Someone’s Drinking Ruined the Holidays?

Someone’s drinking ruined the holidays? Perhaps you’re anticipating it will. “They’ve ruined just about every birthday, wedding, anniversary, Thanksgiving, graduation…need I go on? And yet they promise – PROMISE – this time it will be different. This time they’ll keep it to one or two or only drink beer or wine – ‘no hard stuff.’”…

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Brain Development and Substance Use

Science and brain centered resources for parents struggling

Brain development – the growth of the brain from the time we are in utero until we mature (early-to-mid 20s) – is one of the lesser-known factors that has a dramatic influence on how our brains wire and map. And this influence and the resulting brain wiring and mapping have a dramatic influence on how…

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Shame | Darlene Lancer Shares Her Shame Experience

Shame. Shame like that which surrounds all concerned when substance use or mental health disorders are part of a family’s dynamic. “It lurks in the unconscious, undermines self-esteem, and creates anxiety and havoc in our lives. The magnitude of feeling different, inadequate, or inferior can be unbearable. It’s the feeling of being a bad, unworthy person,”…

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Smoke Rings Rising | Memoir – What Can Happen When ACEs Happen

Jennifer Hunt's memoir, Smoke Rings Rising

Unless you’ve personally experienced ACEs – Adverse Childhood Experiences (which are extremely stressful or traumatic events before age 18) – it is hard to imagine what they are, let alone what experiencing them does to a child, let alone what those outcomes do to that child’s brain and lifetime health. [This article, Secondhand Drinking –…

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Underage Drinking Prevention

Underage drinking prevention is one of the most important things we can do as parents, caregivers, educators, and the community at large. Why? Because drinking (and other drug use) problems often begin in adolescence. According to The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Studies show that the earlier an individual starts smoking, drinking or using other…

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Secondhand Drinking – Why We Must Prevent It

secondhand drinking IS childhood trauma

Secondhand Drinking has been in the news a lot lately. Below you’ll find a sampling of this news coverage: CNN  The secondhand harms of drinking impact 1 in 5 adults, study says (CNN) About one-fifth of adults in the United States have experienced some form of harm due to someone else’s behavior while drinking. Science…

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Healing Emotional Trauma to Help Treat Addiction

Healing emotional trauma can be a key component to successfully treating one’s addiction to alcohol or other drugs. The reason this is true is that so often a person finds alcohol or other drugs soothes the symptoms of their emotional trauma. In time, the brain maps the alcohol or other drug use as the answer,…

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