Kfar Izun: the concept

‘Kfar Izun’ (‘Balance Village’), a center for the treatment of drug rehabilitation, has been operating since the year 2000. The village is situated in the countryside along the Mediterranean coast, adjacent to the city of Caesarea, Israel.
The village offers a unique combination of conventional therapy methods together with a wide variety of complementary (alternative) treatments.
The department of alternative/ complementary therapies was introduced by Dr. Tina Berkovits, RCP, PhD in the year 2000 during her work as a volunteer in the village and has since then be an integral part of all treatments. Dr. Tina Berkovits was involved in the treatments for five years and is still involved through her work in the Israeli House in India, which aids backpackers traveling in India. She occasionally gives lectures about Nutrition in the Village.

Kfar Izun has been operating for approximately 7 years and during this period its therapeutic policy has undergone continuous change and refinement, learning from the experience of the team of therapists and the success of its methods.
Since its establishment, approximately 900 young men and women aged 18-30 yrs have been treated in the village. Kfar Izun is the only center in the world to offer rehabilitative treatment to young backpackers who have become victims of drug abuse. Several of the patients arrive at the center in crisis situations, reasons for which range from psychotic attacks stemming from drug abuse, forced hospitalization and binding, to trauma from military service.

The center offers short-term live-in programs that span over a period of four months. Therapy is administered 24 hours a day by a professional team with diverse qualifications. The team includes:

The decision-making processes are complex and cooperative and involve representatives of all the therapeutic disciplines.

There are four coordinators:

In addition, the congregational Psychiatrist and the Center Manager are involved in every decision made in the center.

In order to ensure that therapy-related decisions remain balanced, the center employs a Conventional-Holistic approach. The center does not aim to instill a standardized equilibrium within its patients, but rather seeks to uncover the unique balance present in each individual. A healthy person is always aware of this unique balance. Patients, who arrive at the center in psychotic states, having lost control, will be assisted through therapy to return to a basic level of balance. From this point they will be able to continue adjusting and balancing themselves throughout life.

The holistic approach of the village is based on the definition of Jung (1947) according to which ‘mind and matter are two different aspects of one thing and the same thing’. It seems reasonable to claim that mind and body are not separate, unrelated processes, but rather inter-connected mainly through interaction. Jung (1912, 1928) includes both the psychic and the spiritual dimensions in what we call ‘mind’. He defines emotion as having a physical as well as a psychic aspect.
Kfar Izun’s approach integrates drug-based medicine together with touch therapies; psychotherapy and dynamic therapies are brought together with work and life within the premises of the center. This method is a unique, comprehensive, considerate and holistic combination implemented at Kfar Izun.

An overview of the Alternative Therapies offered at Kfar Izun

Of the variety of Complementary (Alternative) Therapies available, Kfar Izun offers mainly touch therapies.
Complementary (Alternative) Therapies include:

In addition, there are group activities such as juggling, drumming, greenhouse work, kung fu, drama- and dance therapy, art therapy, yoga, and Tai Chi.

Other than the Complementary (Alternative) Therapies, many of the therapies offered at the village are of the verbal kind, the main complaint of the patients being that their ‘heads are like highways’ – everything is focused on the head and they are unable to feel their bodies. Therefore during touch therapy, they are first and foremost not required to do anything, not required to communicate any message, rather simply to experience acceptance of their situation without judgment.

Chinese Medicine

The philosophy behind the integral approach of Chinese Medicine is 3000 years old and maintains that man is a part of the surroundings where s/he lives and functions. In order to attain harmony with ones surroundings, one must first attain harmony within oneself, body and soul.
The body has channels that are invisible to the eye; these are called meridians. An energy called Qi runs through these meridians. The uniqueness of this energy is in its ability to unite all the strengths of yin and yang, which are essential for the functioning of life and nature. The guiding principle of Chinese medicine is to improve the flow of energy. The better the flow, the healthier we will be, both physically and mentally.
A disturbance, delay or obstruction in the flow will interrupt the balance between yin and yang, thereby creating a suitable foundation for the development of physical and mental illness. The most efficient treatment is healing the root cause of the problem and not only the symptoms identified in the patient. Chinese medicine therefore treats the cause of the illness. After proper diagnosis, a suitable treatment is selected; this will free the blockage in the energy channels and restore the body to its natural balance.

Shiatsu

The meaning of the word ‘Shiatsu’ in its literal form in Japanese is shi = finger and atsu = pressure (finger pressing) or in other words - ‘therapy through embrace’.
Shiatsu is a medical therapy that aims at balancing the body. Pressure is exerted on the body by means of hands, fingers, thumbs, elbows, knees and feet. The treatment focuses on energy channels in the body called meridians, through which the QI energy runs. Shiatsu moves blocked energy and makes it flow more freely, which prevents illness and treats existing problems.

Reflexology

Reflexology is a therapy method that diagnoses and treats ailments of physical, energetic, emotional and psychic nature. Its roots are in Ancient Egypt and the name derives from the word ‘reflection’.
The guiding principle of Reflexology is that every organ in the body is reflected in a point on the foot and pressure or massage of this point will affect the corresponding point in the body. The therapy is suitable for a wide variety of problems such as respiratory illnesses, problems in the urinary tract, treatment of phobias, depression, anxiety, tension, backache etc.

Patients report that the therapies ground them and enable them to reach a state of relaxation and calm. The therapies also aid in treating spasms and muscle seizures that result from a lack of control of the physical body.

The Physiological Side

When a patient uses drugs and is in a psychotic state, the production of endorphins is greatly reduced. Endorphin production can be increased through touch, by creating a feeling of well-being and positive biofeedback. As long as the patient feels better, endorphins will be naturally produced, thereby enabling the body to return to its normal production levels.

Reflexology, therapy through the soles of the feet, is an extremely efficient method for patients who have difficulty with touch, or have trouble exposing themselves and undressing as a result of past traumas such as rape, sexual abuse or other such experiences.
The feet are the farthest somatotopic organ from the head, thus the patient can feel more at ease in exposing him/herself to the therapist. The foot is an extremely efficient organ for therapeutic purposes, and affects the entire body.

There are, however, limitations to the effectiveness and suitability of Reflexology in certain cases. The difference between Reflexology and the more complete touch therapies is like the difference between a mother’s hug that fulfils a very basic need and a kiss that leaves one with a sense of incompleteness: many patients feel the need for holding of the entire body and often at the end of a Reflexology session, the patient will ask the therapist for a full, warm hug.

Summation of the touch therapies

Many patients presenting with drug-abuse psychosis often have ADHD, and what grounds them most is full physical contact. Therefore therapy sessions need to be extremely ordered and organized through full, focused physical contact, in order to fulfill the body’s need for touching and to create order and grounding.

Chinese Medicine/Acupuncture

This is a somewhat mystical therapy, which calls upon the patients’ subtle energies. This may evoke initial fear of the therapy. When the patients feel a change, see results and realize that they have overcome the fear, they feel heroic! The fear causes them to be very attentive to themselves during the therapy sessions, which helps them to delve deep inside themselves. They occupy themselves less with the patient-therapist connection and focus more on themselves and the sensations that Acupuncture evokes in them.
The patients easily relate to the fact that Acupuncture links them to healing forces in the universe and that the needles serve as energetic antennas. This therapy, like other touch therapies, does not require any action on the part of the patient. They need to delve deep within themselves and be attentive to themselves – what am I feeling? What is happening to me now? (And not: What are others thinking of me?).

Where are the therapy sessions conducted?

The sessions are conducted almost everywhere in Kfar Izun: on the beach, on the lawns, in the patients’ quarters and in therapy rooms. Flexibility of the therapists is of utmost importance. The fact that the therapist comes to the patient helps in closing the patient-therapist gap, resulting in less distance and coldness than in other therapy centers. On the other hand, the sessions do take place on fixed days and at regular times.

Acupuncture

The sessions are usually conducted in the therapy rooms, although this too is flexible, in accordance with the patients’ needs.
The other therapists, such as psychologists, social workers etc. also conduct sessions in various locations throughout the center in order to engender a sense of intimacy and closeness.

The long-term effect of the therapies:

 A case-study from Kfar Izun

In order to protect the privacy of the patient, the name and certain identifying facts have been changed!

Miriam is single, 22 years of age. Her parents have been divorced for several years and she is the younger of two sisters. Miriam has suffered from a psychotic disorder for approximately the last six months. The disorder erupted during a trip to South-East Asia, as a result of drug abuse. Miriam has a history of eating disorders. She was brought up in central Israel, completed high school and integrated well during her mandatory military service. On completion of her service she worked in various random jobs and then decided to take a trip overseas.
According to her, she did not suffer from any specific illnesses during childhood apart from her eating disorder during adolescence.

Miriam arrived at the center of her own will, suffering from a disorder characterized mainly by obsessive thoughts relating to her physical state and a desire to find a physical cause for her illness. Kfar Izun referred her to me for Acupuncture and Shiatsu. She also received additional therapies from the diverse team of professionals at the center. Miriam arrived highly motivated to accept treatment and was very cooperative. Her treatment spanned a period of four months, from the time of her arrival at the center, until she was discharged. It is important to note that Miriam resisted all the other verbal therapies at first, due to her obsessive belief that the source of her illness was physical and she therefore required only drug-based treatment. We, on the other hand, formed a connection quickly and easily. This was facilitated by keeping the focus on the physiological side of her illness, which caused less resistance on her part and the therapy became less intimidating.

Miriam feared that she suffers from terminal diseases like cancer and A.I.D.S. During the course of the treatment we worked on the physiological aspects of her illness through a combined course of Acupuncture and Shiatsu, on the relevant parts of her body (trigger points). Her physiological ailments were headaches, digestive disorders, gas and chronic insomnia.
During the course of the treatment, along with an improvement in her physiological symptoms, Miriam began to differentiate between her mental disease and her physical problems. She began to accept her mental illness, which enabled her to open up to the various therapeutic possibilities offered by the center, and help herself to receive tools with which to deal with her mental illness, instead of focusing only on leaving the center in order to undergo all kinds of tests by different doctors. In addition, the Acupuncture helped in easing the symptoms of the drug rehabilitation.

Summary – a report on the patient

The treatment helped in easing her physical symptoms and the side effects of the medicated treatment. In addition, there was a significant improvement in her sleeping disorders and Miriam developed a strong belief in her ability to heal herself. Miriam expressed her wish to continue the Acupuncture sessions on a private basis on completion of her treatment at the center.