Five Essential Tips For Families of Heroin Addicts
Sharing essential tips for families of heroin addicts is today’s guest author, Josh Butcher, founder of Ohio Addiction Recovery Center. When asked to share a bit of his background and reasons for founding Ohio Addiction Recovery Center, Josh explained: I grew up in a middle class family in the suburbs of Columbus. From a young age I…
Read MoreChronic Pain Maps in the Brain – Implications for Pain Medication Addiction
One of the most surprising, “ah-ha,” “no wonder this happened” findings of my 12+ years research has been the fact that the brain controls EVERYTHING we think, feel, say and do – everything! This means chronic pain is “felt” in the brain. I wrote about this concept in my August 29, 2014 article, “Chronic Pain and Opioid Addiction,”…
Read MoreDetox: the Physical Process of Recovery
Explaining detox – the physical process of recovery – is today’s guest author, Patricia L. Ryding, Psy.D. Dr. Ryding is the Executive Director of Beach House Center for Recovery, a drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation center in Juno Beach, Florida. She is a licensed clinical psychologist who brings over 30 years of experience as both…
Read MoreAlcohol Awareness Month – Information and Help for the 90 Million Americans Affected by Someone’s Alcohol Misuse
I’m using Alcohol Awareness Month to share information and help for the 90 million Americans affected by a loved one’s alcohol misuse. 90 million. These are the moms, dads, husbands, wives, children, grandchildren, brothers, sister, grandparents, boyfriends, girlfriends and close friends who are affected by a loved one’s drinking behaviors; in other words, the people affected…
Read MoreNarcissistic Relationships – Guest Author Darlene Lancer
In her post today, frequent guest author, Darlene Lancer, JD, MFT, helps readers understand how being raised by a narcissistic parent changed them and what they can do to overcome the consequences. Darlene is the author of Codependency for Dummies and Conquering Shame and Codependency: 8 Steps to Freeing the True You, and her latest eBook is titled, Dealing…
Read MoreSecondhand Drinking IS Childhood Trauma
There’s been a great deal of new research about the role childhood trauma plays in changing the neural network wiring of a child’s developing brain. I think Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris does one of the best jobs explaining (in 15 minutes!), “Childhood trauma isn’t something you just get over as you grow up … the repeated stress…
Read MoreBulimia Was Only a Symptom
After dropping to 95 pounds on my self-imposed daily food allotment of carrots and a can of shrimp with ketchup, I slowly started eating, again. I was 16. But it wasn’t long after giving myself permission to eat that the dam broke. Eating turned into bingeing, which was soon followed by bingeing and then purging occasionally and then more…
Read MoreSober Child With an Addicted Sibling
All too often… all too often, the sober child with an addicted sibling feels invisible, unimportant. And often, they are invisible – sort of, anyway – as their frantic, overwhelmed parent(s) asks or sends silent messages, to “be good,” “don’t cause any more trouble,” “help out with the _______,” etc. And when that sober child tries…
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