Let Go? Are You Kidding Me?
‘It is Important to Let Go Without Giving Up or Giving In’
The BALM® (Be A Loving Mirror) Family Recovery method teaches families how to ‘be there’ for their struggling loved one...
The Twelve First Steps
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
~The First Step of AA’s 12 Steps
My name is Sue and I am an alcoholic. I started drinking in my...
Handling Emotional Pain In Addiction Recovery
Those of us who work in the addiction field will often explain to clients battling various addictions, “you need to learn to hold onto your emotional pain and move forward despite...
BEING READY, WILLING, AND ABLE FOR CHANGE
People change when they are ready, willing, and able. We know this because of exciting scientific data backing up this worn cliché. In the 1970s, Rhode Island University researchers James Prochaska...
The Fire Extinguisher Relapse Prevention Technique
In my 30 years of working with addiction in various levels of care and treatment modalities, I have seen clients who continually relapse even after numerous treatment attempts and continually fail...
Relapse Warning Signs
Relapse is more than just not using alcohol or drugs. It is the progressive process of becoming so dysfunctional in recovery that self-medication with alcohol or drugs seems like a reasonable...
Ketamine: The Many Faces of the Chameleon Drug
Because of its many faces, Ketamine has been called the “chameleon drug.” Now, this popular club drug has reappeared on the streets, as a tool for law enforcement.
Elijah McClain was a...
Setting Boundaries: Loving an Addict, Loving Yourself
As anyone who cares about an addict knows, these relationships can be very difficult. The basic challenge for loved ones of addicts of any kind is to continue to care without...
PROBLEM-SOLVING GROUP THERAPY
Problem-Solving Group Therapy teaches a powerful and effective model of group therapy that meets the needs of behavioral health professionals including counselors,
supervisors, group members, group leaders, and clinical managers, both in...
POST-ACUTE WITHDRAWAL AND THE FAMILY
If there’s one thing I wish I knew when I was first getting sober, and when my son was getting clean and sober, it’s the information I’m about to share with...
