We had the good fortune of connecting with Avani G. Dilger, LPC, CAS, AAT and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Avani G., how did you come up with the idea for your business?
When I was a young person growing up in a small town in Germany two of my friends died in connection with their drug use. As a young person that left me angry that none of the grown-ups around us understood what was going on. Nobody stepped in to support us or understood that the stereotype of the “addict” was far away from the truth of who these young people were: creative, deep, spiritual, amazing….

After these experiences as a young person I decided to dedicate my life to do everything in my power to understand addiction and substance abuse and why they can drive humans sometimes to the edge of utter destruction. I read everything I could, studied at universities but couldn’t find a lot of answers -plenty of external descriptions and conceptual ideas about what substance abuse is about but nothing that spoke to the internal struggle, the craving that eats you up, and the irrational restlessness and destructive forces that my friends and I battled on the inside.

This quest brought me from Germany to the US to study with pioneers in Somatic Psychology, a field studying body-mind connection. I was so lucky to study with Christine Caldwell and Susan Aposhyan who were charting new territory around the role of the body in psychotherapy and in addiction treatment.

I started working in addiction treatment settings and was so blessed being able to talk with people in extreme places, in jails and psychiatric programs, in detoxes, and mandated treatment settings about what they are looking for when they reach for a drug. What I heard certainly didn’t fit the stereotypical stigma of an “addict”: people in these dark places talked about the desire for connection, the search for existential meaning, altered states of consciousness, spiritual experiences, enhanced creativity, a sense of belonging, a relief from suffering – all deeply human experiences. I realized that these were my favorite conversations I have ever had with people – I used to joke with my friends saying that my favorite moments of my life would happen at work, in the jail or in the detox…

These conversations were more real, deep, so profound and inspiring that I started running Philosophy Circles in those dark and desperate places in order to celebrate the wisdom and beauty that came from people who had been through hell. When I worked in these traditional treatment settings I was aware that we were not helping people very much. We were trying to teach coping skills and yet people were ravaged by much deeper issues. At some point – out of utter desperation – I asked people what they are looking for and what would actually really help and we learned some very interesting things. All of these lessons helped me develop a vision for an approach that would celebrate people’s deeper longing, respect the intelligence behind their cravings and would allow them to discover themselves and heal on a deep level.
That was the beginning of the nonprofit “Natural Highs – Healthy Alternatives to Drugs & Alcohol” – Naturalhighs.org

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
What if we would all learn cutting-edge brain chemistry and get empowered to experience altered states, healthy social rituals, spiritual experiences and healthy connection without the use of substances in high school?

The “Natural Highs – Healthy Alternatives to Drugs & Alcohol” Nonprofit program is a grassroots movement co-created by young people that empowers people of all ages to take their emotional well-being into their own hands and create the culture they want to live in. For the last 20 years, Natural Highs has provided healthy alternatives to drugs and alcohol to over 9,000 teens and families per year through offering workshops, sober events and entrepreneurial and leadership opportunities for young people and adults. Natural Highs is teaching neuroscience as an empowerment tool to help people understand their craving for a substance or an addictive behavior and how get to the real desire underneath. We teach people that there is an intelligence underneath your craving – even if it looks very destructive on the surface like wanting to use drugs or wanting to self-harm. If you study the brain chemistry of these substances or these behaviors you could learn really valuable lessons about yourself and how to get there in healthy ways.

In Natural Highs we work with brain chemistry, healthy rituals, herbs that are truly good for you, Acudetox/AcuWellness, meditation, body-mind practices, philosophy – elements you might not have seen be part of traditional drug prevention or treatment programs. We are learning together what inspires people to live life authentically, without the use of substances, and how to cultivate the adventure that life is in a more sustainable connection with ourselves, our friends and our community. Have you ever heard that young people or adults come to a “drug program” voluntarily? Natural Highs is a program that is extremely popular among teens and adults! We think that talking about drugs, substances incl. alcohol, marijuana, or heroin, and understanding what they actually do in the brain are the most exciting topics EVER!

Do you know that substances imitate our own neurotransmitters that we all naturally have? Interestingly enough most drugs actually copy neurotransmitters that are involved in exciting human experiences, such as sex, altered states, love, connection, and spirituality. There you can see the draw that humans have towards substances. But you can also probably guess that because of this connection, external substances such as alcohol, marijuana and heroin, those substances have profound impacts on these exciting experiences, sex, love, altered states and spirituality and can harm all of those systems. We run Natural Highs classes and workshops in high schools and middle schools, we offer a free After-school Drop-in Program, we collaborate on sober events, like Sober Raves and Open Mics and we offer educational presentations on healthy alternatives to drug use and on mental health issues and resiliency for schools, youth programs, parent groups, and the community.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
In Boulder, I recommend visiting the Junkyard Social Club and checking out one of their sober events, visiting one of our Natural Highs events, connecting with Rocky Mountain Equality for some LGBTQ+ joy, and of course get some free Acudetox/AcuWellness treatments at one of the 15 sites we offer it every week on a drop-in basis: www.BoulderAcudetox.org

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Ingrid Castro-Campos, LatinX Community Leader & Activist, Acudetox Practitioner & Trainer, who is a community leader and activist who inspires me to keep going. Her dedication to support immigrants and the LatinX community and her skill to keep her heart open is amazing and powerful.

Website: Naturalhighs.org & BoulderAcudetox.org

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@naturalhighs6251

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutColorado is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.