How
do you think this Russian man cures addictions?
Are
there some things you find hard to stop doing? Did you succeed to stop doing
them? How?
Yefim Shubentsov is known as “The Mad
Russian.” He is described as a hybrid
mixture of shaman, doctor, and therapist who has a mysterious "cure" for most addictions. He came to the US
from Moscow in 1979. It is said he has helped cure more than 165,000 people of
addiction, fears, eating problems, and “bad habits,” with his unique answers. He charges $65 for a
group session, which includes giving group advice and individual healing.
In the session, Yefim walks around the room
of his old house pointing and making large body expressions, but he does not
touch anyone. After a single session, most of his clients say they feel freed
from addiction, pain, or mental problems. Yefim says that he uses energy
“like an instrument, like a hammer,” to eliminate
a problem. He says his method is different from hypnotism because he cures
people whether they believe or not.
Robin, 65 quit smoking six years ago with Yefim’s
help after trying to stop for 40 years. Robin says she can’t explain what the
magic was but she hasn’t craved a
cigarette since her session in 2007. But his methods aren’t successful for
everyone. William, from New York City, says he attended a session in 2001.
He said Yefim yelled a lot about not drinking soda or using elevators. Afterwards,
William says he only lasted three hours without a smoke and then smoked five
cigarettes at one time.
Yefim has never advertised his service, but
is famous in the local medical community. Last year, Dr. Douglas
Powell, of the Harvard University health service, invited Yefim to help a
group of his patients who were not successful with normal medicine. About
half of the patients said they had a reduction
in pain or other problems after a session. Yefim tells us that his success
comes from doing this kind of healing for over 40 years. He began in Moscow by
studying ancient Chinese medicine. He reads the "flow of energy." His
book called Cure Your Cravings: Learn to Use this Revolutionary System to
Conquer Compulsions, explains his
ideas. The ideas are that you use inner toughness, logic, creativity,
cleverness, patience, and endurance. With
these anyone can free themselves
from an addiction
Try
to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest
meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and
have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the
reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary
depending on how they are used.
The
answers are below the table.
hybrid
|
A
|
1
|
Secretive, not easy to know, hidden, unknown
|
mysterious
|
B
|
2
|
To destroy, remove
|
unique
|
C
|
3
|
Can’t control desire to do something
|
eliminate
|
D
|
4
|
Strength to keep doing something, keep going
and not give up
|
craved
|
E
|
5
|
Unusual, one of kind
|
reduction
|
F
|
6
|
To make something smaller
|
Compulsions
|
G
|
7
|
To strongly desire/want something
|
endurance
|
H
|
8
|
A mixture between two or more things
|
A=8, B=1, C=5, D=2, E=7, F=6, G=3, H=4
Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning
of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.
Hybrid, gas (Oil) electric cars are
becoming more popular.The fog and mist makes this
place look mysterious.
This food is unique to South Korea.
The police are trying to eliminate illegal drugs.
I craved chocolate too much.
To lose weight we must reduce eating so much sugar.
I have compulsions to eat late at night but I must stop these cravings.
To succeed we must endure difficulty.
Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the
words/phrases in your answer.
Do you have cravings? If you did, how would you reduce them?
Do you think that doctors need
to be a hybrid of many skills, or
should they do only one thing very well?
Do you think Yefim’s skills are
mysterious or do you think they are
logical? Why or why not?
Is this story unique to you, or have you hear of
other people like him?
Some people say if you have a
craving for something such as sweet foods then you need to eliminate them from your house? How easy or hard is that for you?
Do you think some people are
more compulsive than others?
If you have a habit, how hard
is it to endure and to stop doing
it?