THE MISSING PEACE: Solving The Anger Problem For Alcoholics, Addicts And Those Who Love Them FROM ADDICT TO ADDICTION COUNSELOR: THE STRANGE AND WINDING JOURNEY OF MITCH FELD AM I MANIPULATIVE? The Journey is a Nightmare but a New Will Dawn Oxy Crackdown Brings Heroin Back
EXCERPTS from the “Answering the Crazymaking’’ BOOK Mental Health, Addiction And ScientificallyProven Holistic Remedies Recent Developments Regarding Hydrocodone Drug Scheduling Looking at Gender and Mental Health Beating Addictions Holistically: The Day Chiropractic Holistic Solution Back to the Basics of Recovery: Step Eleven (continued)
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A LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER Dear Readers, I welcome you to The Sober World magazine. This magazine is being directly mailed each month to anyone that has been arrested due to drugs, alcohol and petty theft in Palm Beach County. It is also distributed locally to all Palm Beach County High School Guidance Counselors, Middle School Coordinators, Palm Beach County Drug Court, Broward County School Substance Abuse Expulsion Program, Broward County Court Human Resource Department and other various locations. Many petty thefts are drug related, as the addicts need for drugs causes them to take desperate measures in order to have the ability to buy their drugs. Drug addiction has reached epidemic proportions throughout the country and is steadily increasing. Florida is one of the leading States where people come from all over to obtain pharmaceutical drugs from the pain clinics that have opened everywhere. The availability of prescription narcotics is overwhelming; as parents our hands are tied because it is legal. Doctors continue writing prescriptions for drugs such as Oxycontin, and Oxycodone (which is an opiate drug and just as addictive as heroin) to young adults in their 20’s and 30’s right up to the elderly in their 70”s, thus, creating a generation of addicts. Addiction is a disease but it is the most taboo of all diseases. As family members affected by this disease, we are often too ashamed to speak to anyone about our loved ones addiction, feeling that we will be judged. We try to pass it off as a passing phase in their lives, and some people hide their head in the sand until it becomes very apparent such as through an arrest, getting thrown out of school or even worse an overdose, that we realize the true extent of their addiction. I know that many of you who are reading this now are frantic that their loved one has been arrested. No parent ever wants to see his or her child arrested or put in jail, but this may be your opportunity to save your child or loved one’s life. They are more apt to listen to you now than they were before, when whatever you said may have fallen on deaf ears. This is the point where you know your loved one needs help, but you don’t know where to begin. I have compiled this informative magazine to try to take that fear and anxiety away from you and let you know there are many options to choose from. There are Psychologists and Psychiatrists that specialize in treating people with addictions. There are Education Consultants that will work with you to figure out what your loved ones needs are and come up with the best plan for them. There are Interventionists who will hold an intervention and try to convince your loved one that they need help. There are Transport Services that will scoop up your resistant loved one (under 18 yrs. old) and bring them to the facility you have chosen. There are long term Residential Programs (sometimes a year and longer) as well as short term programs (30-90 days), there are Therapeutic Boarding
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Schools, Wilderness programs, Extended Living and there are Sober Living Housing where they can work, go to meetings and be accountable for staying clean. Many times a Criminal Attorney will try to work out a deal with the court to allow your child or loved one to seek treatment as an alternative to jail. I know how overwhelming this period can be for you and I urge every parent or relative of an addict to get some help for yourself. There are many groups that can help you. There is Al-Anon, Alateen (for teenagers), Families Anonymous, Nar-Anon and more. This is a disease that affects the whole family, not just the parents. These groups allow you to share your thoughts and feelings. As anonymous groups, your anonymity is protected. Anything said within those walls are not shared with anyone outside the room. You share only your first name, not your last name. This is a wonderful way for you to be able to openly convey what has been happening in your life as well as hearing other people share their stories. You will find that the faces are different but the stories are all too similar. You will also be quite surprised to see how many families are affected by drug and alcohol addiction. Addiction knows no race or religion; it affects the wealthy as well as the poor, the highly educated, old, young-IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. This magazine is dedicated to my son Steven who graduated with top honors from University of Central Florida. He graduated with a degree in Psychology, and was going for his Masters in Applied Behavioral Therapy. He was a highly intelligent, sensitive young man who helped many people get their lives on the right course. He could have accomplished whatever he set his mind out to do. Unfortunately, after graduating from college he tried a drug that was offered to him not realizing how addictive it was and the power it would have over him. My son was 7 months clean when he relapsed and died of a drug overdose. I hope this magazine helps you find the right treatment for your loved one. They have a disease and like all diseases, you try to find the best care suited for their needs. They need help. Please don’t allow them to become a statistic. There is a website called the Brent Shapiro Foundation. Famed attorney Robert Shapiro started it in memory of his son. I urge each and every one of you to go to that website. They keep track on a daily basis of all the people that die due to drug overdoses. It will astound you. I hope you have found this magazine helpful. You may also visit us on the web at www.thesoberworld.com. To all you Fathers out there-Have a very Happy Fathers Day. Sincerely,
Patricia
Publisher Patricia@TheSoberWorld.com
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IMPORTANT HELPLINE NUMBERS 211 PALM BEACH/TREASURE COAST 211 www.211palmbeach.org FOR THE TREASURE COAST www.211treasurecoast.org FOR TEENAGERS www.teen211pbtc.org AAHOTLINE-NORTH PALM BEACH 561-655-5700 www.aa-palmbeachcounty.org AA HOTLINE- SOUTH COUNTY 561-276-4581 www.aainpalmbeach.org FLORIDA ABUSE HOTLINE 1-800-962-2873 www.dcf.state.fl.us/programs/abuse/ AL-ANON- PALM BEACH COUNTY 561-278-3481 www.southfloridaalanon.org AL-ANON- NORTH PALM BEACH 561-882-0308 www.palmbeachafg.org FAMILIES ANONYMOUS 847-294-5877 (USA) 800-736-9805 (Local) 561-236-8183 Center for Group Counseling 561-483-5300 www.groupcounseling.org CO-DEPENDENTS ANONYMOUS 561-364-5205 www.pbcoda.com COCAINE ANONYMOUS 954-779-7272 www.fla-ca.org COUNCIL ON COMPULSIVE GAMBLING 800-426-7711 www.gamblinghelp.org CRIMESTOPPERS 800-458-TIPS (8477) www.crimestopperspbc.com CRIME LINE 800-423-TIPS (8477) www.crimeline.org DEPRESSION AND MANIC DEPRESSION 954-746-2055 www.mhabroward FLORIDA DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE 800-500-1119 www.fcadv.org FLORIDA HIV/AIDS HOTLINE 800-FLA-AIDS (352-2437) FLORIDA INJURY HELPLINE 800-510-5553 GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS 800-891-1740 www.ga-sfl.org and www.ga-sfl.com HEPATITUS B HOTLINE 800-891-0707 JEWISH FAMILY AND CHILD SERVICES 561-684-1991 www.jfcsonline.com LAWYER ASSISTANCE 800-282-8981 MARIJUANA ANONYMOUS 800-766-6779 www.marijuana-anonymous.org NARC ANON FLORIDA REGION 888-947-8885 www.naranonfl.org NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS-PALM BEACH 561-848-6262 www.palmcoastna.org NATIONAL RUNAWAY SWITCHBOARD 800-RUNAWAY (786-2929) www.1800runaway.org NATIONAL SUICIDE HOTLINE 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433) www.suicidology.org ONLINE MEETING FOR MARIJUANA www.ma-online.org Ruth Rales Jewish Family Services 561-852-3333 www.ruthralesjfs.org WOMEN IN DISTRESS 954-761-1133 PALM BEACH COUNTY MEETING HALLS central house 2170 W Atlantic Ave. SW Corner of Atlantic & Congress Club Oasis 561-694-1949 Crossroads 561-278-8004 www.thecrossroadsclub.com EasY Does It 561-433-9971 The Meeting Place 561-255-9866 www.themeetingplaceinc.com The Triangle Club 561-832-1110 www.Thetriangleclubwpb.com BROWARD COUNTY MEETING HALLS 12 STEP HOUSE 954-523-4984 205 SW 23RD STREET 101 CLUB 700 SW 10TH DRIVE & DIXIE HWY LAMBDA SOUTH CLUB 954-761-9072 WWW.LAMBDASOUTH.COM POMPANO BEACH GROUP SW CORNER OF SE 2ND & FEDERAL HWY PRIDE CENTER 954-463-9005 www.pridecenterflorida.org WEST BROWARD CLUB 954-476-8290 WWW.WESTBROWARDCLUB.ORG
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THE MISSING PEACE: Solving The Anger Problem For Alcoholics, Addicts And Those Who Love Them By John Lee
The Missing Peace will be a significant breakthrough that will offer a lasting effect and help men and women deal with the part of recovery that has been misunderstood, misquoted, and just plain missing. The Missing Peace will answer the most often asked questions: “What do I do with my anger?” or “Is it really okay to express it?” and “Can I do so without hurting myself and others without risk of relapse?” The answer is “Yes, yes, yes!” Let’s learn how to say yes to appropriately expressed anger and yes to peace. I am a recovering alcoholic who was raised in an extended family of alcoholics and drug addicts. I’ve been in recovery for twenty years, but not without a few slips. I have counseled alcoholics and addicts for twenty years. I have also listened to and worked with the people who love them, live with them, can’t live without them, work with them, play with them and are exhausted by them. I have trained hundreds of therapists and counselors how to safely facilitate the appropriate expression of anger. Everyone wants a solution to the anger problem, but many psychologists and therapists are unable to provide one. This book provides the pieces that have been missing from many alcoholics’ and addicts’ recovery programs and thus find the peace we all want in our lives. For years I tried to erase my anger and achieve this elusive thing called Peace through meditation, prayer and intellect, but these were never intended to make anger go away. They were just ways to bypass my feelings not only of anger, but sadness, grief, loneliness, fear and even love. Much later I learned feelings are meant to be felt, not bypassed or ignored. I tried to convince others and myself that I was above such feelings and didn’t really have them or need them. I was too smart and educated to be angry. As proof, I tried to write sensitive poetry and taught religious studies and meditation at the college level—all the while drinking and drugging and medicating to keep my feelings under wraps and peace at bay. I was wrapped a little too tightly for mine and others’ comfort and safety. I hit my bottom in 1985 and began to learn how to express those long-ago and current pent-up emotions. I wrote my first book, The Flying Boy: Healing the Wounded Man, which chronicled my personal journey from being “a head on a stick,” as I used to refer to myself, to a man who began to try and heal all that had gone unfelt for so long. I began the long, arduous journey, the extremely long one—the eighteen inches from my head to my heart. What I found along the way was a great deal of sadness, a whole lot of unexpressed anger and ultimately a peace greater than anything I’d ever known. By learning how to release my rage and anger and get it out of my body, I found I no longer needed to medicate it with alcohol or drugs. I finally came home to my body and began to experience the serenity that accompanies being comfortable in your own skin. Anger as Punishment and Revenge Alcoholics, addicts, adult children of alcoholics and addicts don’t get angry—they get even. One of the reasons adults have such a problem feeling and expressing their anger is because anger has forever been tied to punishment and revenge. People who are punished—instead of disciplined—tend to seek revenge and are angry and the best way to extract a pound of flesh is to punish the actual or perceived offender. You drink— I’ll show you—I’ll not sleep with you. If you overreact—I’ll get you back—I’ll have an affair. A few years ago I was in the Asheville airport waiting to catch a flight back to Austin. I was standing close to a very elderly lady, sitting hunched over in a wheel chair in front of her sixty-something-year-old daughter and son. She was silently weeping and the son looked down at her and said in a voice loud enough for all around him to hear—“Momma, we told you if you cried we wouldn’t let you come back to visit anymore.” Do you hear the rage and revenge in his statement? “That’s right mother. We told you that you can’t cry,” said the daughter. Can’t you just imagine that fifty something years ago this mother probably said to her children, in some public place, “If you don’t stop this crying, I’m never going to….” She punished them with a threat. They wait fifty years for revenge and no one is consciously being malicious. The Difference Between Discipline And Punishment Unfortunately, children are punished and they become, using Alice Miller’s words, “Prisoners of Childhood,” the original title of her important book later named, The Drama of The Gifted Child. Punishment makes children, adults, criminals and animals at the least untrusting, and at most full of rage. It is capricious—not well thought-out and not stated before the fact. Where punishment is handed out, you might as well hand out the alcohol and drugs to make them forget that they have no choice and that others have extreme amounts of power over them. One time I asked a room full of counselors, educators and law enforcers if they could tell me exactly what would happen to someone caught in their state driving while under the influence? A couple of them said, “They would go to jail,” another one said, “They would lose their license to drive,” two or three said they would have to pay a fine but several said, “It would depend on who they are, who they know, if they could afford a high-priced attorney and, sadly, what color they are. A poor person of color, who doesn’t know anyone, gets punished differently than someone who is white and has lots of money or connections. ” Hear the meanness in this? How enraged is someone going to be? Now here is what makes people less angry, it’s called discipline. Discipline is almost angelic compared to demonic punishment. Here’s why: Punishment is after the fact or the offense. Discipline is prior to the act or offense. Punishment takes away healthy choice making. Discipline teaches how to make healthy and mature choices. Punishment says here are the consequences I, or we feel like handing out today and discipline says know beforehand what the consequences of your actions will be no matter how we feel or don’t today. If my home state of Georgia had huge billboards on every road entering saying exactly what the consequences would be for driving under the influence, say—YOU WILL LOSE YOUR LICENSE, YOU WILL GO TO JAIL, YOU WILL PAY $10,999.00 IN FINES, AND WE WILL CUT OFF YOUR BIG TOE—many folks would “think before they drink” or they’d think,
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“Damn, if they’re going to be so clear, I’ll just go to Alabama were the law is still ambiguous as hell and take my chances over there.” It is the same with children and adolescents who are disciplined rather than punished. They just don’t tend to be as angry and have to get even later with their guards, I mean parents and teachers, because they were told what would happen beforehand. One time my stepdaughter, who was about thirteen at the time, came in one warm summer evening very late, having been with her girlfriends chatting and forgetting about the time. As soon as she came through the door she looked at me in disgust and said, “I know, I’m busted for staying out so late.” The anger at being punished many times by her real father was on her face as she prepared to get more. “Did I tell you what would happen before you went out if you weren’t in by 9 p.m.?” She looked at me like I was asking her a trick question. She sighed heavily as all teenagers do, “No you didn’t.” “Well, that’s my job— to tell you beforehand the consequences so you can make choices. So, no you’re not busted. However, if you decide to stay out late again tomorrow night, you won’t attend the sleepover this weekend with your girlfriends.” I’ll never forget what she said, “That sounds fair.” And it was. Punishment takes no time and is fast and very often furious. Discipline takes time and forethought. Punishment creates rage, resentment and the need for revenge and retribution. Discipline creates a sense of well-being and feeling that one is cared for. All the young and older children I’ve seen and spoken with and all the adults have incredibly angry stories about being punished and almost none have stories of being disciplined. Here’s a little sidebar to all of this. The only institution that at least tries to practice discipline is—would you believe—the military? They have huge books of rules and regulations—if you go A.W.O.L. this, this and this will happen. If you disregard a direct order—this, this and this will happen. It is spelled out beforehand. You can actually look up what is going to happen should you violate the rules. The bottom line—If you want to produce less angry children who become less angry adolescents who will then become less angry adults that feel safe, loved and valued in this world, learn to discipline instead of punish. Angry adults need to drink and drug to forget how punishment caused them not to feel safe, loved and valued in this world. Punishment just royally pisses everyone off and then out roll the resentments and out rolls the beer and whiskey barrels that are, at first, a barrel of fun and laughter, but eventually become containers of poison that kill families, friendships, opportunities and relationships of all kinds.” How to Know If You Have an Anger Problem: 1. People often say you are angry; especially the people who know you well. 2. When you get angry, it’s always someone else’s fault. (The kids are being too noisy, your spouse is late again, the boss didn’t appreciate the work you did, etc.) 3. People tell you to lighten up, relax, take it easy, have a drink or try a Valium. 4. You drink alcoholically, take drugs, or engage in addictive or dangerous behaviors. 5. You become angry while driving; this includes pointing at another driver with the second finger or cutting off another car. 6. You hit your children, your spouse or animals. Hitting can be accomplished with many different weapons, not just the hands. Whether you use your hands, words or a belt, get immediate professional help. 7. You have a rigid body structure; your neck and shoulders are tight and sore. 8. You have ulcers, insomnia, high blood pressure or frequent tension headaches. 9. You always have to win arguments or get in the last word. 10. You find yourself sleeping in a different bed than your spouse. 11. Animals and children hide from you or cross the street to avoid you. 12. Co-workers, spouses or children keep secrets from you because they are afraid of your reactions. 13. You act out anger without stopping to think how your words or actions will affect other people. 14. You have multiple divorces. 15. When someone makes you angry, you emotionally withdraw or give them the “silent treatment.” 16. When someone hurts you, you become obsessed with hurting him or her back. You may even take pride in your ability to “get even.” 17. Forgiveness is almost impossible. 18. You never say you are sorry, except in a sarcastic voice. 19. Your children don’t return your phone calls. 20. Your family or roommate encourages you to go to work, the gym or anywhere else just to get you out of the house. 21. Reading this list makes you angry. John Lee, best-selling author of The Flying Boy: Healing the Wounded Man, has written nineteen books, including his latest release The Half-Lived Life. He has been featured on Oprah, 20/20, Barbara Walter’s The View, CNN, PBS, and NPR. John Lee has consulted and trained prestigious institutions in the clinical environment including The Betty Ford Clinic, The Cleveland Clinic, Guy’s Hospital (England), The Hanley Center (FL), South Pacific Hospital (Australia), and numerous others. John’s work in recovery, co-dependency, and adult children has positioned him as a leader in the field of addiction. John Lee M.A. works with people all over the world by phone sessions (678-494-1296) and Skype (john.lee1951 or johnlee6767). For a limited time there is available a 100% FREE, no-obligation phone consultation for anyone who is interested in doing private work with John. You can chat with John via phone or webcam. The calls are FREE and completely confidential.
When Will You See? K.J. Foster
Where will you go What will be When will you see The light shining through the trees Darkness is ahead No matter what is said I can not stop your fate The decisions that you make Will you survive the anger inside The memories of times gone by It hurts to see you crying Begging, pleading, lying Watch as you are slowly dying
We all marvel at the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely do we consider what it went through to become that butterfly. – Maya Angelou
When will you see This doesn’t have to be Your destiny As I turn you away To find your own way I am not giving up on you I continue to pray You’ll live another day And finally come to see The light shining through the trees February 26, 2009
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FROM ADDICT TO ADDICTION COUNSELOR: THE STRANGE AND WINDING JOURNEY OF MITCH FELD By Steve Winston
Mitch Feld was, for all practical purposes, dead. He was in a coma. And doctors told his parents that, even if he managed to survive, he’d never get out of a wheelchair. * * * * * * * * * * * * It was the rip-roaring, yuppie 80’s. And Mitch Feld had it all. The corner office. The sleek car. The six-figure salary. Invitations from all the right people to all the right parties. And a reputation as an achiever, a person who could make things happen. Everybody knew Mitch Feld. But there was one thing they didn’t know. Behind this go-getter personality was a burning cauldron of doubt, self-hatred, and addiction. Addiction to alcohol. Addiction to drugs. Addiction to food. Addiction to, in fact, just about anything a person could be addicted to. * * * * * * * * * * * * Mitch Feld was raised in a typical suburban family in the typical New York City suburb of East Meadow, on Long Island. But everything was not as it seemed. Mitch was sexually abused as a child. Partially because of the pain, he began finding comfort in food. The more he ate, the more he wanted to eat. It was never enough. “I was born with a hole in my soul,” Mitch Feld says. “And then I experienced abuse. I began eating food to get away from the memories. I used food to numb the pain. When all else failed, I could always knock off five or six cheeseburgers.” Food, in fact, was Mitch Feld’s first addiction. But not the last. He began drinking at eight. He was a heavy drinker by 16. “I looked much older than I was,” he says today, “so it was easy to buy liquor. And I began drinking with older friends.” He smoked his first joint at 17. “But nothing happened,” Mitch Feld says. “So I had another. And another. And another. And on the fourth joint, I hit Never-Never Land. The Young Rascals were playing on the stereo. And I was soaring.” He liked pot so much, in fact, that he gave up alcohol. With pot, there was no sickness. No hangover. And no throwing up. Then came hashish. Then acid. Then Quaaludes. Then Seconals. By the time he was a student at the University of Baltimore in the late 60’s, he was taking 10-15 Seconals a day…trying to stay awake as long as he could, for fear he would die if he fell asleep. He wanted to stay awake so badly, in fact, that he once ran outside and rolled around on the snow…with no shoes and no shirt. He ended up quitting school, and then enrolled at Hofstra University, near home. There, he made friends with professors, and when they eventually trusted him enough to leave him alone in their offices, he would steal their files and copy them for his papers. By this time, he was not only stealing papers, but also money, personal property…even food. His parents had no idea he was an addict.
The next day, while driving home from a meeting, he drove off the road and onto a golf course, and then crashed into a concrete wall. By the time an ambulance arrived he was nearly dead. By the time he arrived at Boca Raton Community Hospital, he was in a coma. Mitch Feld had massive head injuries…so massive that surgeons had to operate to relieve the pressure on his brain. His lungs were crushed. His shoulders were crushed. And his stomach was ripped open. He didn’t wake up until two weeks later. “When I woke up,” he says, “I knew I’d be fired from my job. I knew I’d lose my house. I knew whatever I had was gone. I laid in my bed and cried. I had burned every bridge…I had no one left to scam.” The doctors told him he’d be in a wheelchair the rest of his life. And that he’d have cognitive difficulties, as well. He was told he’d need months of intensive physical therapy, to learn how to walk, talk, and use simple utensils again. Mitch Feld was a broken man; so broken, in fact, that he didn’t even have the desire to put the effort into rehab. He had a bad attitude…and no compunction about displaying it to staff and other patients. The rehab facility wanted him out. But he had no place to go. Finally, his employer told him they would pay his expenses – if he committed to an intensive detox program. So he approached the rehab Administrator. “I got down on my knees and cried,” he says. “I begged them to keep me. Finally, they consented. But they put me on what was called ’24-Hour Notice’…they reviewed my behavior every day.” Mitch Feld had been given a second chance at life. “In rehab,” he says, “for the first time in my life, I felt like part of a community. They became my family. And that enabled me to start developing a better self-image.” As soon as he was able, he began the Twelve-Step program. Early on, a counselor said to him, “Are you willing to go to any lengths to get sober and drug-free?” Mitch responded that he wasn’t sure about the meaning of the question. Whereupon the counselor yelled, “Yes or no!!” “I quickly realized this was not a conversation,” Mitch Feld says. “I needed to declare! And I said yes. I said yes even though I didn’t fully understand what he meant. And that was a seminal moment for me – it was a moment of faith. It was the first time I was willing to commit to something without fully understanding it…just on faith.” Feld’s sponsor taught him patience…for example, to take one item in the grocery store and learn to wait behind people with full wagons. He taught him to sit in a chair quietly…for five minutes, then ten, then 15, then 30. He found work around his house for Mitch to do, giving him a sense of self-worth. “It wasn’t easy,” Feld says today. “But I realized I had to heal my spirit. And I did a lot of meditation and prayer toward that end.”
“They were totally in the dark,” Mitch says now.
His sponsor was spiritually-oriented, not clinically-oriented.
Because he was still carrying the scars of sexual abuse, he found himself obsessing about sex…and he began having it with hookers. Eventually he began going to swingers clubs. Just as it had been with alcohol, drugs, and pills, his appetite for sex was voracious.
“”He used to tell me,” Feld says, ‘All you need to know about “why” is that it’s the 25th letter in the alphabet, and it’s crooked.’ And he taught me to stand in front of a mirror, make eye contact, and say, “I love you.’” As the years passed, he became a changed man.
He eventually got his M.S.W. in Social Work, and moved up the corporate ladder. But even that wasn’t rewarding. His erratic, addiction-driven behavior continued in the workforce. Once, when passed over for a promotion, he simply quit the job.
That pre-accident drink on October 5, 1988, was the last he’s ever taken. The pills and marijuana and hash he had taken that day were the last he’s ever done.
“Whatever I had in terms of money or possessions – in my case, fancy cars and a house on the ocean – meant nothing to me,” Feld says. “Because of my sex issues, I was afraid of intimacy with women. And I ate all day long… because the heavier I got, the lower the chance for intimacy.” By now, he was also snorting cocaine daily. He moved to Boca Raton, FL in August of 1987, to take a job. And for the next two months, he was drug-free and alcohol-free. But then he crumbled. Between October 1987 and October 1988, he spent nearly a quarter of a million dollars on drugs and alcohol – “I wasn’t sober five minutes that entire year.” By this time, he had also ballooned to more than 300 pounds. “I was totally out of control,” Mitch Feld says. “I was drinking and taking drugs in public. And I was doing it at my desk at work.” Then, in one horrible instant, it all caught up with him. On the night of October 5, 1988, he went out and got drunk.
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He learned healthy eating, and the value of exercise. And from a weight of nearly 350 when he had his accident, he now weights 155. He married Alice Reiter Fled, a well-known South Florida Elder Law attorney. And, seven years ago, he became an ordained rabbi. (Not your usual kind of rabbi, though. Mitch Feld presides at life-events for all religious and ethnic groups!) And then he made the decision that has since guided his life. He decided to “pay it forward”…to dedicate his life to helping others escape the clutches of addiction, just the way others had helped him. “I had gone into recovery with a closed mind,” Feld says. “Oh, sure, the other guy was an addict…but not me! But the first step in recovery is saying to yourself, ‘I am an addict.’ When I went to the meetings, I recognized that I was one of many. And that I could learn from anyone – even other addicts. It really opened my eyes…and my mind.
“I realized that here was a group of people who really cared about me. Through Continued on page 22
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AM I MANIPULATIVE? By Marilyn L. Davis
Merriam-Webster’s definition of manipulation is as follows: “To change by artful or unfair means so as to serve one’s purpose.”
• I do not get what I want and then try to reframe the request in a different way so that others are responsible for me and give me what I want.
A rather polite way of saying that due to your self-serving or self-centered motives, you try to get someone else to do something for you that you probably can do for yourself, you just do not want to do it.
If any of these statements are true about your behaviors, then in those situations you were manipulative. What you are doing is trying to make people feel a certain way (usually guilty) when you want to get something, get out of some responsibility, or some attention.
Alternatively, you want someone to give you something and then may feel smug because you were slick enough to “get over on them” and get it.
Cost and Downside of Manipulating Others
The clues you can look for in your own or other’s manipulation is about how the request is framed, the posture used when asking, and sometimes the specific words used. There are going to be certain things present in manipulation:
When you are manipulating to get your needs or wants satisfied using guilt, you run the risk of ultimately alienating or pushing people away. They may finally realize that you are capable of doing whatever it was that they did for you and resent you in the end.
• Scheming – To get, get out of, or have someone else do something • Calculating - Dishonest, devious, or conniving • Controlling – Wily, sly and crafty
You attempted to “make them feel badly” about your life. Again, they will probably get tired of bailing you out and start distancing themselves from you. Then you can get mad that they have “abandoned” you in your hour of need. People will eventually see through this manipulation as well. They will feel used, exploited, betrayed and in some cases, you will lose these people in your lives.
Manipulation is your short- term, personally motivated agenda that does not consider others except how you can use them. Learning what your preferred method of manipulation is important if you want to stop this behavior. You have probably gotten very good at your method. You may no longer throw yourself on the floor, kicking and screaming as you did when you were two, however, you may still use tears as a ploy. You may not do the “please, please, please” of the adolescent girl, but you may just keep asking and asking and asking until finally someone breaks down and does it for you. Anger gets people’s attention and they can feel uncomfortable around it. Therefore, they may just give in and let you have your way to change the overall mood. There are also very public examples of people manipulating the feelings of others to accomplish their agendas. A hunger strike, if you are famous, gets the attention of many people. If the cause of the hunger strike is admirable, people sometimes think, “Oh, aren’t they admirable for sacrificing so much. I will support that cause.” Ask yourself if you would have supported the cause if the person on strike were someone that was not famous. Manipulative Methods If you can answer yes, to any of the following examples, then in those situations, you have been manipulative. • When confronted about a behavior, my drug or alcohol use, or not keeping a promise, I pretend to be helpless, incompetent, play the victim, or make statements about being “dumb” or “stupid” or statements that indicate that others should feel sorry for me for my lack of awareness, education, experience or support. Learn to call this what it is –choosing to act a certain way to get predictable results. Claiming to be stupid or incompetent generally moves the conversation to the fact that you are not stupid or dumb. It distracts the other participant in the conversation and then you do not have to stay focused on anything else. It usually works in your favor. If you are too “incompetent” to do something, then obviously someone else will have to do it for you. • I say, “Anything you want” when I do not mean it. I am doing this to placate someone or get him or her to quit talking about the problems I have created. • I state concerns for things but do little to demonstrate this concern. I am trying to get people to think how nice I am, how considerate or thoughtful I am, but I am only doing this to manage an impression or image they might have of me. • I act ignored, forgotten, hurt, wounded, unloved, or uncared for. I may do this by pouting, being distant or crying, but I am usually watching the audience to gauge the reaction to see if it will be favorable to me. • I act depressed in front of selective people and then “magically” appear okay around others. • I “butter up or suck up” to people not really meaning the words but hoping that I can get something out of them. • I use guilt – with statements like, “You had it made”, “You have family”, “You have support”, “You have education”, “You were not abused as a child”, “You were not neglected as a teenager”. I say these things when I think that people will feel sorry for me and do something for me due to differences.
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A Personal Cost of Manipulation – Labels This can then set up another issue. Each time manipulation works, you start believing your own lies. You have created this image – helpless, stupid, incompetent, underprivileged, or worthless. Those labels can then become another cost that you pay for what you get from others. Knowing Who Your Manipulation Works With Now that you know your preferred methods for manipulation, ask yourself who you tend to use this ploy with?.Family, friends, co-workers, sponsors/ accountability partners, love interests – the list should include everyone that you have a relationship with so you can determine where and when of your manipulation. I Want to Change My Manipulation, I’m Just Not Sure How Owning Your Self-Serving Motive A better way to deal with this problem is to be honest with yourself and others. Owning that you have a self-serving motive in your request may not sound like the best alternative. However, your honesty may be refreshing to others and they might be more inclined to help, but they are helping with an honest request rather than a manipulative request. A working rule of thumb is to assess the percentage of self- serving motives in your actions. 50% of this is for me; 50% is for them is a fair percentage. Ask yourself if you value the relationship enough to stop manipulating. If you find that it is, then begin to be honest in requests to that individual or group of people. Not Being Manipulative Will Take Practice Every change in behavior takes practice and you may not frame your requests in a mature manner to begin with; you may still try to manipulate. If that happens, and you are aware of it, simply stop yourself and get honest, “I was still trying to manipulate. I’m trying to change that, so can I ask again, not give you the sob story excuse, or can I own my intentions and discuss this with you again?” Once you start getting better outcomes without manipulation, it strengthens your resolve to discontinue using it. Keep striving for honest authentic communication, not manipulation. Discover your own methods by asking yourself, “What are my preferred methods of manipulation? Who do I use this method with, and when does it work? “Even if your method was not mentioned, isolating and changing your method will get your more honest outcomes. Marilyn L. Davis is a Certified Addiction Recovery Empowerment Specialist. www.tiersrecovery.net
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The Journey is a Nightmare but a New Day Will Dawn by Linda Sherman
Anyone who’s lost a child no matter the cause of death will tell you that it leaves a gaping hole inside and catapults you into a no-man’s land and forest of no return. You feel like a carcass thrown to rot on the side of the road and as if shards of glass are cutting you from the inside, out. If your child dies of drugs and alcohol, it sets off a chain of events that compounds your grief. You feel guilt and blame yourself. You feel “if only I could have changed this or that…” I was angry for a long time and blamed myself, my son for his choices, the system that failed to reach him and society for not creating an atmosphere that nurtures whole, healthy people. Really now, is that the BEST we could all do? I felt stigmatized and ashamed, as if we were just another family drug statistic. I felt angry because this tragedy has gone on for God knows how long with generations of people before and no one ever spoke out about it. Society never became drug-free, but instead became drug-rampant and science still has not found a cure. It was a foreign culture and one in which I despised and resented being a part of. It took years of living life to ease off and let go. Time does heal but I love and miss my son, Joseph, who passed at 30 on the Day of Katrina, peacefully— although, thank God—in his sleep. He was a thoughtful, sensitive, ponderous soul who cared about the least of us—the elderly, the sick, children and animals. He excelled at Little League, and all the coaches fought to have him on their teams. Today we honor his memory by having planted a tree and awarding annual bonds to players chosen by coaches for their team spirit. We sensed he hovered on the border of “normal”, growing up. He had learning disabilities and a high-strung temperament, but it never raised “red flags”—we thought it was his disposition to cry and act out in frustration over what we thought was nothing to be upset over. We thought that he’d grow out of it…. As he got older, the school called and summoned help for him because they sensed problems, even though he was well-behaved and well-liked. The shrinks diagnosed ADD and depression. Soon after he was smoking pot. We thrust him into a two year rehab where he was bored and said it was futile—all the while—stubbornly disregarding help and supplying someone else’s urines for testing. He had a very strong will. Too bad he couldn’t use that strength toward living. I so wanted him to get well! After rehab he went to an alternative high school which he graduated from. The teachers were attentive to Joseph and always said he was a polite student who dealt well with adults and was quite popular with his peers. The peers were always on the edge, marginal, but nice enough and some were in trouble with the law but Joseph graduated and stayed out of legal trouble. We thought he was doing well. He got jobs, a driver’s license and a girlfriend. And something else—a seemingly happier disposition—until we found out it was cocaine-fueled. He had been perfectly honest with us when we would check on him and ask through the years if he was still using pot. He wasn’t. What he did not tell us, is that he “graduated” onto cocaine, despite our lectures against drugs, his early stint in rehab and seeing a shrink weekly. Yeah, you get it. He slipped through our fingers like melting butter. Despite in-patient rehabs during the last year of his life and a new beginning out of a sober house with a great new job and a new apartment, we sensed we were running out of time and in the 11th hour, my husband and I literally forced him back into rehab. It was our last chance, our only hope. We wanted to save our son. We hoped that somehow he would want to save himself. He was always grateful for our help but it seemed like he was on his own journey, thank you very much but he knew what was best for him. I know, from reports of science and medical researchers, who were very kind to me when I reached out to them for answers that addiction is a disease, yet the enigma of rehab, dictates that they can come out of the coma of drugs and return to normal living called recovery. In my mind, the jury is still out on that one. I know that better research is needed and being done. I know that substances like drugs and drink fool the part of the brain that governs the need to survive—like air and water—and this part of the brain is held hostage in lockdown. The switch in the part of the brain that gives pleasure is broken (sometimes by underlying inherent mental conditions before the drugs) and the drugs compound it. Often, some mental disorder underlies the addiction and has come before it. I know I lost a child to drugs. I tried so hard to save him; I could taste it. I was frantic, desperate: Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink, I thought, with all the rehab info out there, what kind of a life is this where we don’t even have control over our own minds? It doesn’t sound right to me! How could that be? I had to face the brutal truth that my son, with his big heart and generosity, his sense of humor and quick wit, gorgeous, robust and loved by everyone around him, failed to thrive. I do know that being a parent to a drug addicted kid is like being bound and hog-tied, forced to watch your kid take poison before your very eyes—and
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not being able to do a damn thing about it!!! I’d rather be dead than to live through that threat again. Today, we have a priest in India who prays for Joseph regularly, who has spiritually “adopted” him and I am eternally comforted. I continue in my helping profession (isn’t it painfully ironic that I can help others in different ways but not my son?) Mother Teresa touched and blessed him as a child when we met her. I have to hold onto to these things. I’ve stopped being angry. I’ve stopped shaking a stick at God and ranting against our fate. Today I help other drug addicted young adults one-on-one in my own personal way. I stick my neck out and take risks to help them get the help and encouragement they need. I miss my son terribly, the son who didn’t have a “double life” under my nose and who wasn’t remote and shut away from myself and our family. He was fused to those feel-good substances that were slowly killing him. He loved to get high. Did he have a choice or was he swept away in a brain disease? I stopped asking the questions long ago. There was a time I couldn’t hear another story of an addicted young person without wanting to put my fist through a wall. To me, it was all lies and so unnecessary, this artificially imposed suffering that young people put on themselves! I literally couldn’t stand the story of another wasted, stiff body lying in the streets. I had already jumped out of my own skin as the mother of a lost child. Joseph passed on at the top of his game, peacefully in his own bed and in his own apartment by his own choice. He had been recently employed thanks to the mitzvah of a good friend who created an unbelievably lucrative and secure position for him, for which I am eternally grateful. We always called him Mr. Lucky. Joseph had won a television once in a contest at school. He had the good fortune of someone knocking on our door because she hit his car, offering to pay for it, instead of driving off and leaving the damage for us. His brother found his lost gold necklace in the dark at a public fair by retracing his steps. When Joseph was four, he loved a small plastic barrel of monkey figurines. They were misplaced for a while, but then we found them. It means to me that his life was not lost, but goes on. The lessons he perhaps needed to learn are between him and God. I trust in God. He knew why and what the reasons were. I have to rest in that. I was “in the closet” for a long time, but I did emerge to write some articles about losing Joseph. I also support my friends, like Sheryl L. McGinnis, with the publicity for her addiction book and help another bereaved Mom in her efforts to fundraise for depression. The parents in Sherry’s books are a cacophony of laments that merge into One Voice. Our children collectively are One Child. We are all lifesavers to each other, lifting the burden of lost children to drugs high above our heads in the march of grief. The weight is distributed so we can all help one another and that support has been priceless. As a writer myself, I shocked myself, in that I didn’t want to speak out publically. I so admired mothers who felt compelled to speak out to kill the stigma. My husband also wanted discretion because he didn’t want joseph’s memory “tainted.” I understood and respected the wishes of the man I love—and found out that I also did not want Joseph judged or maligned. I didn’t want to “own” this “thing.” I understand both schools of thought and greatly support in any way I can those who speak out without reservation. I am now out of the closet and among them. Unfortunately, there are some addicted people who are violent and steal or commit other crimes for a fix. This is why addicted people are shunned. But that is not all addicts. It is a tiny portion. Celebrities who have plenty of money have died in recent years from overdosing on pills or alcohol or both. The stigma is one part of this plague; finding a cure or way to reach addicted persons—is another. I don’t want my life defined by tragedy or by the constant meltdowns I was having from frustration when he was alive, to desperation after he died. I am a fixer; alas, I couldn’t fix this. I finally surrendered. It was bigger than me. I heard the honks of a flock of Canadian geese one night flying overhead in the cold, grey sky. They reminded me that once upon a time, I was a mother of a beautiful, playful boy named Joseph, whom I nursed at my breast and who used to love to play Candy Land with me, be read to and who cherished his collection of stuffed animals. Linda is a freelance writer who lives on Long Island with her husband and looks to the day when every addicted person recovers and chooses life over death.
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EXCERPTS from the “Answering the Crazymaking’’ BOOK by Toby Drews... author of the ‘Getting Them Sober” books
DEMANDING 300% FROM OURSELVES What we think was not our very best, often looks good to other people. We alcoholic family members often do 300% at our jobs, and when we “just” do 75% (the norm), we feel like failures. ’’INTENTION’’ ‘’JUST LET THE PROGRAM OF RECOVERY WASH ON OVER YOU’’ – I love what Deepak Chopra says about “intention”... basically, that what we put our attention to, directs our energy towards “getting there”. It so reminds me of what a good friend said – she was the co-founder of Al-Anon in Baltimore, and loved to say, “you don’t have to WORK the program of recovery... you just have to let it wash on over you.” Now, she does not speak of the Ayurvedic tradition and Deepak Chopra is not a devout Catholic... but I love it when there is clearly an intersection between diverse religions... for me, it’s emotional and spiritual safety. I SAY THAT I HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE MISTAKES... DO I REALLY BELIEVE IT? If I don’t deeply believe that I have not only the ‘right’ to make mistakes... but also that I am SUPPOSED to make mistakes (to teach me to be right-sized)... then I’m just ‘mouthing words’. GETTING RID OF SHAME WHEN WE HAVE FEARS What to do when you feel stuck in your recovery? These suggestions might very well help – a.) When you repeatedly respond with fear (even when you are the only one who knows it) in a present situation that does not logically call for that kind of intense fear – instead of the usual beating yourself up for it, stroke your forearm with your other hand, and say to yourself, lovingly, “This is so nice that you are yourself and God danced the day you were born. He is just so SO happy that you are you.” b.) When you make a ‘silly’ mistake that does not injure others, but still makes you feel bad about yourself – hug yourself and say, “well, isn’t that nice that you made a mistake again? How wonderful! How very very wonderful!” WHEN WE CAN’T DO WHAT WE THINK WE SHOULD DO We often know what we WANT to do... and what we think we “SHOULD” do... but that is often leap years away from what we CAN do. This often brings on shame, guilt, more shame and beating ourselves up about having the guilt and shame on top of being able to “do nothing” or “next to nothing.” etc.etc.etc. (And then we know that “we shouldn’t have shame about it” and “we shouldn’t have guilt about it”... and then we have regrets and upsets about having the shame and guilt about having the shame and guilt!!!!!...) And thank God for recovery rooms and for the blessing of humor... and for patience with OURSELVES for all our ups and downs and circular thinking and all our etcetera’s and etcetera’s! “Keep it simple, make it fun”. TAMPING-DOWN WORRY How can I ‘work it down’ when overly worried? First, I can acknowledge that my worry is often out-of-proportion to the situation. Second, I can remember that if I tend to worry, the object of my worry at that moment is probably not so worthy of so much attention, and that it can be so easily replaced by another object-to-worry-about – if I keep the worry going. It is often just about the worrying process, and not what I am worried about. REMEMBERING MY LIMITS When I grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and I was 15 years old, I worked in a five-anddime store in the summer. When I was bored, I would make lists of what I would do when I retired at age 35! (This seemed very old then!) Apparently, I’ve had a very long time to dig in the habit of not living in today -- but in the future. My habits take their time to leave. I’m so glad when I remember that I don’t... and can’t... remove my defects, only my Higher Power can do this for me. All I need to do is try to want to. That is so much easier than doing it. Why do I think recovery is so difficult? All I ever have to do is ‘want to’; is ‘want to be willing’; is ‘intend’… so much easier than DOING the removal of my character defects! (Which no one can do, anyway? Duh!) The trick is remembering all this. PUTTING OURSELVES DOWN BY COMPARING OURSELVES Have I stopped comparing my progress in treatment with the progress of others? I cannot imagine a heart-attack victim beating himself up because the ‘guy in the next bed’ went home earlier! He might feel bad that he had a worse heart attack; he might feel sorry for himself; but he probably does not beat himself up for not being farther along in recovery than everyone else in the waiting room in the cardiologist’s office. Toby Rice Drews is the author of the million-selling “Getting Them Sober’’ book series, endorsed by ‘dear Abby’, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, and Melody Beattie (author of ‘Codependent No More’). Toby trains counselors throughout the U.S. and Canada, and offers telephone consultations with families of alcoholics. Her books are available on her website http://www.GettingThemSober.com. They are also available on Kindle, The Nook, Amazon and in bookstores nationwide.
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Beating Addictions Holistically: The Chiropractic Holistic Solution By Terry Marvin, Program Director for The Recovery Team
“Studies show that clients who receive chiropractic adjustments during their recovery program have less anxiety, feel better, have increased attention spans and are more likely to complete the program successfully”, which is why we have partnered with Dr. Andrew P. Hope, Medical Director of Hope Health & Wellness. We have added his chiropractic care and expertise to the portfolio of services that we now offer to our clients,” says Terry Marvin, Program Director for The Recovery Team in North Palm Beach, FL. Why chiropractic care? “When a bone in your spine is misaligned, it can put pressure on the structures of the spine and cause pain, muscle spasms or a pinched nerve,” Dr. Hope explains. “A chiropractor locates these misaligned bones and realigns (adjust) them which helps reduce pain and inflammation. The Chiropractic Adjustment works to “Turn On” the nervous system and stimulates the “Brain Reward Cascade” mechanism which makes you feel better, have more energy, as well as increased focus and awareness. “How will chiropractic care help in a client’s recovery? It is well known that taking drugs or alcohol over prolonged periods of time suppresses the Neurotransmitters in your brain and nervous system creating what is called a chemical imbalance. Neurotransmitters are the amino acids which transmit signals from one nerve to another in the brain. It has been shown that people suffering with chemical dependencies have a significant loss in the amount of neurotransmitter activity especially dopamine, serotonin, GABA, and acetylcholine (ACh). Research shows that precise localized chiropractic spinal adjustments specific to the upper cervical spine stimulates the central nervous system to increase the production of these neurotransmitters, helping to balance the chemicals in your brain which makes you start to feel better almost immediately. This is known as the brain reward cascade.” Symptoms Linked With Neurotransmitter Imbalance: • Anxiety • Depression • Sleep disorders-insomnia • Mood disorders • Behavioral problems • Attention deficit/lack of focus • Panic attacks • Increased sensitivity to pain • Fatigue/headaches • Hormonal changes • Appetite/weight control issues “Chiropractic care is effective in helping to reduce pain by realigning the vertebrae in the spine which helps reduce pressure and inflammation on the discs, muscles and nerves. How should I feel after receiving my chiropractic adjustments? It is not uncommon to feel a little stiff and sore after getting your first adjustment. Your muscles may feel sore similar to exercising for the first time. However, you should also feel the following improvements in your condition with continued treatment.” •Less anxiety•Increased mental clarity, awareness and focus •Better sleep •Less tension and stress •Overall well being By Dr. Andrew P. Hope, D.C., C.C.S. is the Medical Director of Hope Health & Wellness with two Palm Beach County clinics specializing in neuromuscular-skeletal conditions.
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We Can Help Intervention • Detox • Day Treatment Intensive Outpatient Treatment Dual Diagnosis • Aftercare Program Family Program • Alumni Program
800-817-1247
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Oxy Crackdown Brings Heroin Back By Myles B. Schlam, J.D., CAP/CCJAP
Law enforcement has made dynamic efforts to shut down the pill mills that have plagued our South Florida communities for the last several years. As I had predicted when we first started the crackdown, there are signs that heroin is returning as a cheap alternative to prescription pills. While shutting down the pill mills was necessary and certainly a positive thing, it was not the panacea by any means. Addicts will continue to substitute one drug for another that is more easily available and obtainable. Working in the Broward County Drug Court on a daily basis, I have definitely seen an increase in Heroin arrests recently. Heroin is inching back in Florida, the unintended consequence of the state’s epic war on prescription pills. Now, with Florida officials unsuccessfully slowing the supplies, shutting down the pill mills that masqueraded as pain centers and arresting thousands of addicts and even doctors, heroin has become a popular substitute. From July 2010 to June 2011, there were 45 heroin-related deaths statewide, according to the Florida Medical Examiners Commission. That number jumped to 77 heroin-related deaths from July 2011 to June 2012. The FDLE also reports a slight increase in heroin-related charges: In the first three months of 2013, heroinrelated charges totaled 948. In the same three-month period last year, that number was 772. Broward County addiction treatment centers saw an 87 percent spike in admissions among addicts using heroin as their drug of choice — to 316 from 169 the year before, according to state Department of Children and Family statistics. Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties also experienced heroin treatment increases, though at smaller levels. Palm Beach County, for example, saw its heroin treatment admissions climb from 170 in 2011 to 198 in 2012, a 16.5 percent increase. (Reported by DCF) At the height of the prescription pill abuse epidemic about 3 years ago, seven people a day were dying of prescription drug over-doses in Florida. Addicts were lining up outside of pain clinics waiting to get prescriptions, some homegrown and others drug tourists who had traveled to Florida from as far away as Kentucky and West Virginia, Tennessee and Ohio. I would counsel many of these people who got arrested for possession and were now enrolled in our Florida Drug Courts. I have heard many similar stories of how people come to start using heroin. One common story is that there was an injury and the person started taking prescription pills which they then started abusing. They began to either snort, smoke or inject the pills. Once they are injecting, it is not much of a jump for them to switch to heroin – especially if it is cheaper and more readily available. Faced with a public health crisis, lawmakers attacked the problem with rigorous anti-pill mill legislation that drastically limited who could dispense narcotics and broadened penalties for pill mill operators. They also established a statewide prescription drug monitoring system that kept pill poppers from doctor shopping. By the summer of 2011 thousands of arrests and millions in cash was confiscated. The supply of pills dwindled. The eventual void in the streets- without much focus on treatment and recovery- led those addicted to look else-where for their high. Enter heroin, a drug that cost, on average, as little as a tenth or a quarter of the price of some prescription pills. The price for 30 milligrams of oxycodone jumped from about $10 to roughly $30 last year. There are now several FDA-approved medications available in the U.S. to treat opioid dependence. Methadone has been available to treat opiate dependence since the early 1970s. Buprenorphine (Subutex and Suboxone) has been available since 2003. Oral naltrexone, an opioid antagonist, has been available since 1984 and the recently-approved Vivitrol, a long-acting, injectable form of naltrexone, is now available. These medications are however infrequently provided to opioiddependent adults in U.S. jails and prisons and in the community under parole or probation supervision. Although behavioral and pharmacologic treatments can be extremely useful when employed alone, science has taught us that integrating both types of treatments will ultimately be the most effective approach. There are many effective behavioral treatments available for heroin addiction. These can include residential and outpatient approaches. An important task is to match the best treatment approach to meet the particular needs of the patient. In sum, while the state of Florida took dramatic action to reduce the supply of diverted prescription medications, until we provide adequate treatment resources for individuals to end their addiction, the drug may change but the problem won’t stop. The supply may have gone away - but the demand has not. The heroin traffickers you can bet are now seeing a lucrative opportunity. While law enforcement officers and drug control experts are seeing similar spikes in heroin use in communities across the country, South Florida is particularly ripe for the trend, given its proximity to a variety of drug smuggling routes by land and sea and competition has gotten stiff on the local heroin market. In the past two years law enforcement reports that Mexican drug dealers have moved in on Colombian cartels’ turf, supplying South Florida with a rather pure strain of heroin. It is important that we remember that Addiction is a disease. We can wipe out this drug or that drug, but addicts will always find new ways to find what they need to get their next high. Limiting the supply alone is not the answer. It is imperative that we continue to fight the overall drug problem with education, prevention and
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treatment programs which take aim at the root of addiction. Community groups are working to spread the word about the risks of heroin, including dirty needles that can spread disease. Advocacy groups are also trying to help addicts through legislation. A new law has also been passed aimed at encouraging fellow drug users to call authorities when they witness an overdose. The 911 Good Samaritan Act, which went into effect in Florida last year, protects callers from prosecution for possession of lowlevel controlled substances under some circumstances. Heroin addiction usually requires detox followed by long-term residential treatment. It is unfortunate that we do not have many options in south Florida for such long-term residential treatment that are affordable. Even those with good health insurance will not be covered for more than 60 days of treatment - if they are lucky. These measures are all wellintended and good progress has been made. However, in order to truly put a dent in Addiction, officials statewide are going to have to get as serious about treatment as they are about enforcement. The drugs are only but a symptom of the underlying causes and conditions which cause a person to seek out these substances. Focusing on these underlying factors is what we do at Advocare Solutions, Inc and what we encourage from community providers. The other methods are just like putting a band-aid on a deep, gushing wound which requires surgery. People decide to take drugs for three reasons. They may experience trauma or a stressful episode that leads them to need some sort of escape. They may fall prey to peer pressure, or they may have a mental health problem and are self-medicating. For example, if a person experiences depression, they may look to drugs as a way to feel better. At ASI, we have a long and successful track record of guiding clients who are charged with heroin and other drug charges through the criminal justice system. For a free and confidential consultation please call us today. Drug Evaluations are also provided by appointment only. *Myles B. Schlam is a nationally recognized expert in Drug Addiction and the Criminal Justice System and an Internationally Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ICADC). He is one of approximately 100 Criminal Justice Addiction Professionals (CCJAP) in the State of Florida. Mr. Schlam graduated from the St. Thomas University School of Law in ‘02 where he specialized in criminal law and interned with the Public Defender’s Office. ASI is licensed by the Florida Department of Children and Families and operates in the tri-county area of south Florida.
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Mental Health, Addiction And Scientifically-Proven Holistic Remedies By John Giordano DHL, MAC
Why is it that some people can have a drink or two and walk away while others just can’t seem to get their fill? Is there a reason why some are repulsed by the thought of using drugs when others experience insatiable cravings attracting them like a moth to a flame? Alcohol and drugs became part of culture at nearly the time of their discovery. Beer and wine were consumed in ancient civilizations as a substitute to the bacteria ridden water. Drugs were often introduced into society as a medicine before becoming recreational. The Pharaohs of ancient Egypt believed alcohol was a link to the gods. Beer was for the commoners while wine was reserved for the affluent Egyptians. The first recorded use of marijuana for medicinal purposes dates back to 2737 B.C. in China. Narcotics were used in Sumerian and European cultures over 6000 years ago. Addiction has also made its mark throughout history. Public intoxication was frowned upon by early Egyptians nearly seven millennia ago. My close friend and colleague, Dr. Kenneth Blum, whose seminal discovery of the reward gene (also known as the addiction/alcohol gene) forever changed the views and treatment of addiction, considers this to be one of the first documentations of substance abuse indicating the possibility of addiction found in history. Yet addiction treatment didn’t begin in earnest until the mid 1800s. That being said, addiction treatment is a nascent science. But what is it that drives some people to abuse drugs and alcohol and how do you treat it? Much has been written on the subject and the age-old “nature vs. nurture” debate has taken up a lot of the conversation. What I can tell you with complete confidence is that in my nearly thirty-years of treating people with this disease is that there are many contributing factors to addiction. So much so, that very early on in my counseling career I developed the perception of addiction being a mosaic with a nearly infinite number of possible combinations that could foster this disease. In my mind, and in the mind of many other experts on the subject, the “nature vs. nurture” debate has been put to rest. Considering the abundance of scientific research available on addiction today, the only objective answer is both. Over the years I’ve counseled addicts who had heavy medal toxicity, leaky gut syndrome, vitamin deficiencies, depression, closed head injuries, chronic pain and a host of other ailments that could propagate addiction. There are many roads leading to this disease, but for this conversation I’m going to focus on genetic predisposition to addiction. My reasoning is this: a study conducted by one of the world’s leading authorities on genetics and addiction, Dr. Kenneth Blum, at my center revealed that three out of four people tested had a genetic predisposition to addiction. Dr. Blum said the numbers were consistent with other studies he has done. He estimates that one-third of Americans carry a gene that predisposes them to addiction. According to Dr. Blum, whose life work has been centered on the reward gene; reward center and reward circuitry, people who have a genetic predisposition to addiction suffer from a condition he coined as: Reward Deficiency Syndrome or RDS. This is where an individual cannot experience rewards from everyday experiences. The brain is a very complex mechanism. Among other things, it produces ‘feel good’ chemicals that communicate reward, comfort, pleasure and calm throughout various regions of the brain. When this message is interrupted the individual is going to feel any one of a number of degrees of discomfort. Their behavior can range from gloomy to edgy to aggressive and beyond. Dr. Blum describes the ‘feel good’ chemical process as a cascade. Imagine for a moment if you will a waterfalls flowing into a pool of water below. Now visualize that pool flowing downward into another, forming a cascade. In essence, this is what is occurring in our brains. One chemical flows causing the production of another. The cascade begins with Serotonin. It triggers the release of Enkephalins which in turn inhibits GABA that fine tunes the release Dopamine in the “reward site.” As you can see this is a complex process. Even the slightest deviation in this progression will have consequences. Dopamine (DA) is the primary neurotransmitter of reward and pleasure. It’s the neuro-chemical that puts a smile on our face and a song in our heart. It helps regulate movement, emotional responses, cognition, and feelings of pleasure. DA brings on both desire and dread. Functioning properly, it enables us not only to see rewards, but to take action to move toward them. Too much Dopamine can cause someone to become easily agitated, aggressive and hostile while too little can lead to gloominess or a depressed state. Perhaps one of Dr. Blum’s most globally recognized accomplishments was his seminal discovery of the reward gene (also known as the addiction/alcohol gene). It was front page news and the lead story on TV all over the world. What he found was that the brain of people with a particular genotype (DRD2-A1) did not fully process Dopamine. He found that these people had fewer Dopamine receptors by as much as minus 40%. As a consequence, many of these individuals engage in drug/alcohol abuse or other process addictions to spike their Dopamine levels. Their objective is not to get high, but to balance their neurochemistry. Dr. Blum says cravings are the way we tell the brain we wants more dopamine. I was fortunate to have been first introduced to eastern medical philosophies
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when I was fourteen while training in Karate. Both have been the subject of my study and practice my entire life. So it was no big surprise to friends and family when I opened a holistic addiction treatment center at a time when the average person didn’t know what holistic was. It was a challenge at first but time and science has proven the value of holistic contributions to modern medicine. I felt then, as I do now, that a holistic approach should be the first resort. There are simple health solutions all around us that we can all benefit from if we’re just willing to give holistic a chance. It is in this spirit that I make the following recommendations that will help anyone boost their energy, improve cognition, elevate moods and just generally feel better. My first recommendation is exercise. I have a theory that our environment has changed in such a rapid way than our bodies and minds can’t keep up. Onehundred years ago more people were riding horses than driving cars. Eight out of ten people lived outside towns that were in some way dependant on agriculture. People would frequently walk for miles to socialize or worship on weekends. Today we don’t even get off the couch to change the TV channel. The simple reality is that our bodies and minds are not build for the sedentary lifestyle many lead. Just twenty minutes of aerobic exercise a day will almost immediately increase the processing of Dopamine and other ‘feel good’ chemicals in your brain. It will also improve cognitive function and reduce your risk of heart attack while slowing aging effects. I can’t stress enough how important exercise is to our mental and physical health. I have personally witnessed the positive results in the people at my center. So get off the couch and take a twenty minute walk! The second aspect of the adverse effects of our modern environment that requires your immediate attention is nutrition. It’s nearly impossible to get all of the vitamins and nutriments our body needs from the foods we eat, including the all important amino acids that promote balanced brain chemistry. However there are some foods that can naturally stimulate the production of ‘feel good’ chemicals. Foods that contain the amino acid Tyrosine and Vitamin B-6 are especially good for the production of Dopamine. It’s best to stick to a low-glycemic diet. Sugars temporarily spike Dopamine levels causing an adverse high/low effect. Caffeine has a similar effect and should be avoided as well. Free radicals can destroy Dopamine. Vegetables and fruits high in antioxidants will fight the harmful free radicals thus improving the possibility of healthy dopamine levels. To help maintain and increase your dopamine levels it is important to add daily servings of fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet. Bananas are loaded with tyrosine. Prunes, blueberries, strawberries, wheat germ, nuts, seeds, red beats, avocados, lima beans and soy products also help raise dopamine levels. Dairy products such as milk, cheese, cottage cheese and yogurt all contribute to the production of dopamine. High protein low fat meats are an excellent source of ‘feel good’ chemical precursors. Fish is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids that increase Dopamine levels. Whole-grain breads and pastas also contain tyrosine. Spicy foods stimulate the production of the ‘feel good’ chemical endorphins. As I mentioned earlier, it’s nearly impossible to get all of the vitamins and nutriments our body and brain needs from the foods we eat. That being said, it may be time for you to look at vitamin supplements. I always recommend seeing your doctor before you begin a supplement regiment. However, if you are an addict or in recovery and your intention is to balance your brain chemistry through supplements, I suggest you seriously consider the following. I’ve been formulating my own brand of vitamins and supplements and nutraceuticals targeting mental health for nearly twenty years. It was always a work in progress, adding new all natural ingredients and observing the results. Unbeknownst to me, Dr. Blum was developing his own formulation at the same time with the same objective. We decided to put our formulations through scientific testing that would provide us with meaningful and measurable results. For the study, Dr. Blum and I agreed qEEG (a digital imaging system much like an MRI that shows changes in brain activity in varying colors) imaging would produce the accurate visual results we were looking for. After administering one oral dose of Dr. Blum’s formulation, Synaptose™ to the volunteer, the results were nothing short of amazing. The image showed the brain turn bright red where it was once as black as night. Similar tests showed my formulation, Mental Clarity’s ability to improve cognitive function and repair. Additional testing of addicts who have been administered Synaptose™ claim that the nearly insatiable drug cravings felt less severe; while the addicts who were administered Mental Clarity stated they felt less foggy, had more energy and were more engaged in their daily routines. The results of these tests were published in Post Grad Medical Journal, a peer reviewed medical publication. But more importantly, my center is the only one in the world that makes both these genetically directed therapies available to clients. Last, and certainly not least, laugh. Laughter releases endorphins - the ‘feel good’ chemical that is sure to lift your mood. John Giordano DHL, MAC is a counselor, President and Co-Founder of G & G Holistic Addiction Treatment Center in North Miami Beach and Chaplain of the North Miami Police Department. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me directly at 305-945-8384. Also for the latest development in cutting-edge treatment check out my website: http://www.holisticaddictioninfo.com
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Recent Developments Regarding Hydrocodone Drug Scheduling A Drug Education Article Presented by Suncoast Rehab
Hydrocodone is the most frequently prescribed opioid in the US and has recently gone under review by the Food and Drug Administration due to the large amount of abuse in the United States. Before we discuss the recent news about hydrocodone, we wanted to talk about what hydrocodone is. Hydrocodone, also known as hydrocodone bitartrate, comes from opium. It is a synthetic drug, which means it was made by man. Man took part of opium and changed it chemically in a laboratory. The result was hydrocodone. Because it is synthetic and part-opium, it is generally called an opioid. It, like many opioids, is most often prescribed for pain. In the US, hydrocodone is not sold by itself, but is mixed with other drugs (usually acetaminophen – aka Tylenol – or ibuprofen) and can often be found in the brand-name drugs like Vicodin, Lorcet, Zydone, Vicoprofen, Norco, and Lortab. It can also be found in some cough medicines. Since hydrocodone is mixed with other drugs to make the brand-name drugs, different drugs can have different side effects – for example, Vicodin also has acetaminophen (aka Tylenol) in it, and side effects of Tylenol include stomach problems. However, here are some of the side effects that are common to most drugs containing hydrocodone: low blood pressure, drowsiness, weakness, loss of consciousness, muscle pain or spasms, trouble breathing, confusion, depression, loss of appetite, kidney problems, mood changes, collapsed lung, hallucinations, anxiety, insomnia, addiction, and death. Because hydrocodone is addictive, it gets sold on the street. Some of the street names for this drug are: Vike, Vic, Watson-387, Hydro, Norco. There are others. When abused, it gives the user a feeling of extreme euphoria and sedation. It’s a “downer,” so it is very dangerous to mix with other drugs – especially other downers like alcohol, sedatives, tranquilizers, etc. Anything that will slow down a person’s breathing is dangerous to take with hydrocodone. It also does not mix well with anti-depressants, and it can cause unpredictable behavior in a person taking anti-depressants. Hydrocodone by itself is a Schedule II drug, which means that it has a high potential for abuse and may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence. This is the same schedule/classification as other opioids like oxycodone, morphine, and codeine. But, as hydrocodone is only sold/
FROM ADDICT TO ADDICTION COUNSELOR
Continued from page 8
their love, I was able to shake off my addictions.” Now, Feld spreads his own message. But he does it in a very non-traditional way. “I have an M.S.W.,” he notes. “But I base my practice upon working with the addict’s spiritual self. We talk about faith in a higher power. Faith in yourself. And achieving the peace of mind, through spiritual practice, to realize that you’re a precious person, worthy of love – especially from yourself!” As a result of his non-traditional methods, he often achieves positive results faster than traditional practitioners. And he’s won three prestigious industry awards the past three months. Feld’s practice encompasses interventions and assessments, primary therapy, recovery coaching, spiritual counseling (for any religion or belief), and family therapy. “I can relate to the self-destructive spiral of addiction and negative thinking because I’ve experienced it,” Feld says. “I don’t use traditional approaches - I don’t judge; I don’t lecture; and I don’t hand out lists of self-help books. I use a spiritually-based approach. It can be prayer, reflection, meditation, visualization, support groups…or just-plain-talking. No one should have to live out their life in the clutches of addiction.”. Mitch Feld’s been sober for 25 years. And he’s finally found his calling – helping other addicts. “The message I’m trying to impart,” he adds, “is that there’s always hope. If you have faith, and people who care, you can recover from this self-destructive cycle – and take control of your life. “Opening up to tell my story was a bit hard,” Mitch Feld says. “But if telling my story can help someone, I’ll tell it all day long!” Mitch Feld is a busy man these days, writing his blog.(www.addictioncounseling withrabbimitch.com); speaking at seminars and workshops; being written about in the media; winning industry awards (and also an award from LinkedIn, for having one of the most frequently-viewed profiles); and, of course, bringing his special brand of spiritual guidance to addicts. Steve Winston (www.stevewinston.com) has written/contributed to 17 books, and his articles have appeared in major media all over the world.
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prescribed in the US as a brand-name drug with another painkiller mixed into it, the classification is different. The drug that gets made (such as Vicodin) becomes a schedule III drug, because the hydrocodone is diluted, and Tylenol is considered far less addictive. A vote recently occurred in an FDA advisory committee on whether or not Vicodin and other painkillers containing hydrocodone (currently schedule III drugs) should be moved up to schedule II due to the amount of people addicted to drugs containing hydrocodone. While, from all reports, the vote to move drugs containing hydrocodone into the schedule II category was positive, there is still the decision process within the FDA. We hope the addictive drugs which have hydrocodone in them are restricted to schedule II, which will make them harder to access and restrict the type of doctors that can prescribe the drug. It is very positive that the FDA is taking a step in addiction prevention by reducing access to drugs containing hydrocodone. However, what about those people who are already addicted to Vicodin or other drugs? We can help. If you know someone suffering from addiction to opioids or opiates, or if you are suffering from addiction, contact us today. You can call us confidentially at 866-572-1788 to learn more about our drug-free rehab techniques. We are here to help, so contact us today.
Looking at Gender and Mental Health By Darlene Silvernail PhD LMHC CAP
Gender can play a large role in mental health and the diagnosis of mental health disorders. Traditional gender roles prevent men from seeking mental health services, while supporting women’s choices to seek the same services (South University Online, 2012). Furthermore, the descriptions of certain disorders may lead to gender biases in diagnosis. For example, the description for antisocial personality disorder, a disregard for the rights of others including lying, fighting, stealing, and physical cruelty, is an exaggeration of the male gender role (Brannon, 2011). Because of this, men are more likely to be diagnosed with the disorder than women are. Similarly, women are more likely to be diagnosed with disorders that are exaggerations of the traditional female gender role, such as dependent personality disorder, anxiety, and depression. Traditional gender roles may also result in the under diagnosis of depression in men. As Brannon (2011) noted, “admitting to emotional problems is not part of the male gender role and keeps many men from identifying their problems as depression” (Brannon), and men may not display the same types of depression symptoms that women do. In addition to gender stereotypes, there a number of other factors that may explain why depression and anxiety are more common in women. First, women report higher levels of stress than men do, partially due to their multiple responsibilities at home and in the work place (Cook, Brahier, & Hughes, 2011). This increased stress puts women at a higher risk for psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety. Women also provide emotional support for their husbands and children, but they do not necessarily receive the same support in return (Brannon, 2011). This lack of support may also lead to increased stress, depression, and anxiety. Hormonal differences may also put women at an increased risk for depression. Women are also more likely to be diagnosed with somatization disorder, which describes recurring physical complaints with no apparent physical origin or medical diagnosis (Brannon, 2011). Specifically, 95 percent of the people diagnosed with somatization disorder in the U.S. are women. This high rate of diagnosis in women may be the result of physicians dismissing women’s physical complaints and attributing their physical symptoms to emotional problems. While understanding which disorders are more common in women or men can be helpful, it is important to remember that there are exceptions to the rule, and just because a disorder is more common in one gender does not mean that it does not exist in the other. Relying on gender stereotypes can lead to the over diagnosis of certain disorders and the under diagnosis of others (Brannon, 2011). Clinicians must consider several different factors, including the client’s culture, past experiences, and current situation. In sum, they need to look at clients as individuals. Dr. Silvernail is A Licensed Mental Health Counselor with a PhD in Psychology and Addictionology Counseling. Darlene has held post in the United States Army, was a Police Officer for the Harford Police Department before finding her calling as a counselor of human services. In the last 15 years Darlene has held numerous leadership positions in outpatient programs, residential treatment programs and counseling centers. She has over 26 years of experience developing and implementing quality educational programs in the field of addictions treatment and psychology. Dr. Silvernail teamed up with the women of PWN Books to write a series on empowerment. In all Darlene has authored and co-authored ten books. This series has not only found a steady following, but woman across the nation have experienced the Empowerment Series first hand through the seasonal conferences and workshops. www. SilvernailConsultantServices.com
8th Annual WAY OF LIFE Friday - Sunday, June 28-30
A Recovery Weekend with AA / Al-Anon / ACA participation Palm Beach Gardens Marriott, 4000 RCA Blvd.
Keynote Speakers
Friday night: Dan G / ACA Saturday: Kathy H / Al-Anon Saturday: Tara C / AA Sunday: Allen C / AA Saturday Night Banquet: Mari G / AA Friday Night Karaoke Social/DJ featuring DJ Mike from MVP Productions and Saturday Night at the Movies/ Bill W Movie & Popcorn
Back to the Basics workshop, four 1- hour sessions completing the 12 Steps of AA included in Conference price. Schedule of events at www.wayoflifeconference.com For the conference schedule, registration, and online payment:
www.wayoflifeconference.com This event is not endorsed or sponsored by AA, Al-Anon or ACA
To make hotel reservations call 800-678-9494 or visit www.marriott.com/PBIPG Book before 6/13 and please mention WAY OF LIFE CONFERENCE for an exceptional rate of $95 per night
Struggling with addiction?
CALL US TODAY! Toll Free: 888.960.7798 Admissions: 954.579.2431
At the Serenity House Detox we pride ourselves on taking care of our clients like our family. We are a small private medical detox offering a peaceful and compassionate environment. Our clients will have the opportunity to take the first step in the journey to recovery in a safe environment. www.serenityhousedetox.com info@serenityhousedetox.com
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Back to the Basics of Recovery Guidance: Step Eleven (Continued) By Wally P.
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. In my previous article, I cited a few of the many references to prayer and meditation found throughout the “Big Book.” Now, I will concentrate on the passages within pages 86 to 88. At the top of page 86, the “Big Book” authors state, “It would be easy to be vague about this matter (of prayer and meditation). Yet, we believe we can make some definite and valuable suggestions.” And, definite and valuable suggestions they do make. Basically, they instruct us on what we are to do at night, in the morning, and throughout the day. At night, we review the day’s activities. In the first paragraph on page 86, the authors write: “When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid? . . . After making our review we ask God’s forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken.” This paragraph contains the third reference to the A.A. test for self-will, which the “Big Book” authors have previously described in Steps Four (page 67) and Ten (page 84), our inventory steps. Here, they suggest we use this same test to separate self-will from God’s will during our periods of prayer and meditation. In order for the messages we receive to be considered self-will, they only have to pass one of the four characteristics of resentment, fear, selfishness OR dishonesty. Conversely, to be considered God’s will, they must pass all four characteristics of forgiveness, faith, unselfishness AND honesty. In the second paragraph on page 86, the “Big Book” authors provide us with directions for conducting a morning “quiet time”: “On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives.” If we ask God to direct our thinking, doesn’t it stand to reason that our next thoughts, feelings or mental images just might be of a spiritual nature? What do we do with these messages? We write them down. Why? So we won’t forget them. After we “sit quietly,” we examine our written record using the test we just described. We then share our guidance with others who are committed to the process. We do this because not all of the information we receive is Spirit based. As the “Big Book” authors write on page 87: “ . . . Being still inexperienced and having just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this presumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless, we find that our thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on the plane of inspiration. We come to rely upon it.” Here is where our sponsor or sharing partner can be very helpful. What does another person who is practicing two-way prayer think about the guidance we have received? As stated in the “How to Listen to God” pamphlet, “More light comes in through two windows than one.” In the third paragraph on page 86, the “Big Book” authors reveal how the “One who has all power” replies to our requests for help: “In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. . . . We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while.” According to the authors, this “Infinite Power” communicates with us through “inspiration, an intuitive thought, or a decision.” This is an amazing revelation. Now we know how our questions are going to be answered. In the first paragraph on page 87, the authors suggest we end our “quiet time” with a prayer: “We usually conclude our period of meditation with a prayer that we be shown all through the day what our next step is to be, that we be given whatever we need to take care of such problems.” If we ask for guidance, we will receive it. In addition, we will be given the courage and strength to carry it out. The “Big Book” authors then explain what we are to do anytime we become
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troubled or confused. We relax and ask for guidance. Starting with the third paragraph on page 87, the authors tell us: “As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day ‘Thy will be done.’ ” Over the years, I have written many “to-do lists” during my morning meditations. Sometimes, I have received thoughts, feelings and mental images that can be considered interesting or insightful. Occasionally, I have received guidance that has been life-changing or even lifesaving. For me, the key to the process is practice, practice, practice. By taking the time to get quiet and listen, I have experienced many of the promises on page 88. When I commit to a regular “quiet time,” I find myself “in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions.” In various archival collections throughout the United States and Canada, I found guidance written on stationary, envelopes, assorted scraps of paper, and in journals and notebooks of various shapes and sizes. This guidance kept many of our A.A. pioneers sober, one day at a time, for the rest of their lives. It proved to them beyond the shadow of a doubt that, “It works—it really does.” In the next article, I will describe how the A.A. old-timers carried our lifesaving message of recovery to others. Wally P. is an archivist, historian and author who, for more than twentythree years, has been studying the origins and growth of the Twelve-step movement. He is the caretaker for the personal archives of Dr. Bob and Anne Smith. Wally conducts history presentations and recovery workshops, including “Back to the Basics of Recovery” in which he takes attendees through all Twelve Steps in four, one-hour sessions. More than 500,000 have taken the Steps using this powerful, time-tested, and highly successful “original” program of action.
Back to Basics Basics--101 An introduction to the Twelve Steps of Recovery
During this seventy-five minute DVD, Wally Paton, noted archivist, historian and author, takes you through all Twelve Steps the way they were taken during the early days of the Twelve-Step movement. Experience the miracle of recovery as Wally demonstrates the sheer simplicity and workability of the process that has saved millions of lives throughout the past seventy years. Wally has taken more than 500,000 through the Twelve Steps in his Back to the Basics of Recovery seminars. He has made this “Introduction to the Twelve Steps” presentation hundreds of times at treatment centers, correctional facilities, and recovery workshops and conferences around the world. This is a DVD for newcomers and old-timers alike. You can watch it in its entirety or divide it into three segments: Surrender (Steps 1, 2 and 3); Sharing and Amends (Steps 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9); and Guidance (Steps 10, 11 and 12). The accompanying CD contains twenty-four pages of PDF presentation materials for facilitators and handouts for participants. Here is everything you need to take or take others through the Twelve Steps “quickly and often.” Wally has modified the “Big Book” passages so they are gender neutral and applicable to all addictions and compulsive disorders. In keeping with the Twelve-Step community’s tradition of anonymity, he does not identify himself, or anyone else in this DVD, as a member of any Twelve-Step program. This DVD was recorded at the Public Broadcasting Service television studio in Tucson, AZ using high definition cameras, flat screen graphics, and PowerPoint overlays. It is a state-ofthe-art production that is both instructive and enlightening. “It works—it really does.”
To order this DVD plus CD, please contact: Faith With Works Publishing Company P. O. Box 91648 ~ Tucson, AZ 85752 520-297-9348 ~ www.aabacktobasics.org DVD+CD Price: $79.95 + $11.05 (priority s/h) Total Price: $91.00
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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.
• We don’t share the belief “Once an addict always an addict.” • We believe anyone can be helped to overcome their addiction for good. • We utilize a well-rounded approach to address the physical and mental aspects of addiction. 28