I Hate You and I Love You – Daughter of an Alcoholic

secondhand drinking IS childhood trauma

Helping children and adults understand the secondhand drinking (SHD) impacts a child experiences when growing up with a parent’s alcoholism* is essential to helping a child (or an adult child) heal from the SHD-related ACEs s/he likely experienced. Secondhand Drinking (SHD) refers to the negative impacts of a person’s drinking behaviors on others. Drinking behaviors include verbal,…

Read More

Marriage After Sobriety | Darlene Lancer, JD, MFT

Darlene Lancer on Shame

Marriage after sobriety can be a rocky time. Both partners feel vulnerable as they transition into their “new” relationship. To help couples during this time, Darlene Lancer, JD, MFT, shares the following post. To read her longer version, please click here. Darlene is the author of Codependency for Dummies and Conquering Shame and Codependency: 8 Steps to Freeing the True You,…

Read More

7 Things Every Halfway House MUST Have

Halfway houses, often referred to as sober homes, recovery residences or transitional living homes, can be an important step in one’s recovery from substance use disorders. They can also sideline it. Today’s guest author, Parker Sean, tackles this subject, explaining, “In my recovery journey, I have seen and heard many horror stories about “flophouse” style…

Read More

Daddy’s Medicine – Q & A with Songwriter Brinn Black

Nashville-based country singer, songwriter, Brinn Black shares her latest song, “Daddy’s Medicine.” She wrote it to help others understand what it is like growing up with an alcoholic father and how that experience affects her today. Brinn answers a few questions in today’s article and can be reached through her website, BrinnBlack.com. What did it…

Read More

Child of an Alcoholic – a Legacy of Untreated Secondhand Drinking-Related ACEs

Each April since 1987, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD) has sponsored Alcohol Awareness Month to increase public awareness and understanding, reduce stigma and encourage local communities to focus on alcoholism and alcohol-related issues. This year’s theme is “Connecting the Dots: Opportunities for Recovery.” In honor of this year’s theme, I’d…

Read More

Inaccurate | Misleading | Incomplete Information About Drinking Alcohol is Inexcusable

drinking more during Covid-19

One of my biggest frustrations is the continued inaccurate, misleading, incomplete information about drinking alcohol that repeatedly appears in the news, medical practices, treatment program descriptions, and our social and cultural environments (school, workplace, community, legal and law enforcement, religious practices, family, political arena and the like). Take this April 6, 2017, article appearing on USA Today’s Network, How a…

Read More

How Do You Know if Someone’s Drinking is a Problem

How do you know if someone’s drinking is a problem? Short answer: “If you are talking or concerned about it.” What do I mean? The only reason a person would be worried about another person’s drinking is because that other person’s behaviors change when they drink. Their behavioral changes are called drinking behaviors. Drinking behaviors occur…

Read More