situations, you know, very often. And this is very mainstream. Trauma triggers addiction. But I always say there is a relationship. But again, how many people have deep trauma? They have, you know, very difficult situations. Their parents beat them to bleed and they don't develop addictions. Right. So there is something more. There is something more there that has to be in the equation for you to develop this kind of a deep, deep relationship with substances.

Abdullah Boulad 00:11:04  Was alcohol your drug of choice or have alcohol been led to other use of substances? Stronger ones probably.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:11:14  It goes like this. You find what is most available, and alcohol in our society is the most accepted. And then you progress, you progress, you start using other things. The thing is, the moment that you are using alcohol and you find this more pleasant state and it resolves internal conflicts automatically. You make a positive association that drugs are good for you. If you do that association, then you open the door for other things. You just think that there are other ways to reach different states. But with this mindset that if you try cannabis, it's going to be it's going to be fine. And if you try other drugs, it's going to be fine. I you know, I try the the recreational drugs, all of them. Now. When started becoming a problem. It's a problem always. It's always in the in the way because it does resolve an issue. But at the same time it's going to take everything away. Slowly but surely. Right. You're giving in. To resolve something that you could work in different ways to resolve.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:12:32  Right. To resolve it with, like, a shortcut kind of way. Like an easy, easy way out. And then that, that, that same thing that you are doing to resolve this conflict is going to start trumping all your life in every aspect. You're going to be becoming more, more and more dependent on using. So less, less, more social anxiety, for instance, more fear appears right. All the things that you're trying to resolve, they become worse and worse. if you don't use. So you have to go back to using.

Abdullah Boulad 00:13:07  And how was your social environment, when you were during this time and how did it play a role? What role did it play for you? to dive deeper into the substance, use, versus more being helpful to get out of it.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:13:29  The environment is is, fundamental? The environment is, definitely defines u u u u u u are directly impacted by your environment. Now you create your own environment. I had a beautiful environment. My my parents, they divorced and they had a lot of problems.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:13:51  Whatever was that. But they always tried to give me a balance and to give me a good, a good upbringing. but I chose the people I wanted to go with. Right. I rejected maybe also because I was angry or whatever was that I rejected, the opportunity that I had to make good friends. And I was drawn to more like the, the, the, the, you know, the bad guys. I was looking for, specific environments already. So you start navigating life and you start making choices, and you surround yourself with the most favored environment, right? And what I learned after the years is that you choose this environment not out of free will. You're making choices already because you already have needs that you need to you need to fulfill. So because you become you, this relationship with substances is very quick. Like all addicts have it. It doesn't become a problem to other people because you're managing your life. You look like just a social, user, right? On the weekends here and there when you're with friends, right?

Abdullah Boulad 00:15:09  You can control.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:15:09  It. You can control it. You wake up in the morning, you go to school. I studied, I studied. I studied, but I studied, I looked back and I studied, like, maybe 10% of what I could have done, right. But I still was going there. And, you know, and in a way, nobody really knows what is happening. This is not more an internal thing, but very quickly you develop this bond, you know that. And this becomes so important in your life that now you start making choices. Who is going to follow me? Right. Which environment is the best for me? Right. And then you start subconsciously because you're not conscious about any of this. It's this happening in the background. Subconsciously you start choosing the the environment that you really want for your needs. It's not a free choice situation where you balance who do you want as a friend and you're not becoming rational. You're just, you know, becoming, let's say, very needy, and you choose out of your need to satisfy this this fulfillment.

Abdullah Boulad 00:16:18  How much were you consuming at that time and how regularly.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:16:23  At the beginning starts with the weekends. Yeah. Then you become like like I always say there is a transition. Use abuse dependence. Right? How fast this transition is, is different to every human being. Yes, but use abuse dependence. This is the transition you start using. Then maybe very quickly abusing. Right. When it turns to dependence. We we are talking about when you are using these substances and that is heavily impacting your life negatively. Yet what you're finding there is more important than all the damage, right?

Abdullah Boulad 00:17:08  Yes.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:17:08  That whatever you're fulfilling there, it's for you more important to fulfill than all the negative damage that you're creating around you. That's when we start saying, okay, there's a dependence here, right?

Abdullah Boulad 00:17:23  How long was this time for you from to get into the point where you felt now it's an dependency.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:17:33  Well, I think at the beginning it was like a game very quickly turned into a deep relationship. then I decided by the age of 16, I tried, other kind of drugs.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:17:46  And then I decided, after a couple summers being quite, you know, extreme, I decided that I wanted something different for my life. And then I pulled back. Right. And this is what you do. You go in and out. In and out. You you you fall into, like, a phase where you're using more. And then you tell yourself this is not what you want, and then you pull back and you can pull back, right? And you pull back and then you're like, get some sports, get some other like healthy routines. And then now you want to eat healthy. You want to focus on your studies. And at the beginning it allows you to go for a long time like this. So you start thinking, well, see, my life is good. I'm doing great. And then you start again, allowing the. They used to come back, right? And then when you realize that you're using too much, then you pull back again. And this back and forth happens over a period of, of, you know, puberty.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:18:44  And then above you go in and out. I would say at the age of and this is different for everybody. but for myself, at the age of 22, I started, falling into other drugs. I tried cocaine. And that that triggered everything. Speed up the process by the age of 25. It was just, a downfall. And, at the age of 28, I was about to die. Really? So that's when I went to to a rehab. I went I think I was 28 or 29.

Abdullah Boulad 00:19:31  Okay. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. when you, when you were going in and out, during this time, what, what were their triggers, which, which led you to get into it again and fulfillment.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:19:50  so the problem with addiction is the human brain is designed, designed, specifically designed to have, the the reward pathways, sharp and operational. The reward pathways are these parts of the brain that gets you excited, that makes you feel thrill, that makes you pursue, have a drive to pursue goals, to go and pursue your goals.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:20:21  And all humans live out of these positive emotions. We wake up in the morning and, you know, it's cold, it's early, we're tired. But we think about our goals and very quickly we have an activation of our nervous system. We feel excited, we feel butterflies in our stomachs, and this is what makes us jump out of bed and go to the office. And because we have drive, we have ideas in our in our minds that that gets us connected and engaged. That is motivation, right? But when you're using drugs, you're you're shutting down this part of the brain in the moment you feel all these incredible feelings or but at the same time, you're you're damaging these pathways, you're you're shutting them down. And and then when you pull back, you find yourself being, dissatisfied, not engaged. Depressed. Bored. It empty, right? These feelings are really difficult. It's almost like entering a depressive state. When you feel like this, you also think alike, right? Thoughts pair to this kind of feeling.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:21:32  So you start thinking negatively about you, about the future, about your life, about everything. Right? So it's kind of like an internal state. And again, you're not aware of anything. It's just you're just entering that state. You don't realize. The only antidote to pull you away from this state is going to be using drugs again. And that is the problem.

Abdullah Boulad 00:21:59  To suppress your feelings or emotions you have in that moment.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:22:03  Or trigger the reward system in ways that you feel again, engaged. Right. And that is this. This is the toxic relationship that when you try to pull back, you don't find satisfaction, you don't find drive, you don't find excitement, you don't find fun. You find quite the opposite. And then you're going to go all the way back to drugs.

Abdullah Boulad 00:22:24  But it's interesting what you are sharing, today, that you tried a lot. You, you you find it hard to yourself to get out of it, but you were drawn into it again. And I think many people out there, think they can control or they can they can be out of it themselves.

Abdullah Boulad 00:22:44  And but then they spend for years and spend years and decades sometime, of their life just trying without without seeking professional help. What was, the moment for you or what brought you into treatment at the age of 28?

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:23:04  it's it's, it's crazy to say it, but, you know, very often 80% of the cases are triggered by, you know, a situation that makes families to to take action. if you have created a financial problem for yourself, which is very common, they obligate you to do to, to go to rehab in order to help you. if you're married, your wife says I'm leaving. If you don't do rehab. Right? Your kids are not talking to you anymore. And they're everybody's pushing. And you, you feel obligated to do it. Because the problem with addiction is no matter how bad it gets, you will still do it. You already you already lost the battle. You're going back and forth. You're trying to figure out how can I manage it. You don't want to remove it.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:24:03  You don't want to get it out of your life right. You're in love with this. You just don't want the damage. Yes. Right. And you spend most of your life trying to figure out how to control it. right? The idea of leaving it forever is not something that any addict will. Will. Will think of or would like to entertain. But then things get really bad. And when they get really bad, it starts impacting your family systems. And then they are the ones who take action usually and push you towards treatment. You get your your your wife. then some people, I would say like people that still have love for themselves, they still they still want to give themselves a chance. And they have no denial of the problem, that they come to a point of, like, exhaustion. And and then they decide for themselves. But this is like rare. 10%.

Abdullah Boulad 00:25:08  Yeah. Right. So denial is a big percentage for a long period. Absolutely.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:25:13  denial is, is, is, the thing that we are battling the most in addiction.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:25:20  There are two things minimization and denial. Right? Minimization. They look at everything like it's less, you know, it's not that bad. Look at that person. Look at that other. Right. My case is not that bad, right? And they use everything in their power to make it look like it's less. and and, Denial. Right. Denial is like, I they just don't realize, how how how big the problem is. And they give themselves all kinds of justifications. These two things, I think, are the most difficult to, to work on, on therapy.

Abdullah Boulad 00:25:55  So minimization and denial are the two things. are they one or the other, or is they're often a combination of both?

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:26:07  Yeah. They come together. It's, You have to think that what I always talk about addiction. Like, you know, your subconscious mind against you. Most of the people that develop addictions are aware of it. But the the stakes are too high. If I agree that I am an addict, what I need to do.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:26:39  It becomes emotionally impossible. So a survival instinct kicks in right away. Right. And then is your subconscious mind trying to convince you that it's not that bad. Right. It's like if there was some other personality in there trying to talk to you and this, this it's always drawn like the devil and the and the and the angel. I don't see it like the devil and the angel, but it feels like this. It feels like there is a good voice in you, which is your rational mind, your understanding that life should be lived differently, that what you're doing is not good long term. That this is hurting the people that you care the most. That you are doing things that you don't appreciate of yourself. Although all those conversations are there. But there is this other thing in this background that shuts your voice down and tells you, stop it. We are doing this right. We cannot afford not to do it. So starts convincing you, starts telling you the stories that you need to hear to justify it.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:27:50  And that's when the minimization comes in. It's not that bad. Come on, look at this. Look at that. Look at in this angle. In this other angle. See if you compare this with that. Do you see this? You can still do it right. It's a self deceiving situation right. It's self manipulation. I went through it, and I know it from from living through it. How how incredibly powerful this is. I will even experience it like a little voice in my head. Not very loud. That was kind of talking. Come on, you can do this, this and that. This. You don't want this for your life. Very, very mild. And then a very strong voice. Very powerful. That was like, no. Shut up.

Abdullah Boulad 00:28:36  You don't need it. You can make.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:28:38  It. You can do this. This is nonsense, blah, blah blah. And it was talking very loud. And the other one was like. And in the process of recovery.

Abdullah Boulad 00:28:46  It's like a little cartoon. How do you explain.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:28:49  This, looking at all of this? Like. And I was thinking, this is unreal, right? Yes. But we all experienced the same thing. If you pay attention. And in the process of recovery, the voices turn the opposite. The loud voice was my rational mind talking and telling me what I needed to do. And that other voice was there in the background screaming for come on, give it to me just one more time. Yeah, but it was funny to see how this was playing in my mind.

Abdullah Boulad 00:29:16  I switched.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:29:17  Yes.

Abdullah Boulad 00:29:18  During recovery period. How was your recovery period? when you when you started the first. And how long took it for you?

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:29:28  At the beginning. It's quite difficult. Especially if you come in and you and you want to fight. I think, recovery is a fantastic journey if you surrender. If you come in like, and you know that this is good for you, that you need to do it, then everything is amazing.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:29:47  Sorry. You learn about yourself. You learn about, about so many important things of yourself and of your life and you start improving. Right. The ones you surrender, it becomes a very, very pleasant journey. The problem is before that, before the surrendering, if you want to fight, it becomes, then difficult with surrender.

Abdullah Boulad 00:30:15  You mean like to trust the people around you and trust the process? Therapist. What? What exactly do you understand? Of course.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:30:23  The surrender. Surrender implies to trust the team.

Abdullah Boulad 00:30:30  Trust the process, of course. Because motivation.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:30:34  Exactly. In the surrendering, action, you need to let go of yourself. You need to stop trying to manage your life. You have to come to the understanding that your brain now is not for you. It's against you. Your mind wants to justify and use drugs and no matter what, No matter what. I'll give you an example. A woman in therapy. I live for my kids. I love my kids. I'm a mother.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:31:11  You don't know what it is. I love them, I can't be away from them for so long. They need me with therapists. You you you just trying to go back home because the bottle is right there. Yeah. You don't understand.

Abdullah Boulad 00:31:29  Like trying to find excuses not to stay too long. Be back.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:31:34  She wanted to go back to her kids, but she believed it. She believed. She truly believed that her kids needed her. Okay. She truly believed that being away, her kids were suffering. She truly believed this. She thought this. Day after day after day after day. Until one day she decided to leave. She said, I've done everything I needed to do here. I cannot leave my kids one more day without their mother. And she left two days after she was drunk. No matter how many times we told her you are drunk at home, you're not a mother. You're not a good mother to these kids. You're being a good mother here. That's. That's rational.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:32:17  That's logic. Understanding.

Abdullah Boulad 00:32:19  This is where the brain tricks and works against you. Yes, in this case. But how can someone. Or how was it for you to to be able to surrender? What? What were her? The safety or the therapist? What did they do? So you felt, surrendering?

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:32:44  Different people, different journeys. Right? For me, I came in with, with wanting to fight. I went to a rehab. The rehab was long enough. I think once you start removing denial and when you start seeing things as they are. And I think through therapy, this is how you how you really come to the realization that you're trying to convince yourself through talking about your life and through hearing other people talk about theirs. you come to realizing that what is happening to you? it's happening. And in that moment, once you, you see it honestly and, and very clearly, that's when you're ready to, to surrender.

Abdullah Boulad 00:33:38  In such a moment I can imagine that I hear this also often from clients, they feel a lot of shame and what what was it for you which, left you? stay.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:33:51  I think understanding that this was not my personality. This was not a choice I made. Understanding that addiction got in the way. Substances got in the way in a way that I could not be myself. So everything that I was ashamed of, I directly connected it to the substances, right? That helped me a lot to remove my guilt. Yeah, and I work a lot with the clients like this, so they understand. Because if I was free to choose, I would have done something different. Yes. And I know this because now I'm a different man. It's been 20 years almost. Now I'm a different man and I act completely different. Yes. Right. And I don't force my behavior. It comes natural. I always say I'm more connected to who I was as a kid now than what I became in the middle of my life. Right.

Abdullah Boulad 00:34:45  What would you tell someone who has shame, Or is afraid to go into treatment because feeling, exposed. from the environment. it's not the right time or I'm in a certain position and so on.

Abdullah Boulad 00:35:01  How would you explain to them, or what would you tell them to, to to put down the mask and, and and, take away the fact or shame.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:35:16  I mean, what I always tell them is this is not getting any better. Every day that you don't put a solution you will regret, you have to do it. Now, now is the moment.

Abdullah Boulad 00:35:31  Now that's rational, that's rational. But on the brain, is there some chemical processes or what makes you be so sure about, about it's not your fault. It's something else. It's the substance. You know, that's that understanding is, How do you. How do you explain? It's not your fault.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:35:55  Well, I usually do my. My famous drawings, my famous little brains that I have, in, in sessions, I show them how the brain works. You know, the way I usually do it is when I explain to them how thoughts are produced or how you feel, or you perceive things and how what are the mechanisms involved in, in, in, in addiction, they see themselves.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:36:19  They see themselves like I described their thought process every single day. And and they they're shocked. They're like, okay, this person does not know about my life. I don't interview them before. Right? I tell them what is happening to them.

Abdullah Boulad 00:36:36  They can relate.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:36:36  To, and then they relate to everything because they know this is exactly how I think. This is exactly what happens in my mind, because they are aware of it. In that moment, they they realize that what we're talking here, it's It transcends, let's say free will transcends, strength of character. Right? You. It's not about not having moral values or not having, let's say the strength in you to do what is right or to be too weak or. It's none of that. It's precisely because the parts of the brain that gives you this free will, that allows you to think straight, that allows you to act upon your understanding of what is morally right. And you know, that allows you to also behave in the world according to your values and and so forth.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:37:33  This part of the brain is the prefrontal cortex is the rational, the most rational part of ourselves. And we know because we've seen this in neuroimaging, we know that this part of the brain shuts down. And when this part of the brain shuts down, you don't think from here. You think from a different part of the brain, right? That is physiologically something you can see real time if you do neuroimaging experiments with addicts and non addicts. You see that the prefrontal cortex goes offline. So control which is that part of the brain goes down the drain. And then you're going to go and do whatever you need to do. Right. So how guilty are you if the if the very part of your brain that allows you to take action according to your moral values and your beliefs. It goes offline, right? Like a mental disease. Like you want. You want. You won't be ashamed. If you had, like, I don't know, schizophrenia and you had some imaginations. This is part of the of the disease.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:38:37  In the case of addiction, this is how it acts. Right.

Abdullah Boulad 00:38:41  What is the biological or the biochemical effects in the brain? which allowed the prefrontal cortex to. To shut. Shut down this moment.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:38:54  Well, the brain is about to inhibit this. inhibitory and excitatory neurons. Right. So it's it's on. Off. so the way I explained it is when there is an internal desire, we activate the limbic system and we activate the reward system. Right. That drives us towards things when this part of the brain has a physiological let's say this balance then demands to be fulfilled and demands to be fulfilled through very, very intense emotions and feelings. In that moment when the brain activates highly in these parts of the brain. And it activates in others because the brain works like this. Right. It's like if you put activity here, you turn off activity here. If you put activity here, it kind of balances itself.

Abdullah Boulad 00:39:55  How how dopamine. How does dopamine play a role here?

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:40:01  Role? Dopamine.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:40:02  All biochemistry is oxytocin. serotonin. Dopamine. all biochemistry is very important, but dopamine is the ones that will is the biochemistry of drive. The dopaminergic pathways are the ones that makes you engage with thoughts. Thoughts that are exciting. Right. This is the pathways. The reward system is just a thought in your brain. There is a very interesting, experiment. And I think this is very graphic. They got two people. One was an addict, the other one was not an addict. And they monitored their brains neuroimaging to see what was happening in the brain. And they gave drugs to both. And what they found is that the person who was not an addict, his brain was firing everywhere. It was like fireworks. He was super high. But the addict had no activity whatsoever, very little activity. So the drug itself was not really making any effect.

Abdullah Boulad 00:41:02  Effect.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:41:03  So the brain already shut down like it was not reactive or responsive to the substance anymore. Right. But then they got these two people and they put them in front of imaging of people using.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:41:16  Right. And they got completely the opposite. The non addict brain had no activity because there was no an association to anything. It was it was flat. Looking at these images he had no activity but the other was firing everywhere. So the addict has no ability to engage with the substance. Thus fire on the idea of using. This is the reward pathway of the dopaminergic action. It's the idea that's what gets you the leaving the door. Going out downstairs. Getting the car, going to your dealer. All these things that you do. This is. This is very exciting. That's when they truly they are firing, right? Then they use. And that's it. Nothing. It's unfulfilling. It's empty. It's shallow. But again, the idea it's again going to get them hooked into into the behavior.

Abdullah Boulad 00:42:12  Very interesting. The question to me right now is how can someone break this cycle? Break this process and can it be broken?

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:42:24  Absolutely. This is why we are here. This is why I exist.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:42:30  It can be broken. And you know, not only can be broken, it's easier. It's easier than what it looks like. as I said before, is your resistance. That makes it more difficult. The reality is much easier. If you were to, like, surrender to the fact that you have an addiction and start improving your life. You'll find a path, an easy path moving forward. Yes, of course, there are difficult states of mind and difficult. But if you surrender, right, you're not empowering them. Yes, the surrender factor is so important because once you surrender, it's like, okay, well, I'm not doing great today. So what I believe because the surrender factor has to come with faith, right? A leap of faith of. I believe that if I do navigate this transition, I will come on top on the other side. You have to believe that in this way that there is there is a light on the tunnel. This is our job to make them understand that there is a light and for them to like, surrender to the process.

Abdullah Boulad 00:43:30  I have a little bit an issue with the word surrender, kind of okay, because on the one hand side, the surrender can be surrender to the substance and air and life. You cannot do, change anything about it. And you identify yourself with the addiction or the the the problematic situation you are you're in. But what you're saying is surrendering into the process of being motivated, being, trusting, trusting the process of recovery may be the better explanation.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:44:03  Well, the surrender, it's good that you bring it up because it can it can seem like surrendering, like a negative thing. But I think the surrender that I'm talking about is a very positive, very positive thing. And also, it brings it requires a lot of your courage. When I talk about surrender, all I'm talking about is understanding that there is something in you that is stronger than you. There is a process in you that has the power to drive you, no matter how much you don't want it. It has the power to drive you all the way back in.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:44:42  So that is the I surrender to this idea. And if you go into any kind of program, 12 steps and anything that this is this word is there, write surrender to the to the idea that there is something that is more powerful than you right now. My approach and our approach is to let the person regain control, to get back, you know, his hands on the driving wheel, to be able to control himself, to be able to, to find the solution for the problem. But before that, you need to stop fighting in your mind. Stop battling that you can that you can do it. There is a way out because if you still battling that, there is a chance You're going to. You're going to keep on using. You're going to find yourself. Again and again and again and again. So that is that is the surrender. The stop, stop, stop fighting it. Stop fighting it. Accept it. Accept it. The surrender is acceptance in reality is accepting that this is something that requires help.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:45:54  Because, you know, and our clients are really high profile. Usually you solved all your problems in life and you figured out how to solve them. You're a very highly capable human being, right? So it is difficult to, be to be defeated, right? You don't have a defeating mentality. You have a winning mentality. So this is when the surrendering of the process comes in and they accept this. This is something, you know, that is in a part of your, of yourself that that you know, you need to stop. You need to stop trying to figure out the only way to. To figure out is the path that the therapy and the therapist are laying in front of you. Like how you should do things and. And stop questioning everything. Stop pushing back. Stop trying to find a different way out. That is the surrender that I'm talking about.

Abdullah Boulad 00:46:49  I now I think about like a plane. You enter a plane? Yes. Trusting the process that the pilot will bring you to the to your destination.

Abdullah Boulad 00:46:58  Not fighting. you don't be on a plane. You know, it's not helpful.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:47:02  Yes. Imagine that you wanted to pilot. Pilot the plane? Yeah. Tell the guy that you can do it better than him. Right? No, it's it's important to to to do this with this. This, you know, letting go of all the resistances. That's,

Abdullah Boulad 00:47:18  So how. Again the trust part here is extremely important. I think that someone can, can relate to what we are talking about. what can you say to someone that, the brain, the body with all the damages can heal. And what what effect is this?

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:47:41  I mean, this is why I think my, personal story is is powerful. When they talk to me and they see how I talk, how I, they feel my energy. And I tell them I'm an addict. And I was in this situation. That's when they really trust. That's when they really find this. Okay. Because everybody understands if you have done it, I can do it right.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:48:11  And I'm very, very honest with them. And I tell them exactly what I was and I tell them what my process looked like, and I tell them, where am I today? And they see it, they can see it. So this is when they start trusting more and understanding.

Abdullah Boulad 00:48:25  So you make yourself vulnerable. So they open up and and trust the process more. So that's what you're saying? Yes. What does neuroplasticity mean and how is it related to addiction and dopamine? the brain.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:48:40  Well, neuroplasticity, would be, let's say, the concept that is most helpful in the treatment of addiction. I think most helpful for any human being. Because even if you don't have an addiction, you have habits and things. Right. Let's say that neurons that fire together bind together. And the more that you fire these neurons together, they consolidate themselves in pathways. And, those are like thought patterns, right? That you have in your mind associated to feelings. Some feelings trigger thought patterns and all the process is kind of automatic.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:49:27  When your body reacts with a specific feeling from whatever external input or maybe internal input, you know, your mind fires in a specific way, and that creates specific kind of thoughts. Right. I would say that neuroplasticity is the ability to to change these thought patterns, to be able to have new avenues of thought, new, different, reactions to feelings, new ways of thinking. Right. So if you practice every day, right, you can shift your brain, let's say, responds to a situation. And I think this is key, right? It's like, knowing that if you work a little bit hard. If you push back. If you. If you become aware. Of the process itself. And you change your behavior naturally, little by organically, I would say it will become more natural. Right. and it's very, very important that this this happens like this.

Abdullah Boulad 00:50:48  So what what what do you mean with neuroplasticity is that the brain can heal itself and, with certain inputs. That means we need to challenge the brain, to, to take certain actions or to heal itself.

Abdullah Boulad 00:51:06  And healing within the concept of neuroplasticity means like, I think about if you go skiing and you many people drive down the same slope, it goes deeper and deeper and it's more difficult to to to go out of it. So what neuroplasticity is, it's like giving you input like new snow on, on, on the piste.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:51:33  And do it enough times.

Abdullah Boulad 00:51:34  And do it enough times and, and then, create new ways. And that's simplified neuroplasticity.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:51:43  That's very simplified. I always I never use the snow. I use the river analogy. If you have a river, the river has the mainstream and then all the affluent around. Right. And that's how neurons operate. The pathways are like, you know, almost like rivers. So the tendency of the water will be to go into the mainstream. Right? That's that's what has most power of attraction to the water, and that is the activity in your brain. But if you start digging, let's say, or using the the affluence around the river until they become stronger and stronger, right.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:52:18  Then eventually the water flows into the into them? Yes. And that a little bit is understanding that the more you use these new pathways, these new thing ways of thinking about situations, the more you have the tendency to operate like this.

Abdullah Boulad 00:52:32  And psychotherapy or, holistic therapies can help, help with that, like physical influences and, outside influences could be multiple effects, supporting neuroplasticity. Right? Yes. Let us go into what is happening in the world today. like you mentioned, the consumption of alcohol and cocaine and some other recreational drugs. In your experience, how has the world developed? What are, substances used? What type of substances are used today? And and how is the effect changing on on on us.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:53:19  Well, I think like not only substances, but behaviors like you have to remember when we talk about addiction, we come with a substance. I am using too much cocaine. I mean, I'm using too much alcohol. Okay. But you're not addicted to the substance. What you're addicted to is the stimulation, right? The brain, I said before, is an on off kind of, you know, situation is either I'm excited or I am, relaxed.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:53:50  Right? It's up and down. stimulation, the stimulation and what the brain is trying to do is keep balance, constant. Balance. This is the homeostasis state. Right? Balance. So when I get active, I tend to my center. And when I get, you know, down, I tend to my center to up and down I tend to my center. So. How do you get the stimulation, the stimulation you get with everything in reality, right? The thing is that drugs have the ability to stimulate the brain 3 to 10 times above any natural stimulation, and that is what is creating the impact. And this is what is creating the scenario where the person is unfulfilled with his life is because they've gone into pushing the brain too far up or down. I you know, when you're drinking alcohol, you enter a relaxing state, right? A very, very loose, very relaxed state is is the same as cocaine is up. Alcohol is down. Right. What you are doing is you're pushing your brain all the, let's say inhibitory neurons.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:54:57  Right. The GABAergic neurons are, you know, firing 3 to 10 times above natural ways. So what's happening in the world, in my opinion, is that we are overstimulated. I think there's so much out there. I think we live in a world that the pace is insanely fast, that we have smartphones in our pockets. We have dopamine hits in every corner. you know, obviously alcohol is. And drugs. You know, it's it's part of also the culture, you know. People people are always relating, using substances to a reward after doing something good. Right. We work really hard. Let's go and celebrate. Right. we achieve our goals. Let's go and celebrate. Christmas is here. Let's go and celebrate. It's always like this direct association that using substances is the way to go. And in a world that is overstimulated. Right. And that we have all these kind of behaviors around substances. you would say that the aftermath of overstimulating your brain is, to, to, to be depressed, right? If you're finding this constant state of excitement and stimulation and, and you can compulsively pursue it, and you have a thousand resources to do that over your day, since you wake up in the morning until you go to bed, you're going to throw the brain into this balance.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:56:30  Then there is no thesis. You're pushing, pushing, pushing the brain constantly, right? And then the brain is going to go into into the opposite state, which is usually emptiness, depression, dissatisfaction, this motivation. So obviously substances are a killer. But you know, social media is a killer. you know, anything you can do, like work, work can be a killer food. You know, if you work, if you. Yes, if you work compulsively, anything that you do, imagine that you're working and you're going to achieve the dreams of your life, and you're so engaged in it and you're so obsessed with it, right? And you push, push, push, push. And you're constantly. And then you're landing these deals. And it's just for the mind. It's a big impact. Right. And then that that in itself, if it's compulsive. This is why I love the name of of the balance. Because balance is everything.

Abdullah Boulad 00:57:23  Homeostasis. Homeostasis I love the word homeostasis because it empowers me or the body or trust in my body that it it it works in my favor somehow.

Abdullah Boulad 00:57:36  Yes. and what I think about is with all these triggers around us, the work, the city life, the the, the food and and all dopamine rush, which I cannot think about right now. What or how can we remove ourselves from this equation? and what are the best techniques to, to implement, to to disconnect or to detox from, from this, let's say we're talking about the regular environment and not to detox, let's say from a cocaine or high, high potent drugs.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:58:16  Yes, absolutely. Again, because you're overstimulated and because there are so, so much out there, you should try to find a lifestyle that compensates for it. Right. You should find, you know, a way of living where you find time for meditation, breathing, engaging in one task, not multitasking. Right. slowing down things. Right. go for a health retreat. learn how to remove things from your life that you don't need. Right. Because you're going to be anyway, overstimulated. But this becomes compulsive, becomes toxic.

Enrique Balasch Torres 00:59:06  It becomes, you know, excessive. So become aware of it, understand it, and understand that the impact that this will have in your life is going to be very negative. Right. For me, awareness is everything. It's like I always give everybody the, the the example of crossing a highway. You cross a highway. Okay. You will want to look right and left to see where the cars are coming from. Right. If you know where they're coming from, then you can pace yourself and you'll make it to the other side. This is awareness you need to understand. Right. Which speed is this car coming? Is it a track? Is it a car? It's coming fast. Right. Becoming aware. Understanding your mind that a little bit better allows you to identify things. And then once you identify, you can pace yourself. You can let thoughts pass. Just let it pass. Also behaviors. You know what this is not. Once you start pacing yourself and you start choosing when you act and when you don't act and how you should act, right? You you will come into the other side, successfully.

Abdullah Boulad 01:00:09  Yeah. This needs a lot of self-awareness. and and, needs a lot of possibly therapy and, other behavioral analysis, and treatment and lifestyle change. Certainly, if you look at family and the family dynamic. You mentioned your story. so we can all understand how how this dynamic goes a little bit where, father or the mother or the wife, they try to influence someone into treatment. How can family members support their loved ones? Ideally. what can they do? How should they behave? What are the do's and don'ts? And in in a family setting?

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:01:00  It's very difficult because you love the person. And if it's your son you want to protect him. If he's just your husband. You also want to protect him. It's very difficult for the families, to live with something like this. And they usually cover. Cover them

Abdullah Boulad 01:01:24  Sometimes maybe feed also the addiction.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:01:26  They feed the addiction by, by covering the problem. By trying to minimize or mitigate the impacts. they're sustaining the problem and they are promoting it.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:01:40  This is something they don't understand. They they they come from love. but they're not helping. So for the families get educated. Don't enter in denial also. Because there is such a thing as quote addiction. This is a well studied condition. Addiction is same as an addiction. That afflicts the person that lives and loves an addict. But instead of drugs, you get addicted to the drama and the different states of the addict to a point that you have the same kind of symptoms you deny, you minimize. You lied to yourself. You you you you don't want to believe, right? It's like this self deceiving, same as the addict. But in this case it's happening with the person. And it's very common that you enter this state is almost always this is what is happening. So I think the antidote is to start educating yourself, to go and see a professional to talk about the problem that your husband or your son is having and educate yourself. The more you understand the the the better for you because you will protect yourself and also you will know what to do in different situations.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:03:16  So I think families should be, you know, the first ones to to educate. Because there is a very clear, defined way of acting with an addict. Because if you believe his lies every, every time he talks and, and you trust, him that he's going to be able to do it, you know, he might not he might not happen. Most of the times he will not happen. So. As much as you want to believe that he will do it, you have to understand that there is something there that is stronger than him and he needs help. The help situation is very important because You can't resolve a problem. With your brain. If it's the brain who's afflicted with the problem. It's. You need some somebody else's brain. You need other people's brains in this situation, right? So that's why we say you need the help is because when it comes to this, your brain is against you. So how can you rely on your brain? You won't be able to to succeed, right? You need help.

Abdullah Boulad 01:04:28  But your brain will not tell you that it's not helping you.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:04:32  So exactly is your brain the one who's not gonna let you do it? So how are you going to use your own capabilities if they're not there for you? If they will, if they will find a way out. This is why they trust and the surrendering and all the way we were talking before, right? They hope that the understanding that they need to accept it and let other people tell you, right, you should do this in this situation or that in this in this other situation. Right?

Abdullah Boulad 01:04:57  And it's very situational. How to act or is there a general behavior or what you should say, how you put boundaries around and, a person within a family with addiction?

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:05:11  I think once they understand the problem and they understand one thing which is very important all families, husbands, wives, children, parents, they all think that their loved ones prefers to be using to be with them. They, they feel that their loved ones have chosen drugs over them.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:05:45  Right. Because if you have conversations and he says okay I agree I'm using too much. I agree this is hurting you. Okay. I am going to control it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it less. I promise you, next time it's going to be different, right? And you believe that? And then they go again, right? They think, okay, so where am I in this equation? If you've told me that you acknowledge my suffering and you're going to do it again. Where am I? You prefer the bottle over your marriage? Or you prefer the bottle over your son? Or you prefer the bottle over your parents, right? So they feel terribly, terribly hurt. It's like almost a rejection. It's like almost. They're cheating. And for them to understand that this has nothing to do with this, they mean it when they tell you I will change. They truly mean it. They want it. They truly want it in that moment. But that's going to change.

Abdullah Boulad 01:06:55  Yeah. This is the going back and forward.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:06:57  It's going to change the moment that they enter this process and they cannot think straight. The last thing they will think is in their wives or their children, they they are going to do it again. And they're the ones who will wake up thinking, oh my God, I did it again, and they're going to suffer the consequences of it. But very quickly, again, I always talk about the ego comes in and says, look at it in this way. Feel feel better about it. It's them. They're ungrateful. They're these, they're that. They don't give you the space. Your wife is suffocating. Your kids are all over you. You don't have. Nobody understands you like whatever you need to tell yourself to justify. A minute later, you're not feeling guilty anymore, and then you're again doing it right. So parents and families, once they understand this, they do understand that this is not their loved ones preferring the bottle. There's something happening in their brains that obscure their rationale, and they cannot make decisions, and they are the ones who are suffering the most.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:07:58  So now they now they want to help. They're not feeling rejected. They don't feel, you know, they they hurt and they want to help. Now, how do you help? That's the key. And this is what you can get educated about, which is what to do and what not to do. Right.

Abdullah Boulad 01:08:18  When is the right time for for a family member or a family, to take action.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:08:26  So, you know, we were talking before about the the good brain and the like, let's say the addicted brain and the and the aware brain. Right. There's a moment where one of them is more active than the other. Usually when, when they. You have the self-belief that they can. They can manage this problem. Then they're very difficult to tackle. They will fight back with all their mighty because they are sure that is not that bad and they can manage it.

Abdullah Boulad 01:09:03  So choosing the right moment is key here.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:09:06  It's absolutely key because there is going to be a moment where they're going to be doing something that this self-belief that they can manage.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:09:14  The problem will be very diluted, almost non-existent. And in that moment they're more receptive. Right. Usually, like, for instance, they've told you that they will never drive drunk. Right. And they did it for a while. And now yesterday they got their license taken away by a police officer. Like that's something significant that that this self-belief that you can control cannot be justified in that moment and in that moment of weakness. That's when you can come in and have the intervention.

Abdullah Boulad 01:09:52  But the family should be already prepared in advance and be educated in advance for such a moment, to act and to know what to do when it happens next. That's what I understand.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:10:06  Absolutely. They have to be. They have to know every detail of what they should be doing. And then when this comes, because you have a very small window.

Abdullah Boulad 01:10:15  Yes.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:10:16  It's a depending.

Abdullah Boulad 01:10:17  On the.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:10:18  Quick. Yes depending on what is happening. But usually it's a very small window. So maybe you have a one day maybe.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:10:26  And then the denial comes back in and everything comes back in. And then again they feel like, okay, well that was not that bad. And I can figure it out, right?

Abdullah Boulad 01:10:34  Yes. And now we're talking also kind of of an intervention. And there are different types of interventions to help someone to go into treatment. And many may know it from like TV series and movies. how an intervention works. How is your understanding of an intervention? What can a family member do? to help someone go into treatment.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:11:01  So interventions have to be an act of love. But you have to understand that there is two personalities in this in this mind. One of them is the son that you love or the husband that you love, or the father that you love that loves you back. That person is there. But there is this other personality there that doesn't care at all about anything. So in the intervention you need to you need to target the healthy part. And you need to empower the healthy part.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:11:33  Encourage the healthy part to take action. And you need to shut down the other one. So this is when the tough love comes in. You need to be a little bit tough in the sense of sending a very clear message to this subconscious mind what we won't put with one more like this. This is it. We reached the endpoint with consequences. Exactly. Consequences. Whatever they are. And you send that clear message. But at the same time, you are facilitating the engagement of this healthy part of themselves towards a better life, towards a recovering finding the solution. And you empower because that they want to get better. They just don't want to give up completely, right? So you use the moment to empower this part, to convince him to go into treatment, and you make sure that the other one doesn't talk and tries to get him back, right. Because if you have whatever consequences, those that have been told told in the intervention, you're going to be by yourself, right? And it's going to be you're afraid of that.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:12:54  Again, it's always a game of what is worst, right? Is it worse to be using and have these consequences, or is it worse to quit? And if you perceive that quitting is worse, then keep on using and having these consequences. You carry on doing it. But when doing what you're doing is worst than the idea of quitting then is when you go to treatment, right? So this kind of, game of, balancing things in your mind is, is, always in play. If you facilitate, if you help them, it's never that bad. It's never keep on using the consequences are never that bad. So they never are going to shift. And this is why you have to make it really bad. If you keep on using it, it's going to be really, really bad. Like we are leaving. Your wife is leaving you. The kids are not talking to you like if you keep on using right, the scenario is really bad. And then when they think about recovering, it's like, well, that's not that bad.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:13:59  And then they can shift, right? So that's that's how you have to do it. Love always but very tough. Very. We're not we're not going to carry on like this.

Abdullah Boulad 01:14:12  That's so what I also understand is that families should do it, as you say, out of love. And avoid blaming in this case because blame may not be helpful or supportive to the process at all. And and removing blame. But that's that's the tough thing as a family member if you are hurt. If if there is anything within the dynamic which is which is affecting you or or your child or your other children. so. It needs a lot of self-awareness from the family side to distance themselves from their emotions and egos. and, and focus on how can we help rather than, blaming. And that's, that might be a big challenge there, too.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:15:13  This is why you have to choose very carefully the people that are going to do the intervention, because it's very, very important what you what you just said.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:15:22  it's not the moment to blame. It's not the moment to to guilt trip anybody. It's the moment to understand that the person in front of you is the one who's suffering the most. You have suffered the consequences of addiction. But he has an addiction, right? You can choose to never talk to him again. You can choose to take measures. He can't. He's in prison. He's. He is the instigator of all the suffering and therefore is deeply, deeply broken inside. You know, I've done many interventions and always is the same. you know, family usually not. Not always. But usually families love them and believe that they could potentially do it, especially if they get educated and they understand addiction better the moment they do understand addiction better and they know where everything is coming from. They feel they see the light. They feel. They feel relief. They feel that they want to help and then they're willing to do it now.

Abdullah Boulad 01:16:49  With one voice as well.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:16:51  One voice. Because the message in in a situation like the intervention, the message has to be clear, concise, okay.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:17:01  And at unison cannot be diverse. We're not here to analyze the situation if it's too bad or not too bad, or if we come to the point it's we shut it down. This is not going to carry on. We are. You are killing yourself. You're killing everybody around you because of the addiction, right? The addiction is what is creating the problem? We know who you are. We know what you can be. We know that this is a problem that can be completely resolved. We want you to do it. We want to be a part of your life, right? So you empower the other part. And you don't go away from this. If you if you start analyzing situations, if you call me or didn't call me how many times you came for Christmas or didn't come for Christmas or or if it was not acceptable the day that you did A, B, and C, you're getting yourself in trouble. That person is going to start manipulating. It's going to start using every situation.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:18:08  It's going to start debating himself. If that is, something justifiable. And they always will find justifications. And then that's, that's when it never works. So you have to be very clear. Very fine. The power of the intervention is when you see people that you love, all of them at unison with one message, right.

Abdullah Boulad 01:18:31  And there are two ways to do an intervention. You can educate yourself in the first place in any, any form. But then there is you can do as a family just by yourself to support, to help someone and do an intervention. Or you can have an interventionist be with you and guide that process. most most likely. The second option, is more helpful to avoid any emotional interactions or, misleading, interventions. What what is your experience here?

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:19:04  100% and interventionist. but a good one because he can be absolutely a disruptive force. He has to be a good intervention is that understands how to do and and people need to trust, the interventionist both sides. Yes.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:19:22  So but I think it's important the figure of the interventionist is important because, you can direct the conversation. You can stop, if things are going in a direction that is not, beneficial. And you can empower the message by reinforcing, you know, what should be said and how. so if not, is very difficult for the families is really difficult to do it in a, in a, in a in a concise way.

Abdullah Boulad 01:19:52  Yes, yes. Because it gets very quickly emotional. We know that. Yes. Now if I after an intervention comes treatment, we will not dive too deep into what treatment means. Or if someone needs a detox. There are processes and there are a lot of information out there, and I think there are a lot of treatment centers or individual therapists. People could go to, rehab clinics. one client at a time. Multiple clients. What is your, your feeling about treating, one client at a time, focused, holistically integrative versus being in a group or benefits, of of of each, version.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:20:42  Well, I think everything has its ups and downs. I think, benefits and disadvantages. I think if you have a, a person that you can target only his case and have a full team around this person, the work is super deep, right? the approach is very personalized to his needs, because once you start having groups, you have to make it coffee for everybody, right? You cannot be too personalized. You can do some work there. Like you can do some a little bit, some work. But the daily therapy system is very generic. So that's a disadvantage for the and an advantage for the personal, you know, more individualized integrated kind of approach. but then when you have other people that are suffering like you, you can relate to them. You can see your story in them, the feelings, the thoughts, the situations. And that will make you feel much better, much better. But not only that, you will break denial and you will break. Minimization. Right? That that is a very good way of doing of doing this.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:22:01  You will eventually will not be able to deny that what is happening to you is exactly the same of what this person is talking about in front of you. And that helps a lot. Yes. We don't have that in the, 1 to 1 sessions because they don't have, the group, the group sessions. But again, me as a therapist, I try to do this job because I'm an addict, so I talked a lot about my life. I talk a lot about my thought process in front of situations, and I do it strategically. I know what is good for him to hear, right? I'm almost deliberately doing it right. I know that he needs to hear this. This part of my recovery. I don't go into things that don't help him, obviously, but I do, you know, talk to him when I find a situation. I talk to him about me, about other people that went through it and for him to, like, see himself. and it's usually helpful. I mean, overall, any treatment will work, right? What you need is to go to treatment, and.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:23:06  And the battle is inside you, right? I I've seen people, you know, overcome addiction, you know, with very little resources, right, because they were determined. And I've seen people that needed a lot of resources because they had a big fight in them. right? So it's a lot internal, right?

Abdullah Boulad 01:23:26  Absolutely. I believe in going into treatment, trusting a treatment center, a team around it, getting individualized care is is the key to get out of an uncomfort zone of being addicted to a substance or any behavioral situation. The the question to me is here also, how is the recovery process? Because we often when I speak with clients, I hear, yes, I've tried so many treatment centers and so much therapy and they kind of lost trust that there is solution out there. and, and then it's like relapse part of recovery. And do we normalize relapse as, as part of the recovery. How is your work. How do you work with clients when they, let's say, being in residential treatment? How do you prepare them for the time after and prevent relapse?

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:24:32  Okay.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:24:33  Relapse is is, a process? It doesn't never happen. Like out of the blue. I was doing great. And then I relapse. Okay. There is a full array of steps that are leading you towards relapse. So I think understanding the process is important for them to to know. because you have to do preventive medicine here. This is the most important approach. You can't just like figure it out. And then when the fire breaks, let's try to put out the fire, which would be I'm just going to go out. I'm going to have everybody drinking in my face. Right? And then if I feel like I desire to drink, I will go home or, you know. That's not going to work for you. Because the moment that you are there, a lot of these processes are going to start firing. And your capabilities to think about what you need to do or down the drain and, and the desires of doing it are surpassing the, the, the, the reasons that you're giving yourself.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:25:42  And then you're going to drink. It's it's and if you don't do it, I think this is very important if you don't do it the first time. Okay. But you'll do it the 10th. Right. Because again, it's, it's a, it's a process. Very often, they go they test themselves and they look, if I test myself, okay, I'm going to do it, but I'm going to do it like this. And oh, it went well. Right. Okay then I'm going to do it like that. Oh, it went well. Okay then. And as I am increasing my, my let's say exposure right I'm fine now. And, eventually you say maybe if I have just one glass of wine and you're gonna drink that glass, I'm most likely you'll go home and then you will say, that went well. And before you know it, you justified a full bottle. And before you know it, you're back in your room absolutely wasted or whatever it is that the problem is, right.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:26:48  So it's steps. Step steps. Relapse prevention is about understanding those steps and working on them. If you succeed, you don't have to relapse. Right. If you do the right things early, you don't have to relapse. There is no need for a relapse in recovery. I haven't relapsed 20 years of of full sobriety. But the thing is, sometimes when they are in this internal battle, when they don't really when they are fighting against their reality of their lives, that they are lost control over the substance, that that there is something stronger than them, these things that we will be talking. Right. a good relapse. It's it's an awakening.

Abdullah Boulad 01:27:38  Should be an awakening. Hopefully.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:27:40  Well-directed is an awakening. And it's very dangerous because you can lose the person or, they they could be like, a three year using drugs. No looking back. So it's very dangerous. But when it happens, we try to use it. When it happens, we try to to channel it properly. Right.

Abdullah Boulad 01:28:02  Isn't it difficult for a therapist then, in this moment, to stay connected? what I mean with this is that often an addict thinks this treatment didn't work out, so I tried the next or this. It didn't work. I go to the next. You know, I feel people, give up too much too quickly on one team, to support them through a process rather than, trying trying to work with the same people who understands them, who have, an history already with them. And I also very often, when, when clients, seek help at our treatment facility, they, they ask. Yes. can I just come for a detox for 1 or 2 weeks? So they're. I already see they may not be ready, and they just want to abuse getting detoxed and but not really want to to focus on the underlying cause. And then there are other questions tionS, which is very important here. How can I control? I only want to control my drinking. I want to be socially drinker, but not that excessive anymore.

Abdullah Boulad 01:29:22  Or consuming whatever. What are your thoughts here?

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:29:26  Well, I already told you about this. This is. This is the dream of every addict. The dream of every addict is, I know my life is is getting impacted by this. I know things are not going the way they should, but it is very difficult for me to think about quitting. So I want to find a solution that. Looking for a solution. Right. sometimes it's, you know, let's say sometimes it's even, you know, I want to come to just calm down things at home. So my family members are relaxed because they I promise them that I will do something about it so I can get them out of my back, but they don't really think they don't really do it for themselves, right? I think this is a good therapist from about the therapist situation. If you are good, you will know how to get to them, because the reality is that they know and they think this is what makes me a better therapist, because I'm an addict and I know what they know.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:30:30  I have insights, right? So that makes me, more efficient. I know that they know. They just. They just trying to fight it. They're just trying to find the solution. But they know that their lives are collapsing, and you have to go and go right there. Talk about the situation now. I never tell anybody, and I never have. And I will never do. I will never see them in therapy and tell them we need to quit all drugs. We need to quit everything. It's over for you. Okay, so let's start building from here. Yes, because they will collapse. What I tell them is. Don't, don't. Don't even think if this is forever.

Abdullah Boulad 01:31:19  Don't take one step at a time. And then you will see where this will.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:31:23  Focus on the needs. Now. Now you need stabilization. Now you need to stop using drugs. Now you need to recover your brain. Now you need to recover your nervous system. Bring your health back. And now you need to learn about certain aspects of your life that you need to better.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:31:40  That's about it. Because what I find is if they do that, they're more open to the idea of maybe committing a bit more. And I always tell them, drugs, whatever you're doing is not going anywhere. The minute that you decide that this is not for you, that you're not fulfilled, that what you're doing is not something you want to do. That's it. It's a phone call away. Okay. So relax. Relax. Nothing is going anywhere. But give yourself the opportunity. At least give yourself that opportunity to make a decision. When you're a bit more balanced. Yes. Right. Because right now you're making the decision from one side of the of the extremes. Right. Make the decision from a bit more balanced state, and maybe you will find yourself wanting to quit. Right. That's the whole idea. So let's not talk about this. Let's talk about now. Now you need to do this. You need to come and you need to. You need to at least balance yourself.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:32:49  And then we will talk. Yeah.

Abdullah Boulad 01:32:50  That's how. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. So, Enrique, you come across many clients, and they have struggles from US issues. some very tough, moments, conversations you have with them. What do you do to protect yourself, to set your boundaries and and to keep in balance? privately?

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:33:21  honestly, I, I mean, I, I carry my life in, in a healthy way. I, I carry on with the things that I learn and the things that I preach. I am doing everything in my power to live up to the standards of what I'm trying to tell others to do. But I do it also because, you know, and this is why addiction is a good thing. I can fall back any minute. And I know this. I know that my life can collapse within seconds. And I'll be back in my in the hole that I was. Right. So for me, there is no no, no brainer.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:34:03  There's nothing. I just need to carry on doing the things, in a specific way. So I have healthy routines and I sleep well, and I wake up and I have a structure in my life, and I eat healthy, and I do all the good things. Right. And and, But now I don't feel at least that my work is affecting me emotionally. some people say, how can you be hearing or people talking about their problems all the time, and this and that? For me, it's just, very stimulating and exciting to try to figure out how to pull somebody out of the problem. I feel really good about it when I am doing it. Every time I'm in front of a client, I feel challenged and also responsible. And I like it. My problems come. Emotional problems come with relapses. When I have a relapse, that's really hard. Sometimes we have ultimate, you know. Situations. They're really, really difficult. I feel like I'm hard on myself in those moments.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:35:20  I. I think I've done I didn't succeed. I was not good enough. I could have done better. Right. So when I go into those stages, I stop myself. Don't don't go there. I protect myself from those situations because I do what I can. I do my best in every situation. I give my heart and my soul to be able to, to help. But I know that it's not on me. It's on them. Right? I do the same thing with everybody when I'm walking in, in, in the streets and I see somebody comes to me, I introduce you to my wife and these are my kids, and I would not have any of this if it wasn't for you. This is amazing, right? And I know you save lives and those lives are saved. And. And you changed this, these people's lives. But for two people that you saved lives, you might lose five. So it's accepting that this is the reality of things, that it is on them.

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:36:14  I do my best. I, I, I also give, all I can, but I'm also available for them to take what they want. Right.

Abdullah Boulad 01:36:24  So it goes both ways and you need their support. They need to have the willingness you bring. You can bring the horse to the water, but it has to bring a drink himself. But I think you're that what speaks to you as a therapist is that you're very compassionate and people can relate to you and that you work hard and, are emotionally engaged and and your work with your clients. And I just want to thank you for that. all the great work you do. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. I have one last question. Okay. If you would, speak to anyone in the world and specifically anyone who's addicted or a family member who has an addiction, what would you tell them? What would you give them as a recommendation? what would you tell them to do or recommend with addiction?

Enrique Balasch Torres 01:37:22  I will only tell them that they need they need help.
Seek help. Don't try to figure it out. It's a common problem. It's well extended. You just need to understand it. You just need to understand it better to be able to do the right things for the families, but also for the patients. Understand that you need the help. That's it. And, if I could get their faith that this is something achievable, that you can do it. There is no reason why you could. You cannot. If you take this path, you'll come in the other side. There's no way around this. If I could get them believing in this, that would be an absolute success.

Abdullah Boulad 01:38:27  Beautiful. Thank you so much. And I truly believe that our conversation today, has been given hints and, motivation for many people to to reach out to, to therapists or, seek help and get information. Thank you very much for today. A pleasure being here with you. And, Thank you.