Dealing with out losses An Addiction is an Addiction is an Addiction The Cause of Addictions and Ego State Therapy Intervention What Is an Intervention – It is not a made for TV Special Insight to Recovery Announces New C.O.O. Understanding Comorbidity The M.I.N.E. Program Motivates, Inspires, Nurtures, and Empowers
The New “High”: Hand Sanitizers Our Addictive Society SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT AND THE EMPLOYEE A MOMENT OF PASSION, a lifetime OF GRIEF Redbull Gives You Wings, Straight To the Emergency Room Marijuana: The Back and Forth Debate Take a Breath: You Are Not Alone EXCERPTS from the “GETTING THEM SOBER’’ BOOKs
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A LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER Dear Readers, I welcome you to The Sober World magazine. This magazine is being directly mailed each month to anyone that has been arrested due to drugs, alcohol and petty theft in Palm Beach County. It is also distributed locally to all Palm Beach County High School Guidance Counselors, Middle School Coordinators, Palm Beach County Drug Court, Broward County School Substance Abuse Expulsion Program, Broward County Court Human Resource Department, Local Colleges and other various locations. Many petty thefts are drug related, as the addicts need for drugs causes them to take desperate measures in order to have the ability to buy their drugs. Drug addiction has reached epidemic proportions throughout the country and is steadily increasing. Florida is one of the leading States where people come from all over to obtain pharmaceutical drugs from the pain clinics that have opened everywhere. The availability of prescription narcotics is overwhelming; as parents our hands are tied because it is legal. Doctors continue writing prescriptions for drugs such as Oxycontin, and Oxycodone (which is an opiate drug and just as addictive as heroin) to young adults in their 20’s and 30’s right up to the elderly in their 70”s, thus, creating a generation of addicts. Addiction is a disease but it is the most taboo of all diseases. As family members affected by this disease, we are often too ashamed to speak to anyone about our loved ones addiction, feeling that we will be judged. We try to pass it off as a passing phase in their lives, and some people hide their head in the sand until it becomes very apparent such as through an arrest, getting thrown out of school or even worse an overdose, that we realize the true extent of their addiction. I know that many of you who are reading this now are frantic that their loved one has been arrested. No parent ever wants to see his or her child arrested or put in jail, but this may be your opportunity to save your child or loved one’s life. They are more apt to listen to you now than they were before, when whatever you said may have fallen on deaf ears. This is the point where you know your loved one needs help, but you don’t know where to begin. I have compiled this informative magazine to try to take that fear and anxiety away from you and let you know there are many options to choose from. There are Psychologists and Psychiatrists that specialize in treating people with addictions. There are Education Consultants that will work with you to figure out what your loved ones needs are and come up with the best plan for them. There are Interventionists who will hold an intervention and try to convince your loved one that they need help. There are Transport Services that will scoop up your resistant loved one (under 18 yrs. old) and bring them to the facility you have chosen. There are long term Residential Programs (sometimes a year and longer) as well as short term programs (30-90 days), there are Therapeutic Boarding
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Schools, Wilderness programs, Extended Living and there are Sober Living Housing where they can work, go to meetings and be accountable for staying clean. Many times a Criminal Attorney will try to work out a deal with the court to allow your child or loved one to seek treatment as an alternative to jail. I know how overwhelming this period can be for you and I urge every parent or relative of an addict to get some help for yourself. There are many groups that can help you. There is Al-Anon, Alateen (for teenagers), Families Anonymous, Nar-Anon and more. This is a disease that affects the whole family, not just the parents. These groups allow you to share your thoughts and feelings. As anonymous groups, your anonymity is protected. Anything said within those walls are not shared with anyone outside the room. You share only your first name, not your last name. This is a wonderful way for you to be able to openly convey what has been happening in your life as well as hearing other people share their stories. You will find that the faces are different but the stories are all too similar. You will also be quite surprised to see how many families are affected by drug and alcohol addiction. Addiction knows no race or religion; it affects the wealthy as well as the poor, the highly educated, old, young-IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. This magazine is dedicated to my son Steven who graduated with top honors from University of Central Florida. He graduated with a degree in Psychology, and was going for his Masters in Applied Behavioral Therapy. He was a highly intelligent, sensitive young man who helped many people get their lives on the right course. He could have accomplished whatever he set his mind out to do. Unfortunately, after graduating from college he tried a drug that was offered to him not realizing how addictive it was and the power it would have over him. My son was 7 months clean when he relapsed and died of a drug overdose. I hope this magazine helps you find the right treatment for your loved one. They have a disease and like all diseases, you try to find the best care suited for their needs. They need help. Please don’t allow them to become a statistic. There is a website called the Brent Shapiro Foundation. Famed attorney Robert Shapiro started it in memory of his son. I urge each and every one of you to go to that website. They keep track on a daily basis of all the people that die due to drug overdoses. It will astound you. I hope you have found this magazine helpful. You may also visit us on the web at www.thesoberworld.com. My son would have been celebrating his 31st birthday this month- Happy Birthday Steven. Sincerely,
Patricia
Publisher Patricia@TheSoberWorld.com
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IMPORTANT HELPLINE NUMBERS 211 PALM BEACH/TREASURE COAST 211 www.211palmbeach.org FOR THE TREASURE COAST www.211treasurecoast.org FOR TEENAGERS www.teen211pbtc.org AAHOTLINE-NORTH PALM BEACH 561-655-5700 www.aa-palmbeachcounty.org AA HOTLINE- SOUTH COUNTY 561-276-4581 www.aainpalmbeach.org FLORIDA ABUSE HOTLINE 1-800-962-2873 www.dcf.state.fl.us/programs/abuse/ AL-ANON- PALM BEACH COUNTY 561-278-3481 www.southfloridaalanon.org AL-ANON- NORTH PALM BEACH 561-882-0308 www.palmbeachafg.org FAMILIES ANONYMOUS 847-294-5877 (USA) 800-736-9805 (Local) 561-236-8183 Center for Group Counseling 561-483-5300 www.groupcounseling.org CO-DEPENDENTS ANONYMOUS 561-364-5205 www.pbcoda.com COCAINE ANONYMOUS 954-779-7272 www.fla-ca.org COUNCIL ON COMPULSIVE GAMBLING 800-426-7711 www.gamblinghelp.org CRIMESTOPPERS 800-458-TIPS (8477) www.crimestopperspbc.com CRIME LINE 800-423-TIPS (8477) www.crimeline.org DEPRESSION AND MANIC DEPRESSION 954-746-2055 www.mhabroward FLORIDA DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE 800-500-1119 www.fcadv.org FLORIDA HIV/AIDS HOTLINE 800-FLA-AIDS (352-2437) FLORIDA INJURY HELPLINE 800-510-5553 GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS 800-891-1740 www.ga-sfl.org and www.ga-sfl.com HEPATITUS B HOTLINE 800-891-0707 JEWISH FAMILY AND CHILD SERVICES 561-684-1991 www.jfcsonline.com LAWYER ASSISTANCE 800-282-8981 MARIJUANA ANONYMOUS 800-766-6779 www.marijuana-anonymous.org NARC ANON FLORIDA REGION 888-947-8885 www.naranonfl.org NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS-PALM BEACH 561-848-6262 www.palmcoastna.org NATIONAL RUNAWAY SWITCHBOARD 800-RUNAWAY (786-2929) www.1800runaway.org NATIONAL SUICIDE HOTLINE 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433) www.suicidology.org ONLINE MEETING FOR MARIJUANA www.ma-online.org Ruth Rales Jewish Family Services 561-852-3333 www.ruthralesjfs.org WOMEN IN DISTRESS 954-761-1133 PALM BEACH COUNTY MEETING HALLS central house 2170 W Atlantic Ave. SW Corner of Atlantic & Congress Club Oasis 561-694-1949 Crossroads 561-278-8004 www.thecrossroadsclub.com EasY Does It 561-433-9971 Lambda North Clubhouse www.lambdanorth.org The Meeting Place 561-255-9866 www.themeetingplaceinc.com The Triangle Club 561-832-1110 www.Thetriangleclubwpb.com BROWARD COUNTY MEETING HALLS 12 STEP HOUSE 954-523-4984 205 SW 23RD STREET 101 CLUB 700 SW 10TH DRIVE & DIXIE HWY LAMBDA SOUTH CLUB 954-761-9072 WWW.LAMBDASOUTH.COM POMPANO BEACH GROUP SW CORNER OF SE 2ND & FEDERAL HWY PRIDE CENTER 954-463-9005 www.pridecenterflorida.org WEST BROWARD CLUB 954-476-8290 WWW.WESTBROWARDCLUB.ORG
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Dealing with out losses By David J. Powell, PhD
By now, in life, you’ve faced many losses: loss of a loved one, a parent, divorce, loss of a career, loss of health, physical beauty, sexual desires, a stillbirth, an abortion, loss of your childhood home, or even innocence. Loss is the injury where blood does not flow. It is not defined by the severity of the event but by how you experienced the loss. This article will address how to deal with loss, whether in your life or in the lives of others. It is not about fixing the loss but about honoring and respecting it. An ancient Chinese proverb says, “You can only go halfway into the dark forest. Then you are coming out the other side.” First, let’s address the issues of grieving losses. Grief shows up in our emotions, depression, anger, physical sensations, and our behaviors. Grief is a hemorrhaging of the self, a loss of passion, sense of purpose, creativity, humor and perspective. Grief can causes feelings of despair, exhaustion, loss of resilience and a blaming of others. Jamie Marich, in her excellent book on grief, says there are four stages of grief: accepting the reality of the loss, experiencing the pain of the loss, adjusting to an environment of loss and a withdrawal of emotional energy and investing in something/someone else. To grief well, we need to work through our sadness, despair, fear, anger, abandonment and powerlessness. From there, we can seek resolution and even celebration of the loss. Let’s discuss specific losses, beginning with the loss of parents. This is a journey all of us must eventually take. When a parent dies, we may feel abandoned, orphaned, and closer to death ourselves. When both of my parents died, I realized I was “next in line.” We might feel vulnerable, frustrated, relaxed or relieved, or the loss of a protector. “After all, dad was always there when I needed him.” To grieve the loss of parents, it is helpful to pull out the old family pictures and feast on them. Do a family tree, seeing how all of the limbs of the tree are united. Some of us may have lost a partner, perhaps a life-long companion. We may feel dismembered, a deeper sense of loss than anticipated, or physical and emotional symptoms. Often, loss of a partner can cause intense self-examination. “Was I the best mate I could have been? Was there more I should have done for them, particularly during the latter part of their life?” When living with someone who is dying, there are many lessons to be learned. Perhaps one of the best resources for how to deal with a dying loved one is Sogyal Rinpoche’s The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, a textbook used by groups such as Hospice and other caregiving organizations. Here are some suggestions: • Be present to them, offering the dying person your unconditional love. • Let go of your hopes & fears. All of your dreams for the future are gone, and likely never will happen. • Listen to the person, especially for “unfinished business.” • Measure your words & tell the truth. There is always the question of how honest to be with the dying person. One rule might be how you would like to be treated when entering the dying arch. • Say “Goodbye” to them and let them say “Goodbye.” Parker Palmer, the Quaker academician, writes, “One of the hardest things we must do is to be present to another person’s pain without trying to fix it, to simply stand respectfully at the edge of that person’s mystery & misery. Standing there we feel useless & powerless, which is exactly how the person feels--& our own unconscious need is to reassure ourselves that we are not like the soul before us.” When a sibling dies, we face other feelings: a change in your position in the family, anger, resentment, survivor guilt, an awareness of your mortality or a diminished self-esteem: compared to your deceased sibling. And then there is your own death to face. Buddhist teachers have wisely reminded us when facing death to live in the present moment, in the days given us. The Psalmist wrote that we are to number our days and ask yourself what is unfinished for you. What is on your bucket list? What’s keeping you from doing those things? The prayer we would offer is, “May you be at peace. May you be free from suffering. May your heart remain open. May you awaken to the light of your own true nature. May you be healed. May you be the source of healing for others.” Stealing a line from Speedy Alka Seltzer, “how do you spell relief?” (from losses). First, give yourself permission to “lose it” emotionally. Don’t be stoic about the loss. Build in extra time to deal with the loss. Usually it takes the first year of birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, etc. to realize the person is gone. Give yourself permission to be alone, but not too much time so you are lonely. Allow yourself to feel your deepest feelings. Provide a private place in your home and life for remembrance of that person: a shrine in your house, a space in your heart, to remember them. In 1993, when two of my daughter’s high school classmates were driving to school, they were blinded by the sun coming over a hill, and plowed their car into
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the back of a parked dump truck. One of my daughter’s classmates was instantly killed. This loss had a devastating effect on my daughter and me. So, whenever I drive past the cemetery in a nearby town, I silently drive into the graveyard and past Renee’s gravestone, and sit for a few seconds to honor that loss. My silent, secret time and space for remembrance. How do we let go of our losses? If you are like me, everything in life I’ve had to let go of has claw marks on it—I don’t let go easily. Here are five steps to letting go: 1 Create a space for inquiry. Ask yourself why you are doing this? Does it have a healthy purpose? He who has a WHY can live with any HOW. The antidote for exhaustion is not necessarily rest but wholeheartedness. Even as we teach others, we overcome our losses through activities: writing, breathe work, meditation, muscular relaxation techniques. • Write a forgiveness note • A letting go note • An amends note • A personal creed, something that you hold dear about the lost loved one Joseph Campbell wrote, “You must be willing to get rid of the life you’ve planned so as to have the life that is waiting for you.” 2. Choose a new focus. See the world through a fresh set of eyes. Ask yourself, “What went well today? What should I leave behind now?” Think longer-term not just in the moment. Can you accept yourself as a “good enough” person? Can you forgive yourself for what has happened in the past, especially with the lost loved one? Rumi wrote, “Let yourself be silently drawn by the pull of what you truly love.” What do you truly love today? Wendell Berry said, “When we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, when we no longer know which way to go, we’ve begun our real journey.” Emerson wrote, “To laugh often & much; to win the respect of intelligent people & the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics & endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a little bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” 3 Find or build a new community, whether that is a self-help group, a faith community, or friends with whom you’ve lost touch over the years. 4 Find a new balance in your life. You can do this by: • Finding a safe place to go for rest, refreshment and healing • Make an appointment with sleep • Mae West said, “When in doubt, take a bath.” • Practice breathing exercises, laugh a lot, enjoy life’s “small stuff” • Take care of your body, eat well, walk • Don’t make any major decisions when fatigued • Forget the “if onlys” and negative self-talk • Ask yourself what makes you happy today? When was the last time you had sheer fun? • Practice an attitude of gratitude for what you have and have been given, especially in the life of the lost loved one. Feast on those memories. • Practice kindness to others. In giving, we receive. • Express gratitude to someone everyday. • Write a gratitude letter, five joys in your life today. 5 Practice centering in your life. Here are ways of having a daily practice of centering: • Find daily moments of mindfulness, rest • Give yourself Sabbath days, “lazy day,” time off daily when you have no obligations • Install a “mindfulness bell” on your computer than rings every hour (or even more often) to bring you back to the present moment. (Google on “Mindfulness Bell” for a free download of the bell). Grief and loss is one of the most painful experiences we have. Finding tools to deal with our losses is critical, especially if we are to be caregivers to others, and to take care of ourselves. Biographical sketch: David J. Powell, Ph.D. is Assistant Clinical Professor, Yale University School of Medicine and President of the International Center for Health Concerns, Inc. He has been a mental health and substance abuse professional since 1965 and is widely regarded as the leading expert on clinical supervision in the substance abuse field.
The New “High”: Hand Sanitizers By Terry Marvin
Responding to germ-conscious consumers with the development of pocket size anti-bacterial products, makers have also unwittingly opened the door to a bizarre new trend especially among teenagers: Ingesting ethanol-based hand sanitizer to get high. “As with cough medicines and extracts that often contain 60-percent or more ethanol, this common household product delivers an even greater punch that alcoholic beverages like vodka or tequila, which typically contain less alcohol,” says Terry Marvin, Program Director for The Recovery Team in North Palm Beach, FL A few swallows of hand sanitizer produces the same intoxicating effects of a traditional alcoholic beverage. The result? Slurred speech and unresponsiveness with side effects that range from sedation and loss of coordination to life threatening conditions as is being reported by poison control centers around the country. “And, truth is, this latest substance to get high isn’t all that new. It’s right up there with sterno – the canned jellied fuel used to keep food in buffet chafing dishes warm. Like sterno, hand sanitizer contains a dangerous mix of chemicals that can result in severe neurological damage as well as other unintended consequences.” Moreover, the low cost and widespread availability of the product has added to its popularity especially among those who are unable to purchase alcohol legally. It’s relatively easy to purchase the pocket size bottles, which are the equivalent of two to three shots of hard liquor since stores clerks rarely think twice about selling hand sanitizer products to adolescents, says Marvin. Adding to its accessibility is the plethora of videos that demonstrate “recipes” for using products that can heighten the effect of drinking hand sanitizer. Videos show teens drinking the product as well as demonstrating how to make the product stronger and more tolerable to drink. For example, one YouTube video demonstrates how to heighten the potency of hand sanitizer by using salt. Another demonstrates straining the alcohol from the product using a slice of bread.
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“The bottom line with this – and all the other ‘new’ ways to get high that are sure to follow – is to create the desire for abstinence,” says Marvin. “Through education and support, each of our therapists therapeutically create and support that desire through all of the programs that we offer to our clients. We focus on promoting life without mood or mind altering substances – a life that is free of drugs and alcohol and all their variations. That’s our job.” Terry Marvin is Program Director for The Recovery Team in North Palm Beach, FL where he brings a diverse background of strong leadership and management, which includes more than 30 years’ experience in law enforcement. He is a certified police officer in the State of Florida and has completed his education hours toward his CAP certification. www.recoveryteam.org
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A MOMENT OF PASSION, A Lifetime OF GRIEF By Charles Rubin
Who would think that having a child could lead to years of pain, frustration, and sorrow? If you’re one of the unlucky parents with a kid on drugs and are experiencing this kind of special torture, you have a lot of work to do in order to get on your feet again. As someone who works with hurting parents, I’ve heard it all. From the parents who live in fear of what negative actions their kids might be taking, to the parents who give up altogether and sadly go down the tubes with the addicted party. During a recent London television interview for BBC on my book “Don’t Let Your Kids Kill You: A Guide for Parents of Drug and Alcohol Addicted Children,” I commented that, from what I’ve seen, people think more about where to have dinner than why to have children. “Well, why did you have children, Charles?” asked the host of the show. After a moment’s thought, I answered: “We couldn’t think of where to have dinner.” This statement may have given the audience a laugh. But in thinking about what I said, I realized there is little humor. Babies are beautiful. Each one is a bundle of joy, someone who will bring you great happiness, someone who will be a credit to themselves and you. You envision the Little League games and the ballet recitals. You’ll be needed and wanted. There are all sorts of delicious expectations. And then the child grows up. And watch out. You suddenly feel you were just hit by a truck. Worst scenario? You are dealing with a hulking, moody, vicious, snarling, drug-addicted stranger. This is someone who can reduce you to tears in seconds, who steals your most cherished possessions and hocks them, who defies and curses you at every turn, who inhabits your house but never contributes anything but darkness and foreboding. A child on substances will radically change a family’s dynamic. He or she will bring out the worst characteristics in those around you. There will be bitterness and infighting. There will be dissension between the parents, with one being a strict disciplinarian calling the cops after each encounter, and the other a serial codependent who actually, through his or her permissiveness, promotes the abuse. Never the twain shall meet. As for the siblings, they will be resentful against the addict for taking away the attention that would have been lavished on them. Children abusing parents is a social phenomenon that first gathered speed in the mid-fifties, perhaps spearheaded by a movie called “Rebel Without a Cause.” This film decreed it justifiable for teenagers to physically attack their parents, as does the character portrayed by James Dean. His father, played by Jim Backus, also known as Mr. Magoo, is seen as ineffective, bumbling and useless. Remember James Dean’s red windbreaker? It became one of the best-selling garments in history, adopted by a legion of young movie-going youths who transferred what they saw onscreen to their real-life parents. It was then, in America, that parents were seen in the same light as Mr. Magoo, while the character of poor, self-pitying, misunderstood James Dean, in searching for his identity, had become the hero of the day. This characterization started a revolution against moms and dads that blotted out forever the Norman Rockwellian concept of family life as we knew it. Combining the contempt kids had for their parents with the proliferation of drugs, there were now the additional side issues of theft and violence to contend with. Another source of unrest in the young was the 1951 publication of “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger. This book, disarmingly entertaining, became a bible of sorts for those bleeding hearts that had to show their individualism through judging their elders. What was intended as a comical treatise against a phony world went much further than that, indicting the generation responsible for the world as it was during that time. That generation, known today as the greatest generation, was the one that fought the war against Hitler, came home, built businesses, worked like the devil to provide for their families…and that unknowingly cast a seed of incalculable destruction. These parents, wanting to give their special, darling children all the worldly goods their parents couldn’t provide for them (during the depression, having food on the table was the big luxury), had introduced to the world something called ‘entitlement.’ A whole chapter could be written on that subject along with the insanity that was, and is, in the minds of parents who hand over the reins of power to their offspring, allowing them to make major decisions affecting the entire family.
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I have personally witnessed ten years olds dictating what will go on in the home while their parents have beamed happily at these “dear little angels.” Are these parents blind? What has brought about this bizarre need for parents to transfer their authority to the whims of an undeveloped mind? Apparently they don’t know the trouble they are in for. The ramifications are terrifying and tragic. When children are given unearned power as well as endless goodies, boredom sets in, excitement is craved, dangerous habits are formed and what better opportunity to experience living on the edge than with drugs? Drugs and disharmony go hand in hand. You can’t live with a substance abuser and not feel the cold hand of death and destruction on your shoulder. With substance-abusing teenagers, there’s the extra-added problem of developing hormones, and brains that are only half formed. Put it all together and you have a formula that can literally destroy your world. In many homes around the world, these young druggies blast apart the family structure as does dynamite. They know no bounds because perhaps they weren’t taught bounds. They curse, hound, manipulate, berate, and mercilessly break down any defenses a parent may have. Worse, the drugs within them annihilate any hopes for their futures. Motivation is out the window. Nothing is as devastating as seeing the potential of a beloved child go down the drain. Nothing, other than the death of a child, has the ability to break the parent’s heart. I’ve seen many a parent’s heart—including mine--broken into a million pieces, and all the dreams we had for our kids, shattered. Still, there is the continual striving to turn the teenager around, to make him or her see how ruinous is the preoccupation with drugs. The waiting rooms of rehabs on visiting days are full of parents, hopeful that their little Susie or Ben will emerge one day whole and ready to get back into the world. My own fourteen-year-old son, convicted for theft, was ordered by a judge to a rehab for eighteen months. I saw him led off in handcuffs. It was one of the worst days of my life. Eighteen months passed and he was home again, and two days later he was back on drugs. It was at this point, when broken in spirit, health, unable to concentrate on my work, bereft of former friends who were sick of the story, that I decided I had to either do something positive or die. The path back to health and wholeness isn’t one that all parents of addicts choose to take. They often fall through the cracks. Deaths from heart attack or stroke and a spectrum of diseases are common. Add accidents to the list. But once you have bravely decided that this fiasco has gone on long enough and that you are going to take the necessary steps to restore your life, you have entered a brand new chapter of your life. And interestingly, the addict will notice. The addict will be shocked at first that you aren’t the same old pushover. Anger is sure to follow, especially when you cut off the funds and/or evict them from your home. If you choose life and want to survive, you have to take steps. Here they are. Step One: Take care of you. It’s essential to remember all your dreams and hopes, the ones you have relegated to a dusty corner of your mind in favor of dwelling on the addicted child. It may sound like a cliché, but it is never too late to become the person you always wanted to be. Step Two: Get back in the swing of things. Get back to exercising, eating well, socializing, working in a field that excites you. Step Three: Get yourself into a support group, whether it be Al anon, Nar-anon, FA, Tough Love, or any of the many regional support groups. You will have instant friends, people who know exactly what you are talking about. Don’t, no matter what the temptation, discuss the situation with people who have no reference to your problems. They won’t be able to understand your plight. In my book: Don’t Let Your Kids Kill You, there’s a chapter titled: Others Will Condemn You. Let Them. Meanwhile, you will be enjoying your other family members (you know, the ones you neglected for so long?) and you will be seeing friends and you will be feeling fulfilled in your job. For your own peace of mind, know this: It is not the actual child who is creating mayhem. It is the drug within the child’s body that has turned the child into a monster. Without the insidious drug doing it’s evil, he or she returns to the person he or she was before taking drugs. Continued on page 22
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Our Addictive Society By John Giordano DHL, MAC
Thirty-years ago I was as blind to addiction as nearly everyone else walking down the street. It never occurred to me that I might be addicted to anything. Like everyone else I got up in the morning and went to work. I was productive at my job and provided my family with a very nice life-style. How could I be an addict? It took more than a family intervention to convince me I have an addiction. Begrudgingly, I accepted my family’s challenge and entered a rehab facility. Several weeks into the program I recognized how far I’d fallen. What I’ve came to realize from my experiences and those of countless others, is that addiction is expanding all around us, and that there are more people unaware or in denial of their addictions than those that know. I’m a firm believer in personal responsibility; the duty of making the right choices for ourselves and the people close to us. Yet the more I see of the emerging world we live in, the more I realize how our choices can be undermined. One might think that the addiction rate would decrease considering all the huge leaps in science and medicine over the last twenty plus years that have given us a far better understanding of the roots of addiction and a clear path to treatment. But the salient fact is that the inverse has happened. Seven out of ten Americans are taking some form of medication and opiates are on the top of the list. Even more concerning is that we consume 80% of all the pain killers made in the world today. Drug overdose deaths are up for the 11th consecutive year and prescription drugs now kill more Americans than heroin and cocaine combined. But why; do we have that much more pain than the rest of the world or have we become an addictive society? In a New York statewide consolidation lawsuit against Purdue Pharma, manufacturers of OxyContin, the attorneys referred to their 1000 clients as ‘accidental addicts.’ These were mostly regular hard working people who were prescribed OxyContin for a work or sports related injury by a doctor they trusted. Unfortunately their trust in their doctor – and the doctors’ trust in the pharmaceutical company were both betrayed. Not long after the lawsuit was filed, Purdue Pharma and three of its executives pleaded guilty in federal court to other criminal charges that they misled regulators, doctors and patients about the drug’s risk of addiction and its potential to be abused. The industry leader in the manufacture and sales of opiate analgesics was ordered to pay a $634.5 million fine. However, OxyContin is still on the market without any changes to the extremely addictive product whatsoever. Last year Purdue Pharma’s sales exceeded $3.0 billion dollars. Recently, a paper I’d contributed to with Dr. Ken Blum was published in the highly regarded international medical and scientific peer-reviewed journal, PLOS ONE. To view the entire article please visit: http://bit.ly/1bvGIrY In the paper we revealed the results of a longitudinal study on the long-term effects of the popular opiate maintenance drug Suboxone®. What we found was a flat affect or a lack of outward expression of emotion – a diminished facial, gestural, and vocal expression resulting from long-term use. Certainly Suboxone® is safer than street heroin but they’re both opiates. Why are we switching heroin users and some prescription drug addicts to a prescription opiate rather than getting them off drugs all together? Throughout my career I’ve counseled countless numbers of people using pharmaceutical opiates like Suboxone® to manage their addiction. I can tell you first hand that keeping these people on opiates for extended periods compromise their rehab and makes a successful life of sobriety that much more challenging. The best path is not to extend their addiction but to address it as soon as possible. Our addictive society extends its reach far beyond substance abuse. Not long ago I was asked to be a keynote speaker, along with Dr. Ken Blum, at the 1st International Conference on Behavioral Addictions held in Budapest, Hungary. The hot topic at the conference was “Process Addictions.” These are the addictions – such as sex, food, gambling, Internet, exercise, bulimia, anorexia, gaming and so on – that lurk in the shadow of their big brother, substance abuse. What most people don’t realize about these addictions is that in most cases they have a similar effect on the brain and can be just as debilitating as substance abuse – even deadly. The question asked most at the conference was ‘why the explosion of addiction?’ Dr. Blum is uniquely qualified to answer part of the question. Over twentyyears ago he discovered the reward gene which is often referred to as the addiction/alcohol gene. What he discovered was that people who have the DRD2 –A1 gene do not process the brain chemical Dopamine – the primary neurotransmitter of reward and pleasure – effectively. As a result, people with this gene often unconsciously resort to external stimuli that they’ve learned triggers the production of Dopamine as compensation.
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They might turn to abusing drugs or food, sex, gaming, et cetera because this behavior stimulates production of Dopamine that aids in normalizing their brain function. Dr. Blum’s discovery forever changed the way we view and treat addiction. From his studies spanning four-decades, he estimates that over onethird of the American public – or roughly 100,000,000 people – have this addiction gene. That is not to say that one-in-three Americans are addicts; but rather one-in-three have a genetic predisposition and are more susceptible to addiction. For these people the choices in front of them are much less clear. Keep in mind they’re doing what their subconscious is telling them to do. When confronted with stress or anxiety, it would be normal for them to eat a sugary treat – or some other high glycemic food that boosts their Dopamine level. It’s what makes them feel normal and able to cope with their stressful environment – and the food industry has taken notice. Glucose is necessary for the brain to function. It’s a brain and body fuel that gives us energy. When blood sugar levels start to dip the brain sends a message to cells instructing them to eat more to replenish its stores. Once blood sugar levels return back to normal the brain turns those cells off. Although sugar is necessary for the body to survive, extended periods of high blood sugar levels will kill body and brain cells over time. Someone who consumes excessive amounts of sugary or high glycemic foods to boost their Dopamine levels is likely positioning themselves for a very unhealthy life. Even more concerning to me is high fructose corn syrup; an inexpensive sweetner made from corn that is found in nearly every soda, fast food restaurant and packaged food – a trillion dollar industry. It too provides the brain and body with the energy it needs, but it doesn’t have an off switch. High fructose corn syrup literally fools the brain into thinking it needs more food. A person’s blood sugar levels could be in a normal range or even elevated and that individual would still be craving food. For all intent and purposes, if you eat junk food, it will make you want to eat more junk food. People have asked me if sugar is really addictive. According to Dr. Blum, absolutely. He says it only takes a matter of minutes after sugar has been consumed to reach the brain and has an effect similar to cocaine. Sugar stimulates the production of the ‘feel good’ chemicals that affects our mood and behavior. We’ve had a lot of success treating people with food and sugar addiction at my center. I can assure you it is an addiction. People experience withdrawls similar to drug abusers although not as intense. They regularly meet with therapist to uncover the emotional underpinnings of their addiction and learn a new way to approach their life and handle stress in their environment. Sugar has been known to be toxic and thought to be addictive for quite some time; yet our sugar consumption has increased from an average of 10 pounds per person in 1800 to 140 pounds per person per year today. Michael Moss, a Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative reporter at The New York Times, who has done extensive research into the food industry, puts it into perspective. In an article he wrote titled, ‘The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food,’ Moss stated: “What I found, over four years of research and reporting, was a conscious effort – taking place in labs and marketing meetings and grocery-store aisles – to get people hooked on foods that are convenient and inexpensive.” Caveat emptor - “let the buyer beware.” Having begun my addiction treatment career nearly thirty years ago, and running my center for the majority of that time, I have the advantage of reflection. What I’m seeing right now is we’re headed deeper into an addictive society where our good choices can be unwittingly compromised. Our best defense is education. Take a few minutes to understand addiction so that you can recognize the behaviors in yourself and the loved ones around you. Click on my website link below to find out more. I’d also suggest you consider holistic as a first option for your health needs. There’s a plethora of evidenced-based and scientifically-proven remedies for you and your doctor to consider. The best advice of all comes from the Greek physician Hippocrates who proclaimed nearly 2,500 years ago: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” John Giordano DHL, MAC is a counselor, President and Co-Founder of G & G Holistic Addiction Treatment Center in North Miami Beach and Chaplain of the North Miami Police Department. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me directly at 305-945-8384. Also for the latest development in cutting-edge treatment check out my website: www.holisticaddictioninfo.com
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Insight to Recovery Announces New Chief Operating Officer Natashah Khan brings national experience to lead ‘Real Life Recovery’
Delray Beach, FL – Insight to Recovery, a drug and alcohol treatment organization based in Delray Beach, FL, has selected Natashah Khan, MS, RMHCI, to serve as its Chief Operating Officer. Insight to Recovery (www.insighttorecovery.com) has a twelve-year record in revitalizing individuals through a complete continuum of care with services and initiatives spanning the entire spectrum of rehabilitation and sober living. Ms. Khan takes the lead in a 45-person organization, including a highlyexperienced clinical team, fully equipped to implement a comprehensive range of educational, process and relapse prevention services to help clients understand the cycle of addiction. Offering Day/Night (PHP), Intensive Outpatient (IOP), Individual and Group Outpatient Counseling and Housing, Insight to Recovery’s unique drug and alcohol addiction treatment program is located in Delray Beach, Florida, and licensed by the Florida Department of Children and Family Services. Ms. Khan has had progressively important roles nationally in the field of mental health and addiction treatment over the last decade. With a BS in Organizational Management and an MS in Psychology, she is proficient in working with dual diagnosis, personality disorders and family and couples’ counseling, and her versatility has been applied to different treatment modalities including residential, outpatient and family. “Insight helps individuals who are genuinely motivated to sustain their enthusiasm during their first year of recovery and to internalize recovery principles for life.” said Ms. Khan as she moved into the company’s new spacious state-of-the-art headquarters in Boynton Beach, Florida. “Going from treatment directly into a sober living facility results in many addicts and alcoholics relapsing within their first year of sobriety, but that doesn’t happen at Insight. The company attracted me with the uniqueness of its 4-6 week Day/Night Program, a stellar example in Florida of clients experiencing “Real Life Recovery” in conjunction with treatment.”
Her skills and experience render her ideal to implement Insight’s patented “Real Life Recovery” model as a total solution for long-term sobriety, offering practical life skills to assist clients in becoming productive members of society. “While science and new clinical tools are important,” added Ms. Khan, “they simply can’t replace the Twelve Steps as the pivotal means to facilitate personal growth for sustainable and long-term recovery.” Ms. Khan will spearhead a highly-skilled Insight to Recovery clinical team consisting of a diverse group of licensed and or Certified Therapists, Case Managers and Vocational Coaches who collaborate to make decisions that are in the best interests of the client and to effectively propel the addict to obtaining the “gift of recovery.” Insight to Recovery’s intensive IOP Program is divided into two distinct phases that differentiate it from other drug and alcohol treatment centers in the region. At Phase One it offers a platform of vocational services (Build Resumes, Dress for success, Obtain Employment) in addition to transportation and information/resources that aid clients in obtaining documents necessary for employment or returning to school (i.e. driver’s license, Social Security card, birth certificates ) plus employment coaching, budgeting, time-management, nutritional instruction and AlAnon family groups. At Phase Two Insight services are in place for clients to maintain employment and balance their recovery programs. Insight’s commitment to evidence-based recovery includes Behavioral Health Techs serving as Life Coaches and developing working relationships whereby they assist clients in reaching out and building sober networks of support, connecting with sponsors and advanced teaching of life skills (to regain independence and to be self-sufficient in their own “Real Life Recovery!!”)
An Addiction is an Addiction is an Addiction By Mary Detweiler
Did you know it is possible to become addicted to a behavior? Well, guess what? It is. How? You might ask. I’ll tell you how. As we journey through life we go from one life experience to another. These experiences, when molded together, shape us into who we are. Some of these experiences are positive and life-enhancing. Others are negative and life-limiting. Some are downright hurtful. Some of these hurts are superficial wounds. Others are deep, pervasive wounds which result in much emotional pain. Whether the pain is superficial or deep, if it is not acknowledged and expressed it will not heal. Those of us who grew up in families in which feelings were not allowed to be acknowledged and expressed had no idea what to do with our emotional pain. Therefore, we stuffed it inside us and carried it into adulthood in the form of emotional baggage. Carrying that baggage around 24/7 hurt and, since human beings tend to not like feeling hurt, we looked for ways to relieve the emotional pain, to medicate the pain. There are many ways to relieve emotional pain. Some people use substances. Others are unable to get that special kind of relief from alcohol and drugs. It just doesn’t work for everyone because some people do not have the genetic makeup for it. So, they find other ways, behaviors, to relieve or medicate emotional pain. Some common medicating behaviors are: overworking; overeating or compulsive controlling of eating (anorexia or bulimia); spending; shopping; gambling; engaging in pornography; promiscuity; caretaking; people pleasing/approval seeking; controlling other people and situations. Most of the behavioral medicators are normal, needed, natural behaviors. For people who are using them as medicators, however, these behaviors are not being engaged in for the purpose they were intended. They are being engaged in excessively and compulsively for an entirely different purpose. For example, one is not working to earn a living, one is overworking to avoid feeling feelings or one does not eat to live, one lives to eat because the eating keeps the emotional pain at bay. In their book Understanding Codependency (1990, Health Communications Inc.) Sharon Wegscheider-Cruse and Joseph Cruse introduced the concept of “co-existing dependencies” to describe this phenomenon, stating: “It is important to know that we manipulate our moods – our highs and our lows – by our ingestion of chemicals from the outside (alcohol, drugs, nicotine,
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or sugar). We do the same thing when we engage in selective, repetitive behaviors that release our inner chemicals.” (p. 13) They went on to say: “… medicators require repeating with increasing frequency, duration, amount and variety to overcome tolerance. In this way, individuals become addicted to, or dependent on, their behaviors or substances or a combination of behaviors or substances. Certainly it’s a rare individual who is only a workaholic or an alcoholic or only a nicotine addict or only has an eating disorder. Scratch the paint off a substance abuser and you find a ‘behavioral’ abuser. Most individuals have many Co-existing Dependencies.” (p. 17) To summarize, an addiction is an addiction is an addiction. Individuals who are addicted to a behavior or behaviors are not any better or any different than individuals who are addicted to substances. They are simply programmed differently. Most of the medicating behaviors are fairly easy to identify. It is not that hard to figure out when someone is overworking or overeating or spending too much. The consequences are obvious, i.e. little to no family time, vacation time, obesity; high level of debt; on and on. One medicating behavior which is not quite so easy to identify is caretaking. To help in this identification I have outlined some behaviors associated with compulsive caretaking. They are: • Doing something we really don’t want to do, i.e. saying yes when we want to say no. • Doing something for someone else that the person is capable of doing and should be doing for him or herself. • Meeting people’s needs without being asked. • Speaking for another person. • Solving people’s problems for them. • Fixing people’s feelings. • Doing other’s thinking for them. • Suffering people’s consequences for them. • Not asking for what we want need and desire. • Doing more than our fair share of work. • Consistently giving more than we receive in a particular situation. • Putting more interest and activity into a joint effort than the other person. I have also tried to paint a picture of a compulsive caretaker. Caretakers don’t just care for others; they breed dependence. Often from early childhood Continued on page 18
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The Cause of Addictions and Ego State Therapy Intervention By Gordon Emmerson, PhD
This article provides an understanding of the causes of psychological addictions and an insight on effective treatments. It is written to provide for sufferers and for those helping them a blameless understanding of the dynamic between addiction and its causes. These causes can be relieved. There are two kinds of addiction, psychological and physical. Often psychological addiction leads to physical addiction and it can also make it extremely difficult to cease a physical addiction. This article is about psychological addiction. Psychological addiction is caused by a part of the personality that is holding negative emotion. The addictive behaviour is a subconscious coping skill that provides an escape from these negative emotions that would otherwise surface. The part of the personality that carries out the addictive behaviour is an internal friend that is attempting to help. It is willing to sacrifice being liked both internally and externally in order to prevent the personality from experiencing these heavy and difficult negative feelings. Often it does not want to continue with the addictive behaviour, but it feels strongly that unless it does, pain will resurface. It is important to understand the dynamics of addiction in the personality to better grasp what causes addiction. The personality is not a homogenous whole, but is made up of distinct parts, referred to as ego states. These parts are called ego states because each time we experience one of these personality parts it is experienced as, “Me”. In other words our ego is present no matter what state we are in, therefore these parts are called ego states. When an individual is in an ego state that wants to get work done that individual will think of this state as being, “Me”. When that same individual is in a state that is tired and wants to rest, again that state will think of itself as being, “Me”. These states may be in conflict, with one state wanting to rest while at the same time experiencing the other state attempting to get it to do work, or even telling it that it is lazy. We each have several of these ego state parts, and our parts can be in one of four conditions of internal health. 1. Normal: An ego state in a normal condition is a healthy state. It is not in conflict with other states and it carries out actions externally that we feel good about. 2. Conflicted: Conflicted ego states disagree with each other to the point that it causes psychological distress. When a person says, “I have a problem with procrastination,” that means that one ego state wants to work, and another ego state finds ways to avoid that work for some reason. That puts these two ego states into conflict. It is normal for ego states to have different opinions, as one might want a new car and another might realize the budget does not allow for that, but ego states are considered Conflicted only when their internal conflict causes psychological distress. When you hear a person say, “I hate myself when I am like that,” you have heard an expression from a conflicted ego state. 3. Vaded: A Vaded ego state is a personality part that has had an emotionally difficult experience and has not achieved a resolution to that experience. A Vaded ego state will hold onto these negative emotions until it can achieve a resolution to those emotions, and when a Vaded ego state comes to the surface it brings those negative emotions with it. Sometimes an individual will make a comment that will bring a Vaded ego state to the surface causing the person to feel emotionally upset and even out-of-control emotionally. When Vaded ego states come to the surface and stay out, our experience can be anything from mild emotional upset to severe panic attack. The experience of PTSD is a Vaded ego state out and in the consciousness. When an ego state is out it is said to be in the executive. Vaded ego states in the executive cause the experiences of phobias, emotional anxiety, and panic attacks. It is not a pleasant experience when the Vaded state comes into the executive, and depending on how Vaded it is, the experience of a Vaded ego state in the executive can feel traumatic. It is understandable that a person would like to avoid the experience of a Vaded ego state in the executive. The various psychological addictions are creative subconscious ways of escaping from the negative experience of the Vaded ego state. 4. Retro: A Retro ego state is an ego state that has learned to help in a way that causes the individual problems. Many personality disorders are caused by retro ego states. Because they help us it can be tricky to get them to change. Retro states are the ones that carry out addictive behaviour. They internally feel they are important and that if they don’t carry out their role the personality will suffer. It may be helpful to gain a better understanding of the ego state conditions if I mention how a person feels when each state is in the executive.
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• When an ego state in a Normal condition is in the executive the person will feel relaxed, authentic, and comfortable with self and with what self is doing. • When an ego state in a Conflicted condition is in the executive the person will feel embattled. There may be an argument in the head between needing to rest and wanting to work, between wanting to sleep and wanting to think, or between wanting to quit school and wanting to continue. • When an ego state in a Vaded condition is in the executive the person will experience an emotion that does not fit the setting and will experience a sense of not being able to control that emotion. Often another ego state may just wish that emotion would go away, but when the Vaded state is in the executive that difficult emotion is experienced fully. • When an ego state in a Retro condition is in the executive the person will feel that it is important for me to do what I’m doing and I have a right to do it. The retro state does not feel out of control. It believes it is helping the person by carrying out its role. Psychological Addictions occur when a Vaded state begins to come to the surface and a helping Retro state takes over the executive so the individual does not have to feel the negative emotions of the Vaded state. Examples include gambling, OCD behavior, workaholism, shopping addictions, drug addictions (the drug of choice chemically blocks the Vaded state), and many others. It is much preferred to resolve the negative feelings of a Vaded state than to block it with a chemical intervention. The best intervention for addictions is to resolve the negative emotions of the Vaded state so that there is no need for the Retro state to any longer carry out addictive behavior. This cannot be done intellectually, and must be done with the Vaded state in the executive. Ego state therapists bridge the Vaded state to the initial sensitizing event in order to empower the state and resolve its negative emotions. During therapeutic intervention it is most helpful to see the Retro state as a positive part of the personality that is attempting to help. Engagement with the Retro state in this fashion better enables it to be cooperative during therapeutic intervention. When the Vaded state attains an emotional sense of empowerment, safety, and appreciation there is no longer any need to escape from that state into addictive behavior. Vaded states carry the negative emotions from the past because internally they hold a belief that the past is present. These emotionally upset states are often treated with derision, with an attempt to push them away and with the desire that they leave. This only causes them to feel worse. When these states are brought to the executive in therapy they most usually relate an incident during childhood that was difficult and unresolved. These states may be resolved by helping them understand that they are now safe, that anything that was scary from the past can be shrunk in size, expressed to and even removed if they choose, and that they have internal support from more mature caring states. Vaded states can learn to feel safe, protected, and appreciated, and when they do they are no longer vaded. Retro states can be shown appreciation for having helped the person cope, and they can be negotiated with to find new ways they can continue to be helpful following the resolution of the Vaded state. It is preferred that all states feel important and engaged. Therapists can view intervention regimens for addictions in ‘Ego State Therapy’ (2007) (this book has hypnotic interventions) and in ‘Advanced Techniques in Therapeutic Counselling’ (2006) (this book has non-hypnotic interventions). ‘Healthy Parts Happy Self’ (2012) is a book written for individuals who are not therapists who want to become more internally empowered, including with addictions. Professor Gordon Emmerson is an Honorary Fellow in the school of psychology at Victoria University, Melbourne. He is the author of the books ‘Ego State Therapy’ (2003, 2007, 2010), and ‘Advanced Techniques in Therapeutic Counselling (2006, Crown House), and ‘Healthy Parts Happy Self’ (2012). He authored Ego State Personality Theory (2011), and has developed techniques for working with many psychological conditions. His conceptualisation of Vaded Ego States has defined how to work with addictions, OCD and trauma. As a registered psychologist and member of the Australian Psychological Society, he has published a number of articles on Ego State Therapy and has conducted and published clinical research on its efficacy. Dr Emmerson has conducted numerous ego state workshops in Australia, South Africa, Germany, the UK and in the US, and he makes keynote conference and convention addresses on the therapy. He teaches Foundation and Clinical Qualification training in Ego State Therapy. (Egostatetherapy.com)
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What Is an Intervention – It is not a made for TV Special By Dr. Louise A. Stanger Ed.D, LCSW
An Intervention in all of its many forms and iterations is an invitation for clients and their families to seek health care treatment so that their lives may be enriched. While much has been written and talked about on TV, licensed mental health and health providers do interventions everyday in residential settings, crisis clinics, government offices, private practices and hospital settings. We as licensed professionals (MDs, general and Psychiatrists, Certified Alcohol Counselors, Certified Rehabilitation Counselors, Psychologists, Nurses, Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Licensed Marriage and Family Counselors) are always inviting our clients to explore ways to improve their lives. We try to empower them to be the captains of their well-being. An intervention is merely an invitation to seek additional care. Viewed in this way, it does not become a drama, but rather a reality of everyday practice. An intervention is a highly stylized caring respectful invitational process that helps everyone involved accept that the person they value, care about and love has a serious problem. It may be diagnosed as a substance abuse disorder (alcohol, legal drugs, illegal drugs), or a process addiction disorder (food, sex, gambling, debt) and/or a mental health disorder (depression, bi-polar, mania, borderline). In acknowledging this fact, participants learn about the nature of the disorder – its etiology, history, and progression – and learn to understand that it’s a disease similar to medical conditions like diabetes and heart disease. The overall purpose of an intervention is to create an opening in the denial system of the Identified Loved Patient One (ILO), their family and friends so that all may learn new ways of relating to one another and taking care of themselves. This is accomplished by helping the IP and everyone involved accept the difficult reality of the current situation. Treatment options are then explored and arrangements are made for the ILO to accept the treatment being offered. Family interventions are difficult and delicate matters. Anger and profound sorrow often result when someone is forced to look at his or her own behavior. Family members often experience mournful rage, deep sadness and guilt over failed efforts. It is imperative for a professional to be present to help coach you along the way. As a professional interventionist, I’ve learned that a safe, comfortable, and respectful atmosphere is essential for success. While all persons in a family share traits and mannerisms, each person is different; each is unique and each requires different tools and strategies to help the patient and themselves heal. I carefully assess each person’s needs, being mindful of trauma and other mental health issues. I then provide skills that facilitate growth. After careful coaching, planning, and wise deliberation, the intervention is conducted in a loving, caring manner in which all participants come together for a common cause – helping their loved one get treatment. In doing so, they strengthen their respect for each other and the patient. Lastly is the follow-up process. While the ILO is in treatment, I provide case management services with the treatment center. I continue to work with the family
An Addiction is an Addiction is an Addiction By Mary Detweiler
Continued from page 12
caretakers learned to base their self-image on what they did for others. Because of this caretakers did not learn to take good care of themselves, and the people in their lives learned that they never really had to take responsibility for their actions and the consequences of their actions, because the caretaker was always there to fix it for them. It is important to acknowledge that the caretaker is not doing what he or she is doing for the other person. The caretaker is doing it for self, to medicate emotional pain and to create feelings of self-worth. The caretaker is not a helpless victim or a martyr. Caretakers need dependent people around, so if there aren’t any dependent people handy a dedicated caretaker will find or make some. Not surprisingly, caretakers get dragged down from time to time. They’ll say to themselves, “I don’t have a single responsible person in my life!” Of course they don’t. If caretakers were surrounded by responsible people they wouldn’t be able to engage in their addiction. So the real question isn’t “Why are all the people in my life so irresponsible?” the real question is “Why do I find myself in the same predicament over and over?” One final point: an addiction is a relationship. Whatever substance and/or behavior you are addicted to, you are in relationship with it. It’s just like being in a relationship with a person and your relationship with your substance or behavior of choice is the most important relationship in your life. You will do anything to protect it and keep it active. You will deny it, lie about it, cover it up, minimize it, change jobs, relocate, and change the people in your life, whatever. You will likely keep this process up until the consequences of your addiction hurt more than your fear of giving it up, and when the pain finally outweighs the fear you are ready for recovery and then hope is finally possible. Mary Detweiler is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and an Adult Child of an Alcoholic who worked as a mental health professional for 27 years. She is currently leading a Celebrate Recovery ministry in Manheim, PA and is the author of When Therapy Isn’t Enough and When Religion Isn’t Enough. Her blog/website is www.isntenough.wordpress.com.
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providing Solution-Focused Coaching and help them discover a plan for their own healing. I can also provide support and guidance during the transition from treatment to home or new living situation. What an intervention is not: Interventions are not like the scenarios played out on television screens. As a licensed professional, I believe the TV show, Intervention, turns the despair and pain of families faced with addiction, and turns it all into a soap opera. I assure you that doing a confidential intervention is very different then what you see on TV. There are no cameras lurking in the background trying to catch your loved one shooting up or engaging in harmful activities and other indiscretions. Based on my professional training, I believe that’s unethical. Confidentiality and discretion is paramount. Finding the best treatment centers available is my task. Your task is choosing the one that fits best and is most likely to create positive change. Lastly, public drama – though great for TV – is not the place for the private trauma most families experience when a loved one has a serious addiction or mental health disorder. Interventions are not group or individual counseling. Loved ones come together for a singular, specific purpose – to help the identified patient. When other semi-related but not central issues come up, I refer participants to therapists, doctors and self-help groups for more intensive counseling. Interventions are not everyone talking at once. An intervention is not a free-for-all. You are taught a highly stylized way of communicating. Any individual sessions for participants are part of the assessment process, not the actual intervention. Interventions are not conducted when a person is intoxicated, under the influence, suicidal, known to be violent, extremely depressed, in mania, or suffering from another serious mental health disorder. Cases are carefully assessed to confirm that this method is the right approach. For example, extra precautions must be taken when doing an intervention on a male patient with a history of acting out violently, when a patient is addicted to cocaine and is also in a manic stage or when a young girl is suffering from both anorexia and depression. Dr. Louise Stanger is an expert clinician with over 35 years’ experience working with families and conducting interventions. Her interventions are extremely beneficial for families who have loved ones experiencing mental health disorders and substance abuse disorders, including alcohol and other drugs, process addictions such as eating disorders, gambling, or sex addiction. She has been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW, BBS #4581) for over 35 years, and specializes in substance abuse disorders, process addictions, mental health disorders, sudden trauma, grief and loss. She serves as the Membership Chair of the Network of Independent interventionists and is a Member of the Association of Independent Interventionists. She is also an accomplished educator, trainer (SDSU) and researcher having been PI or Co-PI on over 4.5 million dollars of US Dept. of Education and NIH-NIAAA grants.
No Tears for the Dying K.J. Foster
I laugh so I won’t cry Push the pain deep down inside No tears will flow Why, I really don’t know It all seems too bold To let go of the hold My defenses are strong But I wonder how long Before it all comes surfacing through The mask I wear for you It’s hard because I’ll miss you Want so badly to fix you Make your pain and your suffering gone It’s hard to watch you dying See you calculating and lying Blaming and accusing Mentally abusing This pain is so familiar to me Pretending I’m okay when I’m not My hurting is a comfortable spot No one would ever know I try not to let it show I laugh so I won’t cry Push the pain deep down inside No tears will flow Why, I really don’t know
YOUR JOURNEY BEGINS HERE... M EDICA T ION A S SIS TED R ECO V ER Y STRUCTURED, SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY COMFORTABLE, SINGLE OCCUPANCY UNITS STEPS TO THE OCEAN AND DOWNTOWN DELRAY BEACH
DELRAY BEACH, FL
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SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT AND THE EMPLOYEE By Myles B. Schlam, J.D., CAP/CCJAP
People who have completed drug and/or alcohol treatment may be concerned about whether their past problems with substance abuse will forever haunt them. However, there are a number of federal and state laws that can help ensure that you are treated fairly and not denied certain services because of your history with substance abuse or treatment for substance abuse. Federal laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1972 prevent employers in the public and private sectors from discrimination on the basis of past substance abuse treatment, as do some state anti-discrimination laws. Plus, if you need substance abuse treatment that requires you to take a leave of absence from work, you may be able to do so pursuant to the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), which permits up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for medical purposes. So long as your employer is subject to the FMLA, and you are otherwise eligible to take FMLA leave, your employer cannot discriminate against you for requesting medical leave in order to undergo substance abuse treatment. Your employer also has a duty to accommodate any ongoing treatment that you might need that requires you to be absent from work or alter your work schedule, if it would not cause undue harm to do so. Furthermore, any information about the fact that you have undergone substance abuse treatment is completely confidential. If your employer needs information about your treatment for the purposes of FMLA or medical insurance, your employer cannot disclose any of this information without your consent. Also, if employment-related drug testing reveals legally prescribed medications in your system, such as methadone, your employer cannot disclose this information, or punish you for it. Likewise, if you are interviewing for a job, your prospective employer cannot even ask you about any substance abuse treatment that you might have undergone in the past. Employers are prohibited from discriminating against job applicants who have a history of substance abuse or treatment for substance abuse. Similarly, government job placement or training centers, such as unemployment offices, cannot discriminate against you due to your history of substance abuse or treatment. You are also entitled to fair treatment in terms of housing under the Fair Housing Act, a federal anti-discrimination law. A landlord, seller, realtor, or public housing agency cannot prevent you from renting or purchasing a home because you have a history of substance abuse or treatment. The only exception is that you may not be permitted to live in public housing if you have certain drug-related criminal convictions in your past. Other government and public agencies are subject to anti-discrimination laws, as well. For instance, you cannot be denied public assistance, such as Medicaid or food stamps, because you have a history of substance abuse or treatment. Public entities such as churches, hospitals, and schools also are prohibited from discriminating against you or denying you services due to your history of substance abuse or treatment. While many do not see substance abuse as a disability or a serious medical condition, it is classified as a medical disability by the AMA. Therefore, employers should be aware that substance addictions may be covered under the FMLA or the ADA if an employee receives inpatient care or continuing treatment for the problem, or if their addiction substantially affects a major life activity. In order for the FMLA to apply, an employee must show that at the time of the disciplinary incident, he/she suffered from a “serious health condition” which is an “illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves (A) inpatient care at a hospital, hospice or residential medical care facility; or (B) continuing treatment by a healthcare provider.” The employee must show they were receiving continuing treatment by a healthcare provider, or was receiving care at a medical facility. Under the ADA, alcoholism can be a disability but only if a person can prove a disability that impacted any “major life activities.” These activities may include sleeping, walking, or eating. Employers should be mindful that alcoholism and other substance abuse problems may be considered disabilities under the ADA or a serious health condition under the FMLA requiring the employer to follow the guidelines of each statute LEAVE REQUIRED BY THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (THE “ADA”) There will be occasions when an employee will be entitled to leave under the ADA. When Congress enacted the ADA in 1990 it determined that “...the nation’s proper goals regarding individuals with disabilities are to assure equal opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self sufficiency to such individuals.” The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations define a “disability” as “... a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; ...a record of such an impairment...or being regarded as having such an impairment.” A “physical or mental impairment” is a condition that affects any of the major body systems, “...a mental or physical disorder, such as mental
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retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities.” A “major life activity...means functions such as caring for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working.” In determining whether an individual is substantially limited in a major life activity the regulations take into consideration the severity of the impairment, its expected duration, and its long term impact. A person is substantially limited in the major life activity of working if he or she is restricted from performing a broad range of jobs. The inability to perform one particular job does not constitute a significant limitation in the major life activity of working. Alcoholism is a protected disability under the ADA. The ADA specifically allows employers to prohibit the use of alcohol and illegal drugs in the workplace and to require that employees not be under the influence of alcohol while at work. An employer may also hold an employee who is alcoholic or who engages in the illegal use of drugs to the same standards of conduct and performance as other employees even if the employee’s deficiencies are related to alcoholism or illegal drug use. However an employee must be allowed leave under the ADA and the FMLA for treatment of alcoholism. At ASI, we have been involved with many Employee Assistance Programs (EAP’s) in the capacity of advocacy for the employee who may suffer from a substance abuse disorder and desires or needs treatment. If you or someone you know suffers from an addiction to alcohol or drugs and would like to receive treatment but are afraid of being terminated from your job as a result, it would be in your best interest to call us prior to making any decision which could affect your livelihood. We can intervene on your behalf and assure that you are treated fairly in accordance with Federal and State laws. We are also affiliated with a variety of treatment facilities which are in network with all major health insurances. Consultations are available by appointment only. Myles B. Schlam is a nationally recognized expert in Drug Addiction and the Criminal Justice System and an Internationally Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ICADC). He is one of approximately 100 Criminal Justice Addiction Professionals (CCJAP) in the State of Florida. Mr. Schlam graduated from the St. Thomas University School of Law in ‘02 where he specialized in criminal law and interned with the Public Defender’s Office. ASI is licensed by the Florida Department of Children and Families and operates in the tri-county area of south Florida.
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Take a Breath: You Are Not Alone By Denise Krochta
What a relief! The boys are both off to college and all is well with the world! It’s time to enjoy the Empty Nest Syndrome and relish in the fact that the kids are gone and survived. We signed up for and were enjoying our Tuesday night Ballroom Dance classes with a lovely dinner date afterwards. Only the beginning, we thought! Yes, it was only the beginning. The beginning of a nightmare that would change the way I think forever! So, I was the typical mom who suffered from the “Not My Kid” disease. I heard and saw all around me the devastating effects prescription drug abuse and heroin were taking on so many teens and young adults in my area of South Florida, but really felt removed from it. My kids would never get involved in this stuff! I was a great parent and they were great kids. Too bad for these families who just weren’t paying attention. Then it happened. My two boys were very much alike, yet so different. They were a year apart in school and 19 months apart in age. My older son graduated from high school number one in his class, got accepted at the university of his choice early decision (Princeton) and continued on to Columbia Law School to become a lawyer in Manhattan. My younger son graduated at the top of his class (12/500+), got accepted early decision at the university of his choice, and became a heroin addict and drug dealer. Life, as we knew it, quickly turned into a “secret” world. It was a world of near death, mistrust, anxiety, constant stress, and fear. We suffered alone. Really, I suffered alone. This should never happen to anyone. None of it. While living with and loving an addict I lost myself. I lost my soul. Focus was always on keeping the addict alive and changing him. Who really cared about anything else? One day I had an epiphany. Being a positive person, I thought that my son as well as others in my life who were making bad decisions, would become well, happy, clean and sober, and I would be too sick (or maybe even dead) to enjoy them and their great futures. It was up to me to not let this happen. That was the day of my transformation. I was about to change everything I did, everything I was. It didn’t matter that everything else around me was the same, I was about to change. The dynamics of my world changed with me. Some changed for the good, some not so good. It didn’t matter to me. I felt a shift to some control of life.
world. The general public still believes addiction is someone else’s problem. I get that it is easier to keep this secret and try to deflect some of the judgement, criticism, and pity. I experienced it all. I know what happens to a family when addiction enters the arena. To accomplish my goal of offering support to those who are not inclined to seek it, afraid to seek it, or just don’t believe they deserve it, I came up with a plan. No one will ever know they are getting support and all the benefits from it. That is how my radio show came to be. To me it was ideal. I produce a weekly show, interviewing experts and experienced people on topics I know from experience that loved ones and family member want and need answers to, and everyone can access it without telling anyone who they are or where they come from. Yes, it is a marketing nightmare. It would be nice to know who is being helped and how else I could help. But I developed just what I wished I could have had when I needed it and now others can make more informed decision for themselves and their loved ones and know, with support available every week, with information, possibilities and always hope, they can cope with the drama and chaos and know they are not alone. This takes me back to the beginning of the nightmare of addiction in our family. When I first learned about my son’s addiction I immediately looked for answers to my many questions. What did this all mean? Who knows what to do next? What is the right plan? Why did this happen? What did I do to make this happen? Is this just a phase and will it just stop soon? Since this happened to us, there have been some changes in the world of addiction. There are more resources and people willing to talk about them. Like in this magazine, people who “know” are willing to reach out and offer their experience and support. When parents and spouses, grandparents and children are abruptly scooped up into this world of addiction, being informed and supported from the first moment on can be the difference between life and death, serenity and chaos. When/if this happens to you or someone you know or love, seek resources and get/offer support. It might seem a small thing. It is huge! Denise Krochta is the author of the book “Sweat: A Practical Plan for Keeping Your Heart Intact While Loving an Addict”, host of the radio show “Addicted to Addicts: Survival 101” and a public speaker on the topic of support for loved ones of addicts and alcoholics. She is the mother of an addict in recovery. You can contact Denise at www.addictsfamilylifeline.com Or phone her at (442)333-9236.
It is important to say here that one of the major shifts in my thinking was the fact that I was embarrassed and ashamed about what was happening in my life. We kept it all secret. We withdrew from the world as we knew it. That changed. I looked for support. I wanted to share this nightmare with others. There had to be others who were going through the same things. It was very difficult to find them at the time, but when I did it changed my life. Did it get my son clean and sober? No. Did it change the anxious moments and fears I had about my son? No.
A MOMENT OF PASSION, a lifetime OF GRIEF By Charles Rubin
Continued from page 8
But I was no longer alone and this made a big difference in my perspective on things. Some people offered experience and others just support. It was something. I was not alone.
I recall my son phoning me one time when he had temporarily quit drugs. He was the sweet and wonderful son of days of old. I said to him: “Welcome back!” Alas, his “real self “ didn’t remain once he went back to using.
This brings me to the reason I’m writing this today. Over the course of years of trying to navigate through my son’s addiction and trying to keep things “normal” for our family, I developed tools and strategies for myself so I would be able to love my son and still be a happy and peaceful person myself. It was very hard work and it took lots of discipline and baby steps. People in my support groups began to see changes in me and ask how this was happening. They wanted to try some of the tools I used and slowly they began to change also. It was after almost a year or more of sharing what I was doing with my groups that they asked me to write it down in a manner that would be easier to use and to share. Although it never crossed my mind to write a book, this all did evolve into a book “Sweat: A Practical Plan for Keeping Your Heart Intact While Loving an Addict”. This was the beginning of my own quest to help others to have good lives while dealing with this nightmare of addiction in the family.
You created a human being, complex and maddening and not someone you could, after a certain age, control. Take responsibility for this and recognize that, as a parent, you have power. Change yourself and your family will change. It will have to.
It took a long time for my son to begin making good choices. I always say that my own recovery from being addicted to my addict began way before my son chose his own recovery from addiction to drugs. It all began to happen because I reached out for support from others. No more secrets. No more doing this all alone. What a relief to share this with others! From my book, came my radio show “Addicted to Addicts: Survival 101”. I wanted to do whatever I could to help others get support, information, resources and see and hear stories of hope. I knew how much people kept this a secret. I did it myself. I also knew how damaging this was to my well being. Not all people are willing to “throw themselves under the bus” so to speak, and share what is happening in their world with others, yet support is what we all really need. Let’s face it. People judge. I judged others until this came into my
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In closing, maybe you still don’t think you signed up for any of this, but you did. You created a human being and what does anyone know about creating a human being? It’s all trial and error, along with the advice we get from baby book authors, some of whom don’t even have kids.
Change yourself and you will become a teacher for other parents. They’ll want to know what you know. Change yourself and there might actually, one day, be a real war on drugs. Right now it is dormant. The media won’t touch the subject unless a celebrity overdoses. One’s life may never return to that safe, wonderful place you once knew when your child was small and full of bright, beautiful energy. But you can take solace in the fact that you did save a life. Yours. Charles Rubin is the author of the international best-seller: Don’t Let Your Kids Kill You: A Guide for Parents of Drug and alcohol addicted Children. This book, written by the author to save his own life, has now helped thousands of parents do the same. Rubin, who is a regular media guest, lives in Sonoma County, CA. He’s working on a follow up to Don’t Let Your Kids Kill You. He also counsels parents--visit him on Facebook (Charles Rubin author).
Going from Addict to Charity Event Director? By Suncoast Rehab Center
Derek lived the life of an addict. His abuse of drugs and alcohol lost him his job, his family, his home, his self-esteem, his self-worth, his health … he was an addict in every which way they come. For him, his years and years of drug and alcohol abuse finally ended on the day he entered the program at Suncoast Rehabilitation Center. Since July, 2010 he has been a part of this incredible treatment center in many different facets and Charity Golf Tournament Director is one of the many great things he is fortunate enough to be able to do this year. Here he would like to tell you a little bit about what this tournament means to him & the rest of the staff at SRC. “Everyone who has suffered from addiction or has been in some way affected by addiction can appreciate how difficult getting into the proper treatment center is, especially a private facility, due to the cost. I was fortunate enough to have my family to pay for my program which has given me a chance to be a part of helping others overcome their addictions. “In a nutshell, this tournament is a way to assist those who are without financial ability get the help they need through the Suncoast Scholarship Fund. This scholarship will help pay for part or all of the program costs for someone who needs treatment. For me personally, I could not imagine doing two greater things at the same time; playing golf and helping save lives.
“The best part about this event is what it allows us all to be a part of: helping someone get back to the person they were before their addiction took control. Helping someone have the opportunity that many of us at SRC were given: a second chance at life. “I will make you a promise as Tournament Director and as an avid golfer, this golf course and this event will be one of the best you have ever played by far. Take the challenge & come to Cypress Run for golf and giving at its best.” Sincerely, Derek A. Queener SRC Golf Tournament Director Come meet Derek and join us at our Annual Golf Tournament. Register for the tournament or become a sponsor, at www.LiveDrugFreeSRC. com. Come up on Friday, August 23rd and make a weekend out of it. See you on the green!
Cypress Run Golf Club 2669 St. Andrews Blvd. Tarpon Springs, Fl 34688 August 24, 2013, 1pm. GOLF TO SAVE A LIFE!
“If you are a golfer like me who uses this game to get away from the pressures of everyday life and to challenge yourself to achieve perfection in something that can’t be perfected then I challenge you to come join us at Cypress Run. This golf club is heaven on earth for any golfer of any level with a beautiful lay-out and course conditions second to none. Even if you are not a golfer, but have that place deep inside you where you reach out just to make another person’s life better, sponsor us at this tournament. There are a variety of levels to fit your interest.
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Redbull Gives You Wings, Straight To the Emergency Room By Gina Onori
Large companies such as Red Bull, Monster, 5-hour Energy, and Amp, are the essential necessity for many young adults of today.
“The biggest misconception is that they’re okay to drink them just because they are available for sale,” said Naturopathic Dr. Brian Yuseum.
“I sometimes need that extra push to get through the last few hours of a shift,” said 26-year-old paramedic Mikey Gould. “On some occasions after drinking the plethora of [energy] drinks that are offered I will get a bit jittery and have heart palpitations.” This is coming from the same young man who says that he often witnesses young adults coming into the hospital from the intakes of energy drinks.
Yuseum explains that 95% of North Americans suffer from some type of adrenal fatigue, relating to lower back pain due to energy drinks.
“One instance was when I was in paramedic school and doing rounds at the various hospitals. We had a few teenagers come in with racing hearts,” said Mike. “Come to find out they were drinking Red Bull and vodka.” Another occurrence Mike reported were young children coming into the emergency room exceedingly weak with rapid heartbeats due to energy drink intake before workouts without the consumption of water. If the paramedic witnesses the hazards of these beverages, yet still guzzles them down, could there possibly be a link to energy drink addiction? According to nydailynews.com, Dr. Dave Moor says, “Caffeine is a drug of dependence, and withdrawal produces agitation – especially in the developing body of a teenager. They can end up in a hospital emergency room with heart palpitations. Like pot, caffeine is a drug, listed in the therapist’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual as a potentially serious problem at an intake of only 250 mg.” However, energy drink companies are adamant that there are no addictive substances in their products. “Red Bull contains vitamins, taurine, caffeine, sucrose and glucose,” said a Red Bull employee. “None of which are addictive substances.” While the controversy may be unresolved and contentious for the time being, some of my recent studies show that the effects of these cocktails are paramount. “I get anxiety after the consumption of energy drinks,” said 23-year-old Stephanie Aster. “I have a racing heart and then become anxious,” said 22-year-old Melanie Yates. 26-year old Kristen Ruggiero of Boca Raton developed a heart-murmur after drinking energy drinks for an elapsed period of time. These are just a few of the many side effects that young adults are experiencing due to consuming these beverages.
“If you do not have enough amino acids and the proper complex carbohydrates to take you through the day and have balanced energy, you are going to be exhausted,” said Yuseum. “If you take an energy drink that further over stimulates the body without the nutrients to recapture your environment you are going to get worse and worse until it is basically poison and becomes a disease state.” Yuseum explains that what you should do is eat a healthy, balanced breakfast to get you through the day without crashing later. Nevertheless, with brand names and marketing ploys such as Cocaine, Amp, Monster, and Red Bull (which gives you ‘wings’), it is no wonder why so many young adults are falling into the tactics of these corporations. In a recent study developed in Boca Raton, forty seven percent of people preferred Red Bull energy drinks, twenty one percent of citizens favored Monster, and thirty percent of the public said they liked miscellaneous drinks such as Amp, Rockstar and 5 Hour Energy Shots. What is more, according to the Los Angeles Times, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration are investigating reports that five people have died since 2009 after they consumed Monster energy drinks. The investigation was revealed in consideration of 14-year-old Anais Fournier whose parents sued the company in connection with their daughter’s death. In addition, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration issued a report that discovered a severe rise in the number of emergency department visits associated with the use of non-alcohol energy drinks, from 1,128 visits in 2005, to 13,114 in 2009 (www.samhsa.gov). The description noted that energy drinks are targeted to appeal to youth, and are consumed by up to half of children, teenagers and young adults. “The whole idea is to stay balanced,” said Naturopathic Dr. Brian Yuseum. “It is a highly addictive substance and it is something that someone needs education on before they start putting it into their bodies without knowing anything about it.” Gina Onori was born in Miami, FL, 1989. As a 2013 multimedia journalism graduate of Florida Atlantic University, she feels it is imperative for the community to receive accurate, breaking news. She currently resides in Boca Raton, FL. Gina can be reached at onorigina33@gmail.com. http://www.eyeformusic.wordpress.com
Understanding Comorbidity By Dr. Silvernail, PhD, LMHC, CAP The term “comorbidity” refers to a condition in which both mental illness and substance use disorder, such as alcohol dependency and depression, coexist in a person. For example, people with substance use may suffer from cocaine dependency and antisocial personality disorder. The terms “co-occurring” and “dual disorders” are related to comorbidity. Individuals with co-occurring disorders have a higher rate of dropping out of preventive treatments. Also, dual-diagnosis clients find it difficult to comply with treatment requirements. People with dual disorders are at high risk for chronic relapse, emergency hospitalizations, vocational problems, family problems, homelessness, suicide, violence, sexual and physical victimization, incarceration, and early death. Therefore, they require an integrated treatment program—combined treatment for mental illness and substance use is provided by the same clinician or treatment team. The clinician or treatment team uses medication in conjunction with case management and intensive therapy to treat people suffering from comorbidity. Comorbidity remains one of the most poorly understood areas in the field of substance abuse and treatment services. Although surveillance studies have documented the patterns of association between substance use disorders and mental disorders and established that these associations are not due to chance, much remains to be understood about the etiology of comorbid conditions. Interdisciplinary research efforts may yield new insights because questions about comorbidity range from problems in molecular genetics to the social environment and public policy arena. Most pressing is the need for further research on integrated treatment approaches for persons with dual diagnoses, such as substance abuse and severe mental illness. The integrated treatment model promises help for individuals suffering from comorbidity. Ancillary Services (overlay services) are encouraged, the provision of ancillary services should be based on client needs as determined by the treatment plan and treatment plan. SAMSHA.org has a wonderful resource manual for treating co-occurring disorders http://www.comorbidity.org.au/node/424 Dr. Silvernail, PhD, LMHC, CAP has built a reputation for being one of the best professional consultants in the field. A Licensed Mental Health Counselor with a PhD in Psychology and Addictionology Counseling, she has over 26 years of experience developing and implementing quality educational programs in the field of addictions and mental health treatment. Dr. Silvernail is the CEO of Silvernail Consultant Services, (www.SilvernailConsultantServices.com) and currently is the Clinical Supervisor for Total Recovery Now in Lake Worth. (www.TotalRecoveryNow.com). With such a high standing reputation, she has been named the FMHCA President Elect (2013).
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Marijuana: The Back and Forth Debate By Cheryl Steinberg
Marijuana has been around since the dawn of time yet there seems to be no real “facts” about it. This is indicative of just how politically- and sociallycharged the topic is. Back in college, as a Sociology major and avid pot smoker, I chose to write my senior seminar research paper on marijuana, entitled The Sociology of Marijuana. I was intrigued by how over the years, this drug has undergone so many levels of acceptance and rejection, mostly for political reasons. I learned how, in the late 1930s, hemp (the marijuana plant minus the psychoactive drug, THC) was declared to be the “billion dollar crop of the future” (which was a lot more money at that time). And how, William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper tycoon, was figuratively in bed with the Dupont brothers who, also around that time patented a wood-pulping machine that could convert trees into paper. Because of this relationship, Hearst used his newspaper to launch an all-out smear campaign on hemp, spreading unfounded stories such as how Mexican immigrants were selling “the Devil’s weed” to school children at playgrounds. This had a huge impact on the prohibition of marijuana in America and the resulting lack of research on its medicinal qualities. A brief history lesson in the cultural and medicinal usages of marijuana: Marijuana has been used as an agent for achieving euphoria since ancient times; it was described in a Chinese medical reference traditionally considered to date from 2737 B.C. Its use spread from China to India and then to North Africa and reached Europe at least as early as A.D. 500. In 1545 the Spanish brought marijuana to the New World. In the late 1800s, some patent medicines contained marijuana, but it was a small percentage compared to the number containing opium or cocaine. It was in the 1920’s that marijuana began to catch on. Its recreational use was restricted to jazz musicians and people in show business. Marijuana clubs, or “tea pads,” sprang up in every major city. These marijuana establishments were tolerated by the authorities because marijuana was not illegal and patrons showed no evidence of making a nuisance of themselves or disturbing the community. Marijuana was not considered a social threat. Marijuana was listed in the United States Pharmacopeia from 1850 until 1942 and was prescribed for various conditions including labor pains, nausea, and rheumatism. Its use as an intoxicant was also commonplace from the 1850s to the 1930s. For various social reasons such as class and ethnic discrimination, a campaign conducted in the 1930s by the now U.S. Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs sought to portray marijuana as a powerful, addictive substance that would lead users into narcotics addiction. In the 1950s it was an accessory of the beat generation; in the 1960s it was used by college students and “hippies” and became a symbol of rebellion against authority. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 classified marijuana along with heroin and LSD as a Schedule I drug, i.e., having the relatively highest abuse potential and no accepted medical use. It remained that way until relatively recently, with new laws and loopholes allowing for the medicinal use of marijuana. This varies from state to state, with the spectrum ranging from mere de-criminalization,to “offenders” receiving only a slap on the wrist to allowing card-carrying growers and users grow marijuana and use it for medicinal purposes. Weed Potency: Then and Now As previously mentioned, marijuana cycled through several cultural movements: the jazz era, the beatniks and then the hippies of the counterculture. However, the weed of yesteryear is quite different (read: weaker) than that of today. With new grow and cross-pollination methods, genetic manipulation, and chemical additives, weed today is like a distant relative to its forefather; it is extremely more potent. Although depending on the source, this is debatable. I know some “old heads” that say, from their experience, it is indeed stronger today than when they smoked it as hippies. In the United States, pot, like heroin and LSD, is classified as a Schedule I drug. This designation means that, despite state laws, according to the federal government, it has no approved medicinal use and possesses a high potential for abuse. The only authorized source of marijuana for research is grown at the University of Mississippi and is controlled by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which favors studying potential risks rather than benefits of cannabis. Cannabis’ illegal status also makes it difficult to find funding for research. Medicinal Marijuana It is hard to deny certain medical uses and benefits of medical marijuana. Today, it is used by those suffering from wasting diseases such as AIDS patients and cancer patients. Those undergoing chemotherapy find relief from nausea. Anyone suffering from migraines to menstrual cramps can seek a prescription for medical marijuana and fill it at any one of local
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dispensaries, which are opening up daily. A study at San Francisco General Hospital, conducted in 2011, found that the addition of marijuana reduced pain for patients already being treated with opioid drugs. When 21 patients taking either long-acting morphine or Oxycontin twice a day added inhaled marijuana via a vaporizer to their regime, pain was decreased by an average of 27 percent. The marijuana did not significantly alter the blood levels of the prescription drugs. This finding might prove helpful in combating the current epidemic of opiate overdoses in our country. However, it is important to keep in mind that there is little to no research about the trigger effect that marijuana may have on addicts/alcoholics in recovery. Some undesirable side effects of marijuana include increased heart rate, appetite and sensory perception and diminished coordination. Psychological Issues and Self-Medicating Marijuana has been noted to cause short-term memory loss, anxiety, paranoia and sometimes even psychotic episodes. There has been little research on its trigger effect on schizophrenia but, it is believed that marijuana use amongst adolescents with a predisposition to schizophrenia can be detrimental in the onset of the disorder. Some users may experience anxiety and the sensation of panic when they smoke marijuana. There has been much talk of a correlation between marijuana use and psychological disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorder, ADD/ADHD, and anxiety. However, it is not clear which precedes which. Often times, those already suffering from mental disorders turn to marijuana as a way to self-medicate - a more likely case. The concern however, is whether this is a safe way to treat such disorders or if it only serves to make matters worse. Marijuana and Sobriety Some addicts and alcoholics have tried the “marijuana maintenance” program, believing that they can simply smoke weed without going back to the harder stuff that they were using before getting clean. This rarely works however, because for those in recovery, the introduction of a drug in the brain releases their addiction all over again. This can be evidenced by the work of Dr. Kenneth Blum, who is most recognized for his work that identified a “reward gene,” (some refer to as the “alcoholic gene”) which makes the case for heritability of alcoholism and other addictions. The point being that, for those who identify as addict or alcoholic (including myself), our brains might be wired differently and so using any kind of intoxicating substance will set the wheels of our addiction spinning all over again. Personally, I used to think that I could go back to only smoking pot after each bout of using the harder stuff - heroin and cocaine, my other drugs of choice. But, soon enough and without fail, I would be, as they say, off to the races. The literature used in 12 Step fellowships reminds us that “alcohol is a drug.” To that I say: and so is pot, for those who might be thinking, “But I can still smoke pot”. Being clean means abstaining from any mood or mind-altering drug. By that definition, using weed in and of itself breaks one’s sobriety. Many people think: “well, it’s natural; it’s from the earth”. But to the alcoholic/addict, it is as detrimental as alcohol, heroin, cocaine, or any other intoxicating substance. Cheryl Steinberg holds two Bachelor degrees: Sociology and Spanish. She previously was a Social Worker but now works as an Addiction Specialist with Your First Step. Cheryl can also communicate in American Sign Language for those that are deaf. www.yourfirststep.org
The Women In Recovery: Secrets, Steps & Skills An amazing weekend of sisterhood, doing the 12 steps in hours, dance with Sister Sol DJ, incredible keynote speakers, banquets and serenity on the beach. Womens Fair on Sunday with vendors and sign up for free health care and much more. August 16-18, 2013 at the Delray Beach Marriott. Register at thewomeninrecovery.com or call 954-260-8022.
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The M.I.N.E. Program Motivates,Inspires,Nurtures, and Empowers By Jack Kelly, CAP, NLP, LHMP
In 1935, when Alcoholics Anonymous was founded, the general opinion among physicians was that: “Most chronic alcoholics are doomed.” (A.A. PXXX) A.A. changed that death sentence. “We of Alcoholics Anonymous are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body.” (A.A. P XIII) How Did They Recover From This Hopeless State? 1. They didn’t do it by treating the symptom of the disease, alcohol and drugs. They went right to the source of their problem. 2. From his own personal experience, Bill Wilson was able to pin point the source of the suffering and pain that alcoholics (and drug addicts) experienced in their lives. In a talk he gave in 1953, he said: “Alcoholism is a cancer of the emotions and the soul.” Buddha came to a similar conclusion. He found that all the pain and suffering in his life could be traced to what he called The Three Poisons: Delusional Thinking, Destructive Emotions, and Cravings.” 3. The original members of A.A. set a specific goal. “We would go to any lengths for victory over alcohol.”
(A.A., Page 76)
4. They identified the tools and resources they needed to accomplish that goal: emotional balance, spiritual power, and altruism, unselfish concern for the welfare of others. 5. They understood that real sobriety was much more than just not picking up a drink or drug. “No true alcoholic ever stops drinking permanently without undergoing a profound personality change.” (As Bill Sees It - P 1) What Did Bill Wilson Mean By: “A Cancer of the Emotions and Soul?”
have a “vital spiritual experience.” Why is a spiritual experience so “vital” to alcoholics and drug addicts? Because of the effect it has on them. The effect shows up in the form of “huge emotional displacements and rearrangements.” (A.A. Page 27) These huge emotional displacements and rearrangements are what heal the cancer of the emotions and the soul that is destroying their lives. With the M.I.N.E program, these huge emotional displacements and rearrangements normally take place within the first 20 minutes you are with your patient or client. In a typical session, this is what an individual normally experiences: “At the beginning of the session, I felt depressed, stressed, anxious, and tense. At the end of the session, I felt relaxed, calm, and motivated.” (Ted D.) If you have patients or clients who feel anxious, angry, depressed, stressed out, or are experiencing cravings, their state of dis-ease is soon transformed into a state of ease. It is a very empowering experience because the M.I.N.E. program awakens them to the fact that they are much more powerful than their addiction, much more powerful than the obsessive thoughts, compulsive feelings, and physical cravings that currently control and dominate their lives. They become conscious and aware that they are power-full. When they learn how to access this power, it provides them with the guidance, strength, and motivation they need to transform their cravings for pills, alcohol or drugs, into a craving for freedom, honesty, integrity, humility and peace. What is addiction? The original members of A.A. described it as “cunning, baffling, and powerful”. If an alcoholic or drug addict learns how to harness, guide, and direct this powerful force, it transforms their lives. If they don’t learn how to harness, guide, and direct this powerful force, it destroys their lives, and the lives of those they love.
“Resentment is the number one offender. It destroys more alcoholics (and drug addicts) than anything else. From it stem all forms of spiritual disease.” (A.A. Page 64)
In admitting that they lack the power to control the obsessive thoughts, compulsive feelings, and physical cravings that keep them stuck on the Relapse Roller Coaster Ride, the choice every alcoholic and drug addict must make is this:
“Fear… this short word somehow touches every aspect of our lives. It was an evil and corroding thread. The fabric of our existence was shot through with it.” (A.A. Page 67)
Do I want to take the fork in the road that leads to more suffering, or do I want to take the fork in the road that leads to freedom?
“To see how erratic emotions victimized us, often took a long time.” (12 Steps and Twelve Traditions, Page 47)
Like childbirth, both roads have some pain associated with them. But one road ends in death, because addiction, left untreated, is a terminal disease. Remember Whitney Houston, (cocaine), Amy Winehouse, (alcohol), and Michael Jackson, (prescription drugs)?
“By discovering what our emotional deformities are, we can then move toward their correction.” (Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Page 43) “When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically. (A.A. Page 64) By focusing their attention on the “source” instead of the “symptom” of the problem, what were the original members of A.A. able to accomplish? They tell us: “The problem has been removed. It does not exist for us.” (A.A. Page 85.) Unfortunately, this accomplishment is rarely mentioned at A.A. meetings. It’s usually: “You will never recover.” But let’s put this in perspective. It is true that no alcoholic or drug addict will ever recover the ability to safely use pills, alcohol, or drugs, but they can and do recover - mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and in most cases, physically. The original members of A.A. were living examples of this. “When I became willing to clean house and then asked a Higher Power, God, as I understood Him, to give me release, my obsession to drink vanished. It was lifted right out of me. In A.A. meetings all over the world, statements just like this are heard daily. It is plain for everybody to see that each sober A.A. member has been granted a perfect release from this very obstinate and potentially fatal obsession.” (Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Page 63) Now, if you are an alcoholic or drug addict, once you “recover,” is there anything you must do if you want to stay recovered? Absolutely! Abstaining from drinking or using drugs is Phase 1of recovery, physical sobriety. Phase 2 of recovery is emotional sobriety. Without Phase 2, all you have is a dry drunk. How does one make progress in developing emotional sobriety? The same one makes progress in developing the skills it takes to become a good golfer or tennis player, practice, practice, practice. “We begin to practice all Twelve Steps of the program in our daily lives, so that we and those about us may find emotional sobriety.” (Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Page 106) The focus of the M.I.N.E. program is on emotional sobriety. It is a major breakthrough in treating addiction because it bridges the gap between the wisdom passed on to us by the original members of A.A. and the incredible and miraculous technologies of the Twenty-First Century. It provides alcoholics and drug addicts with the tools and resources they need to diffuse the emotional triggers that most often lead to relapse: anger, resentment, fear, depression, and boredom, To build this bridge, I have drawn on the talent and expertise of some of the best people in the fields of psychology, stress relief, music therapy, motivational, and vibro acoustic therapy (VAT). Two cutting edge treatment centers that have put the M.I.N.E. program to the test are The Treatment Center, in Lake Worth, Florida, and Affinity Lodge, in England. Unlike prescription drugs, which have many negative side effects, the only side effects produced by the M.I.N.E. program are more peace, more relaxation, more balance, less tension, less anxiety, and less pain. In the book Alcoholics Anonymous, it states that in order for alcoholics to recover they must
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The other fork is a Christopher Columbus experience. It opens the door to a new world, a world of imagination, intuition, creativity, and power. To become addiction survivors, alcoholics and drug addicts must focus their attention on the solution; not the problem. They need to invest time, energy, and money into treating the cause, not the symptom of their disease. As healing takes place, they begin to experience the personality change that is required to achieve permanent sobriety. HBO did a Documentary called REHAB. Their conclusion, after three years of research, was that the failure rate for alcoholics and drug addicts leaving treatment was 92%. This sounds like nothing has changed since 1935, when alcoholics and addicts were doomed to a future of detoxes, jails, institutions, or death. Alcohol and drugs are just symptoms of a problem. So, it’s important to understand that the benefits of the M.I.N.E. program go far beyond helping overcome issues of substance abuse and dependency. By relaxing and stabilizing the central nervous system, it provides significant benefits for anyone who suffers from sleep disorders, anxiety, depression, chronic pain issues, or traumas associated with Post Traumatic Stress: rape, war, abandonment, or tragic auto or motorcycle accidents. The benefits of the M.I.N.E. program are not theoretical. They are experiential. There are two ways you can appreciate the benefits provided by the four stages of the program. One, you can believe that the testimonials on the last page are true. Two, you can invest in a Serenity Lounge and experience the benefits for yourself. It comes with a 30 day money-back-guarantee. In the book, Alcoholics Anonymous, it states: “There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance; that principle is contempt prior to investigation.” (A.A. Page 568) Perhaps the interests of the alcoholics and addict we treat would be better served if we practiced what we preach: Honesty: What we are doing isn’t working very well. Open-mindedness: The mind is like a parachute. It works best when open. Willingness to Change: Don’t judge something until you have tried it. Jack Kelly, CAP, NLP, LHMP is the founder of The Lazarus House, in Boca Raton, Florida. He holds certifications in the following areas: Addiction, Neuro Linguistic Programming, Trauma, and Hypnosis Therapy. He is also a Licensed HeartMath provider. He provides training for The M.I.N.E. Program, and conducts educational programs for schools, parent teacher organizations, treatment centers and prisons. He explores the myths presented in his book: RADICAL RECOVERY: Twelve Recovery Myths – The Addiction Survivor’s Guide to the Twelve Steps. Reviews of the book are available on Amazon.
To Advertise, Call 561-910-1943
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THE FOLLOWING EXCERPTS ARE FROM TOBY RICE DREWS, AUTHOR OF THE ‘’GETTING THEM SOBER’’ BOOKS
‘’DO WE VOLUNTEER FOR ABUSE?’’
It is all too common to hear counselors say to partners of alcoholics, “if you stay with him, you are volunteering for abuse”. a.) When I was new in family recovery (around 44 years ago), a woman passed me a note at a family-recovery meeting. I had just shared with the group about the abuse I was a victim of and her note said to me, “whenever I am troubled, the trouble lies within.” I looked at her like she was crazy. I just figured she had no idea what I was talking about. I was feisty enough that I knew that NO ONE was going to shut me up – or shame me into leaving the rooms of recovery...shame me by implying that I was to blame for being abused (by telling me “I allowed it”). b.) What was really going on? Was that woman wrong? Was I wrong? Neither was “wrong” in a sense. But she was “wrong-er” than I was. WHY WAS SHE “WRONG-ER” THAN I WAS? Because, technically speaking, whenever I am troubled, I must look within. And these days, of course I do. It is second nature to do so. But in those early days of family recovery, whenever I looked within, all I saw was that I was in a situation that I could not emotionally leave. All I had was an alcoholic in my life who actually told me that he enjoyed hurting me …and I could not leave. What very practical help did help me? What helped me were the people who ONLY said, “I understand,” “I’ve been there,” “You’ll find your way to deal with it”, “We are here for you”, “of course you love him”, “When and if you want to leave, you will”, “You’re not trapped...you only think you are, but you are not trapped” “You are a child of God and He will show you what you need to do.” All these statements said to me is that “it’s ok where you are.” NONE of these statements told me, or implied to me that somehow I was to blame for the abuse I subject myself to. There is an implication when we tell the family member that “whenever you are troubled, the trouble lies within”. The woman living with an abuser hears this and it sounds like the abuser talking to her once again. And she is RIGHT. It is abusive to say this to her... BECAUSE WHEN WE SAY THINGS TO PEOPLE, WE ALWAYS SAY THEM WITHIN CONTEXT. When I tell a newcomer to family recovery that “your trouble originates from within”, I shame her... she will mumble to me, “You’re right”...she will slink away... she will not return for help... Oh, some will stay in recovery when this is said to them – but MOST will just not return. I train counselors around the country. Over and over, they ask me, “How can I keep families coming back for help? They leave after a session or two.” I ask them, “What do you say to them in the first session?” The ones who ask me why the families leave treatment, always tell me that they say to the counseling client who lives with an alcoholic, “Why do you stay?” or “he has not victimized you... you do this to yourself”. The counselors then ask me, “what do YOU say?” What I say to my clients is what is in my books....... I say that “I totally understand that they are being treated horribly and that they will find a way to deal with it. I tell them they are “NOT CRAZY” when they tell me how much they are being abused and how he lies about it and how no one understands or believes them. I tell them that no one has the right to shame them -- even unknowingly or subtly-- for staying with him and that of course, she loves him. I put no pressure on her at all, not even any implied pressure ---which tells her she must make changes that she is not at all able or wanting to make... it is this total acceptance of where she is at right now that helps her to move forward into whatever place she will feel more peace. And the biggest thing I watch out for is shaming her. Anytime I tell a newcomer that the onus of her feeling bad is on her instead of on the abuser who abuses her, I am shaming her.
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Victor Frankl, a psychiatrist who was internationally famous after World War II, wrote about the Jewish people in concentration camps and wrote about the newspapers that continually asked, “Why didn’t they just emigrate out of Germany?” “Why didn’t they fight back?”...and ended up with the implication that “no wonder it happened to them... they could have done something about it and they did not.” Frankl coined the phrase, back then, “blaming the victim”. Yes, there are victims. In fact, I think there is an analogy between how Germany acclimated Jews to acceptance of what happened and what happens to families of alcoholics. How so? Well, it is a slow process...and it is a “back and forth” process. The Germans put out new codes, new laws, one at a time that herded Jewish people into ghettoes stopping them from going to school, earning a living etc. . . . But how they did it was sublime. They would put out a new code of expected behavior, the Jewish people would get angry, then, the German government would say that “it’s all ok...it’ll all blow over eventually... it’s for your own good... look, it’s not so bad... we do care about you... try looking at it this way...etc...and it made it seem “livable”... it calmed scared nerves down. It made people think it would all be ok, someday...and that living there was still not so bad. Living with an alcoholic – The process of becoming acclimated to abuse – is so similar. The disease of alcoholism is progressive. When we start out with someone who is in the earlier stages...he is nice a lot... he is nice for five days out of seven. The disease of alcoholism creeps forward usually slowly. We see so much good in him. He is sweet. He makes tons of promises. He tells us how very special we are. He is so wonderful when he is nice, that he is more wonderful than anyone else could ever be, we think. Slowly, but surely, it turns sour. ...but it is punctuated by niceness, once again, over and over, the awfulness and then the beautiful sweetness, awfulness, then repentance and tears, promises for a good future...then, bam, again...and nice again...and bam, again... Yes, we ARE victims of this terrible being-acclimated-to-abuse process of this terrible disease. This disease of alcoholism is, as the A.A. Big Book says, “CUNNING, BAFFLING, AND POWERFUL”. How could anyone really know what is going on??!!. For goodness sake, the family doesn’t know...the alcoholic doesn’t know...even the trained therapists still have a hard time understanding this ‘cunning, baffling, and powerful’ disease. And once you are in family recovery, you don’t just “wake up” and “understand” and “not act like a victim anymore”. The CUNNING-NESS of this disease...the BAFFLING-NESS of this disease continues. And just because you intellectually know better, does NOT mean you don’t love him anymore, does not mean you are not any more caught up in the process of victimization... But, it does not help you .In fact, it hurts you if I tell you that no one can victimize you but yourself. Only if I tell you that I know that you are being victimized ---from my compassionate place, you will know that my heart really goes out to you and that I am WITH you...and that I understand you...and that I understand that this cunning and baffling and powerful disease has done this to you and to the alcoholic...and that of course you were not aware of it. THAT will help you to recover much faster than if I tell you “you are not a victim.... you are doing this to yourself.” Toby Rice Drews is the author of the million-selling “Getting Them Sober’’ book series, endorsed by ‘dear Abby’, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, and Melody Beattie (author of ‘Codependent No More’). Toby trains counselors throughout the U.S. and Canada, and offers telephone consultations with families of alcoholics. Her books are available on her website http://www.GettingThemSober.com. They are also available on Kindle, The Nook, Amazon and in bookstores nationwide.
Delray Beach, FL - It’s hidden in plain sight. It’s a mix of history and hope for the future. The average person driving through downtown Delray Beach would be unlikely to notice the historic cottage just blocks from the busy, bustling downtown area. But Wayside House is a well-known oasis, a place for triumph over addiction for many of the hundreds of women who have passed through its doors.
Our Very Famous History
Founded some 40 years ago by the great niece and namesake of women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony, Wayside House provides services and programs specifically tailored to women facing issues of alcohol and drug addiction. It is a shining example of a program by women, for women.
New Leadership, New Programs Bring Wayside House Into New Era of Addiction Treatment For Women, By Women
Once they successfully complete the residential program, women can move on to the intensive outpatient program, returning from halfway houses or other settings to sessions three days per week at Wayside House. Because the goal is helping women maintain sobriety and become physically and emotionally healthy, Wayside House also provides further outpatient therapy and an after-care program weekly for a year. As part of its outpatient services program, Wayside House clinicians conduct individual assessments of any woman 18 and older in the community with an addiction history and who is at the time of the assessment sober, but in need of help in sustaining sobriety.
By Marlene Passell
As women in recovery, Anthony and Phyllis Michelfelder started Wayside House with $1,000 which they used to purchase the white frame cottage which remains the heart of the organization that admitted its first residential client in 1975.
We Continue To Care
For further information on Wayside House, please call (561) 278-0055 or see our website at www.waysidehouse.net.
New Leadership
A new approach to services was brought to the facility by its new Executive Director Cathy Cohn who has been a beacon in Palm Beach County’s nonprofit community for more than two decades overseeing programs serving women.
Our Program
Today, Wayside House is a modern campus of buildings maintaining a tranquil home-like environment. It has a full clinical staff, consulting psychiatrist and onsite registered nurse, serving 31 residential clients with a modern, comprehensive clinical program that is responsive to the specific needs of women with addictions and their families. It is one of the few programs remaining that offers a full 90-day treatment program. The program also helps women gain self-esteem, strength, coping skills and goals to help keep them sober once they leave the program. They receive help in job training and searches and families and friends can visit on weekends so that the process of reconnecting women with their loved ones can begin while they are in the program. We even have a colorful, new playground for the children of clients.
Body, Mind and Spirit
The program provides a holistic approach, complete with activities usually only available at more costly centers. In addition to a program based on the 12-step model, clients can engage in yoga, meditation, art therapy, horticulture therapy and equine therapy.
For women by women
For Nurses
Through its Outpatient Services, Wayside House is a contracted partner in the Intervention Project for Nurses (IPN). Established in 1983, through a state of Florida legislative act, IPN ensures public health and safety by providing a network of support to nurses who struggle with alcohol and drug abuse. The IPN was conceived as a way of rehabilitating and re-licensing nurses in order to retain, retrain or reengage them in the health care field.
Co-Occurring Conditions
Recognizing that one addiction can give way to another, therapies also deal with co-occurring conditions, including eating disorders, depression, trauma and other issues.
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waysidehouse.net 561-278-0055 31
P.O. Box 880175 Boca Raton, Florida 33488-0175 www.thesoberworld.com
The contents of this book may not be reproduced either in whole or in part without consent of publisher. Every effort has been made to include accurate data, however the publisher cannot be held liable for material content or errors. This publication offers Therapeutic Services, Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitative services, and other related support systems. You should not rely on the information as a substitute for, nor does it replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have any concerns or questions about your health, you should always consult with a physician or other health-care professional. Do not disregard, avoid or delay obtaining medical or health related advice from your health care professional because of something you may have read in this publication. The Sober World LLC and its publisher do not recommend nor endorse any advertisers in this magazine and accepts no responsibility for services advertised herein. Content published herein is submitted by advertisers with the sole purpose to aid and educate families that are faced with drug/alcohol and other addiction issues and to help families make informed decisions about preserving quality of life.
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