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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How to Leave an Addict or Abuser | Guest Author Darlene Lancer

How to leave an addict or abuser? Todays’ guest author, Darlene Lancer, JD, MFT, explains why it’s hard to do and offers 10 suggestions for how to leave. Darlene is the author of Codependency for Dummies and Conquering Shame and Codependency: 8 Steps to Freeing the True You, and her latest eBook is titled, Dealing with a Narcissist, 8 Steps to…

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What to Say to Someone With a Drinking Problem

wondering if you drink too much?

What to say to someone with a drinking problem? Where to begin! If you’re reading this post, you have likely been hurt, frustrated, concerned, angered, and/or scared by a loved one’s drinking. You’ve likely tried talking, yelling, cajoling, negotiating, looking the other way, believing their promise(s) to stop or cut down, but so far, nothing’s…

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Cognitive Distortions – When Reality Isn’t What You Think | Darlene Lancer, JD, MFT

Darlene Lancer, JD, MFT, explains cognitive distortions.

Cognitive distortions, like overgeneralizing, labeling, self-criticism, and black-and-white/all-or-nothing thinking, can “skew your perceptions” and may be caused by “the anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, or perfectionism that often accompany codependency.” Darlene Lancer, a frequent guest blogger on BreakingTheCycles.com, helps readers understand cognitive distortions, how they harm us, and what a person can do to stop or…

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Are Your Parents Toxic?

Underage Drinking - How Teens Can Become alcoholics before 21

Toxic parents? Being raised by toxic parents can radically change a child’s brain wiring and mapping. Brain wiring and mapping is basically the process by which the brain “connects” its roughly 100 billion brain cells (neurons) from birth through early 20s. This process determines everything that child/adolescent/young adult/adult thinks, feels, says, and does, and it…

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Triggers and the Codependency Connection | Darlene Lancer, JD, MFT

Part of what keeps a person in relationship with a loved one who has a substance use disorder are their own triggers. Triggers can be thoughts, feelings or emotions triggered by another person’s behaviors or shaming words. Darlene Lancer, a frequent guest blogger on BreakingTheCycles.com, helps readers understand triggers and the codependency connection and what a…

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