Recovery of a Cracked Soul

People who have severe addictions, drugs or alcohol, often speak of a hole in their chest. This hole is best understood as a cracked soul. The recovery and healing of the soul is done by ceremony by spiritual healers.
The negative impact of alcohol and drugs (the toxicity of the substance) has a spirit. This negative spirit creates the feeling of hollowness, thereby creating a climate of negativity in the person and the immediate environment of the person and anyone touched by that environment.
You can see that in the effects in all the directions (mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually) in the little children who are affected by that person and environment.
Anyone who observes this is affected by that negative spirit.
The crucial question then becomes: how do you heal that cracked soul, and those affected by that cracked soul? There are many approaches to this dilemma, by other traditions different from Native traditions. Native traditions have been healing cracked souls for millenia - cracked souls can happen from many different kinds of negative spirits (violence, war, trauma, physical illness, etc...)
Just like there are many Native traditions, likewise there are many different types of ceremonies that address the issue of cracked souls. The approach that I use is a Pipe, Sweat Lodge, Bear Grease, and Talking Circles and One-on-One Talking. There is no wrong or right way to do Ceremony. What our spiritual masters emphasize is healing the heart.
There is a lot of trickiness to that negative spirit. For example, THC is the active substance in marijuana that alters a persons perception. It can have both a positive and a negative physical affect. The negative spirit enters through the cracked soul thereby invoking trauma and in many cases violence, and other emotional damage. The Traditional medicines address the imbalance and the pain experienced by the individual. When Traditional medicines are used in ceremony they help free the person or people from that negative spirit.

An Elders Perspective on Indigenous Knowledge

Indigenous Knowledge grew from thousands of years of "research and development" in the natural world. The major premise of Indigenous Knowledge is a deep respect for all forms of life. The knowledge grew from the territory itself, as did language, and the people lived in a context of relationships and responsibilities with all of that natural world, the Creator, and the invisible helpers.
An IK approach to the roles and values of each aspect of nature creates a paradigm in which relationships, and a relational guide to all human choices, holds the key to understanding. Language defines our relationships to the land, to each other, and to Shkagamik-Kwe (Mother Earth).
Language informs our spiritual understanding and the traditional structure of community.
Debwewin is truth, which instructs our own personal truths. the Ode-min (Strawberry), the first berry that grows in the spring, informs our hearts - the link to truth. The teachings around Ode-min inform us in multiple dimensions.
Our language provides a comprehensive overview of traditional teachings passed on by our Elders, commonly referred to as oral teachings.
This paradigm has been utilized by the Aboriginal community for millennia. Passions in our communities run very deeply when it comes to oral tradition and the like.