Addiction | Substance Use Disorders | Treatment
The First Step — The First Truth
The following is a guest post by Tim Cheney, who has been in long-term recovery for over 30 years, and shares his thoughts on the first step of AA. Tim is co-founder and managing partner of Chooper’s Guide, a web-based substance abuse and addiction treatment and information resource. Tim has been in long-term recovery for…
Read MoreHow Physical Therapy Can Help Recovering Addicts
The following is a guest post by Brenda Lawrence describing how physical therapy can help recovering addicts. Brenda is physical therapist whose specialties include rehabilitation and weight loss. She created Physical TherapyAide.org in 2010, as a resource website for students interested in a career as a physical therapy aide. Drugs and alcohol can have a destructive…
Read MoreRelapse Prevention – Continuing Care Plans Can Be Important Tools
Relapse prevention – how can a continuing care plan help? Because addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease, and it takes time to heal the brain of this disease. Continuing care plans can help — especially when they involve the family members closest to the addict/alcoholic. Relapse Prevention – Consider a Continuing Care…
Read MoreUsing Science of the Brain to Talk With Teens About Substance Abuse
To talk with teens about substance abuse has gotten a lot easier thanks to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has a site called NIDA for Teens: Facts on Drugs — The Science Behind Addiction. Not surprising, one of my favorites is Brain & Addiction. I suggest teens, parents and those who work with…
Read MoreThe Tradeoff
The following is a guest post from Monkeytraps: A blog about control, which has two authors: Steve Hauptman, LCSW, and Bert. (If you’re new to Monkeytraps, Steve is a therapist who specializes in control issues, and Bert is his control-addicted inner monkey.) If you’re new to Monkeytraps, Steve is a therapist who specializes in control issues, and Bert is his…
Read MoreDual Diagnosis | Co-Occuring Disorders | Comorbidity – What is It?
Dual Diagnosis | Co-Occuring Disorders | Comorbidity – confusing terms to be sure but so important to understand in order to effectively treat and recover when one has an addiction and mental illness. Comorbidity (aka dual diagnosis or co-occurring disorders) is an often misunderstood diagnosis. Basically, it is having two brain diseases at the same…
Read MoreContinuing Care | Important to Addiction Recovery
Continuing care must be a part of addiction recovery. Why? It’s the third phase of the disease treatment model, and addiction is a disease. How? By its simplest definition, a disease is something that changes cells in a negative way. Addiction changes cells in the brain, which is what makes addiction a chronic, often relapsing…
Read MoreAlternatives to Control
The following is a guest post from Monkeytraps: A blog about control, which has two authors: Steve Hauptman, LCSW, and Bert. (If you’re new to Monkeytraps, Steve is a therapist who specializes in control issues, and Bert is his control-addicted inner monkey.) (If you’re new to Monkeytraps, Steve is a therapist who specializes in control issues, and Bert is…
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