Truth or Fiction?
I am loyal in my attendance, generous in my giving, kind in my criticism, creative in my suggestions, loving in my attitudes. Twenty-Four Hours a Day. Over the years I have heard so many “Truths,” “Facts,” “Musts,” in our Mutual Support Fellowship and quite frankly, there were times that not only did I believe them, […]
A colleague recently asked me: “What prompted you to enter behavioral health/social work?”
My response, “My family impressed upon me the need in our lives for community service. Helping others is essential aspect of our lives. Community and family are one!” He responded, “So it was really an internal/natural desire to help people, right?” Me, “Yes coupled with our family belief system.” We live in a complicated world, […]
The Stigma Fallacy
I have read the articles, heard the narrative, and it goes like this. We would never blame a patient with a serious medical condition for their condition the way we blame the addict or alcoholic for addiction or alcoholism. Or would we? How about a diabetic with a sugar relapse, or an overweight smoker after […]
Why?
There’s something about losing friends, particularly young people, where it’s not something that you get over. I don’t believe there’s a healing process. Chris Cornell Without a doubt, in my mind at least, Chris Cornell was in the top three of all time great vocalists. On top of that his lyrics rank way up there […]
Addiction Treatment and The Twelve Steps
At some of these [steps] we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. —Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., pg. 58 One of the biggest misnomers when looking into treatment for addiction is the idea that a treatment center is a “Twelve Step Program.” Truth be told, when it comes […]
The only way out is through the front door!
Then, gathering all his forces, he attempted to stop altogether and found he could not. Big Book, 4th ed., pg. 32 If you are not an alcoholic, it is difficult to comprehend the subtle compulsion to drink. Likewise, if you are not an addict you may be baffled by the compulsion to use despite the […]
Our Freedom, Independence Day
“The history of free men is never really written by chance but by choice; their choice!” – – Dwight D. Eisenhower For recovering or recovered alcoholics and addicts the holidays can be a trying period of time on our sobriety. Talk in the rooms often swings to the holiday, the temptations and of course the […]
God? or god?
When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God. —Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., pg. 47 I attend a group on the History of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) on Saturdays. It is amazing how AA has grown and flourished over the years due to some simple concepts that were inclusive and […]
The Spin
“Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality.” –Nikos Kazantzakis Public Relations (PR) Spinners are always at work. The stigma of addiction and alcoholism rears its head on nearly a daily basis in the media. An actor is arrested for DUI and the Spin Doctors go to work immediately. The reports […]
Mastery Starts Now
“Mastery does not come from dabbling. We have to be prepared to pay the price. We need to have the sustained enthusiasm that motivates us to give our best.” — Eknath Easwaran In order to overcome any obstacle and addiction is an obstacle in living a successful life, we must recognize that there is a […]