July18 issue 1

I N M E MO RY O F S T E V E N

J U LY 2 018 | VO LUM E 7 | I SS U E 7

A N AW A R D W I N N I N G N A T I O N A L M A G A Z I N E

GENETIC SELFIE A REAL TIME HD SNAPSHOT OF YOUR ADDICTIVE SELF

By Kenneth Blum, Ph.D., David Siwicki, MD, and Justin Jones, MBA, CHFP, CEO Geneus Health

C-4 CORE CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS Â MUSIC THERAPY MUSIC THERAPY: CONSIDERATIONS FOR TREATMENT AND RECOVERY

By Jim Borling, MM, MT-BC, Fellow of the Association for Music and Imagery

MUSIC THERAPY IN ADDICTIONS TREATMENT

By Susan C. Gardstrom, PhD, MT-BC

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www.thesoberworld.com

A LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER Dear Readers, I welcome you to The Sober World magazine. The Sober World is an informative award winning national magazine that’s designed to help parents and families who have loved ones struggling with addiction.

We are a FREE printed publication, as well as an online e-magazine reaching people globally in their search for information about Drug and Alcohol Abuse.

(under the age of 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.

We directly mail our printed magazine each month to whoever has been arrested for drugs or alcohol as well as distributing to schools, colleges, drug court, coffee houses, meeting halls, doctor offices and more .We directly mail to treatment centers, parent groups and different initiatives throughout the country and have a presence at conferences nationally.

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.

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 manmade 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.

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.

If you are experiencing any of the above, 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, There are Transport Services that will scoop up your resistant loved one

To Advertise, Call 561-910-1943

Addiction knows no race or religion; it affects the wealthy as well as the poor, the highly educated, old, young-IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. This magazine is dedicated to my son Steven who graduated with top honors from University of Central Florida. He graduated with a degree in Psychology, and was going for his Masters in Applied Behavioral Therapy.

He was a highly intelligent, sensitive young man who helped many people get their lives on the right course. He could have accomplished whatever he set his mind out to do. Unfortunately, after graduating from college he tried a drug that was offered to him not realizing how addictive it was and the power it would have over him.

My son was 7 months clean when he relapsed and died of a drug overdose. I hope this magazine helps you find the right treatment for your loved one. They have a disease and like all diseases, you try to find the best care suited for their needs. They need help.

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/TheSober- World/445857548800036 or www.facebook.com/steven. soberworld, Twitter at www.twitter.com/thesoberworld, and LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/grp/home?gid=6694001 Sincerely,

Patricia

Publisher Patricia@TheSoberWorld.com

For Advertising opportunities in our magazine, on our website or to submit articles, please contact Patricia at 561-910-1943 or patricia@thesoberworld.com.

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TRAUMA THEN AND NOW (PART 3 OF 3)

By Nancy Jarrell O’Donnell, MA, LPC, CSAT

In Part 1 and Part 2 we learned what trauma is, the history of trauma and the underlying causes. The previous articles can be found at www.thesoberworld.com The Addiction/Trauma Connection Although I have worked with many patients over the years that enter treatment stating “I have never had trauma in my life”, I cannot remember a case wherein someone presenting for treatment for addiction, mood disorders and more, did not have a history of unresolved trauma. For those denying the existence of such in their lives, further exploration would reveal that what they had suffered was considered normal or they had created a reality minimizing or excusing the abuse. Often those denying trauma history were adults who were physically abused and/or sexually shamed in childhood but often claimed “I deserved it” or this “happens to everyone.” The commonality however was that the addictions and/ or mood disorders were adaptations the individual had made to manage the psychic pain. Addiction is merely a symptom of root cause trauma.

Treatment for Trauma - Neuroplasticity The brain is designed for safety and survival of the species. In the latter half of the 20th Century, significant progress was made in the study of the human nervous system, which is the general field of neuroscience. Most notable in my opinion was the evidence that the human brain has the capacity to change itself and to change over the course of a lifetime- which is neuroplasticity. Learning the brain can change as a result of experiences in the environment makes sense to me that treatment for debilitating behavioral health and mental health issues must utilize this information and provide treatment services that will influence brain change in a positive desired way. When I developed The Sabino Model: Neuroscience Based Addiction and Trauma Treatment, the idea was to target root cause trauma as driving the dysfunctional adaptation and to use our knowledge of neuroplasticity to provide very specific and well researched activities, experiences, and environments that would expose a patient to compassionate, empathetic, and nurturing care in conjunction with daily exposure to the brain changing activities.

Consistent positive focused attention on someone that allows the person’s brain to change in response to the experiences, allows for new and healthier responses to day-day experiences. Through the consistent, genuine experiences of feeling cared for over a period of time, a person can gain the safety, self-worth, connection and trust in another that never occurred in early childhood.

When treating trauma the emphasis is not to be on assigning blame to anyone, but rather to encourage discovery and understanding of one’s life through safely guided self-exploration. Making some sense out of what happened without re-visiting the details and changing negative cognitions into positive cognitions is a part of trauma recovery. Shame reduction work in any context to replace the unhealthy and untrue self-beliefs one acquires from trauma exposure is necessary.

Processing meta-cognitions which is an individual’s personal interpretation of their own thoughts assists in changing the brain as well. Relevant to trauma, a survivor often will develop maladaptive thinking patterns in an effort to keep themselves safe from future similar experiences. An example of a maladaptive response to trauma is a woman attacked by a dog while walking in her neighborhood making the decision to never take walks anywhere.

The thought will seem rational and smart to the survivor but ultimately harms her as she loses opportunities for enjoyment, exploration of new environments, exercise, and perhaps social connections.

I consider an integrated approach to trauma treatment as most effective. What model or models used must be based upon the individual’s presentation. The one-size fits all approach does not consider the unique learning styles, histories, and strengths of an

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individual. Many successful trauma modalities are currently used such as Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), somatic therapies such as Somatic Experiencing and Somatic Trauma Therapy. Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is a method of assimilating the body’s destructive response to sensory stimuli from the trauma and by doing so improve emotional and cognitive impairments. Other modalities include Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Neuropsychodrama, Neurofeedback, Interpersonal Neurobiology, and Internal Family Systems Therapy.

This list is not exhaustive.

I have found equine assisted psychotherapy to be very effective as a brief therapy that supports an individual in staying in their body and maintaining focus. I also support the use of both Allopathic medicine and Naturopathic medicine. Again, it depends on an individual’s presentation. Nutrition, exercise, and the experience of taking healthy risks are all critical components of well-rounded treatment.

Below are some additional alternative healing methods that can enhance a treatment plan. All are methods that if accessed consistently over time, will work to build new and healthy neural pathways in the brain.

Music is Therapy - Research has shown that slow music with a repetitive 10-second cycle calms a listener because it matches the body’s natural 10-second wave of blood pressure control.

We know music is capable of eliciting the deepest emotions from humans. Music and how we hear and interpret the sounds are consistent across all cultures. If we gather a group of people with a diverse range of background and culture and play music, most all will agree on the emotions the music produces. We know some of the brain structures associated with how we hear music are those that are also connected to the limbic system. Listening to music accesses multiple brain areas that can assist us in relaxation; energize us, access memories, emotions, and the desire to move our bodies in a natural way.

Sound healing is gaining more attention in recent times. Resonance is a phenomenon in physics that is the condition when one object with a relatively weak vibration can cause a strong vibration in another object. Sound healing may involve the belief that our body parts are in a state of vibration but when we are not healthy there can be disharmony in our systems. There are sound healing modalities designed to resolve energetic blocks within our bodies to help move individuals towards well-being. Sound healing is a non-invasive treatment that uses sound waves from vibrations of a variety of sound tools that may be held on the body where acupuncture points exist or behind the ears. The sound waves access energy pathways in the body and work to heal our physiology.

Sound has been used for thousands of years in the forms of mantras, chanting, melody repetition, drumbeats, and song.

These techniques have been effective in moving one from a state of imbalance to a more grounded or balanced state. Sound can facilitate shifts in human brain waves.

Yoga and activities like Chi Gong work to neutralize and balance Continued on page 22

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WHAT TO EXPECT FROM NEW OPIOID DRUG POLICY (PART 3 OF 3)

By John Giordano, Doctor of Humane Letters, MAC, CAP

This is the third installment of this article. The previous articles can be found at www.thesoberworld.com In Part 1 of this article, I examined the first two prongs of the administration’s proposed three prong approach to ending the opioid epidemic. I showed how building a wall on our Southern border would do little to slow the import of illicit drugs. I also demonstrated how revitalizing the “Just Say No” campaign would be an effort in futility as it was an abject failure in the 80’s.

In Part 2, I went into great detail about the third prong of the new policy which is the intent of the President and Attorney General to execute drug dealers and why this policy would accomplish nothing other than to make some people feel better. I also addressed the enormous lack of mental health treatment and how our tacitly approved policy of warehousing our mentally ill in jails and prisons remains unchallenged, and, as a consequence, exploded our prison populations. In fact, there are nearly10 times the number of people with severe psychiatric disease locked up behind bars as opposed to number of patients remaining in the nation’s state hospitals.

I also brought up some of the things that are working in stemming the tide of this epidemic, however, regardless of the many advancements that we’ve made, many healthcare experts believe that addiction and its treatment is a subset to our healthcare system and its failings are endemic to a bigger problem pervasive throughout the field.

Healthcare is our #1 gross domestic product (GDP). $18.00 dollars out of every $100.00 spent here in the U.S. goes to some form of healthcare – or $10,348.00 on average per every American man, woman and child in 2016. This is unprecedented. In fact, we spend in excess of 3 ½ times more for comparable healthcare service and outcomes than all of Europe combined – and there is what I would consider a nefarious reason for that.

To comprehend all this you have to look back at the early nineties when the healthcare industry launched into what it is today. It was during this time that some pharmaceutical companies began engaging in a practice termed, “disease mongering.” It’s a thing – Google it.

No one could possibly know for sure, but from everything I’ve read and viewed, I have doubts whether we would have the severity of the drug epidemic we’re currently in today if our lawmakers had not eased restrictions and enacted laws that basically lowered the ‘moral bar’ and opened the floodgates for the pharmaceutical industry. Over the years the moral mantel has slipped all the way down to the basement floor.

Just to be perfectly clear, I am not suggesting by any shape of your imagination that all pharmaceutical companies engaged in this practice or are not reputable. The majority of them are highly regarded companies who provide quality products that improve and extend a person’s quality of life.

However, as with everything in life, there are a few bad actors. In this case, they’re pharmaceutical companies creating diseases out of thin air so that they can sell you the highly-profitable fix that is often more dangerous to your health than the phantom illness they concocted – and the practice is common place today.

I can’t tell you who started disease mongering, but I can tell you generally how they go about it. It starts with a normal everyday ailment that just about all of us experience in our life. Deceptive Pharmaceutical companies will hone in on one of those ailment that often can be remedied by an off-label application of one of their already FDA approved drugs or one that has been tweaked slightly to fit the created scenario. Then they expand the definition of that ailment so that it dovetails right into their product and the symptoms you feel.

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Now comes the deceitful part. The pharmaceutical companies sends out an army of sales reps – armed to the teeth with bias scientific data favoring their pills – to doctors’ offices from sea to shining sea to convince them that this bogus made-up disease such as low T, Restless leg are real and serious. At the same time they flood the airwaves (the pharmaceutical industry spent over $3 billion on TV ads last year alone) with TV commercials intended to manipulate the viewing public’s perception into believing this phantom illness is real and that they are very ill – quite frankly scaring the hell out of everyone – while offering the only viable solution, their highly-profitable pills.

“Disease mongering” works and has been a constant in our healthcare system for over 25 years.

People are just not inclined to doubt their primary care doctor or the official corporate looking scientific mumbo jumbo data sheets printed on expensive high gloss paper and provided by pharmaceutical companies. To my ear, disease mongering sounds distinctly like a confidence game right out of the thirties where unsuspecting people just like you or I who lived during the great depression were swindled out of their hard earned money by professional con men; or that movie classic ‘The Sting’ where Paul Newman and Robert Redford con a mob boss out of millions of dollars. Distinctions without differences?

As a consequence, we, as Americans, are the most overprescribed and heavily medicated society in the history of mankind.

In 1997, a total of 2.4 billion prescriptions were filled for Americans; 20 years later in 2016, 4.5 billion were filled – nearly a 200% increase in prescriptions, yet the population only grew by 21%.

Nearly 70% – that’s 7 out of 10 – Americans take at least one prescription drug – that is according to the Mayo Clinic. According to Medical Xpress, a web-based medical and health news service, in August 2017; “Among those who take prescription drugs, more than half – 53 percent – get them from more than one health care provider, which increases the risk of adverse drug effects. More than a third said no provider has reviewed their medicines to see if all are necessary.” We’re literally damaging our immune systems that can lead to more diseases and sometimes killing ourselves by Continued on page 20

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STEPS 8 AND 9: MAKING AMENDS

By Maxim W. Furek, MA, CADC, ICADC

The reality of alcoholism is that it will only get worse. Patterns of use follow a pathway snaking deeper and deeper into the murkiest reaches of human behavior. Tolerance steadily builds and more is needed to attain the same. Classic addiction takes root. Negative consequences become the norm and, although the stories have different names and places, they all share equally in the predictable downward spiral.

At some point it will happen. The alcoholic reaches a point of no return, a place where the highway turns into quicksand. This is the intersection between awareness and realization. There is nowhere else to go and no one to turn to. There are few options left. Bridges have been burned. The lies and promises have morphed into mountains. It is the serendipitous juncture where a beaten down alcoholic finally admits that they have lost control and need the help of others.

For many, hope and liberation have been found in the framework of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), providing a valuable lifeline and a second chance.

Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith founded AA in Akron, Ohio in 1935.

The program is an international “mutual aid fellowship” whose stated purpose is to enable its members to “stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety.” The often-replicated AA 12-Step program offers an organized plan of recovery, viewed by many as a program for spiritual and character development.

Sober Suffering That respected program instructs that it is not enough to simply stop drinking. There is more work to be done. Many times the alcoholic in recovery is overwhelmed by thoughts of past behaviors and may not be able to enjoy their present day sobriety. It is an obsession that refuses to go away. This arduous mindset produces what Fred Holmquist has termed “sober suffering.” We suffer regret for the past as though it were in the present. We carry the fear and pain of yesterday with us on our daily journey.

AA offers a solution to this and, although the entire twelve steps are considered equally important (in that they all must be taken), steps eight and nine have particular meaning to the recovering alcoholic.

If we are to be truly free of the demons from the past, we must confront them and begin the process of offering amends and restitution. These steps require the alcoholic to make a list of the people they have harmed due to their drinking and to develop a plan to make amends to each one. Only then can we live peacefully and fearlessly in the present, living a life of joy and tranquility.

Making a list The two steps are closely interconnected. Specifically, step eight reads, “Make a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.” And step nine says: “Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.”

Working these steps allow us to look into our past and to see where we have been at fault. It also presents an opportunity to repair the damage, if possible. This journey will be uncomfortable, embarrassing and painful as we begin to compile a list of all the people we have physically, emotionally or financially damaged. It is important to keep our self-importance and ego in check as we undertake this test.

The AA publication “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions” acknowledges “Step Eight” as having the potential to create a new beginning. The book concludes that “Step Eight” can be “the beginning of the end of isolation from our fellows and from God.” In other words, that step can rescue us from our egocentric prison as we reconnect with the brotherhood of man, and celebrate an important support system.

Steps Eight and Nine offer escape from a past lifetime of poor choices and negative consequences. Trapped in addiction, the alcoholic dwells in a fetid junkyard crammed with shattered promises

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and relationships. Addiction harms, not only the alcoholic, but numerous others who suffer the addict’s disappointment and betrayal.

That betrayal is not easily forgotten, nor forgiven.

There will be people from our past who will refuse to accept our apologies and our amends. “Let go of the outcome,” advises Michelle Farris. “Keep focused why you’re making the amends. It takes guts and integrity to acknowledge past behavior. Often, you’re alone in this but the integrity you show can change the nature of your relationships.

“If the other person isn’t ready, or the friendship ends, remember that there may be reconciliation down the road. You had the courage to face your fear. That level of integrity is a valuable trait that will make your relationships healthy.”

“Do it for yourself,” says Tamar Chansky. “You’re apologizing not to get a particular outcome,” he says, “but to do the right thing from your side and clear your conscience.” This will help you keep your equilibrium if the other person is angry, or if you find that what you did had less effect on the other person than you thought. If the person minimizes it, you can simply say, ‘I’m really glad you feel that way, but what I did has been weighing on me.’ This attitude will also help remind you that even if the other person bears some blame for the problem between you, your responsibility is to take care of your side.”

Profound Positive Effect Making amends is a dynamic, ongoing process. It is an act of contrition, written from the soul, with brutal honesty. As we take responsibility for past behaviors, we render a commitment to change. By making amends, and not simply offering apologies for past transgressions, the alcoholic strives to make things right and to restore justice, damaged or broken by the addiction. Amends can be made directly, “whenever possible,” or symbolically depending upon the situation.

Making amends can have a profound positive effect. It can restore the status quo and order in our lives by acknowledging past wrongs and attempts to correct those actions. It’s all about maintaining order and equilibrium, about balancing our ledger. Making amends breaks the chains of the past, allowing us the freedom to live in the present. Making amends provides a positive surge of self-confidence realizing that the very act of making amends will be one of the most courageous challenges we will ever attempt. It is something not taken casually, but with full support of our sponsor and Higher Power.

Lastly, making amends is something that you do for yourself.

Although it impacts on others and on our relationships, making amends is an individual process of discovery and empowerment.

As we attempt to become the best person we can be, making amends can change our life for the better.

Maxim W. Furek has a rich background that includes aspects of psychology, addictions, mental health and music journalism. His book Sheppton: The Myth, Miracle & Music blends facets of the miraculous and supernatural into a psychological profile of survival.

Learn more at www.shepptonmyth.com

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LIVING BEYOND

By Dr. Asa Don Brown, Ph.D., C.C.C., D.N.C.C.M., F.A.A.E.T.S.

FATHERHOOD- EMBRACING AND SUPPORTING A CHILD STRUGGLING WITH ADDICTION In the 1980’s, the tough love movement played a significant role in the way with which parents parented children of addiction. The tough love movement used a stern hand and an uncompromising premise to manage addiction. The movement was an exercise in discipline, intolerance and a punitive approach to care. While this addiction model was well intended, it placed the parental figure between the child and the addiction. Whereas, the parental figure should have been focused on parenting and providing emotional support; the tough love campaign informs the parent to allow the child to hit rock bottom.

The burden of addiction is challenging enough, but when your child has an addiction, the burden goes well beyond explanation.

Fatherhood should be a time of joy, happiness, development, and when the occasion calls for it, a time of support; for the child and the father. The child, nor the father, should ever face the egregious burdens of addiction, but the reality is we live in a time of countless addictive habits.

THE FATHER’S ROLE A father’s involvement and influence on the health and well-being of his child can have a profound affect. For many fathers, they only wish to prove a counterbalance for the negativity that their child may face. Unfortunately, a father is merely human and he is only capable of proving an opposing force when the child so requests.

For many addicts, they either avoid asking for help; fear asking for help; or may have inherited the addictive habit through the modeling of a parental figure.

A father’s role is not to be a superhero, but rather, a father’s role is to be fatherly. Being a father or fatherly requires an emotional and psychological investment. No father is capable of being perfect or reaching perfection, but a father is always capable of sharing in the good and the bad. A child reaps many benefits when witnessing a fatherly figure accepting responsibility for his achievements and his failures. Accepting responsibility is not intended for the dwelling on the past, rather it is the acceptance of our role in this game called life. A child witnessing the exercise of personal responsibility is in essence witnessing a person taking ownership of his life.

Fathers are not perfect nor are we intended to be perfect. However, as fathers we are often called upon to be an earthly superhero.

Not unlike our counterparts; we are often called upon to face the imaginary demons of the night and the real life demons that may one day plague our children. A father’s role does not end upon conception or at the age of maturity. A father is a father throughout the life of a child.

FATHERING THROUGH ADDICTION It is never too late to be fatherly. Even if a father has had an intimate role or responsibility in the addictive habit; he may prove to be the greatest asset to his child’s recovery. For many children, they never refrain from looking upward to his or her father. Inherently, a child simply wants the love, admiration, acceptance and respect of his or her father. Sadly, many fathers dismiss or disregard the ability of proving an asset to the life of their child.

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As fathers we need to approach our child’s addiction from an unconditional perspective. We need to seek to be well informed and guided by professional practitioners. As fathers we may prove the greatest asset to our child’s recovery. Fathers have a unique role in the recovery process because they have a biological and emotional connection. This connection may prove to be the greatest asset to the child, because for many fathers, they are willing to be unconditionally supportive throughout the process of recovery. Fathers may also be capable of influencing a child to enter therapeutic care. While the child is in care, it may be of equal importance that the father considers joining his child for family therapy, as well as individual therapy. As fathers, we are invested in the life of our children and it is through our instinctual desire to protect and nurture our children that we can prove to be an asset.

THE RECOVERY PROCESS The addiction and the recovery process can take a toll on the family. Thus, it is of vital importance that the family considers therapeutic care throughout the process of recovery. Family support can prove a game-changer in the life of the addict. As a clinician, I have been informed by many addicts that they are facing this process alone. Frustratingly, the addict often has a yearning to be connected to his or her family, but the old model of tough love places them at odds.

For many addicts, the recovery process has a greater chance of success when they have healthy and constructive social supports. In some cases, the social supports may not be family, but if family is involved, such a social support may prove a tremendous asset. Either way, those offering social support should have a healthy and positive influence on the addict.

It is of the utmost importance that anyone offering the addict support throughout the process of recovery should consider care for him or herself. Even for clinicians, it is always wise to find a time for personal care .

THE FATHER AND THE ADDICT The father is no superhero, but he is a father and his child is suffering.

As a father, I know the pain that comes from witnessing your child suffer. There is no similar agony or discernible pain. Whether your child is suffering from a flesh wound or an emotional wound; a broken limb or a broken heart; or they have an addictive issue; the pain of seeing your child suffer is unbearable. For a father of an addict, you are at the mercy of the addiction, but your unconditional support and love can prove to be your child’s greatest asset. Do not forget to practice selfcare. For fathers need to remember that they need care too.

Dr. Asa Don Brown, Ph.D., C.C.C., D.N.C.C.M., F.A.A.E.T.S. Website: www.asadonbrown.com References Provided Upon Request

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GENETIC SELFIE – A REAL TIME HD SNAPSHOT OF YOUR ADDICTIVE SELF

By Kenneth Blum, Ph.D., David Siwicki, MD, and Justin Jones, MBA, CHFP, CEO Geneus Health

What is it about a good selfie that we find so endearing to our hearts? Thousands of tiny pixels, drawing from a palate of hundreds of different colors, coordinated on a smartphone screen in such a way that makes us laugh or cry, smile or frown, or feel some other emotions. Selfies often tell an untold or underlying story words simply cannot do justice to. They’ve changed the way we view ourselves, the people closest to us and the world around us in real time.

Even professional photographers are getting in on the act. This relatively new technology has created a whole new genre of art and photography.

But every now and then you take a selfie and it comes out a bit distorted or blurred. Something just doesn’t seem right in the foreground or background. When you take a closer look at the pixels that make up the image, they appear dull and less defined.

It doesn’t happen often. You could have hundreds of perfectly focused images in your phone and just one that is out of focus.

behaviors can have a profound effect on outcomes. Until recently, there wasn’t any type of technology available to the public that was capable of making such a determination with reliable accuracy. But just as smartphone cameras have evolved and become better over time, the technology behind genetic analysis has also dramatically improved in the most recent years. These technological advancements, combined with over 40 years of vigorous science and research, have made it possible to view the once hidden drivers of behavioral predisposition and addiction in HD. Every picture tells a story.

The Genetic Addiction Risk Score (GARS™) is, for all intent and purposes, a genetic selfie – an HD snapshot that in real time reveals your genetic risk to addiction and other behaviors. Through a simple cheek swab, this revolutionary new diagnostic zooms in on genetic markers – or in this context, the pixels that blur the image – known to influence addictive behavior, and then sizes them up.

Once all the qualitative and quantitative information is retrieved, it’s fed into a proprietary algorithm that brings the background into focus. The result is a crystal clear genetic selfie showing where you stand against the backdrop of your risk and vulnerability to drugs, alcohol or other substances and/or non-substance behaviors.

This innovative platform is firmly based upon the life’s work of Dr. Kenneth Blum, co-discoverer of the first known addiction gene. Forty years of extensive worldwide research into addiction, mental health and brain chemistry, consisting of countless papers and clinical trials published in peer reviewed medical journals – including the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) – provided the strong foundation for Dr. Blum along with Geneus Health to bring the GARS™ test to the world.

Oddly enough, genetics works in essentially the same way as selfies. Genes play the role of the tiny pixels that collectively make up the image of our inner self. They’re the building blocks that make us who we are. Genes determine our eye color, hair color and a host of other things including an influence on our behavior. When genes function the way that they should, the image they project can appear focused – sharp and crisp to the naked eye. Conversely, a gene that does not function adequately can make the resulting image seem a bit blurred and at times surreal.

It is important to note that your genetic selfie is not a permanent prediction of your future; but rather an indication of what could emerge. Keep in mind that environment plays an equal part in this equation. In fact, there are millions of people who have genetic predispositions to addiction that never abused drugs and/or alcohol because of the influence their environment has on them.

Where genes and pixels differ, is that just one gene variation or single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) out of twenty billion can change the entire picture. That is not a typo; one out of twenty billion! To give you a sense of scale, a single molecule is so small that it would get lost on the sharp tip of a pin. It’s hard to imagine that something so small could have such an outsized effect, but it does. As tiny as these gene SNPs may be, they’re powerful enough to influence a person’s potential to abuse drugs and/or alcohol or engage in other risky behaviors; ergo, blur the selfie.

There is another factor that influences a person’s addiction risk that needs to be taken into consideration in order to be able to view the complete image. In recent years, researchers and doctors have found that environment plays a larger role in influencing risky behavior – such as substance and/or non-substance use disorders.

Parenting, family, friends, education, religion, economics and other factors found in one’s environment has a direct influence on a person’s vulnerability to addiction by as much as 50%.

However, all experts agree that early insight into one’s risk of susceptibility to drug and/or alcohol abuse and/or other destructive

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This relatively new technology has created a whole new genre in preventing addiction!

GARS™ is a game-changer. This genetic selfie tells the underlying story of susceptibility to addiction in real time with exact precision; a story that often was merely guessed at in the past. This state-ofthe-art diagnostic empowers its users by providing life-changing health information that can guide future choices. It has changed the way we treat ourselves and the people closet to us.

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GARS™ can tell the ‘propensity to addiction’ story long before someone begins abusing drugs, alcohol or other substances and/or non-substance behaviors.

People tell us all the time how they’ve successfully navigated through challenging times using their GARS™ results as a compass. Proactive parents are having their children tested so that they can correct any environmental issues that could negatively influence their kids before an addiction begins. One of the most fascinating non-substance behaviors uncovered for children and adolescents is online gaming. Many addicts in recovery tell us they wished they had known this information way back when – before they began experimenting with drugs, alcohol or other items.

As groundbreaking as GARS™ is, the diagnostic is just part of the transformative Precision Addiction Management (PAM™) platform developed by Dr. Blum in collaboration with Geneus Health.

GARS™ plays the role of identifying the genes – fuzzy pixels – that influence addiction and other behaviors, but that only tells you the issue. With this invaluable information provided by GARS™, Dr. Blum and Geneus Health have customized a patented, genetically guided therapy called restoreGen™. restoreGen™ is a prodopamine regulator that consists of six different neuro-nutrient formulations that supplement genetic dysfunction and rebalance brain chemistry. Each restoreGen™ formulation is tailored to the genetic outcomes of the individual’s GARS™ report.

All tests are 100% confidential.

Whoever said ‘a picture is worth a thousand words could never have imagined the impact a GARS™ genetic selfie could have in helping to fight this horrific drug addiction epidemic we find ourselves in today.

To learn more about Geneus Health, please visit us at www.GeneusHealth.com. For more about Dr. Blum, please visit: www.geneushealth.com/dr-kenneth-blum.

Kenneth Blum, B.Sc. (Pharmacy), M.Sc., Ph.D. & DHL; received his Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology from New York Medical College and graduated from Columbia University and New Jersey College of Medicine. He also received a doctor of humane letters from Saint Martin’s University Lacey, WA. He has published more than 550 abstracts; peer-reviewed articles and 14-books.

Dr. Siwicki is board certified in emergency medicine and is also certified in addiction medicine. Dr. Siwicki was the co-founder of Dominion Diagnostics LLC; North Kingston, RI which is now the largest privately held toxicology laboratory in the U.S. Dr. Siwicki is also the co – founder of Geneus Health, LLC. He serves as President of Geneus Health and Igene LLC and is a member of Board of Directors on Dominion Diagnostics. www.geneushealth.com/newpage1 Justin Jones is a graduate of Texas State University with a M.B.A. from Post University Malcolm Baldridge School of Business. He is a certified healthcare finance professional with HFMA. Justin has 19 years of experience in executive management, marketing, mergers and acquisitions, and many other roles with both Fortune 500 and small specialized companies. Justin also has a diverse business background in both the U.S. and internationally, including China, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Justin is a published author of the Powerhouse Interviewing Workbook and has presented at numerous speaking engagements and seminars. www.geneushealth.com/newpage

If there was a genetic version of Photoshop, restoreGen™ would be it. This pioneering new technology takes the genetic deficits – fuzzy pixels – identified by the GARS™ test and sharpens their image while reshaping them into more of their original contour. In a short period of time the genes begin to function normally as they were intended to.

Anyone who has a genetic predisposition to at-risk behaviors or addiction can benefit from the restoreGen™ neuro-nutrients.

Dozens of published clinical studies validate this neuro-nutrient technology in rebalancing brain chemistry showing to help with: • • • • • •

Reducing addictive cravings Optimizing brain health Increasing focus Enhancing energy Relieving stress Improving overall well-being

restoreGen™ neuro-nutrients – which have been used to manage addiction recovery in leading treatment centers across the country for years – have been scientifically proven to reduce or eliminate excessive desires for unhealthy behaviors and pleasure-inducing substances.

Since knowledge is power, the transformative Precision Addiction Management (PAM™) is a super-power. It takes all the guesswork out of the calculus. No more “what if?” or “should I?” GARS™ provides you with a genetic selfie that shows if you or your loved one has a genetic predisposition to self-destructive behaviors. Anyone with a default setting pointing to addictive and/or destructive behaviors, or has a loved one who does, needs to carefully examine all the life changing attributes PAM™ provides. Many addiction treatment centers across the U.S. are finding GARS™ and restoreGen™ to be a great complimentary component to current treatment regimens, enhancing both the treatment and recovery process.

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C4 / MUSIC, MIND, MUSIC THERAPY: CONSIDERATIONS FOR TREATMENT AND RECOVERY

By Jim Borling, MM, MT-BC, Fellow of the Association for Music and Imagery

On their website www.musictherapy.org, The American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) defines music therapy as: …the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program.

The AMTA goes on to suggest that clinical interventions using music can effectively be designed to promote wellness, manage stress, assist with emotional expression, improve communication, enhance community and more.

While a professional, board certified music therapist may be employed in any number of clinical settings (special education, hospice, physical/medical rehabilitation, dementia care and much more) the application of music therapy practice to early and ongoing treatment for substance use disorders (SUD) may efficiently fit into three principle categories. These categories of recovery (physical, emotional, and spiritual) are considered fundamental to long-term sobriety and a life of quality recovery. It is common, particularly in 12-step settings, to view addiction as a disease of body, mind, and spirit. The board certified music therapist is uniquely positioned to address each area in treatment models that include in-patient, outpatient, and aftercare settings.

Music therapy is often referred to as an ‘experiential therapy’, and in the case of working with addictions, addressing recovery by focusing on physical, emotional, and spiritual issues of recovery contributes to the overall treatment standards that any given treatment setting may address. Generally speaking, we can experience music in a variety of ways. We listen, sing, move, create, relax, improvise, discuss. We can experience music on many levels simultaneously. Music can concurrently make us think, feel, socialize, communicate and much, much more. This experiential and multi-dimensional aspect of music lends itself well to an integrated and all-inclusive approach to the recovery process.

Music Therapy and Physical Recovery Physical recovery is an ever-present challenge for individuals dealing with an addiction. Not only are withdrawal symptoms often present, the client in early treatment is likely dealing with elevated stress levels, irritability, anxiety, and an emotional liability specific to physical issues, all of which can be triggers to use one’s drug of choice. Examples of clinical music therapy goals related to physical recovery include: To participate in active and receptive stress management techniques in a group setting To practice receptive stress management techniques outside of group music therapy sessions To participate in active music-making experiences To participate in group movement exercise/creative movement experiences

• • • •

While stress management is a skill developed over time, encouraging a healthy relationship with one’s physical being (body) may be more of a challenge. The music therapist may engage the client in active music making experiences (drumming, musical improvisation, vocal chant etc.) or may challenge the client on a physical level with creative movement.

John, after participating in an energetic movement exercise to the song “New Attitude Dance” by Patti Labelle, stated that although he felt a bit awkward doing this with a group of people, he felt his body ‘waking up’ …and a sense of ‘fun’ he had not felt for some time was present for him.

Re-establishing that heathy relationship with one’s physical self is critical to a healthy recovery. The music therapist, by engaging the

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physical self outside of traditional cognitive or psycho-educational lines, may assist the client in reawakening the body in a safe and contained way on the journey of recovery.

Music Therapy and Emotional Recovery We know that without clear and direct attention given to emotional recovery, strong feelings may begin to surface that the client is unprepared to deal with in a clean and sober manner. Additionally, co-morbid issues of depression, anxiety, or even past trauma may begin to surface in the treatment setting. Giving appropriate clinical attention to these issues is critical to a sustained life of sobriety.

Music touches us deeply. Regardless of how we are participating in the music experience (singing, listening, creating, relaxing) music has a way of bringing our emotional needs right to the surface.

Examples of clinical music therapy goals related to emotional recovery include: • • • •

To actively participate in group lyric discussion To actively contribute to and participate in group song-writing exercises To identify areas of emotional challenge and growth in the early stages of recovery To actively participate in expressive music-making exercises and improvisations, including drumming

Any time the client is engaged in a music experience, the likelihood of emotions beginning to surface is strong. These emotions may be challenging but they may also be quite positive and life-affirming.

Shirley, when reflecting on the lyrics to a Don McLean song (‘Crossroads’), was able to open up and discuss her internal conflict that seemed just out of reach in other discussion-based groups. She particularly resonated with the lyrics from verse one: But I’m all tied up on the inside, No one knows quite what I’ve got; And I know that on the outside What I used to be, I’m not anymore.

Shirley was able to feel on a deep level what these lyrics represented for her. The music gave Shirley that opportunity to stay with the emotions thereby moving to a more relaxed, affirmed, and positive emotional posture after the music therapy group was over.

Music Therapy and Spiritual Recovery While spiritual recovery is a phrase that can be widely interpreted by people in treatment as well as professionals in the addictions community, it is generally agreed that some attention to spirituality is essential if long term abstinence and a sense of well-being is to be sustained. The music therapist is in a unique position to assist Continued on page 16

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,

& HEALING TRACK MUSIC THERAPY IN ADDICTIONS TREATMENT

By Susan C. Gardstrom, PhD, MT-BC

I sit in a small, unadorned room with ten other women—all residents of an addictions treatment facility in Dayton, Ohio. Samia’s hands rest casually on the tubano drum, positioned on the floor in front of her.

“This is how I feel right here, right now,” she states assuredly. Then, making a fist, she forcefully pounds the drumhead once, twice, three times. She explains: “I feel powerful today; that’s a new feeling for me!”

The other women spontaneously applaud. Samia smiles and passes the drum to the woman on her left. “I’m Josie,” she mumbles,” and this is how I feel right here, right now.” Josie creates loud, chaotic bursts of sound. Eventually, these expressions give way to a quiet, repeated rhythm that fades to silence. Josie looks up tearily and rallies to speak: “I thought I was angry, but the drum brought out the sadness underneath. That’s what I need to face…the grief that drives me to use.” This is Josie’s first public admission that her addictive trajectory was set in motion by sorrow—most likely from the death of her infant son. I suggest that she start her griefwork by listening to “Lullaby” (Dixie Chicks), with the physical and emotional support of the stout women around her. She agrees, and we all plunge into (and eventually emerge from) this tempest. The song both spurs and contains the raw expression of Josie’s anguish, and the other residents, many of whom have experienced similar losses, and are able to empathize deeply.

• Instrumental Composition • Musical Collage

I am a volunteer at this facility and a board-certified music therapist.

Music therapy is a creative arts therapy whose aim is to promote health and well-being using music experiences and the powerful relationships that develop through them. Certified therapists are found in a host of educational, medical, and rehabilitative settings.

The women and men I meet vary widely in age, identities, and life histories, yet they have much in common. All have spent the better part of their teen and adult years seeking drugs and alcohol as a way to anesthetize undesirable feelings, such as isolation, shame, regret, anger, fear, and hopelessness. Most have co-occurring physical and psychiatric disorders and struggle on a daily basis with poor selfesteem. All are desperate to break the potentially fatal addictive cycle once and for all. Music, when skillfully and compassionately introduced, can help them to claim personal agency, engage in authentic self-expression, and develop meaningful and supportive connections with other group members toward sustained recovery.

Group sessions typically last anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes. Initially, I work to promote a positive working alliance and decrease potential anxiety about the process, assuring the residents that they need not have musical talent to profit from music therapy and establishing the session as a “no judgment zone.” As depicted above, a brief emotional check-in often leads to the “core” music experience, wherein the bulk of therapeutic work occurs.

You just call on your sponsor when you need a friend We all need an “old timer” to lean on They just might have an answer that saves your rear end We all need an “old timer” to lean on

• Instrumental Improvisation • Vocal Improvisation • Mixed Media Improvisation

1. Listening – The clients take in recorded or live music and respond in some fashion.

• Music-assisted Relaxation • Music-assisted Imagery • Song Discussion Example: The residents experience opioid withdrawal-related agitation—unrest so severe that it interferes with their ability to focus. The need to decrease agitation is obvious and insistent.

Accordingly, I select a recorded instrumental piece to support deep, regular breathing. I overlay a guided imagery script.

Afterward, several residents in attendance report increased physical relaxation and diminished racing thoughts. Guided music listening has positively impacted the autonomic nervous system.

2. Composition – The clients create original lyrics, music, and compilations.

• Song Transformation and Song Writing

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The process of composition has allowed for the healthy exploration of an important therapeutic theme and resulted in a sense of musical accomplishment.

3. Improvisation – The clients create sounds and music spontaneously with the voice and instruments.

Four types of music experiences and multiple variations of each are available to support therapeutic processes:

Example: The theme of ‘Friendship’ arises during the check-in. I suggest that this co-ed group write original lyrics about friendship using “Lean on Me” (Bill Withers) as a basis. They work in teams of 2-3, first discussing what it means to be a true friend to another in recovery, and then folding these ideas into the song structure.

The residents re-convene to agree on the finished product and rehearse the song transformation. They then proudly perform it for the staff, singing the bridge with particular zeal:

Example: The men report a need to “let go of anger and frustration” related to interpersonal strain on the unit. I offer instrumental improvisation as an option for the release of these unwanted emotions. The men explore percussion instruments and each chooses one. I “lay down” a consistent pulse and encourage free expression. Playing is tentative at first, but soon the men assert their “voices,” and scowls give way to smiles. Many are observed interacting musically with others. After several minutes, one of the players begins a rumble, and the rest of us join in, building to a synchronized and decisive conclusion and followed by a burst of laughter. Rhythm has energized and organized individual players’ expressions, and tension and divisiveness has been replaced by healthy playfulness and a sense of unity.

4. Re-creation – The clients learn and perform existing music.

• Instrumental Re-creation • Vocal Re-creation • Musical Productions

Example: It is a rainy day, and the women report low energy and loneliness. I match their emotional tenor, singing a contemplative chant about the importance of sheltering one another from the storms of life. After multiple repetitions, some of the women begin to sing with me. I move seamlessly into another song,

Continued on page 16

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THE 20TH ANNUAL CROSSROADS GOLF TOURNAMENT The 20th Annual Crossroads Golf Tournament didn’t fail to offer participates an impressive day of fellowship, fun and the opportunity to hit the links for a good cause. Over 100 golfers were greeted with a double rainbow arching over the course as the shotgun began. The event is to benefit The Crossroads Club of Delray which serves over 750 attendees per day at its 7,200 square ft. 12 Step based meeting facility. Crossroads Club of Delray welcomes over 164 various meetings per week. The Golf Tournament is a staple of the May social calendar of events for this 36 year old organization.

This tournament is overseen by the ever magnetic and spirited Executive Director Tony Allerton. He is a pillar in the much needed fundraising efforts for The Crossroads Club, and helps to insure that the doors of Crossroads Club allows to remain open 365 days a year.

The Sober World is proud to be a sponsor of this yearly event, and all that Crossroads does all year long to help those looking for recovery, and those in recovery.

MUSIC THERAPY: CONSIDERATIONS FOR TREATMENT AND RECOVERY

By Jim Borling, MM, MT-BC, Fellow, Association for Music and Imagery

this developing relationship with spirituality and one’s own Higher Power as professed by the 12-step community. Music, by its very nature, has the ability to touch us deeply and to call forward those aspects of our being that are ready for growth and healing. For some, the simple reclamation of feelings and of human-ness is spiritual in nature. For others, spirituality is a more traditional and familiar experience of a God of the Churches. Examples of clinical music therapy goals related to spiritual recovery include: • To develop an introductory relationship with the 12-steps of recovery; emphasis on steps 1-3 • To explore a personal relationship with a ‘power greater than oneself’ • To actively participate in structured music and imagery experiences, where appropriate, in a group setting • To explore personal qualities that contribute to the recovery process It was Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist, who so clearly shared the phrase ‘Spiritus contra Spiritum’ in a personal letter to Bill W., co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Jung was clearly suggesting that attention to spiritual development was central to the recovery process.

During a group music and imagery exercise, clients were asked to reflect on some of the phrases often heard around 12 step meetings.

Some of the typical phrases heard at meetings include ‘Easy does It’, ‘One Day at a Time’, ‘Let Go, Let God, ‘First Things First’.

During the music and imagery experience, Mary almost immediately connected with her chosen phrase “Let Go, Let God”.

For her, and in a quite spontaneous manner, the inner message was clear: Forgiveness was the key. She felt forgiven by her Higher Power; she understood forgiveness of self; she felt, not just thought about, but actually felt the process of forgiveness that was emerging within her extended family and friends.

This pivotal and healing moment fits well into the ‘music and imagery generated’ spiritual event for Mary. The experience came from within her, be was felt deeply as a healing that was equally beyond her; connected to a power greater than herself.

Music therapy as an experiential therapy, offers individuals with substance use disorders a means to reconnect with their body, mind, and spirit. Through meaningful and purposeful music therapy experiences, the client can experience a return to a productive manner of living. Participation in music therapy processes as stated above will lead to experiences of openness, creativity, and responsibility in all areas of one’s life. This journey toward psychological maturity can be awakened through the music therapy process and will support continued recovery outside of

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Continued from page 14

the treatment environment with other members of the recovery community. Music therapy, as described here, is a meaningful and impactful addition to the traditional treatment milieu. ‘Clinical outcomes’ become ‘experiential outcomes’ as clients come to ‘know a new freedom and a new happiness’, ‘comprehend the word serenity and know peace’, and consider a ‘whole attitude and outlook on life’. (Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous) Jim Borling is a board certified music therapist (MT-BC), Fellow of the Association for Music and Imagery (AMI), and Professor Emeritus at Radford University in Radford, Virginia. Jim provides trainings in the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM) and has offered workshops/trainings in Spain, Germany, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, and the USA. He specializes in work with Substance Use Disorder and Trauma. He may be contacted at ‘jborling@radford.edu’

MUSIC THERAPY IN ADDICTIONS TREATMENT

By Susan C. Gardstrom, PhD, MT-BC

Continued from page 15

accompanying on guitar. Now almost everyone is singing. I distribute binders with lyrics for 40 popular songs of various styles, and the women take turns requesting favorites—some old and some new, some forlorn and some frivolous, but all conjuring meaningful memories and associations. To end the session, someone suggests “Fight Song” (Rachel Platten), and the residents sing with gusto. The women have experienced a few of the many documented therapeutic benefits of singing (especially singing with others), such as decreased depression and increased sense of personal empowerment through self-expression.

These examples show some of the many ways that music is used toward healthy reflection, expression, and interaction among people with addictions. As a unique and powerful complement to more traditional therapies, music therapy promotes the bio-physical, psycho-emotional, and psycho-spiritual healing that is viewed as a necessary aspect of recovery.

References Provided Upon Request Susan C. Gardstrom is Professor and Coordinator of Music Therapy at the University of Dayton. Clientele served include adjudicated adolescents, children with physical disabilities and autism, and adults with addictions.

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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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For the Families With all the current talk and press coverage, addiction and those struggling with addiction, have finally gotten a lot of needed attention. Unfortunately, the parents and families who have loved ones struggling with addiction are often over-looked. Luckily, my husband and I discovered the New Jersey Parent Support Group after learning of our daughter’s drug addiction ten years ago.

Through their support, we were able to get the help and guidance we so desperately needed in our lives and were able to get her into treatment. She has now been clean and sober for 61/2 years. We

also have a son who has been in recovery for almost three years.

Through it all, I have continued to attend meetings as a way to give back to this wonderful group that helped save my family.

Last year, another long-term couple in the group lost their son who had been in recovery out of state. It was tragic and unexpected. Group members rallied to their support, causing me to closely examine the purpose of our group. This was the result.

THE CIRCLE We sit in the circle for an hour, sharing our loss, struggle, sadness, frustration, and anger.

We lay bare our soul while being invited to witness the same in others.

We share secrets with the circle that the people closest to us may never know.

We each come to the circle for the same reason, but we are each on our own journey.

We travel next to one another. Each ones journey is similar, but not the same.

Week after week we return, until that hour becomes a month, two, six, a year…

We offer and receive support through slips, falls, and obstacles.

We celebrate successes, progress, healing, and life.

Sometimes that hour reaches across years.

We draw strength and courage from each other’s forward movement.

We celebrate milestones reached and strategize pitfalls and obstacles.

We become friends in a way we could never explain to someone outside our circle.

Sometimes, there is a loss. It is deep, profound, and painful.

It’s a combination of grief, anger, and fear.

Grief over the loss, anger over its senselessness, and fear because it reminds us that we come to this circle one day at a time.

Next year, next month, even just tomorrow…nothing is guaranteed.

There’s no life-time warranty. There’s not even an extended one available for purchase.

That’s in someone else’s store, not in ours.

And so, we return to the circle…for an hour, for now, for today.

Gradually, we can begin to hope again.

We draw comfort from the others, we offer ours to them.

Life, as we’ve come to know it, goes on.

-Kathi I. 3/27/2017

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IMPORTANT HELPLINE NUMBERS ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS AL-ANON

A New PATH www.anewpath.org Addiction Haven www.addictionhaven.com Bryan’s Hope www.bryanshope.org CAN- Change Addiction Now www.addictionnow.org Changes www.changesaddictionsupport.org City of Angels www.cityofangelsnj.org FAN- Families Against Narcotics www.familiesagainstnarcotics.org Learn to Cope www.learn2cope.org The Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence www.licadd.org Magnolia New Beginnings www.magnolianewbeginnings.org Missouri Network for Opiate Reform and Recovery www.monetwork.org New Hope facebook.com/New-Hope-Family-Addiction-Support-1682693525326550/ Not One More www.notonemore.net/

WWW.AA.ORG WWW.AL-ANON.ORG 888-425-2666 NAR-ANON WWW.NAR-ANON.ORG 800-477-6291 CO-DEPENDENTS ANONYMOUS WWW.CODA.ORG 602-277-7991 COCAINE ANONYMOUS WWW.CA.ORG 310-559-5833 MARIJUANA ANONYMOUS WWW.MARIJUANA-ANONYMOUS.ORG 800-766-6779 NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS WWW.NA.ORG 818-773-9999 EXT- 771 OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS WWW.OA.ORG 505-891-2664 NATIONAL COUNCIL ON PROBLEM GAMBLING WWW.NCPGAMBLING.ORG 800- 522-4700 GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS WWW.GAMBLERSANONYMOUS.ORG 626-960-3500 HOARDING WWW.HOARDINGCLEANUP.COM NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE WWW.SUICIDEPREVENTIONLIFELINE.ORG 800-273-8255 NATIONAL RUNAWAY SAFELINE WWW.1800RUNAWAY.ORG 800- RUNAWAY (786-2929) CALL 2-1-1 WWW.211.ORG ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH FAMILY AND CHILDRENS AGENCIES WWW.AJFCA.ORG 410-843-7461 MENTAL HEALTH WWW.NAMI.ORG 800-950-6264 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE WWW.THEHOTLINE.ORG 800-799-7233 HIV HOTLINE WWW.PROJECTFORM.ORG 877-435-7443 CRIME STOPPERS USA WWW.CRIMESTOPPERSUSA.ORG 800-222-TIPS (8477) CRIME LINE WWW.CRIMELINE.ORG 800-423-TIPS (8477) LAWYER ASSISTANCE WWW.AMERICANBAR.ORG 312-988-5761 PALM BEACH COUNTY MEETING HALLS CLUB OASIS CENTRAL HOUSE CROSSROADS EASY DOES IT THE TRIANGLE CLUB LAMBDA NORTH

PAL - Parents of Addicted Loved Ones www.palgroup.org/

BROWARD COUNTY MEETING HALLS

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WHAT TO EXPECT FROM NEW OPIOID DRUG POLICY (PART 3 OF 3)

By John Giordano, Doctor of Humane Letters, MAC, CAP

taking toxic pharmaceutical pills prescribed by our trusted primary care doctors for a disease that we think we have but doesn’t really exist. 1984 anyone?

U.S. spending on prescription medicines in 2016 increased by 4.8 percent to $323 billion when adjusted for discounts and rebates.

With all of this being said, does anyone still wonder why we’re in the middle of a raging drug epidemic?

We are here in the middle of the worst drug epidemic in history, largely in part to the failure of our elected officials to perform their primary duty of protecting us, their constituents, by unleashing an industry from their moral obligation to act responsibly in their quest for larger profits.

According to the CDC, sales of prescription opioids in the U.S. nearly quadrupled from 1999 to 2014. According to the data firm QuintilesIMS, the pharmaceutical companies that make opioid painkillers grossed $8.6 billion in 2016 from the sales of 336 million opioid prescriptions. That’s more than 1 prescription for every man, woman and child in the U.S. There was another milestone in 2016, more than 63,600 drug overdose deaths in the United States.

Politicians are addicted to the pharmaceutical industry’s money.

The old joke; ‘how do you know when a politician is lying – their lips are moving,’ seems to have a special place here. Sure, they seem sympathetic when a constituent dies from an overdose, and they talk tough about addiction policy, but, behind closed doors, most accept campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry and meet with their lobbyists. Pharma has spent enough money on lawmakers to buy any vote on drugs and/or drug regulations that comes up in congress. There is just too much money passing through too many lawmakers’ hands for us to expect any real and meaningful drug policy.

It is for this, among other facts, that I find the administration’s new three prong drug policy so disconcerting. Most addiction experts agree, myself included, that building a wall on our Southern border to stop the import of illicit drugs, revitalizing the “Just Say No” campaign, and executing certain drug traffickers is just a façade, and a poor one at that, intended to produce colorful sound bites for the news cycle to make some people feel good while keeping your eye off the ball.

If this administration was committed to real change and effective drug policy, they’d be better served adapting the emergency policies from the 90’s that allowed experimental HIV drugs to be fast-tracked through the FDA and quickly made available to the public. It was all hands on deck. Albeit, things weren’t always pretty at times, but the policy was effective and helped save tens of thousands of lives.

If we had something even close to that kind of commitment today, I seriously doubt that we’d be in the worst drug epidemic known to man. There would be all hands on deck –meaning researchers would be allowed to study and test drugs like Ibogaine that already have been proven effective in the treatment of addiction.

I use Ibogaine as an example because of its effectiveness in treating addiction and the deep history I have with the organic substance. Beginning in the mid-nineties, I was one of only a handful of researchers and technicians involved in the only FDA approved study of Ibogaine lead by Dr. Debra Nash on St. Kitts Island.

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a schedule 1 drug along with LSD and marijuana in the late 60’s at the height of the hippie movement. The U.S. is one of only a few countries that ban Ibogaine; in fact, most countries don’t even regulate it. Many scholars believe that Ibogaine earned its schedule 1 status more as a tool to quell the social unrest at the time as opposed to its abuse.

Patients were swimming in the Caribbean in two to three days!

What I experienced on St. Kitts astonished not only me, but everyone involved in the study, including Dr. Mash. In a TV interview after the study, Dr Mash stated: “The thing we learned straight away was that the ibogaine detox was 98 percent effective for opiate withdrawals,” Mash said of its short-term detoxification rate. “I couldn’t believe it.” Not only were the patients detoxing painlessly, most claimed that their experience was like years of therapy.

Ibogaine has a shelf-life in the body that is unique to everyone.

Usually it begins to lose its effectiveness in 60 to 90 days. For some it is less and others more. Regardless, it is imperative for someone who has gone through Ibogaine treatment to get into a recovery program right away to take full advantage of its effects.

Many patients from the study came to my center for aftercare treatment. I can tell you first hand that these people were much different from the others we’d worked with. Everyone at my facility, from the therapists to the transport drivers, noticed that they were much more motivated and proactive about their therapy.

Due to a lack of funding, it became nearly impossible to track the progress of all the 300 plus ibogaine patients involved in the study. However, Dr Mash was able to connect with most patients about a year after treatment and found that about half were still clean and sober.

Ibogaine is just one of many drugs and therapies that is evidenced-based and scientifically proven to be effective in the treatment of addiction. It is used successfully around the world nearly everywhere but where it is needed the most, right here in the U.S. I find it simply incredulous that anyone of average or above intelligence could think that executing some drug traffickers will curb this raging drug epidemic better than a proven effective therapy such as Ibogaine. It is painfully apparent that we can no longer depend on our current elected officials to perform their most basic duty of protecting us, their constituents. But there is a way we can change that and I’ll provide more on that in the next issue of Sober World Magazine.

John Giordano, Doctor of Humane Letters, MAC, CAP, is the founder of ‘Life Enhancement Aftercare Recovery Center,’ an Addiction Treatment Consultant, President and Founder of the National Institute for Holistic Addiction Studies, Chaplain of the North Miami Police Department and is the Second Vice President of the Greater North Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce. He is on the editorial board of the highly respected scientific Journal of Reward Deficiency Syndrome (JRDS) and has contributed to over 65 papers published in peer-reviewed scientific and medical journals. For the latest development in cutting-edge addiction treatment, check out his websites: www.PreventAddictionRelapse.com www.HolisticAddictionInfo.com

Ibogaine occurs naturally in iboga root bark found in west central Africa. It has been used safely by locals in religious ceremonies and as a medicine for 100’s of years. In the U.S. it was deemed

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TRAUMA THEN AND NOW (PART 3 OF 3)

By Nancy Jarrell O’Donnell, MA, LPC, CSAT

our nervous systems and our physiology. Activities that combine both a neutralizing beat and prosodic sound or music are most effective and also reduce depressive symptoms.

Outdoor Activity - Blue light from the sun is a part of the visible spectrum in the solar rays. Blue light helps keep us awake and energized during the day as it suppresses the release of melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone that causes sleepiness and naturally rises when the sun goes down to help us sleep. If we stay indoors most of the day our eyes fail to take in the appropriate amount of light needed to provide us an internal signal as to when to sleep or be awake. We need to spend time in the outdoors so our melatonin levels will change providing us the signals for when to rest and when to stay awake. It is significant to also recreate the environment for natural sleep/awake cycles to occur. We know that sunlight decreases symptoms of depression and the expansiveness of a beautiful, natural environment helps us to feel more stable and grounded.

Blue Light from the sun enhances mood and energy through the release of endorphins. Endorphins are neuro-transmitters or hormones that are released in the brain and elevate mood.

Affirmation - helps to replace negative, damaging thoughts, and self-beliefs with new positive and productive ones.

Movement - presence in the body through focused intentional movement helps ground us in the present. Research shows that movement increases the flow of blood and oxygen, which in turn assists with learning, and physical and mental well-being. Trauma can be stored in the body and some survivors may find nonverbal expression a safer method of trauma release and recovery.

Movement can help break up the freeze state (tonic immobility), which is characterized by profound motor inhibition during inescapable terror, that some trauma survivors find themselves returning to when in fear. Walking, hiking, cycling, dance, and more, all provide increased endorphin release and help elevate mood. The healthy brain seeks novelty. Trying something new involving action, movement, or activity can help build new healthy neural pathways.

Sleep - Treating sleep disturbance is critical when helping those with unresolved trauma. REM sleep is the fifth sleep stage that occurs about one hour to an hour and a half into sleep. It recurs throughout the course of a good night’s sleep and is critical in providing us the opportunity for our brain to re-boot, to cycle through the day’s events, to rest, and to refreshen for the next day. When this doesn’t happen, our ability for decision-making, healthy choices, clear memory and more is impaired. REM sleep is typically absent or minimal in people with addictions and trauma. To truly provide holistic treatment; it only makes sense to treat sleepproviding more than “sleep hygiene” lectures by referring a client to a sleep specialist who provides consults on sleep and perhaps recommend a diagnostic sleep laboratory.

Creative Expression - Activities such as poetry writing, playing music, drawing, coloring, knitting, crocheting and more can assist in creating harmony as both our logical, linear; language areas of the brain and our creative and emotional areas of the brain are activated when engaging in these activities.

Healthy Others - We also know today that we impact each other’s brain. Thus, finding other people who stimulate our thinking, excite us with new healthy interests, and who are engaged in life can help us heal. Mirror neurons are brain cells that code the behavior and actions of other people as well as our own. Although more research is needed, current research assumes these neurons act to provide our ability to simulate another person’s condition. Many of us have experienced the mood of another being contagious and when framed in positivity this can effectuate brain change that keeps us in healthy life engagement.

Spending time with people who affect us in a positive way reinforces our ability to simulate their manners, actions, moods, and outlook as we in turn provide this to them. The mutuality of a healthy rewarding

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relationship changes our brain in a myriad of positive ways.

Re-Parenting - For some, re-parenting of those suffering by providing them what lacked in their early development; or what was later lost in adulthood such as the provision of physical and emotional safety, consistent compassion, support, kindness, and acceptance are necessary for effective trauma treatment. We can treat the attachment failure by re-parenting people through nurturing, compassion, empathy, kindness, and the provision of a safe environment in which to experience trust in relationships.

Healing Begins with Kindness - Research shows that the most critical part in whether or not a patient heals in therapy is not the modality the therapist employs, but rather the therapeutic relationship itself. Research cites empathy as the significant factor that must exist for therapeutic success. Everything in life is relational. Relationships are at the heart of all our joy and all our sorrow. We are wounded in relationship and so to heal it makes sense to do so in the context of a safe relationship. Through consistent genuine experiences of feeling cared for over a period of time, a person can gain the safety, selfworth, connection, and trust in another that has been absent.

The therapeutic relationship can influence Neuroplasticity. The result of positive focused attention on someone that allows the person’s brain to change in response to the experiences facilitates Neuroplasticity.

The latest research on neuroscience and the brain are significant factors that can guide a patient’s treatment plan. The dysregulation of the nervous system and emotions resulting from traumatic experience once understood and attended to, serve to move those with Substance Use Disorder to a fulfilling life void of illegal substances. Coping skills to manage challenges and difficult emotions can replace the need for substances.

Recovery means to return to a normal or previous state of health.

Trauma recovery must involve the entire body and move one towards full brain/body connection. Integrative experiences assist in healthy brain changes.

In past decades, it was believed that trauma recovery required the verbal sharing of traumatic experiences with a trusted, safe, and non-judgmental individual in therapy. We know today that this revisiting of traumatic events can be detrimental to some and that PTSD in part involved the patient reliving the past in the present.

In conclusion, treating addictions and other behavioral health issues requires targeting the root trauma. Current neuroscientific findings; particularly neuroplasticity provides clinicians a guide to implement specific therapies and modalities to support positive brain change in our patients. A robust treatment program will be truly integrative, include individual, group, and family therapy and be truly customized for the individual. If we are not treating the trauma history, we are neglecting a critical need for our clients to live in long-term recovery. Using neuroplasticity as the foundation for development of a clinical program can contribute to the provision of customized treatment with a buffet of healing options.

Nancy Jarrell O’Donnell specializes in addiction and trauma treatment. She has spent most of her 25-year career working in residential and in-patient facilities. Her experience ranges from Psychotherapist to Clinical Director to President of Clinical Services/Operations. She is a licensed therapist in Arizona currently in private practice. She developed The Sabino Model: Neuroscience Based Addiction and Trauma Treatment™ www.nancyjarrellodonnell.com ©Nancy Jarrell O’Donnell 2018

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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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