You hear it all the time in treatment programs, the rooms of support groups, like 12 step programs and from family and friends. “They just need to hit bottom.” Even from the person with addiction themselves, when they buy into the abstract idea of …
What I’ve Learned in 15 Years of Recovery
Today is my birthday. I won't say how old I am, as vanity is still a character defect I am working on. I will say that I have been alive a lot longer than I deserve to be, and much longer than most sane people would have bet on me living. I can …
So You Want to be an Addictions Counselor: Embracing the Cliche
Several years ago a good friend of mine in recovery who was in school for addictions counseling summed it up quite nicely when she said, “I just never saw myself as being the cliche, but here I am.” I work with a few people, who after getting some …
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Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT): What it is and Why We Are Using it
If you have been to any of our groups lately, or know of people who have, you may have noticed a new theory or therapeutic model being used. That model is Acceptance Commitment Therapy or ACT (pronounced as one word not as letters). As one of the two …
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Is Sugar Addictive
Admit it. As soon as you read the title you started rolling your eye's. If you're in early recovery (first 90 days or so) you are thinking I've lost my mind with thoughts like, “I just quit using (insert drug or substance here), all I have been doing …
Dr. Schwartz in the Portland Tribune
Op-Ed from the Portland tribune Dr. Bryan Schwartz's Op-ed on a new approach to the opioid epidemic was published in the Portland tribune. Check it out! …
Acute vs Chronic Care: Why Addiction Isn’t a Broken Leg
In this country our medical system has two main models. One is acute and the other is chronic. Acute care is what you get when you have a problem that can be remedied such as an infection, a cold, or even a broken leg. You have a problem, the doctor …
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Relationships In Recovery: AKA When is it OKAY for me to Date and Other Questions
In the movie 28 days, which is about a woman (Sandra Bullock) who checks into an inpatient rehab, there is a scene where the head counselor (Steve Buscemi in one of his best roles) is answering a question about dating from one of the clients. He …
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Overcoming Barriers to Treatment
In 2006 an article in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment discussed the barriers that people reported when it came to getting and seeking treatment. While some of the had to do with not having the money or time, a lot of them had to do with some …