Addiction | Substance Use Disorders | Treatment
Addiction is a Treatable Brain Disease – Really!
The Senate’s unanimous confirmation of Michael Botticelli as the Director of the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy is a milestone to celebrate. Whether you personally struggle with the disease of addiction or you are a family member trying to help a loved one who is, Mr. Botticelli’s appointment is proof positive that addiction is a…
Read MoreAddiction is a Family Disease | S.O.B.E.R. Tells One Family’s Story
It’s not uncommon in discussions about the disease of addiction to focus on the person with this brain disease. But addiction is a family disease because interactions with the person developing the disease [addiction is a developmental disease] affects every member of a family as they try their best to help the person stop. Today’s…
Read MoreToxic Shame | Guest Author Darlene Lancer
Toxic shame – sometimes called Internalized Shame – is typically at the root of codependency or addiction. Here to help us understand this dynamic and what to do about it is Darlene Lancer, author of Codependency for Dummies and Conquering Shame and Codependency: 8 Steps to Freeing the True You. Darlene’s latest eBook is titled, Spiritual Transformation in the Twelve…
Read MoreThe Many Victims of Addiction | Kelly Cordova
As Kelly Cordovano writes in her guest post shared here, there are many victims of addiction, including families, friends, coworkers and others who have a relationship to the person with this brain disease. Kelly Cordovano is co-director of Fresh Start Ministries, a men’s rehabilitation center located in Central Florida offering a year-long, residential, faith-based substance abuse program…
Read MoreCollateral Damage of Addiction | Family and Friends
When it comes to addiction treatment, recovery, prevention, intervention… it’s common to focus on the drinker or the drug user. It’s estimated there are more than 23 million Americans who struggle with the brain disease of addiction, of which only 10% are getting the help they need. What’s little understood is that more than 100…
Read MoreLiving with an Addict | Alcoholic – Darlene Lancer
Living with an addict | alcoholic can spiral one’s life into a place of confusion, anger, frustration, despair…, leaving a person a shell of their former self. Here to help us understand this dynamic and what to do about it is Darlene Lancer, author of Codependency for Dummies and Conquering Shame and Codependency: 8 Steps to Freeing the…
Read MoreDual Diagnosis Treatment – A System Broken | Guest Author Athena Kay
In a previous post, Addiction is Not a Choice | a Mom and Dad Share Their Daughter’s Story, we learned a great deal of what happened to Athena Kay, a pseudonym Cindy and Nick K’s daughter adopted following her rape at age 15 and subsequent PTSD, rape trauma syndrome, dissociative behaviors, depression, flashbacks, panic attacks…
Read MoreAddiction is Not a Choice | a Mom and Dad Share Their Daughter’s Story
Addiction is NOT a choice, contrary to the common belief and presumption “it” is a moral weakness, a shameful lack of willpower. I have been working in this field for over a decade, now, and that has NEVER been the case. With every person I’ve met or worked with, who either struggles with the chronic,…
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