Help for Families | Secondhand Drinking | Codependency
Help Families Navigate a Loved One’s 1st Year of Recovery
Help families navigate a loved one’s 1st year of recovery from addiction is critical to family members’ health and well-being. Just because their loved one started recovery is not going to take care of what happened to them. Why is this so important to understand? Nearly 100 million Americans and hundreds of millions more worldwide…
Read MoreChange your life – Change where you think
Change your life – change where you think. When I first read this concept, I had no idea what it meant. From where else would I think if not my brain? In time, however, I learned about concepts like brain wiring, mapping and development. I learned about the evolution of the human brain, and how…
Read MoreWhat is at the Core of Addiction
I am asked this question – What is at the Core of Addiction (aka Severe Substance Use Disorder)? – in some form or another, over and over and over, again. And typically, by the time a person is asking me, they are at their wits end. For they, like tens of millions of other Americans…
Read MoreCourage to Change for Recovery’s Sake
Courage to change for recovery’s sake. “What do you mean?,” you might ask. Followed by, “I have courage, and I’ve tried just about everything I know to do to change things. How in the heck do you think I’ve lasted this long in a marriage with an alcoholic?” (or some similar close relationship: parent, brother,…
Read MoreDon’t Let Someone’s Drinking Ruin Your Holidays
Don’t let someone’s drinking ruin your holidays is easy to say, but doing it? That’s another matter. You’ve likely been hurt, frustrated, concerned, angered, and/or scared by a family member or friend’s drinking if you’re reading a post with a title like this. So what can you do when holiday celebrations involve drinking? The short…
Read MoreHealing the Wounds of Codependency
Healing the wounds of codependency is critically important for family members and friends of loved ones with alcohol or other drug use disorders. What this means and how to do it is explained in today’s post by Darlene Lancer, JD, MFT, a frequent guest author on this site. As Darlene writes, [until healed] “We continue…
Read MoreFirst Things First — When Recovery From Addiction Feels Overwhelmingly Difficult, Keep It Simple
Recovery from addiction. Just three words — Keep It Simple. Such a big meaning, such a confusing concept – especially for those living with the family disease of addiction. Questions swirl: What does a person do? How is it done? Can it possibly work? Where do I start? If it’s not me but my family…
Read MoreSecondhand Drinking: Society’s Problem
Secondhand drinking is society’s problem. Most of us are unaware (don’t notice) it exists in our workplaces, schools, families and communities. Most of us don’t know nearly 80 million Americans are directly affected, as are hundreds of millions more worldwide. This count doesn’t include those indirectly affected. As such, you or someone you know are…
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