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,…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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Tough Love – Harmful or Helpful?

For some family members, it's difficult to forgive and forget a loved one - even after years of sobriety.

Tough love – does it hurt or help a person with an addiction to alcohol or other drugs, aka substance use disorder (SUD), get the help they need? I regularly get some form of this question – generally because there’s so much confusion about what it means. Unfortunately, there is no single definition of tough…

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Using Brain Science to Change Your Mind

Brain science is a powerful tool one can use to change their thoughts, feelings or behaviors – seriously! For followers of my blog, you know my enthusiasm for one of the most profound discoveries I’ve learned which is how the brain wires, develops and maps. And it is this understanding that has helped me and…

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