Introduction to a series on the Twelve Steps. How can we journey towards wholeness? * A recording glitch cut out several seconds in the third minute in which Rankin introduced the writers who have taught him the most about addiction. He says: "Three writers who’ve helped me understand addiction: Gerald May, Jay Stringer, but above all Gabor Mate. Dr. Mate is one of the world’s foremost authorities on addiction and the addictive process. He lectures all over the world. As he’s a renowned scholar there are always hundreds of people in the audience. He asks his audiences: “How many of you are addicts?” Just a few brave hands shoot up. And then, he gives his definition of addiction and describes the addictive process. For Maté there is only one addictive pattern, but it plays out in an almost infinite variety of contexts. “The addict is after a temporary change in brain status. Addiction is an attempt to regulate an unbearable emotional state internally. You are trying to regulate internal needs through external means, be it drugs or the internet or exercise or food. Whatever. There is only one universal addiction process. The targets are different, but in each case, you are trying to escape emotional distress, emotional pain.”