Aug14 issue

SEVEN REASONS ADDICTION AND TRAUMA ARE RELATED — A STRONG RELATIONSHIP LESSONS FROM REAL STORIES OF ADDICTION RECOVERY LET’S PROTECT THE YOUNGEST CASUALTIES OF ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ADDICTION THE SILENT ASSAULT ON AMERICANS WITH ADDICTIONS TURNING POINT OR TIPPING POINT FAMILIES WITH ADDICTION ACUPUNCTURE AND ADDICTION RECOVERY PICTURE THIS – ART THERAPY HELPFUL IN ADDICTION TREATMENT

DOING TOUGH LOVE ON MY SON — LED ME TO MY OWN RECOVERY TRAUMA AND POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND ADOLESCENT SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER TALKING TO CHILDREN ABOUT ALCOHOLISM RECOVERY-ORIENTED CONCEPTS, VALUES, AND PRACTICES ARE WIDELY ACCEPTED IN THE ADDICTION PROFESSION, BUT GAPS STILL REMAIN MY STORY HIGH AND DRY

The National Tour of PASS IT ON…AN EVENING WITH BILL W. & DR. BOB DELRAY CENTER FOR THE ARTS – Crest Theatre – Aug. 21 thru 24, 2014 The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. presents the North American tour of the live stage production Pass It On…An Evening with Bill W. & Dr. Bob – the inspirational and often hilarious true story about the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous stumbling onto the discovery of 12 Step Recovery.

“Pass it on…An Evening with Bill W. & Dr. Bob” transports you to an A.A. meeting in the late 1940’s with the beloved cofounders of Alcoholics Anonymous as the keynote speakers. They tell their personal stories of drinking and recovery and dramatize key events – such as their legendary drinking sprees and the extraordinary night they met in Akron Ohio in 1935. Bill W. and Dr. Bob regale the audience with fascinating and hilarious yarns about the early history of A.A. – including how they wrote and published the Big Book, created the 12 Steps and overcame tremendous obstacles as they struggled to develop their new program of recovery and pass it on to others who were still suffering.

This unique celebration of sobriety delivers the message of hope, help and the miracle of recovery and has created excitement among audiences and recovery communities in dozens of cities across the United States and Canada.

This dynamic two man production features two nationally acclaimed veteran Broadway actors whose lives have been impacted by alcoholism and addiction.

This limited engagement launches this production’s third year of touring the U.S. and Canada offering audiences an unforgettable evening of theater, enhancing recovery and reaching people who cannot be reached in any other way.

Pass it on…An Evening with Bill W. & Dr. Bob in Delray is sponsored by Destination Hope, Believe Treatment Center and Recovery Radio Raw. Proceeds will be donated to Recovery Advocates of America, Inc. benefitting local recovery in Palm Beach and Broward Counties.

August 21, 22, 23, 24 Thurs, Sat, Sun @ 2:00 p.m. / Thurs, Fri, Sat @ 7:30 / $25.00 General Admission PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE: www.passitondelray.bpt.me/ BY PHONE: (800) 838-3006 CREST THEATRE Delray Center for the Arts - 51 N. Swinton Avenue - Handicap accessible, ample parking.

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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 and alcohol 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 Unified Family Division, Local Colleges and other various locations. We also directly mail to many rehabs throughout the state and country.

We are expanding our mission to assist families worldwide in their search for information about Drug and Alcohol Abuse.

Our monthly magazine is available for free on our website at www.thesoberworld.com.

If you would like to receive an E-version monthly of the magazine, please send your e-mail address to patricia@thesoberworld.com Drug addiction has reached epidemic proportions throughout the country and is steadily increasing. It is being described as “the biggest man-made epidemic” in the United States. More people are dying from drug overdoses than from any other cause of injury death, including traffic accidents, falls or guns.

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. The availability of prescription narcotics is overwhelming; as parents our hands are tied.

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.

Did you know that Purdue Pharma, the company that manufactures Oxycontin generated $3.1 BILLION in revenue in 2010? Scary isn’t it?

Addiction is a disease but there is a terrible stigma attached to it. 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 detox centers that provide medical supervision to help them through the withdrawal process, To Advertise, Call 561-910-1943

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 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.

He would have been turning 32 this month. 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.

Deaths from prescription drug overdose have been called the “silent epidemic” for years. There is approximately one American dying every 17 minutes from an accidental prescription drug overdose. Please don’t allow your loved one to become a statistic. I hope you have found this magazine helpful. You may also visit us on the web at www.thesoberworld.com.

We are on Face Book at www.facebook.com/pages/The-SoberWorld/445857548800036 or Steven Sober-World, Twitter at www.twitter. com/thesoberworld, and LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/pub/patriciarosen/51/210/955/.

Sincerely,

Patricia

Publisher Patricia@TheSoberWorld.com 3

IMPORTANT HELPLINE NUMBERS

Struggling with addiction?

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(USA) 800-736-9805

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FLORIDA INJURY HELPLINE 800-510-5553 GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS 800-891-1740 www.serenityhousedetox.com WWW.GA-SFL.ORG and WWW.GA-SFL.COM info@serenityhousedetox.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 Just when the caterpillar WWW.NARANONFL.ORG NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS-PALM BEACH 561-848-6262 WWW.PALMCOASTNA.ORG NATIONAL RUNAWAY SWITCHBOARD 800-RUNAWAY (786-2929) thought the world was over WWW.1800RUNAWAY.ORG NATIONAL SUICIDE HOTLINE 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433) WWW.SUICIDOLOGY.ORG ONLINE MEETING FOR MARIJUANA WWW.MA-ONLINE.ORG it became a OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS- BROWARD COUNTY WWW.GOLDCOAST.OAGROUPS.ORG OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS- PALM BEACH COUNTY WWW.OAPALMBEACHFL.ORG RUTH RALES JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES 561-852-3333 WWW.RUTHRALESJFS.ORG WOMEN IN DISTRESS 954-761-1133 PALM BEACH COUNTY MEETING HALLS

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An Exclusive Recovery Residence Wellington, Florida Kim Koslow, LMHC, CAP, CTT Founder 954-540-8441 kim@gotrealrecovery.com www.butterflyhousepalmbeach.com FARR

Florida Association of Recovery Residences

Certified Member

Helping men in transition The Hartman House of Delray Beach provides a safe, structured, and supportive sober living environment for men who have been treated for alcoholism and substance abuse. Our homes are only minutes away from downtown Delray Beach.

Call Us Today! (561) 272-2282 www.TheHartmanHouse.com To Advertise, Call 561-910-1943

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SEVEN REASONS ADDICTION AND TRAUMA ARE RELATED A STRONG RELATIONSHIP

By Dr. Bill Tollefson, Ph.D.

The field of addiction is becoming more and more aware of the connection between addiction and trauma. This relationship is a vital one. Research has proven this. Studies have shown that there is a strong relationship between addiction and post effects of traumatic life events. In fact, research has shown that there is a true cause and effect relationship.

The relationship between Addiction and Trauma has not been noticed by addiction professionals for decades because of the following two reasons: 1. Initially, the field of addiction was isolated and not accepted by the rest of the helping professions (medicine, science, psychiatry and psychology).

2. The trauma field was also not acknowledged by the mainstream professional community until Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) became a psychiatric diagnosis. For a long time, addiction professionals did not allow groups that focused on trauma into addiction treatment protocols. Addiction professionals felt there was no correlation and focused mainly on the addiction symptoms.

4. To achieve a level of denial of reality through “gas lighting” self.

The definition of gas lighting is to undermine perception of reality.

To create a false inner reality to veil any knowledge or memory of the past and what happened. The one main thing a survivor does not want to realize is that he or she was abused or traumatized and the experiences had changed them forever. “I was never the same afterwards.”

5. To produce a false sense of security.

Many survivors live in a constant fear of everything around them.

Having addictions gives survivors a false sense of being safe, something to focus on and alleviates emotional uptake.

6. An addiction relapse is a marker.

If both the addiction and PTSD are not treated together, a resurgence of PTSD will send a survivor who had only worked on his or her sobriety into an addiction relapse to mask over the surfacing PTSD symptoms.

My inpatient trauma clients reported being shut down in addiction programs. They told me, “When I would bring up my history of abuse or trauma in an individual or group therapy session, the group facilitator would give me a look and move to another client and subject. Afterwards, I would be pulled away in a private meeting and told not to speak about my abuse or trauma while in the program.”

7. Re-experiencing or recollections of a traumatic event.

Having traumatic memories or flashbacks is one of the main and worse symptoms of PTSD. Survivors who are re-experiencing traumatic memories or flashbacks will attempt to control, fight or suppress these through addictive patterns, behavior, thoughts or substances. A survivor will turn to taking illegal or legal substances (alcohol, drugs or prescription medication) to block out visual flashbacks. They will participate in unhealthy behaviors (eating or depriving of food, pornography, self-harm, self-sabotage, sex, and/ or excessive exercise) to block out physical flashbacks, or engage in repetitive harmful thoughts and/or destructive relationships to block out emotional flashbacks.

Today, the relationship is more accepted in addiction treatment facilities. Many facilities are adding trauma group components to their programs on a regular basis. Professionals are finally noticing that trauma survivors enter into addictive or inappropriate behavior patterns to reduce his or her symptoms of PTSD.

How does this happen?

Over the years, both fields have come into their own. The “addiction treatment system” has finally begun to accept that experiencing trauma is a precursor for the development of an addiction, whether it is to a substance, emotion, thought or behavior.

Here are seven reasons survivors gravitate toward a relationship with addiction: 1. To hide abuse or trauma symptoms because possessing them was viewed in mental health circles as weakness.

For many decades, reacting afterwards to abusive or traumatic experiences was seen as a personal weakness, particularly in men. As the general population understood more about addictions as a disease, survivors realized it was more acceptable to have and be treated for an addiction than PTSD. 2. To numb out emotional, cognitive, physical and memory symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Survivors discovered getting habitually involved in certain behaviors, emotions, substances and thoughts reduced the vast array of PTSD symptoms. Each behavior, emotion, substance and thought attacks a different symptom. This is a reason that many survivors have many different addictions. Once the effects of a habitual behavior is diminished, the individual is already addicted and at times in the severe or toxic stage.

3. To fight negative thoughts that seem to originate out of thin air.

First of all, “every addiction starts with a thought or set of thoughts.” Survivors find out that thoughts are his or her most powerful enemies as well as allies. So the survivors create and enlist a thought or thoughts to eliminate the constant excruciating, upsetting and damaging negative looping which seems to surface out of thin air. This unwanted negative loop seems to journey from a dark place in the subconscious to the conscious due to being triggered by flashbacks or some memory related to the traumatic experience.

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Not only does a survivor use an addiction to stop one of the seven reasons mentioned above but would enter into more than one addiction to accomplish them all. A survivor may even be juggling 7 different addictive relationships at the same time to resolve all 7 reasons.

Well, ask yourself the following questions …

• What if out of nowhere, you began to experience disturbing images in your mind? Hurtful emotions, thoughts or physical pain might have you take a drink of alcohol in order to diminish those symptoms. What happens if those disturbing images abate? Then might you repeat that act, and take another drink?

• What if you are feeling unexplained painful emotions and you experience a substance like cocaine and the pain goes away, would you use that substance again to “kill” the pain?

• What if you heard scary noises that you know are not happening in the here and now and are only occurring in your head, and you took a substance or did a behavior or focused on a thought and the noises went away … would you do it again? Of course, you would.

So the answer to all three questions is a resounding - yes. It is human nature to seek relief to cover up surfacing knowledge of what happened or deaden the pain.

The Relationship So from the individual’s point of view that has a history of abusive or traumatic experiences, as they began experiencing PTSD symptoms, his or her first reaction is to fight them off and not experience them.

Historically, having an addiction and seeking treatment has been more socially acceptable than admitting to being abused or traumatized.

The decision to use a substance, a thought, or a behavior is a quick fix. Entering into an addictive relationship neutralizes PTSD symptoms immediately. It doesn’t matter whether in the long run Continued on page 34

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LESSONS FROM REAL STORIES OF ADDICTION RECOVERY

By Richard Taite

Addiction is more than just a lifestyle. It shapes the way you understand yourself; it can define how you see yourself as a person.

From inside this perspective of addiction, we tell ourselves that the physical challenge of quitting keeps us trapped. But it is more than that. Addiction is defining. Who would you be without addiction? Who would you be, stripped of this way of understanding yourself? As much as the physical need for a substance, it is the safety of this way you have defined yourself – no matter how terrible and self-defeating it may seem – that reinforces the cycle of addiction.

Tom, Dan, Mike and Arjun* started their recovery journeys as people struggling with addiction. Though they were all in supportive groups, none felt connected to the other people in the room. Arjun said, “My fear is of being judged as someone who is lesser.” Tom said, “I kind of want to tell everyone…but there are times I don’t want to tell anyone.”

At first, all four looked around their groups and saw people doing well, people with jobs and families, people making eye contact as they spoke – in other words, people with whom they had absolutely nothing in common. “I was very suspicious,” Dan said, “I knew from the way they were talking…they’d used drugs like me, but they looked so well that I was suspicious.”

In other words, they started with a huge gap between “us” and “them” and at first the four men couldn’t see a way to get from one to the other.

All four struggled to keep attending these groups where they felt they didn’t belong. But they kept going and eventually they started finding the gap between “us” and “them” wasn’t the chasm they thought. Eventually all four found themselves identifying with people in their groups. Tom said, “I can go into a room and say I’m crazy and someone will say it’s alright, I’m crazy too.” Mike said, “as much as family and friends will support me they don’t know what I’m up against, they don’t know about this disease of addiction.” But his group did. The group understood. They had been where Mike was and now they were somewhere new.

This identification was a major breakthrough: it showed the possibility that addicted people like Tom, Dan, Mike and Arjun could become people in recovery from addiction just like everyone else in the room. With this feeling of belonging, the four men didn’t necessarily know who they would be beyond addiction, but they could see that the idea of an identity beyond “addict” was possible.

Whatever was beyond addiction started to push aside the addicted people these men had been, allowing them to let go of things that

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were old in favor of something new. Tom said, “All of a sudden and really quite all of the sudden, I don’t see my old friends…It’s that sort of thing that you kind of, you’re out of the loop.” As they started to release who they were, the men started to take care of their emerging selves. Tom started writing, saying, “It is a nice thing to do, writing you know, writing just about things.”

From distance, through connection, through renewed self-care, the men were finally able to move into a place of authenticity. Dan said, “It’s like when you see a rocket going into the sky and then as it breaks the atmosphere and the bits fall off it and you just see the fuselage…

I’ve seen myself change, I’ve seen other people looking at me differently and they’re happy that I’ve changed, there was someone who said something to me, she said you’re growing into yourself.”

Arjun said, “I’m very capable, I have potential, but I’ve got in my own way…I feel like I’m doing it, I felt like I’m standing up for myself, I felt like I’m taking responsibility, I’m looking after me, I’m putting value back in me.”

The beautiful words of these men along their recovery journeys can guide the rest of us on our own paths toward a self-understanding that sometimes feels impossible from within addiction. Distance, connection, self-care and authenticity: how do they frame your recovery? In the end, it’s up to you. When you see yourself as recovered or recovering instead of as defined by active addiction, you will be able to change your life in surprising and joyful ways. *Tom, Dan, Mike and Arjun (not their real names) told their stories to researchers from Bikbeck University in London and what we learned from their experiences is published in this month’s issue of the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.

Richard Taite is the founder of Cliffside Malibu a boutique eighteen bed facility for men and women. Cliffside Malibu uses treatment methods based on The Stages of Change model, a model of change that worked for Rich’s own recovery. The model’s creators, Drs. James Prochaska, John Norcross, and Carlo DiClemente, observed that change is a process that occurs in a specific way with predictable steps. People overcoming addiction go through a series of stages, primarily having to do with mental preparedness and willingness to take on new actions. It is understanding this change process that has made Cliffside Malibu successful in helping people recover. Richard is co-author of Ending Addiction for Good www.cliffsidemalibu.com

To Advertise, Call 561-910-1943

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LET’S PROTECT THE YOUNGEST CASUALTIES OF ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ADDICTION

By Jerry Moe

“Keep quiet.” “Don’t tell anyone.” “Just act normal.” For the more than 11 million children living in alcoholic homes in the U.S., these are the phrases they hear every day. These kids are trapped in silence by a family that usually denies the existence of the very illness which has them in its grasp. Even worse, they often have no place to turn as alcoholism wreaks terror, chaos and pain upon their lives. Unfortunately, these youngsters are at high risk to eventually abuse alcohol and other drugs themselves, perpetuating the disease through their own children.

How do we break the cycle? Children of alcoholics and addicts need to learn about addiction in an age-appropriate way so they can realize the situation is not their fault and they are not to blame.

They need safe ways to explore and express their anger, fear, hurt, guilt and shame. They need to know there are other adults and kids who care about them.

Kids can learn how to cope positively with the problems at home, such as parental fighting, verbal violence, broken promises, blackouts, and neglect. These children need to learn how to take care of themselves and stay safe. To escape the world of isolation that has enveloped them, they must grieve, be angry, cry, and be comforted. It sounds daunting but there is a solution.

The good news is that children of alcoholics and addicts can and do heal. Treatment programs and community-based organizations can use specially designed games and activities to help children play their way to health and understanding. During this process they build upon their strengths, deepen their resilience, and further realize their intrinsic beauty and worth.

brings to their children. They deserve the opportunity to heal and alter the cycle of addiction in the family. Since children have unwittingly been a part of the disease, they deserve to be a part of the healing as well.

An estimated 75% of the parents whose children have participated in a specialized program I’ve directed over the years are also children of alcoholics and/or addicts themselves. Often the biggest difference between the children and parents is that the latter never had a similar program to help them in their youth. The greatest gift parents can give their children is the gift of their own recovery.

The second greatest gift is providing the chance for their children to begin their own healing. Children often cannot participate in children’s groups without parental consent. The parents who do consent are giving their children something most of them never got as kids, a safe place to learn, grow, and heal.

It is truly a rewarding experience to watch children breaking the family legacy of addiction. They heal as they become reconnected to their hearts. Their drawings and letters depict them in various stages of coming to grips with family addiction. Their courage and strengths shine throughout. There is hope in knowing that resources are available to address this challenging issue.

Why is it important for children to participate in a program?

Research clearly shows that addiction tends to run in families so children from alcoholic and other drug addicted families are at high risk. Empowering these youngsters with healthy living skills is truly prevention in its purest form. Helping children to learn that it’s not their fault and they are not to blame allows them to become kids again.

There is typically a meeting at the conclusion of the program where staff members meet with each family for continuing care recommendations and referrals.

Parents, family members, teachers, physicians and friends have the ability to explore the available options and help connect children of parents with addiction to recovery services. They have an extraordinary opportunity to change children’s lives and guide them toward a brighter future.

What do children do in a kids program? A well-developed program features a balanced blend of learning, playing and growing for children between the ages seven through 12. Youngsters learn about addiction in an age-appropriate way, share feelings, develop a variety of coping and self-care skills and build upon their strengths and intrinsic worth. Just as importantly, a program provides the opportunity for children to be kids, as recreation and other fun activities are always included.

Jerry Moe is the National Director of Children’s Programs at the Betty Ford Center, a part of Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, in Rancho Mirage, California. The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is the nation’s largest nonprofit treatment provider, with a legacy that began in 1949 and includes the 1982 founding of the Betty Ford Center. With 15 sites in California, Minnesota, Oregon, Illinois, New York, Florida, Massachusetts, Colorado and Texas, the Foundation offers prevention and recovery solutions nationwide and across the entire continuum of care for youth and adults.

Jerry is an Advisory Board Member of the National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA), he is an author, lecturer, and trainer on issues for children and families hurt by addiction. His latest book is Through a Child’s Eyes: Understanding Addiction and Recovery. Moe received the 2005 America Honors Recovery Award from the Johnson Institute, and the 2000 Ackerman/Black Award from NACoA for “significantly improving the lives of children of alcoholics in the United States and around the world.” Moe is the opening plenary keynote speaker at the National Drug Endangered Children Conference taking place in Orlando, Fla. on Oct. 7, 2014.

His topic is “Changing the Family Legacy.”

How do you encourage parents’ participation? One has to explain that a children’s program is a gift that their sobriety

To learn more about Hazelden in Naples, call 239-659-2351 or visit www.hazeldenbettyford.org.

How does children’s program help a family deepen its healing?

Through their artwork, stories and letters to Addiction, the children share with their parents about what it’s been like for them living with addiction. This is a very powerful and moving experience.

Parents respond the next day by often asking for forgiveness and letting their children know how much they love them. On the last day they work on how the family will proceed with its recovery.

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THE SILENT ASSAULT ON AMERICANS WITH ADDICTIONS TURNING POINT OR TIPPING POINT

By John Giordano DHL, MAC

Change is in the wind. Never in my life have I heard so much chatter about addiction and drug abuse resonating from the halls of lawmakers as I’ve heard this year. The tide is slowly changing.

It’s beginning to look as though addiction is not the political looser it once was. But the question that remains unanswered will determine the fate of Americans with addictions. Is this a turning point where we cautiously peek around the corner or are we at the tipping point where meaningful change can take place?

Perhaps the most encouraging news of the year came in July (2014) from the highest office in the land. In a post on the White House website, the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Drug Czar Michael Botticelli said that the government’s new drug control strategy “rejects the notion that we can arrest and incarcerate our way out of the nation’s drug problem. Instead, it builds on decades of research demonstrating that while law enforcement should always remain a vital piece to protecting public safety, addiction is a brain disorder -- one that can be prevented and treated, and from which people recover.”

Botticelli, who is in recovery himself, is the catalyst behind a new and modern science-based national strategy emphasizing education and prevention over incarceration. Other key elements of his 2014 National Drug Control Strategy include training health care professionals to intervene early before addiction develops and expanding access to treatment. Botticelli’s plan represents a monumental shift in the thinking of high level lawmakers.

These are policies that I can get behind and so should you. The points outlined in Botticelli’s plan mirrors what I’ve been calling for over the last thirty years. The acceptance of addiction as a brain disorder by a government official in a position to affect changes to public policy is a huge win for Americans with addictions.

As excited as I am about Michael Botticelli’s new policies, I must continue to remind myself that we’ve won a battle, albeit a big one, in our quest to usher in a modern and realistic national drug policy.

Change never comes easily, especially when you’re dealing with a government with so many special interest groups knocking on lawmakers doors. I can assure you – with billions upon billions of dollars on the table – bitter battles are before us.

Drug abuse in America has been on the minds of its lawmakers for quite some time. The drug culture of the 60’s combined with heroin addicted serviceman returning from Vietnam caused quite a consternation in Washington.

It was believed at the time that drug abuse was the cause of moral decline in American society. The widely believed myth that addiction was a moral flaw resulting from weak character and a lack of willpower was the guiding principle in the development of drug policy. The crescendo came in 1971when then President Richard Nixon declared a “War on Drugs” that included harsh mandatory penalties for drug offenses. A seemingly unrelated event that occurred at about the same time was that, due to a sluggish economy and budget cuts, many states began closing psychiatric hospitals without following through on promises to create and sustain comprehensive community treatment programs.

The results of these tandem pieces of legislation, individually and collectively, were nothing short of an abject failure. In my opinion, these twin acts did more to bankrupt our society than the drug culture of the 60s could have ever accomplished. The War on Drugs did absolutely nothing to abate drug abuse that continues to escalate and grow every year. More people abuse drugs today than ever before in our history.

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While the ink was still drying on Nixon’s signature on the War on Drugs legislation, astute businessman saw an emerging market.

They began opening ‘for-profit’ detention centers and prisons to accommodate the rising prison populations resulting from mandatory sentencing policies outlined in the War on Drugs legislation. This was the birth of what is referred to today as the Prison–industrial complex; a five plus billion dollar industry paid for by tax-payers with well over 100 centers across the country and typically mandated that 90 percent of their beds be filled at all times. In the early 70s there were forty-thousand people in jail for drug offenses; today there’s over half a million.

Combine the growing interest of lawmakers to privatize the prison system with the continued reduction of the number of psychiatric hospitals (mainly due to budget cuts) and you have the recipe for a manmade humanitarian disaster. According to USA Today there are 10 times more people with mental illness behind bars than in state-funded psychiatric beds, which are often the only ones accessible to indigent and uninsured patients. I love my country but have little, if any, regard for the politicians responsible for facilitating, condoning or perpetuating policy making the U.S. the only modern country in the world where someone can be jailed repeatedly – for short and long terms – just for having a disease.

It’s unconscionable, immoral and dead wrong.

The simple reality is that President Nixon’s well intentioned War on Drugs was a poor design built on injudicious myths with little attention paid to fact or science. This policy has destroyed far more American lives than it could have ever possibly saved – an abomination in every sense of the word.

The need for drug policy reform has long passed. It’s time for the law of the land to emerge from its ill-informed destructive past and get current with reality.

I don’t believe I’ve ever felt as optimistic about the possibility of meaningful reform as I do right now. I am thoroughly impressed by what I was able to glean from the 2014 National Drug Control Strategy proposal. There are aspects of it I don’t agree with, mainly the potential for over use of synthetic opioid maintenance programs; however the direction of this plan is sound and I believe Michael Botticelli is the right man for the job.

So are we at a turning point or the tipping point? Are we in a position of critical mass where meaningful reform can happen? The answer lies within you. Michael Botticelli is very accomplished but he can not win the silent assault on Americans with addictions by himself.

To effect change there are battles that must be fought against very worthy advisories with sweeping political influence and boatloads of money. You can expect to see companies such as Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the largest for-profit prison system in the country, march their army of lobbyists up Capital Hill to influence lawmakers to defeat any piece of legislation that might possibly have an adverse affect on their guaranteed 90% occupied rate.

Another mega group with less than humanitarian interests in their heart that we’re sure to see obstructing positive change in drug policy is Big Pharma. Americans, who represent less than 5% of the global population, consume 80% of all the opiate-based painkillers produced in the world. That’s one huge cash cow for Big Pharma. Any meaningful reform will surely cut deep into their profits. Their lobbyists will be passing out Continued on page 34

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FAMILIES WITH ADDICTION

By Noel Neu, MS, LMHC

Living in a family where one or more of its members has an active addiction to drugs, alcohol, or any other destructive compulsive behavior has become so common, at this point in time, that it can be considered a “norm” in our society. Whether the family member(s) are functional in their addiction or not, often the concern is focused solely on that individual and how they are behaving in the family dynamic. A person in active addiction needs sufficient intervention, redirection, education, and prevention skills to develop a plan of recovery that has real efficacy and long-term success.

This is critical in helping the whole family to heal. However, the family also needs a sufficient plan of action to not only help their loved one, but to help themselves heal as well.

Throughout the years I have heard statements such as, “Why do I need to be here (in therapy), he has the problem!” The key to helping a family with a member in active addiction is not so much as an “in your face” intervention approach, but rather an empathic, validating perspective that helps the family become aware of their own struggles. To disarm the anger, which is fueled by underlying fear and hurt, it is critical to validate the pain. There is a message of hope that can only be received when the feelings of hurt are shared and acknowledged. The principle feeling of active addiction when one is around it is powerlessness. To accept powerlessness is to become empowered. This is one of many paradoxes of recovery and of life.

Once I take ownership of my responses, I gain the ability to change. In Al-Anon the slogan for this is “Let it begin with me.”

Just as in recovery from addiction, like-minded support and spiritual solutions are of great help. Two very important resources for this are Al-Anon and ACA. Al-Anon helps the family member gain support with how they contribute to the addiction through their own obsessions and compulsions with the active addict. ACA or Adult Children of Alcoholics, helps a member to gain insight into the personality traits that are inherent in a child of an addict that have been passed down epigenetically since birth. The nature and the nurture aspects of the psychological development of a child are effected by a parent(s) active addictions.

Since the beginning of the last century, a cultural desire to “escape” difficult standards in life such as having a “perfect” family appearance arose. Going back four or more generations, it is more than likely somebody’s parent used something to cope with his or her challenges. The result is most of us can claim being the adult child of an alcoholic or addicted parent or grandparent. Here is the good news: Nobody needs to be blamed from our past for this! Fighting over who should-have done what creates more harm than any reasonable source of healing. The main importance of this realization is that I have the need to look at my patterns as a family member to see where I have been enacting behaviors that contribute to the harmful impacts of active addiction. This is the essence of “Let it begin with me.”

Once a family member is open to looking at themselves for healing, the shift in the entire family dynamic begins. The way this is manifested is through communication and boundaries. In my Assertive Awareness training I discuss the differences between

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healthy and ineffective communication. Generally families of addicts act and react passive-aggressively and indirectly which leads to mistrust and contributes to an environment of dishonesty.

The statement “Say what you mean, mean what you say, and don’t say it mean” takes on the attitude of assertiveness as it exhibits honesty with compassion. This change in communication creates an “open system” in which the family experiences an emotional safety in which to exchange how they are being impacted by each other. The impact that this has on the active addict is he/ she becomes willing to look at his/herself since they are no longer the “problem.” This last part is the miracle that occurs when families heal. It is no guarantee that the active addict will engage in their own healing, however, the examples of their beloved family members gaining a sense of peace and well-being directly contributes to their own awareness of how much pain they are in themselves. An emotional bottom can then be experienced, and this is the point when an addict truly becomes willing to recover.

A large number of the population of drug and alcohol treatment at this time is young men and women in their 20’s to 30’s whose parents have sent them for help.

Moreover, a growing population of adult children are sending their parents into treatment for help since addictions to prescription medication have become more and more prevalent.

Healing as a parent or a child is different in perception yet same in practice. Checking your own behaviors and healing your own ineffective responses to your loved one’s addiction while being validated of your own heartbreak and pain is the solution.

The most complicated family relationship to practice looking at self is in a romantic connection of any kind with emphasis on a marriage. Being witness and primary target of your spouse’s neglect and/or mistreatment due to active addictions is confounding. The solution, however, is the same. Practicing detachment from your spouse’s behavior with compassion and love for yourself and for your spouse is critical in obtaining the corrective behavior needed to impart respect and emotional safety in your marriage and for him/her to truly look at the damage being done.

Being in a family with an active addict is unmanageable when focusing on the addict exclusively. Remember the serenity prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change (all that is around me), the courage to change the things I can (all that is within me), and the wisdom to know the difference (knowledge and experience gained). This sums up the concept of helping someone else through focusing on healing yourself. The solution is simple yet not at all easy. Please be sure to garner as much emotional and spiritual support you need to walk through your own personal challenge.

Noel Neu, MS, LMHC is the CEO and clinical director of Empathic Recovery (www.empathicrecovery.com). Mr. Neu has been a clinician in private practice for over ten years and has developed programs for “Assertive Awareness” training, “Living your Truth” to build self-esteem, and helping families with addictions heal.

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15

ACUPUNCTURE AND ADDICTION RECOVERY

By Dr. Michael J. De Vito

Bob was a manager for a major corporation. He came to my office some years ago for a consultation and evaluation for symptoms related to a digestive disorder. During that consultation he mentioned that he had been a heavy smoker, over two packs per day, for at least twenty years. He said he would like to be able to stop smoking.

Bob stated he had begun to see that his smoking habit was having a negative effect on his overall health. He had tried to stop many times but without success. On that visit we gave him acupuncture to aid in smoking cessation by applying needles and micro-current to specific points on both ears. This type of treatment is called Auricular Therapy since it is applied to the ears alone. After the treatment Bob left the office and went on with his day. The next day I received a phone call from Bob. He said when he left my office he had no belief that the acupuncture treatment would have any effect. He did not feel different. Nothing seemed to change. However, that night he realized he had not had one cigarette or any cravings during that day. Withdrawal symptoms were never noticed since receiving the acupuncture treatment. Bob was now motivated and came in for one more acupuncture treatment that week. He remained smoke and tobacco free for the years that I knew him. That was quite a few years ago. Many other patients have shown positive outcomes.

One very recent case to respond to the Auricular Therapy protocol was a young man in his early twenties. George was addicted to Black Tar Heroin. He had been smoking and injecting Heroin for a couple of years. Anyone in the addiction field has seen a marked increase over the past 5 to 7 years in the number of young men and women addicted to Black Tar Heroin. George needed to detox and go through a medically managed withdrawal. With the addition of micro-current Auricular Therapy, George experienced little to no craving for Heroin during the detox phase. The typical symptoms of withdrawal although present, were not severe. Anxiety levels were minimal and the attitude for recovery was positive. George followed through with aftercare including Auricular Therapy, Counseling and support groups with continued success.

Similar results have occurred with compulsive behaviors such as gambling and eating disorders. Other drugs such as methamphetamines, alcohol and pain medications have also shown positive outcomes to varying degrees.

According to Dr. Michael O. Smith, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Cornell Medical School, in an article written for the Huffington Post on 07/16/12, ear acupuncture provides many beneficial effects. Dr. Smith states that “the protocol reduces anxiety and agitation while facilitating calm and receptive behavior. It also serves as a non-verbal intervention that can reach resistant patients.” Many clients may not initially be receptive to talk therapy but they can still receive treatment.

Dr. Smith goes on to say “More than 2,000 drug and alcohol programs in the United States and 40 other countries have included ear acupuncture (Auricular Therapy) in their treatment protocol.

In my own state of Nevada, The Eighth Judicial District Court, Drug Court Treatment Program of Las Vegas reviewed past results of Auricular Therapy interventions. The Drug Court Program followed clients in all Clark County Drug Court Programs who received Auricular Therapy from 1992 to 2000. The primary purpose of the Auricular Therapy was to assist in detoxification, the elimination of withdrawal symptoms, and management of stress. A control group did not receive Auricular Therapy. The results of the study found that the participants who were assigned the Auricular Therapy detoxed 30% faster, were abstinent over 30% longer before their first relapse and had over a 30% higher program retention rate than the non-Auricular control group.

Similar results have been seen in other programs such as Hennepin County Detox Center in Minneapolis, MN and The Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center. The Lincoln Hospital is a state of the art teaching hospital in downtown Bronx, NY. The Medical Center has been using ear acupuncture with success in

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their drug treatment program for over 35 years. The nationally recognized Miami-Dade Drug Court program has been influenced by the experiences and the results of The Lincoln Hospital drug treatment program.

Does Auricular Therapy work every time it is tried? No, not in my practice and not in any of the other clinics and programs I

Acupuncture has been a part of Chinese Medicine for at least 3,000 years. have looked at over the years. However, the positive responses have been significant. The beneficial results have gone beyond mere chance or any possible placebo effect. So what is really happening? How does ear acupuncture work? Do we fully understand the mechanisms?

Acupuncture has been a part of Chinese Medicine for at least 3,000 years. Other cultures have used techniques relating to acupuncture. Around 1550 BC ancient Egyptian Papyrus Ebers, (scrolls containing medical knowledge and treatments) appear to describe a system related to various organs and their energy flows. Today we call that energy Chi and the pathways of energy that travel through the body are called meridians. The great contribution of ancient Chinese practitioners is that they were the first to clearly identify and document this pattern and distribution of energy pathways. The modern method and practice of acupuncture that is now studied in medical universities worldwide and used therapeutically today is credited to Chinese medicine.

Not surprisingly there are two very different explanations on how acupuncture and Auricular Therapy work. The Chinese view and the Western view. The view that confuses you more at first may depend on the corner of the world in which you were born and raised.

The Chinese view is based on the balance and harmony of all of these energy pathways. Energy, Chi, should flow freely between the two poles of the meridians. The Chinese refer to these two poles as the yin and the yang. When Chi flows freely throughout the body and all the related organ meridians optimal health exists. The mind, the body and the spirit is in perfect balance and harmony. The yin is in balance with the yang. When Chi is blocked within a pathway or meridian due to trauma, disease or the use of alcohol and other drugs, that organ system is no longer in balance.

Other organ systems and meridians also become affected and disharmony results. Symptoms arise such as anxiety, insomnia, pain, hypertension and many others. Acupuncture and Auricular Therapy has the effect of unblocking the Chi. The free flow of energy is restored through these blocked pathways. Harmony and balance is returned to the organ systems.

The Western view finds the Chinese concept of harmonious balance of energies somewhat mystifying. Modern western medical theory prefers to be able to break down and explain the mechanism of action by describing the anatomical and physiological processes that are observable and result in a reproducible outcome. This is an accepted and valid point of view. However, if we limited our treatment protocols to only those therapies we could scientifically explain at the time, we would not have used pain killing opiates such as morphine or even aspirin to reduce fever and inflammation. We did not begin to understand the mechanisms of how those drugs worked until the middle of the 1970s. Fortunately, research scientists have found a very viable mechanism of how acupuncture works that fits well within the Western Medical View. Scientific research studies have discovered that acupuncture performed on precise points according to Chinese meridian charts increased the production of neurotransmitters such as endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, GABA and many others. These neurotransmitters affect pain control, sleep patterns, anxiety, fears, confidence, relaxation and our overall sense of wellContinued on page 30

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Rallying the Treatment Community in Support of FARR Both 2014 legislative initiatives (Senate Bill 582 & House Bill 479) shared a single common proviso: Effective July 1, 2015 it would have become a first degree misdemeanor for a licensed substance abuse treatment facility to make a referral to a non-certified recovery residence.

Bill 479 passed all the way through the Florida House of Representatives. Senate Bill 582 died in the appropriations committee at the last hour.

While this resulted in a failure of the Florida Legislature to send a unified bill to the Governor for signature, make no mistake; similar legislative efforts will return early in 2015 that have a high probability of adoption during the next session.

This table outlines the four membership levels.

Please note that FARR is a non-profit (501c6 applied). We have one paid employee. All officers, board members and committee chairs are volunteers. Funds raised through the Partner in Excellence program are purposed for the development & distribution of educational content as well as audit inspections of FARR Certified Residences who have volunteered to be held accountable to national standards.

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FARR offers substance abuse treatment providers an opportunity to support our mission by joining FARR as Partners in Excellence and, in so doing, demonstrate that the treatment community does not require legislative prodding to force collaboration for the protection of those we serve. FARR asks Florida treatment providers to consider these three requests: 1. Visit http://farronline.org/partner-inexcellence-application/ to complete the online application to become a Partner in Excellence; selecting the level best suited to your organization.

2. Ask Recovery Residences “Are you FARR Certified?”. Set a date specific (we recommend July 1, 2015) as a deadline for recovery residences to whom your organization currently makes referrals to become a FARR Certified Residence.

3. As a Partner in Excellence, encourage your staff to visit the FARR Committee web page located at http://farronline.org/committee/ to get actively involved in helping to shape the future o f the Recovery Oriented System of Care (ROSC) in the state of Florida

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7/15/14 9:14 AM

PICTURE THIS – ART THERAPY HELPFUL IN ADDICTION TREATMENT

By Marlene Passell

Recovery from drug or alcohol addiction can be a painful process and many people struggle to verbalize their pain, anger, shame and other emotions. But many people in recovery are finding that they can express themselves through art – giving a visual image of their innermost emotions. Recovering addicts, troubled teens and anyone suffering from PTSD or other mental and emotional distress can benefit from art therapy.

The American Art Therapy Association (AATA) defines art therapy as, “the therapeutic use of art-making. Unlike your typical art class, an art therapy session focuses on the client’s thoughts and emotions, working toward developing self-expression rather than on building artistic skills.

Why Art? For the recovering addict, art allows for a new form of communication and self-reflection. It is especially effective for those who struggle with internal conflicts and difficulties, no matter what artistic talent or experience they may already have. When other forms of communication fail, like talk therapy or counseling, art can play a huge role in helping the client make an important breakthrough, build trust with a therapist, and gain a feeling of self-confidence and self-worth. It also takes both therapist and client out of the “traditional” therapeutic environment of one-on-one or group discussions. This change may free the client up to identify and address issues that he or she was too guarded or hesitant to address in the course of traditional individual or group therapy.

Painting, drawing, and sculpture are often used in art therapy and, at times, clay and collage. Regardless of which art medium is chosen, the outcome sought is not artistic ability, but on using these different methods to assist in the healing process.

How It Works The healing, meditative process of creating art has been well known for a very long time, but it wasn’t until the last couple of decades that scientists have focused on understanding exactly how it works to promote healing. In fact, research into this form of psychotherapy is fairly new. There are, however several recent studies that explore art therapy. What scientists do know is that, like other forms of alternative therapy, including equine and horticultural therapy, art therapy reduces stress and anxiety. Not only does this help the client feel better overall, it allows for increased feelings of trust and a change in perceptions of the pain and anxiety associated with withdrawal.

In addition, the process of creating visual art appears to involve multiple parts of the brain. It involves hand-eye coordination, which accesses the “creative” right side of the brain. In other words, art therapy allows the client to process the very abstract, such as fears, internal struggles and emotions into something more concrete that both the client and the therapist can analyze and appreciate.

Sherry Dansky has been an art therapist working in the field of addiction for 33 years, the past 18 in South Florida. She is a trained artist, holds a master’s degree in art therapy and is board certified.

She is also a licensed mental health counselor.

She has seen many changes in addicted clients through art therapy. “It can be very powerful – many of these women have been through so much trauma – they find art is a safe outlet to stay grounded.”

As one woman who is involved in art therapy as part of her treatment put it, “Art therapy killed my cravings. . . gave me a positive outlook about things. I feel good about myself when I do art. It takes all the negative thoughts away. It’s not about the darkness no more. . .”

Ms. Dansky said she usually starts art therapy with drawing because that and painting really bring out feelings. “They are usually comfortable in those immediately. Most have no previous experience, but they

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immediately find it relaxing. The purpose is to help them with coping skills for relapse prevention, to help them deal with anger and anxiety, and learn to be more assertive and more able to set boundaries.”

“The clients find it very relaxing. They feel there is serenity in there – another outlet where they can express themselves. It gives expression to things they have no words for. Some tell me that doing art projects has kept them from smoking, or hurting themselves.” Many continue with art projects throughout the week on their own and bring them to show to Ms. Dansky during the weekly sessions.

She works closely with therapists so that she knows if a client is working on a specific issue that she can help focus on through the art therapy. After years of watching the positive results of art therapy – its calming effects, how it helps women who have faced chaos and violence express their feelings even when they can’t put it into words, Ms. Dansky believes it should be a standard part of addiction therapy.

But, she emphasizes, treatment centers need to realize the specialized training that goes into art therapy. “You can’t just provide art supplies or hire an art teacher. It needs someone with special training.” They must be registered with the American Art Therapy Association, as a registered art therapist which includes a master’s degree in art therapy.

Even when they are ready to leave a treatment program, clients tell Ms. Dansky they want to continue with art – take classes, buy their own supplies. “I teach them how to mix colors and where to find materials,” she said.

For information on art therapy, go to www.waysidehouse.net or call 561.666.9162.

Marlene Passell is the communications and marketing coordinator for Wayside House, an addiction treatment program for women in Delray Beach, FL.

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DOING TOUGH LOVE ON MY SON — LED ME TO MY OWN RECOVERY

By Deni B. Sher

As the mother of a recovering addict, I am blessed that my son eventually chose sobriety. And, for sure, being sober is a choice.

Every day, my son consciously chooses to stay sober. Today he is three years sober and believe it or not, I do not worry about him relapsing.

Not worrying about my son relapsing was a breakthrough in my life. However, getting to that point was not easy. Just like my son chose sobriety, I had to choose to “Let Go” and to “Let God.” I did tough love on my son, Ryan in 2002, when he was twenty-five.

My journey through his addiction to his recovery encompasses over eleven years and is documented as a memoir in my book, How One Parent Engaged Addiction: A Mother’s Healing Journey Through Her Son’s Addiction.

When I did tough love on my son and engaged his addiction to drugs and alcohol head on (after coming out of my own denial), I figuratively grabbed my sword, mounted my horse and went into battle intending to be victorious. In my victory, I intended to pull my son out of the monsters’ grips. I intended to save my son’s life and to slay his demons.

What I did not intend, was to uncover my own dysfunctional behavior. It wasn’t my son’s monsters I had to slay. They were my own! Only Ryan could fight his battles. Only Ryan could slay his demons. I had my own demons staring me in the face. My demons were as cunning for me as Ryan’s were for him. I was knocked off my horse and brought to my knees countless times before I could even recognize the diseases of codependency, enabling, and denial, as the symptoms of my own diseased thinking.

As codependent parents most of us frustrate ourselves by a destructive form of helping, known as enabling. Enablers have a difficult time letting go. By not letting go, we deprive our children of recovery. We need to hit bottom as codependents. We need help.

Intellectually we realize we shouldn’t enable or help our addict children, yet most of us do. In our helping, we keep them helpless.

My biggest learning curve didn’t take place until 2008, when I met Anne Salter, an addictions specialist from Delray Beach, Florida. While speaking with Anne she explained to me how addiction is a family disease and how our family-of-origin and early childhood wounds affect us and how we carry those wounds into our adulthood, into all relationships and into our parenting. Anne opened my heart and mind to seeing my own inner, wounded, child Self, who I had suppressed many years before.

It’s interesting. I would never have sought the counseling of an addictions therapist for myself. I had never gone to therapy throughout all of my life’s challenging years. I read self-help books and handled everything by myself. I associated shame and a stigma to seeing a therapist. I was born in 1950 and in those days, if anyone went to a psychiatrist, they had to be crazy. I don’t remember if back in the 60s there were psychologists, but no one I knew would ever consider seeing a “shrink.”

I learned a tremendous amount from Anne Salter and I thank God everyday for her being put into my life. It’s interesting how the Universe works. I had a BA in English, so I offered to help edit and organize Anne’s book called, Family Stew: Our Relationship Legacy, as a gift to Anne and to gain experience as an editor. While reading and editing her book, I realized I needed to recover just as much as my son. Though I was not addicted to drugs and alcohol, I was ill in my codependent thinking and behavior. In 2010, when my son went into rehab, I realized if I expected him to face his demons and to recover, I also needed to face mine. I chose to become a non-toxic, healthy mother and woman.

Over the past four years of my recovery, I had to take an honest look at my childhood, at my family-of-origin, at the poor choices I made as a teenager and early adult, and how easy it is to go off

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track in one’s life. Though I didn’t use drugs and alcohol to numb my pain, I found other ways to conceal my wounded Self. For you see, I had suffered from a teenage broken heart when I was nineteen. I allowed cruel things said to me when we broke up to negatively affect my self-esteem. Not possessing the ability to understand my own internal pain, I started down a path of selfdestruction, much like our addict children. I figured if he didn’t love me, then I must not be lovable and I allowed those negative feelings to snowball into all kinds of poor choices and selfdefeating behaviors.

Fortunately, I knew the value of an education, so I did attend college. I made the Dean’s list, graduated with honors and became a very successful businesswoman. I worked hard to prove I was not stupid. I worked hard to achieve all the financial rewards that provide evidence to the world that one is successful. However, while I was working hard and building my empire of material wealth, I had failed to deal with my emotional poverty and buried pain. I built walls around my heart. I never wanted to be hurt again. I never wanted to be vulnerable. I buried my head in denial with respect to my own emotional needs.

What I’ve learned is when we are young we get hurt by many abusive situations. Some of us allow those hurts to fester inside and to emotionally tear us apart. No one teaches us how to talk about those negative feelings and how to get them out. Most of us didn’t feel we could open up to our parents about our painful emotions, so we buried them. We used drugs, alcohol and nicotine to cover up those negative feelings because we hadn’t been taught that they are simply part of being human. Some of us became work-a-holics. Some of us became sex-a-holics. There are many ways to run from our pain-filled selves.

Today, I give thanks that I finally pulled my head out of denial to face the truth about my son’s addiction and about my own dysfunction as a codependent mother. Today my son is happily married and I am a grandmother of a beautiful grandson. Today, our family is successfully living in The Sober World and I am grateful to be sharing our success story in this publication.

Deni B. Sher lives in Weston, Florida with her husband, Arthur.

Possessing a love of writing she returned to college at age fifty and received her BA in English at fifty-two. Her passion is to shed light on familial dysfunction, codependency, alcoholism, and drug addiction through her personal experience. www. howoneparentengagedaddiction.com

Kelly V. Landers P.A. CriminAl Law

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WHAT IS A LEVEL 4 TRANSITIONAL CARE HOUSE? Sunset House is currently classified as a level 4 transitional care house, according to the Department of Children and Families criteria regarding such programs. This includes providing 24 hour paid staff coverage seven days per week, requires counseling staff to never have a caseload of more than 15 participating clients. Sunset House maintains this licensure by conducting three group therapy sessions per week as well as one individual counseling session per week with qualified staff. Sunset House provides all of the above mentioned services for $300.00 per week. This also includes a bi-monthly psychiatric session with Dr. William Romanos for medication management. Sunset House continues to be a leader in affordable long term care and has been providing exemplary treatment in the Palm Beach County community for over 18 years.

As a Level 4 facility Sunset House is appropriate for persons who have completed other levels of residential treatment, particularly levels 2 and 3. This includes clients who have demonstrated problems in applying recovery skills, a lack of personal responsibility, or a lack of connection to the world of work, education, or family life. Although clinical services are provided, the main emphasis is on services that are low-intensity and typically emphasize a supportive environment. This would include services that would focus on recovery skills, preventing relapse, improving emotional functioning, promoting personal responsibility and reintegrating the individual into the world of work, education, and family life.

In conjunction with DCF, Sunset House also maintains The American Society of Addiction Medicine or ASAM criteria. This professional society aims to promote the appropriate role of a facility or physician in the care of patients with a substance use disorder. ASAM was created in 1988 and is an approved and accepted model by The American Medical Association and looks to monitor placement criteria so that patients are not placed in a level of care that does not meet the needs of their specific diagnosis, in essence protecting the patients with the sole ethical aim to do no harm.

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TRAUMA AND POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND ADOLESCENT SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER

By Fred J. Dyer, Ph.D., CADC

There is a growing recognition of the extent of exposure to psychological trauma among substance using adolescents and its potential to compromise the effectiveness of treatment for substance use disorders. This has prompted clinicians and programs to seek new interventions and to adapt existing treatments in order to address the impact of traumatic stress on the lives and recovery of adolescents.

It is important for clinicians and substance abuse counselors to understand that traumas can be a result of any event that can cause extreme emotional distress, including direct threats to bodily integrity, such as physical and sexual assaults, as well as witnessing violence or death, abandonment, betrayal, emotional abuse, and child neglect.

Substance-using adolescents exhibit higher rates of trauma exposure compared to rates among their non-using counterparts. Further, substance-abusing youths frequently report high rates of exposure to multiple types of trauma, including child physical and sexual abuse, witnessing community or domestic violence, parental drug use or mental illness, and abandonment. Studies based on clinical samples of adolescents in treatment for alcohol and other substance use disorders report similarly high prevalence of trauma exposure.

Complex trauma refers to the experience of multiple chronic and prolonged developmentally adverse traumatic events, most often of an interpersonal nature (e.g., sexual or physical abuse or community violence) that generally occurs in childhood.

Any discussion about trauma, PTSD, and substance use, particularly concerning adolescents, should include their exposure to violence and violent acts, along with the following behavioral and affective presentations: • Child maltreatment leads to survival strategies that are often antisocial and/or self-destructive.

• The experience of early trauma leads youth to become hypersensitive to arousal in the face of threat and to respond to such threats by disconnecting emotionally or acting out aggressively.

• Traumatized kids require a calming and soothing environment to increase the level at which they are functioning.

• Traumatized youth are likely to evidence an absence of future orientation.

• Youth exposed to violence at home and in their communities are likely to develop juvenile vigilantism, in which they do not trust an adult’s capacity and motivation to ensure safety and as a result believe they must take matters into their own hands.

• Youth who have participated in the violent drug economy or chronic theft are likely to have distorted materialistic values.

• Traumatized youth who have experienced abandonment are likely to feel that life is meaningless.

• Issues of shame are paramount among violent youth.

• Youth violence is a youth’s (boy’s) attempt to achieve justice as he perceives it.

• Violent boys often seem to feel that they cannot afford empathy.

Relative to functioning and impairment, several factors affect youths’ risk for developing PTSD and the severity of symptoms, including the proximity, duration, and intensity of the trauma as well as the reactions of parents and caregivers to the traumatic event. Harm that is deliberately inflicted or interpersonal in nature tends to be more damaging and more likely to result in PTSD than other types of trauma. Exposure to traumas in early childhood when children are less cognitively developed and more physically dependent on adult caretakers tends to be associated with dissociative symptoms.

Most cases of PTSD develop shortly after the traumatic event. In the hours or days after the event, most people have at least some symptoms of PTSD. In at least half of all trauma survivors, complete recovery occurs within three months, even in the absence of treatment.

Symptoms lasting 1-3 months may be diagnosed as acute PTSD. If symptoms persist longer than three months, then PTSD is likely to be chronic. Symptoms may wax and wane over time, often in response to life stressors. PTSD may go into partial remission and reemerge

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later on, sometimes years later. Symptom reemergence may occur in response to reminders of the original trauma or be triggered by additional life stressors.

In a minority (4-6%) of people the disorder does not develop until months or even years or decades afterwards. Delayed-onset PTSD is defined by a delay interval of at least six months. Research suggests that there may be two forms of delayed-onset PTSD, one

There are three motivations for adolescent substance use: (1) a drug experience motive; (2) peer motive; and (3) coping motive— the youth will use alcohol and drugs as a way to cope with and manage the symptoms brought about by the traumatic event. in which the person has little or no psychopathology after the trauma and another that would be more properly called “slowly developing” PTSD, consisting of post-trauma symptoms that gradually increase in severity. Stressors occurring after the trauma may contribute to the development of both forms of delayed onset PTSD. Factors associated with good prognosis following exposure to trauma include engagement in treatment, early and ongoing social supports, avoidance of re-traumatization, positive pre-morbid function, and an absence of other psychiatric disorders or substance abuse.

There are three motivations for adolescent substance use: (1) a drug experience motive; (2) peer motive; and (3) coping motive— the youth will use alcohol and drugs as a way to cope with and manage the symptoms brought about by the traumatic event.

There is significant evidence that cognitive behavioral treatment approaches are more efficacious in decreasing trauma-related symptomatology in adolescents. There is also substantial evidence that cognitive interventions are efficacious in decreasing child and adolescent depressive and anxiety symptoms. The following cognitive behavioral treatment approaches can effectively be used in addressing adolescent PTSD, trauma, and substance use: • Psycho-education about trauma and its relationships to stress reactions, coping, and problem behaviors, such as substance use.

• Emotional management skills building that help cope with psychological and physiological symptoms related to trauma cues.

• Problem-solving skills that help survivors break down problems, identify options for responding to them, and try them out in safe settings.

• Cognitive restructuring that addresses distorted beliefs and cognitive schemas about the self and others and teaches survivors to use self-talk that enhances their ability to manage stress and PTSD symptoms.

These skills are also fundamental components of sustained recovery from addiction among adolescents. In addition, some cognitive behavioral treatments combine limited exposure to traumatic memories and feelings in tolerable doses, so that they can be mastered and integrated into a coherent life-self narrative.

Finally, cognitive behavioral treatment approaches are best utilized through an integrative treatment modality.

Fred Dyer, PhD., CADC, is an internationally recognized speaker, trainer, author and consultant who services juvenile justice/ detention/residential programs, child welfare/foster care agencies, child and adolescent residential facilities, mental health facilities and adolescent substance abuse prevention programs in the areas of implementation and utilization of evidence-based, genderresponsive, culturally competent, and developmentally and age appropriate practices. He can be reached at dyertrains@aol.com References available upon request.

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TALKING TO CHILDREN ABOUT ALCOHOLISM

By Carolyn Hannan Bell, M.S., L.P.C.

There are a lot of reasons why we don’t talk to our children about alcoholism. We don’t want to upset the drinker and make things worse. We don’t want to bring attention to the drama and dysfunction. We don’t want to be accountable. We want it to go away. We don’t want our children to think badly of their parents.

We don’t know what to say or which words to use. There are a lot of reasons why we don’t talk to our children about alcoholism, but none of them are good.

Talking to children about alcoholism isn’t hard. NOT talking to children about alcoholism is hard. Maybe not in the moment when it feels easier and kinder to cover things up, but in the future when a child’s issues born from misunderstanding, misinterpretation and lack of communication take flight.

We talk to our kids about hard things all the time. “Why is the sky blue?” “Where do we go when we die?” “Why does Sally have two mommies?” etc. We answer these questions in the moment with the knowledge we have or from information we glean from “googling”.

We do it all the time. So, why do we hide from explaining to our kids what is going on in their own home? Because we think it’s hard and they won’t be able to handle, or understand the truth. Because we think we don’t know the words. But, we do!

Children want to know things. Knowing makes them feel safe, stable and secure in the world. Not knowing makes them have to figure things out on their own and come up with their own answers for what is going on around them. Helping children to think about and understand their life in emotionally healthy ways can prevent so much future distress, dysfunction and pain.

Kids are very self- centered, and they’re supposed to be. They’re figuring out how they fit into the world, and how that world works.

So, when Mommy or Daddy are acting “funny”, or behaving badly and the child has no explanation other than what they come up with themselves, the child will often assume that his parent’s behavior is his fault. Once we assume another person’s behavior is our fault we begin a life long journey of believing that we can control other people’s behavior with our behavior… enter co-dependency!

Another important reason to talk to children about alcoholism is so they will understand more clearly what their parent is struggling with. There may be whispers and rumors about a parent’s drinking that a child may hear and he will be better able to deal with it if he has some understanding of his own.

These are the reasons that I wrote “Daddy’s Disease” and “Mommy’s Disease”--to provide parents with a tool to help them talk to their children about a father’s or mother’s alcoholism, to help children to see that behaviors born from drinking are not to be taken personally, and that how much a child is loved and how much a parent drinks have nothing to do with each other.

The initial prompting to write these books came from one of my clients, a recovering alcoholic, with a young daughter. He wanted to be able to talk to his daughter about his alcoholism but was unsure of how to do that. He searched for a children’s book that would help him to do the job in a way he was comfortable with but was unhappy with the results. So, based on our discussions about his alcoholism, he asked me to write the book. “Daddy’s Disease” was the result.

The books help children understand the disease of alcoholism by comparing experiences in their lives (eating too much Halloween candy, sickness, arguing with a playmate) to some of the aspects of alcoholism. In this way, a child can more easily grasp some of the difficult concepts of addiction, control and healthy communication.

The books are a great way for parents and kids to begin talking about this disease and how it affects the entire family. They can be read all at once, or in small parts depending on the child and the child’s age.

There are three main points children really need to understand about alcoholism. The first is that their parent’s disease is not their

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fault--that their parent’s actions are not due, in any way, to how he or she feels about their child. The second is that other people’s behavior is not their fault. They cannot control anyone’s behavior except for their own. It doesn’t matter how smart, pretty, handsome, perfect, funny, etc. they are- people behave the way they do because of who THEY are, not because of who the child is. The third is that alcoholism is a disease and there are treatments for this disease. Their parent is not a bad person because he/she is an alcoholic. Their parent is someone with an illness, and a choice. It’s very difficult of course, if that parent chooses to keep drinking, but that still doesn’t make them a bad person, and it still has nothing to do with who their child is, or how they feel about them.

It is also important to help our children understand that their only control and the only control they’ll ever need, is in controlling their own behavior and the choices they make in who they want to be and how they want to live their life. We also need to teach a child that he/she should stay away from a parent who is under the influence, to never get into a car with a parent under the influence, and to seek the comfort of someone they trust in such situations.

Empowering a child in this way teaches them that they do not have to be victims of bad behavior.

By talking about our feelings we encourage 0ur children to talk about their feelings. If we talk in a healthy way about how we feel, share our observations in a constructive way and explain things as they are happening so that a child can understand a situation in the moment, then we are modeling healthy communication and openness for our kids. If we say, “I am angry because Daddy is drinking or I am sad because Mommy is drinking” we are teaching our children that it’s okay to express our feelings; it’s okay to be upset and it’s okay to ask for help.

There are many resources available for children suffering the effects of parental alcoholism. Alateen and Alatot are wonderful organizations where a child can learn that he/she is not the only one who is suffering from alcoholism. Isolation and feeling different are very damaging for kids. Groups of kids together all dealing with similar situations, can be very healing. Counseling can also be extremely helpful and can encourage communication and dialogue as well as clarifying misinterpretation, misunderstanding and misinformation that the child may be experiencing.

Our children deserve to live their lives without the burden of their parent’s demons. We can help remove that burden with the power of words.

Carolyn Hannan Bell is the Author of “Daddy’s Disease: Helping Children Understand Alcoholism” and “Mommy’s Disease: Helping Children Understand Alcoholism”. Both books are both available on Amazon.com in paperback and eBook www.alcoholismhurtskids.com www.facebook.com/helpingchildrenunderstandalcoholism

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MY STORY

By Anonymous, MSW The day I decided to seek treatment was a day I will always remember.

I was home visiting my family from college and sitting at a diner with my sister and her husband. I was telling them that I was losing my financial aid because I dropped all of my classes, and was planning on going back to school to “pretend” that I was going to graduate soon so my parents wouldn’t think there was anything wrong. I actually thought this was a great idea at the time and was convinced that it would work out. I also was terrified of getting what they call “dope sick” and had to drive back to school immediately. They tried to tell me what a horrible idea it was without being too confrontational because they knew how defensive I would get if they tried too hard. I would lie straight to their faces to protect my addiction. I took their advice with a grain of salt and started to walk to the car.

The car wouldn’t start. That was a “God moment” for me right there, even though I didn’t know it at the time. We all sat on the bench outside of the diner and waited for the tow truck to arrive. My sister looked at me with such concern and desperation as she asked “Megan, do you need help… all you have to do is ask”. I looked down, my eyes filled with tears as I stated defensively “help with what?” Deep down I knew what she was alluding to, but I couldn’t bring myself to lower my defenses or my ego long enough to cave in.

My heart finally took control and I broke down right there in front of that family diner.

I agreed to get help and the process started from there. I don’t even know how it all worked out, but I do remember that I was sick on my parent’s couch for a week before I went into treatment. My sister made me snicker doodles as I laid there motionless filled with anxiety as I wanted to crawl out of my skin. I guess the snickerdoodles took the edge off a little bit. All I remember is thinking “I can’t do this”.

How does anybody live sober? I just didn’t get it. I have heard that addicts have always felt less than or inferior to the world at large, and I can absolutely connect with that cognitive distortion, that of course was addressed in therapy for the years to follow. My parents finally packed me in the car and drove me to treatment 8 hours away.

One of the most disturbing things about that trip was the conversation with my dad. He did not understand addiction and just thought that I had turned into a self absorbed person who did not care about her family. That is what the drugs did to me. I think that’s what it eventually does to all of us. I have memories of my brother begging and pleading with me to “come back”. “I just want my little sister back”. My sister would fear that phone call that I had overdosed and died. My mom would cry to me about why I never call anymore. All of this because of fear of living and functioning without the use of a substance.

How did my thinking become so distorted? How did I end up so far gone? I felt as if all of my dreams were stories I told myself to keep myself going. People in treatment would tell me, “Fake it till you make it”. I didn’t get it at the time, but now looking back I realize that I was pretending to be the person who I wanted to be, which ended up working for me in the end.

I do want to make something clear. I had no idea that I would become a therapist and work in the field of addiction. I learned this as my passion grew through my own personal journey. I realized that treatment really does work if you want it to. Therapy really does work if you choose for it to. My life trajectory changed tremendously through the years. I had always felt that I wasted so much time active in my addiction that I could never be where I was “supposed to be”. Through the years, I realized that I have always been right where I need to be, and when I was ready to move, I did.

I find that with my clients today. Many of them struggle to individuate themselves from their families and to trust the process of recovery. I find that most of the young men and women I work with have very low self esteem because they have based their self worth on their lives while active in addiction and cannot even imagine that they would like themselves sober. That is, until they

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do. I have seen the change in my clients coming into treatment feeling terrified, lost, depressed and sick to confident, healthy, and excited for the future. It sounds simple, and I know that sometimes negative feelings feel as if they will last forever. The good news is that nothing lasts forever. Not the Megan I was years ago feeling as though I would crawl out of my skin, or the Megan I am today.

I now have a Master’s Degree in Social Work, and truly believe in a client’s ability to stay sober. I am married and nine months pregnant building the family I have always wanted. I guess my message to the world would be; trust the process. It worked for me.

Education and passion plus personal experience equals miracles.

I know I generally tell my clients not to use the word” always”, but I am prepared to make an exception this one time. I always believe in my clients, even when they don’t believe in themselves.

Anonymous is a therapist at Transformations Treatment Center in Delray Beach, Florida.

ACUPUNCTURE AND ADDICTION RECOVERY

By Dr. Michael J. De Vito

Continued from page 16

being. No wonder acupuncture has a positive result during withdrawal and aftercare programs. One particular study that confirmed this was done by Dr. Bruce Pomeranz, a Canadian physician with a Ph.D. in neurobiology from Harvard University. Dr. Pomeranz found a marked increase in endorphin release after acupuncture treatments.

His and other research documented in his book, Scientific Bases of Acupuncture, is extensive.

Today Auricular Therapy can be performed without needles by using micro-current delivered through an electrode stimulating precise acupuncture points. The treatments are painless and effective. This stimulus according to Chinese theory opens the flow of Chi. According to Western theory it stimulates the release of neurotransmitters. By either concept the results often are reduced craving, less pain, improved sleep, less anxiety and a heightened sense of well-being. There are no reported side effects to Auricular Therapy. Should acupuncture be a standalone treatment in detox and aftercare recovery? No, nothing should be, however, Auricular Therapy should be considered by those open to an additional effective therapy in an integrated treatment program.

Dr. Michael J. De Vito is a diplomate and is board certified in Addictionology. He is a graduate of Mansfield University of Pennsylvania and Northwestern Health Science University in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

He has been an instructor of Medical Ethics, Clinical Pathology, Anatomy and Physiology at the College of Southern Nevada. He is the founder and program director of NewStart Treatment Center located in Henderson, Nevada. NewStart Treatment Center utilizes a drug free and natural approach to addiction treatment. www.4anewstart.com Dr. De Vito is the author of Addiction: The Master Keys to Recovery www.AddictionRecoveryKeys.com

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RECOVERY-ORIENTED CONCEPTS, VALUES, AND PRACTICES ARE WIDELY ACCEPTED IN THE ADDICTION PROFESSION, BUT GAPS STILL REMAIN

By Misti Storie, MS, NCC, NAADAC Director of Training and Professional Development

Recovery concepts have always run through the fabric of the addiction profession, the members of its workforce, and the services they provide, albeit with varying strength over time. The addiction profession, founded by individuals in recovery, laid the groundwork to provide addiction services within a recovery orientation.

As a part of the federal government’s efforts to promote recovery for all Americans affected by mental illness and/or addiction, in May 2009, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced its Recovery to Practice (RTP) Initiative. The RTP Initiative is designed to hasten awareness, acceptance, and adoption of recovery-based practices in the delivery of addictionrelated services and builds on SAMHSA’s definition and fundamental components of recovery.

To guide this effort, SAMHSA desired to learn more about the depth and breadth of integration of recovery and recovery-oriented concepts within the various professions essential to the recovery movement and funded the Recovery to Practice (RTP) Initiative. “By bringing together the major mental health and addiction professions with people in recovery, advocates, and other stakeholders (including experts in curriculum and workforce development), the RTP Initiative begins to address how we can translate the vision, values, and principles of recovery into the concrete and everyday practice of mental health and addiction practitioners.”

NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, received an award for this project in addition to five other professional associations (American Psychiatric Association, American Psychiatric Nurses Association, American Psychological Association, Council on Social Work Education and the National Association of Peer Specialists).

Through the RTP Initiative, NAADAC was asked to determine the extent to which recovery-oriented concepts, values, and practices exist within all aspects of the addiction profession in order to develop a recovery-oriented training curriculum for the workforce.

For the purposes of this project, NAADAC adopted SAMHSA’s definition of recovery: “A process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential,” as well as their ten guiding principles of recovery: • • • • • • • • •

Recovery emerges from hope.

Recovery is person-driven.

Recovery occurs via many pathways.

Recovery is holistic.

Recovery is supported by peers and allies.

Recovery is supported through relationship and social networks.

Recovery is culturally based and influenced.

Recovery is supported by addressing trauma.

Recovery involves individual, family and community strengths, and responsibility.

• Recovery is based on respect.

Using these definitions, members of the addiction profession appear to be very knowledgeable about the concept of addiction recovery and its components. There is overwhelming agreement among addiction professionals that the core components of SAMHSA’s definition and the ten guiding principles of recovery are embedded in the definition of recovery for most addiction professionals. Further, NAADAC determined that recovery-oriented concepts, values, and skills are widely accepted and practiced within the addiction profession. In addition, members of the addiction profession generally understand recovery- oriented concepts, utilize recoveryoriented practices, and have recovery-related opportunities for education, training, literature, certification, and licensure.

However, gaps in understanding and practice still remain. Many

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addiction professionals hold reservations about some of the recovery-oriented concepts and principles, such as Recovery is culturally based and influenced; Recovery is supported by addressing trauma; Recovery emerges from hope; Recovery is based on respect; and Recovery is person-driven. Given that these guiding principles are fundamental to addiction treatment and recovery, more education and training is necessary.

Finally, NAADAC discovered there is room for improvement in regards to the use and acceptance of medication-assisted treatment, awareness and integrated treatment of co-occurring disorders, and the role of peer recovery coaches in the addiction workforce. Some professionals report that this apprehension is due to perceived threats to their professional position; general resistance to change, lack of funding, fear of more work, and feeling devalued. Although this apprehension is worrisome, it is not impossible to overcome.

In an effort to bridge the gap between theoretical definitions and practice, NAADAC developed a national training curriculum that will become a part of the national certification process for the addiction workforce. This recovery-oriented training curriculum is designed to educate addiction professionals about a recovery-oriented model of care and addiction recovery (and their specific role in promoting it), as well as teach competencies needed to integrate addiction recovery concepts into practice. NAADAC is currently delivering this educational experience through a multi-level approach that includes nine webinars, articles in NAADAC’s Advances in Addiction and Recovery magazine, an online library of electronic print resources, a certificate program to demonstrate advanced education, inclusion of recovery-oriented test questions into certification test banks, and informational sessions at NAADAC’s annual conference and other state affiliate events.

This curriculum combines education and clinical practice strategies with SAMHSA’s recovery concepts and principles, the Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) model of recovery services, the integration of mental health and recovery support systems to sustain long term recovery (longitudinal view), and the inclusion of other peer providers (recovery coaches) to assist in sustaining long-term recovery for the individual and the family. The curriculum will include the addiction professional within the context of ROSC with options to serve and interrelate in the larger community of recovery and recovery supports.

The inclusion of the addiction community in SAMHSA’s Recovery to Practice (RTP) Initiative represents an opportunity to reaffirm and build upon the addiction profession’s foundational principles of individual, family, and community recovery. The moment is ripe for a recovery-oriented curriculum, and the addiction profession is poised to continue the movement.

Recovery to Practice (RTP) Webinar Series Topics • Defining Addiction Recovery • What Does Science Say? Reviewing Recovery Research • The History of Recovery in the United States and the Addiction Profession • Defining Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) • Understanding the Role of Peer Recovery Coaches in the Addiction Profession • Including Family and Community in the Recovery Process • Collaborating with Other Professions, Professionals, and Communities • Using Recovery-Oriented Principles in Addiction Counseling Practice • Exploring Techniques to Support Long-Term Addiction Recovery Visit www.naadac.org/rtp-webinars for a full list of upcoming live events and on-demand recordings in this series. All webinars are Continued on page 34

ADVE RTISING OPPORTUNITIES

The Sober World is a free magazine for parents and families who have loved ones struggling with addiction. We offer an E-version of the magazine monthly. If you are interested in having a copy e-mailed, please send your request to patricia@thesoberworld.com FOR ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES IN OUR MAGAZINE OR ON OUR WEBSITE, PLEASE CONTACT PATRICIA AT 561-910-1943.

We invite you to visit our website at www.thesoberworld.com You will find an abundance of helpful information from resources and services to important links, announcements, gifts, books and articles from contributors throughout the country.

There is an interactive forum where we invite and encourage you to voice your opinion, share your thoughts and experiences.

If you would like to submit an article for publication, please contact patricia@thesoberworld.com for further information.

Please visit us on Face Book at The Sober World or Steven Sober-World Visit online Face Book at www.facebook.com/pages/The-Sober-World/445857548800036 or Steven Sober-World Twitter at www.twitter.com/thesoberworld LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/pub/patricia-rosen/51/210/955/

For more information contact Patricia at 561-910-1943

HIGH AND DRY By: Kelsey Durnin

After coming to the realization that I am an addict, that I am beyond I found this article very inspirational and wanted to share it with all of powerless in the face of my disease, I regained power in other parts of my life. I could not simply remove addiction and move on. I had to replace it, to fill you that are struggling with addiction today - Recovery is possible the void it left behind with something greater.

-Patricia I have not achieved extensive time in recovery. However, after a decade of “Do you want to get high?” gnawing addiction, even 60 days feels like a new lifetime, a better lifetime.

How many times have I felt absolutely giddy at the sound of those words?

Alcoholics Anonymous has saved my life. It is neither a cult nor a religious However, at two months into recovery, they are jarring. organization nor of any other affiliation which originally drove me away. It is a community of support and understanding.

In the short time I have been out of treatment, I have been offered free wine by a waiter, pain medicine by the doctor and marijuana by complete strangers. How amazing it feels to sit in a room full of strangers, talk about my cravings and difficulties and be met with laughter of unfortunate understanding and In the depths of my addiction, I did not comprehend the existence of the disease that had overtaken my every thought and action. There was virtually advice on how to get through it. nothing I would not do to satisfy the cravings and obsession the beast inside I realize by writing this I give up my anonymity. However by doing so, by me begged for. publicly admitting my struggle, I give my disease nothing left to hide behind and hopefully bring someone else to the same place. The disease does not “What were you addicted to?” have to win, even though it so often does.

“I was a trashcan.”

To those in addiction, take a look at your comrades, your ride-or-die crew.

“You did everything but what was in the trashcan?”

How many have you lost? How many have you nearly lost? The numbers in themselves are disturbing at best.

“I would do everything in, around and what was stuck to the bottom of the trashcan.”

The statistics are not in our favor as addicts, but that does not mean you throw in the towel and accept whatever fate may come your way. You fight. If The brutal honesty of addiction sounds absolutely ridiculous to those who we fight a tenth as hard for our recovery as we did to get our fix, we will win. do not understand the lifestyle. They do not understand that every action, every thought process was scheming, wheeling and dealing to get the next It is the greatest victory you will ever experience. fix. It is insatiable.

Kelsey Durnin has been an addict for a decade and in recovery for two There are more people than even themselves would like to admit that suffer months. I cannot speak of a cure or a perfect adherence to the principles from the disease of addiction and fight for their sanity day in and day out. of recovery. I can, however, speak on progress, survival and hope. My life The problem with this is that denial, the inability of these people to be honest before was a train wreck. My life now is not perfect, but it is better than I with themselves, is exactly what the disease of addiction wants. It wants you could have previously imagined. My hope is that I will reach out to even one person. Keep coming back! to believe it is not there so it can remain undetectable and in charge.

To Advertise, Call 561-910-1943

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SEVEN REASONS ADDICTION AND TRAUMA ARE RELATED A STRONG RELATIONSHIP

By Dr. Bill Tollefson, Ph.D.

the substance, thought, or behavior might be harmful. A bond establishes itself instantly. For a survivor, having a relationship with addiction can actually work and be very successful in the beginning.

The relationship grows every time the survivor uses the addiction to restore some control over his or her mind. Unfortunately over time, the control diminishes and the need to continue is necessary. Once the positive results of the addictive relationship decreases, the intensity of the PTSD symptoms returns. The fleeting sense of control that the addiction afforded reverses as tolerance grows. At that point, the addiction becomes out of control. The relationship that was once enjoyable, fruitful and controllable becomes toxic.

Loyalty Even though the relationship grows more and more toxic, the individual is unable to let it go because of a strong behavior that all trauma survivors seem to display. That behavior is loyalty. As seen in many traumatic relationships between a victim and his or her perpetrator, the individual keeps the secret of the abuse or trauma with no apparent reason. The survivor will protect the perpetrator at all costs. Whether it is through denial, lying, secretiveness or the willingness to die for his or her perpetrator, he or she will remain loyal. The same holds true for addiction.

The person will preserve the addiction relationship even though it is no longer serving the purpose of suppressing any of the PTSD symptoms.

Conclusion Addictions can be the direct result of attempting to stop or control

THE SILENT ASSAULT ON AMERICANS WITH ADDICTIONS TURNING POINT OR TIPPING POINT

By John Giordano DHL, MAC

Continued from page 12

millions in campaign contributions to lawmakers like the money is a cold bottle of water in the middle of a record setting heat wave.

Make no mistake about it; these mega corporations will stop at absolutely nothing to protect their profits.

Our only defense – and it’s an effective one – is our collective voice. For those of us fortunate enough to have gone through rehab know we didn’t do it on our own. We relied on each other to produce a positive outcome. If we are to effect positive changes in drug policy, we need to band together one more time. All I ask is that you talk about your addictions and your journey to clean time and sobriety. Show the world that you are an upstanding and contributing member of society. Share your story across the social media sites. Tell it to anyone who will listen. Now is the time to be bold. I know what I’m asking won’t come ease to some. If you can’t do it for yourself, please do it for the person behind you who needs help but is being blocked by the many barriers to treatment that this policy will remove. This is our battle and this is our time to shine!

When situations like this arise I’m reminded of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s famous response when presented with a plan he was in favor of. The President told the presenting group: “I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it.” Politics is a strange culture in that you have to force a politician to do what he already knows is the right thing to do. www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/drugpolicyreform John Giordano DHL, MAC is a counselor, President and Founder of the National Institute for Holistic Addiction Studies, Laser Therapy Spa and Wellness Center in Hallandale Beach and Chaplain of the North Miami Police Department. For the latest development in cutting-edge treatment.

Check out his website: www.holisticaddictioninfo.com

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Continued from page 6

the surfacing mental, emotional and/or physical pain of past abusive and/or traumatic experiences. Based on this viewpoint, the traumatic event is the cause and the addiction is the symptom. Traditional modes of treatment such as AA or NA, may state that the substance is just a symptom, and to recover one must get down to “causes and conditions,” however, this is not often thoroughly explored or supported for trauma and abuse survivors. Therefore, helping professionals should address both the symptom and the cause together with a dual approach rather than a segregated approach to achieve a greater degree of success and decreased rates of relapse.

William Tollefson has a doctorate in clinical psychology. He is a nationally known author, certified master life, post-trauma and addiction recovery coach, board certified hypnotherapist, certified reality therapist, board certified clinical psychotherapist, publisher, and international speaker as well as a radio personality and radio co-host. Dr. Bill was the founder and owner of Women’s Institute for Incorporation Therapy a well-known inpatient psychiatric trauma program.

Currently, Dr. Bill has a successful Life Coaching Practice in Southwest Florida and Boca Raton, Florida. He has published two books, Separated from the Light: A Path Back from Psychological Trauma and Personal Philosophy Method.

Dr. Bill has two website - www.drbilltollefson.com/ for his posttrauma work and www.makingapositivechange.com/

RECOVERY-ORIENTED CONCEPTS, VALUES, AND PRACTICES ARE WIDELY ACCEPTED IN THE ADDICTION PROFESSION, BUT GAPS STILL REMAIN

By Misti Storie, MS, NCC, NAADAC Director of Training and Professional Development

Continued from page 32

free to all professionals, and free CE credit is available.

Want More Information?

Visit www.naadac.org/recovery to learn more about the NAADAC RTP Initiative.

Read NAADAC’s full Situational Analysis of recovery-oriented concepts, services, and practices at www.naadac.org/situational-analysis.

Visit www.naadac.org/recovery-resources for a recovery-oriented practice free Electronic Resources Library.

References provided upon request Misti Storie, MS, NCC, is the Director of Training and Professional Development for NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, which is the premier global organization that represents the professional interests of more than 75,000 addiction counselors, educators, and other addiction-focused health care professionals in the United States, Canada, and abroad. Storie is the Technical Writer and advisor for many of NAADAC’s educational face-to-face, homestudy, and online trainings. She has also authored and edited the Basics of Addiction Counseling: Desk Reference and Study Guide, tenth edition and numerous articles and book chapters concerning addiction-related issues.

Storie holds a Master of Science degree in Professional Counseling from Georgia State University and a Master of Science degree in Justice, Law, and Society from American University.

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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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