May13 issue

Cravings: Why We Can’t Seem to Get Enough The Missing Peace: Solving the Anger Problem for Alcoholics, Addicts and Those Who Love Them Pills and Pot on the Playground Seeking Solutions for Teen and Tween Drug Abuse EXCERPTS from the “Getting YOUR CHILDREN Sober” BOOK

A Talk about the Designer Drug - Synthetic Marijuana: Is it really harmful?

Newlyweds Facing Addiction – Get Help Now! Treatment for Drug Abusers in the Criminal Justice System Back to the Basics of Recovery: Step Eleven Does the treatment industry need to adopt fcat standards ?

Internet Users Lose Brain Function/ Cognitive Control

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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 every mother out there-Have a very Happy Mother’s 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

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Cravings: Why We Can’t Seem to Get Enough

By Omar Manejwala, M.D.

Why is it that we often can’t live up to our goals when it comes to addictive behaviors? What undermines us every time? As a psychiatrist and addiction expert who has helped thousands of people change their habits and get back on track, the answer is remarkably simple: cravings. Cravings make us smoke “just one more cigarette” when we’re trying to quit. Cravings make us eat that cheat-meal-cheesecake. Cravings lead us back into the bar if we’re alcoholics. Why do we let that happen?

Cravings are intense urges that can be very uncomfortable to resist. They may feel like they are going to last forever unless they are satisfied. They trick us into thinking that “this time will be different”, or “I deserve this”, or even “one time can’t hurt.” They are powerful thoughts and feelings that drive our behavior in ways that are clearly against our self-interest. How can we stop them?

Well, that’s exactly why I wrote Craving: Why We Can’t Seem to Get Enough (Hazelden Pub. 2013). As an addiction psychiatrist I’ve seen people giving up just as they were starting to get successful, families torn apart and jobs lost, all because of cravings. I’ve also seen people spend thousands of dollars on miracle “cures”, geographic cures and fads. The people I was helping truly believed their problem was the sugar (or the gambling or the pot or the sex) and couldn’t see past that to learn that the craved object was really just a symptom of a deeper need that couldn’t ever be met with “one more cigarette.”

In Craving, I review the complex causes of cravings (the brain science and psychology behind cravings, the powerful social forces that affect cravings and even the genetics of cravings) and then explore what we really know about what works to kick them. Strategies that have published, peerreviewed, scientific support are emphasized, and myths are debunked. The book contains practical suggestions that a reader could use to immediately begin to gain control over their cravings and achieve their goals.

When I was researching the book, I reviewed thousands of articles on addictions and cravings. In many of the cases, I spoke directly with the researchers who conducted the cravings studies to clarify what exactly their research showed. In Craving I distill those down to the essential suggestions that can improve cravings.

I hope you enjoy this excerpt from the first chapter.

From Chapter 1, Craving: Why it Matters What Is Addiction?

Let’s take a look at the word “addiction.” Some think of addiction as a dirty word or something pejorative, but it’s really nothing more than a description of a set of behaviors that are hardwired into the brain. In fact, it comes from the Latin word “addictionem,” which basically means “a devoting.” As you’ll see in this book, when it comes to addiction, the thoughts, perspectives, behaviors, and even the very neurons or brain cells of the person are devoted to the craved substance or behavior. The causes of addiction are complex and multiple, and the types of addiction are myriad as well. But all addictions share some key features, and the most important of those is craving.

People who suffer from addictions experience milder desires and urges as well. Often they drink not because they need to, but simply because they want to. And they also may sometimes experience the mild or even the stronger cravings I’ve described above. But most people with addiction also experience another type of craving, one that is devastatingly destructive.

This is the fist-pounding, can’t-live-without-it, absolutely-gotta-have-it severe addictive craving. This craving cannot be ignored, it cannot be voluntarily suppressed, and it can’t be wished away. It often feels like it will last forever and that the only choice is to give in. It feels as powerful as the biological drive to breathe or the thirst for water. It won’t allow itself to be ignored until it’s satisfied. The tragedy is that giving in or succumbing to the craving and acting out is not the end of it; it often leads, later, to even stronger cravings or cravings for even more. In some cases, giving in to the cravings leads to craving another substance or behavior. It’s a vicious cycle that affects more than 10 percent of the U.S. population, and it won’t be eliminated by stronger willpower, an ad campaign to “just say no,” or any number of scare tactics or legal interventions. What we’re discussing is addiction and, sadly, it can be deadly. People with addiction need their substance or behavior to function. In some cases, stopping the drug use or behavior can produce life-threatening consequences, such as seizure or delirium (with alcohol), or the equally deadly refeeding syndrome with anorexia, where suddenly resuming normal eating after starvation can sometimes lead to heart failure and even death.

These individuals cannot consistently use in moderation. Unlike our other examples, where a person could use or act out in a limited, controlled fashion, people with addiction generally cannot consistently control their behavior when it comes to the addictive sub­stance or process. One important caveat is that some people with addiction actually can control their behavior . . . for a time. This temporary control wreaks havoc on the mind of someone with addiction, because it convinces him that he has finally regained control.

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Then later, when the behavior spirals out of control again, it’s often far more devastating than it was before. This, by the way, is one reason why experts describe addiction as a progressive disease. Over time, the natural development of addiction is that it gets worse, although there may be periods (often long periods) of improvement.

Yet over the years I’ve observed that when this happens—when the behavior temporarily appears to be getting better—the mind is actually getting worse, setting the person up for relapse. Here’s an example of this behavior-betterbrain-worse scenario. Consider a guy named “Lance” who struggled with gambling for years. At first it was sports betting, then it was day trading, and these days it’s some com­bination of online and casino gambling. Like most people who are struggling with gambling addiction, he had some winning streaks and some losing streaks. When he won, he knew it was because of his strategy. When he lost, he knew it was temporary—he didn’t even really think of himself as losing; rather, he would say, “The casino is holding my money for me right now until I win it back.” That sounded bad enough, and it was. However, at one point, with enough pressure and when he was in the hole financially, he finally decided enough was enough. He acknowledged he had a serious problem, even that he was addicted to gambling, and then he simply stopped gambling. His wife was proud of him, his friends (at least the few who knew about his problem) were supportive, and Lance really got the sense that he was free of this issue. He called his gam­bling “a phase.”

From the outside, it would really appear that things were look­ing up for Lance.

The behavior wasn’t just reduced—it was gone. Lance was not gambling at all.

But let’s take a look at what Lance was thinking. Lance began to reflect on how he was able to simply stop gambling by putting his mind to it. He looked with scorn on people who needed gambling addiction treatment and at people who described themselves as gambling addicts. He started to ask himself why they didn’t just “man up and quit, like I did.” He then made a startling conclusion: if he was able to quit on his own when he wanted to, he must not be addicted.

Now, mind you, when Lance was gambling (toward the end), he was aware that he was addicted. In some regards, his mind was actually healthier because he knew he had a problem. He had insight. Later, after stopping for a while, he became convinced that he didn’t have a problem. His insight was actually worse—his mind was lying to him at a furious pace even though he was not gambling. You can imagine what happened next; because he knew he wasn’t addicted, he told himself that he could gamble recreationally, just occasionally and for fun. Before long, he was back in a deeper hole than ever, asking himself how he had let it happen again. Lance’s behavior was better but his mind was worse, which is why we emphasize that quitting isn’t enough; it has to be followed up with a genuine recovery-oriented program.

The great thing about focusing on recovery rather than on the problematic/ addictive behavior is that not only do your brain and behavior improve, but your happiness and sense of satisfaction dramatically increase as well.

If you fall into any of the above-mentioned categories of addiction, you absolutely should get professional help to assess the problem and support you in developing individualized strategies to obtain relief and freedom.

But even if you fall into the severest category of addiction and craving, the explanations and methods in this book will be very helpful as you progress along your journey toward personal recovery.

Cravings Matter Why do cravings matter? In 2013, craving was finally added to the upcoming fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) criteria for addiction.

Doctors are paying more attention to cravings now than ever before. Why is that? There are three main reasons. First, cravings are correlated with relapse. People who crave more are more likely to return to the craved substance or behavior. Second, cravings are distressing and uncomfortable.

People who have severe cravings will often describe them as maddeningly uncomfortable. And finally, cravings matter because they can be affected, they can be improved, they can be relieved, and, in many cases, they can even be prevented. Recently, medications and other therapies have been developed to help reduce or eliminate alcohol and other drug cravings.

Perhaps the most important reason that cravings matter is because they are yours. They are deeply personal. You can paint a vivid picture of them or even show someone what happens to you when you experience them.

But no matter how thoroughly you describe or explain your cravings, you are the only one who is experiencing them. This is very important because, in the effort to get a handle on their cravings, many of the people I work with try to compare their cravings to what others are experiencing. Often, they will either see that their cravings seem worse, and become convinced that they are different and thus cannot get well, or that their cravings are milder, and so conclude, “I don’t really need all this help.” Either way, com­paring

Continued on page 16

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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.

All Alcoholics/Addicts And The People Who Love Them Are Angry All addicts have experienced unexpressed anger, or expressed it so inappropriately that the people around them have been hurt, irritated, frustrated, angry, and even enraged with the disease. Most alcoholics have one thing in common: When they were growing up, anger caused everyone pain in some form or another. Even if they failed math they learned one equation in their home: anger equals pain. That pain may come in the form of heartaches, abuse, abandonment, isolation, degradation, withdrawal, whippings, beatings, and shaming. All which hurt them or the ones they love. At some point most decided that if they just didn’t get angry then no one would get hurt, including them. So they swallowed their anger, stuffed it into their bodies like they were gunnysacks or body bags. Everyone denied its existence or rationalized it away. Some smiled, stabbed people in the back, sabotaged relationships, manipulated, sought revenge, controlled, forgave prematurely, played nice, got drunk, stoned, high and numb. Resentments turned into thick bricks and were used to build walls around themselves, but the anger leaked out, in spite of the mortar, harming everyone in the near vicinity. Alcoholics and addicts became resentful, a “luxury the alcoholic and addict cannot afford.”

One of the key criticisms of AA, NA and Al-Anon is that many participants are full of anger, even after being in recovery for many years. They talk all the time about how their sponsor “straightened my ass out” or “called me on my bullshit” or “confronted me and set me straight.” Confrontation, criticism and put-downs of all kinds seem to be acceptable, but they really make most alcoholics and addicts even angrier, though they’ve learned to look and act like it doesn’t. As the Billy Crystal character on Saturday Night Live used to say, “It’s better to look good than to feel good.”

I had been thinking for two or three years about writing this book. One Saturday morning I attended my regular AA meeting. Afterwards I went to lunch with a bunch of folks who talked about how angry a certain member was after twenty-seven years of sobriety. I wondered if anyone else noticed our own anger that took the form of gossiping about that member’s inappropriate expression of anger. That was when I realized how badly I needed to write this book, not only for others but for myself as well.

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Anger Is Just A Feeling Anger is a feeling. It is one of the primary emotions like sadness, happiness, fear, loneliness and gratitude. It is not inherently negative, though if repressed long enough it can have negative consequences, ranging from headaches, stomachaches, and backaches to more serious things like colitis, insomnia, some say even cancer and heart disease. Repressed anger also hurts others when it takes the form of abuse, violence and mayhem. Yet anger is a natural response to life’s unfairness, people’s unkindness, and the sounds of leaf blowers and lawn mowers before 9 a.m. on an otherwise beautiful Sunday morning.

Anger is simply energy in the body that can be used to get us out of stuck places—marriages where the husband or wife is abusive, jobs that pay less than minimum wage but expect us to give two hundred percent of ourselves. It can extricate us from unjust or unholy wars, oust presidents, and help us get M.A.D.D. about irresponsible drinkers. Intellect alone, without linking itself to anger, will seldom right wrongs. Anger is the energy to be used to get us out of stuck places.

Everyone Gets Angry Anger is a persistent and universal problem mostly due to the fact that no one taught us how to express it without hurting others or ourselves. No one can avoid it one hundred percent of the time. It is a natural part of the human condition. The people we love the most are the people who most often trigger our anger. We get angry with our kids; our kids get angry with us. Many adults are still angry with their parents—even if they’ve been dead twenty years.

Husbands are angry with their wives for wanting more tenderness than they can muster; wives are angry with their husbands for thinking intimacy is two or three glorious minutes in the bedroom.

This pesky thing called anger just won’t go away; it’s the annoying little flea that bites the butt of humanity. We all wish it were really that small; then it would be easier to squash or hide. All too often anger is the elephant in the living room: obvious and obtrusive, leaving a big mess to clean up after yet no one talks about it.

Where Does It All Begin?

Like most things, anger begins in childhood. Children come into this world with a broad range of emotions ready to be felt—until someone tells them they don’t feel what they feel. “You’re not angry.” “Don’t be mad.” “You don’t have anything to be angry about—you have it so much better than the children in Africa.”

Children experience early on that showing anger results in punishment. A client of mine, Jason, was told at age six that if he got angry his mother would “take me to the police station, turn me in and tell them to keep me.”

Most families have one or two people who are allowed to get angry—usually these individuals do so in the most intimidating or abusive manner. For example, most families have the stormy one, the seething one, the silent one, the destructive one, the rebellious one, the overachiever, the “right” one and the “wrong” one, the one who leaves and the one who stays no matter how much they’d like to leave. By now most know that family members tend to assume certain roles: “The Peace Makers,” who are really more like referees and have very little if any peace in their own lives; “The Hero,” whose job it is to save the family and the family name and is usually worn out by the time they are six from slaying family dragons; “The Lost Child,” who never seems to be around and who is arguably the smartest of them all but who can never quite find his or her own way in the world; and finally, “The Scape Goat,” who carries the sins of the family on its back and is constantly being slaughtered with everyone’s anger and rage.

We all know children don’t take after strangers. You’ve never heard a frustrated parent say to their child, “You are just like the mailman.” What is modeled for children early on is what they rely on later in life. Adults learned verbal, physical and emotional behaviors that are abusive or inappropriate when they were children; they didn’t suddenly invent them when they grew up.

People who grow up in an alcoholic home almost never see anger expressed in a healthy manner. Consequently, as adults they must unlearn the old behaviors and learn and practice new, healthier ways of expressing anger.

The question is where will they go to learn?

If a child is given three crayons with which to color, all his life he will use only those three crayons, thinking there are no other choices. Healthy individuals discover there are more options available. They learn how to use colored pencils and markers, and then graduate to painting on canvas. They must practice with their new tools and give up relying on the old. Only then can they paint their lives the way they want.

Continued on page 24

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9

Pills and Pot on the Playground Seeking Solutions for Teen and Tween Drug Abuse

By Maribel Quiala, LCSW

The problem of drug and alcohol abuse has been around for a very long time. It evolved from the shadows of the underworld, thrived during Prohibition, escalated in the 60’s and 70’s and now runs rampant in our homes and on our local school yards. Who would have imagined that the so-called “counterculture” of drug use would develop into the serious problem of addiction we have today?

We are sending mixed messages to our kids. We tell them not to do drugs, yet when there is a problem we run to the doctor a get some pills. Granny’s bedside is adorned with bottles filled with pills of all colors, shapes and sizes; just like a candy store. Daddy needs to take something for back pain and Mom is being treated for depression. The so-called counterculture has gone main stream. We have become a pharmacological fantasyland.

There’s a pill or potion to “fix” anything and everything. Advertising for new prescription medications are all over the media – television, radio and print. Drug marketing is big business and our medical culture has embraced it wholeheartedly. While these ads may be helpful to older adults who need medications to address many of the medical ailments that come with aging, and a boon for big pharmaceutical companies, it is yet another mixed message we send to our kids about drugs. Did we really think that somehow this mindset wouldn’t trickle down to them or affect them? Did we think they would be immune from it all?

As some parents lock their liquor cabinets in an attempt to keep their kids from drinking alcohol, the medicine cabinet is wide open to enquiring minds. Kids don’t think about consequences unless they’ve been communicated with and taught to consider them from the get go. Even then there is no guarantee that their feelings, self esteem, pressure from their peers or a desire to fit in will prevent them from flirting with disaster.

Kids are going to make mistakes and have lapses in judgment. Many will experiment with drugs and not suffer consequences. Others will not be so lucky.

Although street drugs, still a problem in and of themselves, are business as usual in many of our communities, even more alarming is the rise of potentially lethal “legal” drugs that are manufactured, easy to obtain and available to kids in convenience stores. Bath salts, salvia, spice, alcohol, and those heavily marketed energy drinks (loaded with caffeine) are all legal; to a kid it means they’re safe. They’re not. Overindulging on energy drinks alone can cause serious heart palpitations; mixed with other drugs, it’s a surefire recipe for disaster.

The concept of the “pharma party” is quite disturbing. The kids gather pills of all kinds from wherever they can find them. Then they are put in a bowl for anyone to sample at will. There is no thought of negative drug interaction; most times they don’t even know what they’re taking; they just eat them like candy and wait to see what happens! Don’t kid yourself that this could never happen in your neighborhood.

More disturbing is the fact that the demographic for abuse keeps getting younger. Instances of pot and pills filtering into elementary schools are documented. Older siblings or cousins are many times the gate master for your child’s entry into drugs. Sometimes it’s their parents, who live a drug culture lifestyle.

you had known but didn’t. That’s a good place to start.

As a parent you may not have had the benefit of parental guidance and if that is the case, you are not alone. The axiom “when people know better, they do better” is true. Leaving your kids to figure it out all on their own is asking for trouble. If they have questions, they will ask who they trust.

Hopefully that would be you. If you feel inadequate or lost, you can try talking to a school counselor or social worker to give you some tips. You may also be able to find excellent information online.

When a kid makes a mistake or a bad choice, and they will, the worst thing you can do is to shame them or withhold your love from them That’s when they need it the most. If it doesn’t come from you, they will find it elsewhere and that’s exactly what predators and gangs, and drugs, count on.

From a kid’s point of view, it’s better to be a part of something than to constantly feel like you don’t belong anywhere. Drugs and alcohol, even cigarettes, are sometimes all it takes to make kids feel like they fit in their own skin. Birds of a feather do stick together; the outsiders will find each other because they understand each other.

Have you ever wondered why so many kids are attracted to gangs? Oddly enough, the gang dynamic is almost identical to the family dynamic, but with very different goals and outcomes. Gangs represent acceptance, being a part of something and gangs have notorious ties to drugs and drug activity. They go hand in hand.

The gang leader represents the “Father” figure. He’s the guy you have to please. There is usually at least one female that is kind and nurturing; she represents the “Mother”. Other members represent siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. Gang leaders know how to draw kids in and, like predators (and drugs), they are patient.

My colleagues tell me that there are many young people’s 12 Step groups where kids can find the acceptance and fellowship they desire. The beauty of 12 Step recovery is that there is real power in one alcoholic/ addict talking to another. Alcoholic and addicts have a common bond aside from addiction and that is their feelings.

In some cases detoxification needs to be medically supervised in a clinical setting before real treatment can begin. Alcohol takes around 30 days to leave your system, although cravings can last long after that and it can be detected in hair for up to four years. Drugs take longer, around 45 days to initially leave the body. Depending on what substance or combination of substances your child used, a 28 day program may not be sufficient.

Fortunately, there are out-patient programs and residential programs ranging from county beds to country club settings. Recovery is not dependent on the environment of the program, but on the willingness of the alcoholic/addict to embrace life without drugs or alcohol. Having medical insurance or the ability to pay, or not, may decide what kind treatment your child is eligible for.

Be aware that there are no guarantees that treatment and recovery will “take” the first, fifth or even the tenth time. It takes what it takes and for some it takes a lot.

It’s important to note here that the family dynamic plays a huge role in a child’s self esteem and probability for risky behavior, including drug abuse. Kids want to fit in, be talked to, communicated with, and approved of even if they act like they don’t. Keeping lines of communication open with your tweens and teens is as vital to a healthy family dynamic as the parents communicating with each other. You can’t be afraid to talk about subjects like sex, drugs, alcohol, violence, cheating, etc.; these topics need to be addressed head on.

Unfortunately, your child may not be the only one who needs recovery.

Addiction is a family disease and the most successful treatment for your child may involve you and/or other family members looking at their behavior as well.

Without extolling or condemning the topic of medical marijuana, it’s important to understand that pot has changed. Gone are the days of the happy homegrown user. Most varieties of marijuana are hybrids now. They’re more potent and more likely to impair the user. This is an excellent article from the Mayo Clinic about the kinds of drugs that kids are using: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/teen-drug-abuse/MY01099.

Find out what your kid’s school is doing to support kids who are trying to stay clean. You might also ask what the school is doing to keep pot and pills off the playground! By working together, more can be done to keep kids off drugs, in school and out of trouble.

Don’t wait for your child to ask; make a plan to have “the talk”. Figure out what you want to say and talk to your kids as you wish you had been talked to. What would you do differently? What information do you wish

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The Al-Anon program is for friends and family members of alcoholics.

If your child has a problem staying sober, you should seek some kind of support group, 12 Step or otherwise. You will benefit from talking to other parents who are dealing with the problem of teen and tween addiction too.

Maribel Quiala, LCSW is the Director of Clinical Services at Fort Lauderdale Hospital.

To Advertise, Call 561-910-1943

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EXCERPTS from the “Getting your children Sober” BOOK The following are excerpts from the “Getting Your Children Sober’’ book,

by Toby Drews, author of the “Getting Them Sober’’ book series

“I found strength during crises and was able to intervene”

“How my panic stopped”

‘’When my daughter was in the hospital, I learned to whittle down the problem. I learned not to worry about six months from now, when I was “sure” she’d be in trouble again. I learned not to worry about bills that would come up before they actually did. I learned to deal with what was in front of me at the moment. Before, it was all one big lump. That’s why I couldn’t do anything about anything. I couldn’t sort it out.

Whenever I focused on solutions –“what can I do” – I got all screwed up.

But what I did find was I could do one thing at a time. I learned what to set aside for the moment.

When a crisis comes and you’re not in a recovery program, you just run in circles. When a crisis comes and you are in a recovery program, you have a lot of practical options to choose from. All those steps that you’ve been hearing about–the- how-to-get-better steps (which maybe you weren’t practicing because you weren’t desperate) – they now come back to you.

Those things you “put on the shelf – that before you couldn’t do – they do come back to you as well. They do. You seem to make a conscious decision to try (even though you’re scared) to do those steps.

You know that you have to do something.

When you come to a recovery program, you learn to trust that you will be given the answers, and you are. It just happens. I said to myself, this is a process that has helped many people. Am I willing to try?

It took the pressure off, thinking in terms of “I’ll try,” rather than, “By God, it’s going to work, or else!”

I learned to see treatment as a process that would not necessarily fix my entire family all at once, but one that would begin the healing process. I tried to change my attitudes about intervention to see it as yet another step towards getting well rather than a fearsome “it-better-work-or-all-isterrible” final solution. Once I learned to incorporate this way of thinking, I had a more relaxed attitude about the outcome of intervention. I called a treatment center.

The following is an interview with a wife of an alcoholic who was also the mother of alcoholic children.

“I allowed myself time to heal” How did I allow myself time to heal, to get well enough to be able to make the necessary changes in my family, without the guilt that I was allowing precious, and maybe dangerous, time to go by?

Since, in the beginning I couldn’t do anything anyway, I surrendered to that fact. I accepted it. I had no choice. I was doing my best that day.

It was one day at a time.

I got my body to the recovery meetings, to prepare for the time when I could act. I found enough gentleness there, enough caring for me and enough acceptance – acceptance while I was crying, and immobile; acceptance with the knowledge that just because I was crying didn’t mean the drinking was going to stop.

People asked, “Was there anything more you could do today? Were you able emotionally to do any more today?” And I answered,” I couldn’t”. So they told me that was my best.

I was allowed to have my limitations at that moment.

When bad things happened to my kids and I was not yet able to do anything, I knew that in the end, if I did the best I could, than that was the best. When I told myself I should have exerted myself more, despite my fears and feeling immobile, I reminded myself that in order to use the program of recovery, in order to get any help, you have to surrender to the program. If you don’t surrender, you’re not going to be able to use the program. To me, my surrendering to the program means I totally believe it – believe that I and my family can eventually get well. I accept that and believe it. I have to start by accepting what I cannot do today.

If I don’t accept myself as I am now, I cannot go forward. This idea allows me to start my day at any time. When you become aware that what you are doing is ineffective, you can start over that minute. You can say to yourself, “Okay, this is not getting me anywhere.”

I’d get hooked into thinking the impossible, that if I “solved” the problem, then everything would be all wonderful or I’d scare myself out of taking any action because I was sure that it wouldn’t work at all.

I began to trust that even though there isn’t necessarily one neat solution, or one right way, there is help.

I had great faith in reading things that I was certain would be helpful for me.

That started making me feel very special. I felt that maybe God was there. I would read something, and I’d say, “Oh, yes!”

So, help came in various ways, through a counselor, often people ---and my quiet times with God. More and more, if you keep coming back to recovery groups, you’re going to begin to have some times when you feel okay and it doesn’t have to take years. I’ve seen it take just a few weeks or a few months. It’s taken you a long time to get into this mess so don’t expect that in one day everything is going to be solved but you will begin to know that ultimately, it’s going to be okay. Your limitations will become fewer and fewer and at the same time you will learn to begin to be good to yourself because the program tells you to. You start feeling a little better. You gain some selftrust. You stop believing everything that everybody tells you and you begin to discern.

You learn to “take what you like and leave the rest’’.

You start to do that in life, with everyone.

There was a time when it felt as if I had ten counselors telling me to do something. The police, my husband (who was still drinking), everybody was telling me what the right “solution” was for my kids.

And I was saying, “What is the right thing to do? I just know what “I” need to do.”

As long as I retained the attitude that whatever intervention action I took about my child’s alcoholism wasn’t necessarily the final solution, but another step, I found some serenity. It kept the panic down.

THIRTY SYMPTOMS OF ADDICTION* *NOTE: This list has been compiled with the aid of top experts in the field of adolescent addiction. However, it is not an exhaustive list.

Parents and therapists may note other symptoms that could indicate a pattern of addiction in children and teenagers 1. Has your child stayed out all night without your permission? (Before you say, “All kids do that,” they don’t all do that.)

2. Have you come across inappropriate things in his or her bedroom?

3. When your child comes home, do his or her eyes look bad?

4. Does your child come home and seem “spaced out”?

5. Does this child physically hurt younger brothers and sisters?

6. Does your child act up at public gatherings where certain decorum is expected, and where other kids are behaving properly?

7. Has a teacher or principal called you about your son or daughter?

8. Has he or she been suspended from school?

9. Are your child’s school grades worse than they were last year?

10. Has he or she been truant?

11. Has your child dropped out of sports or other school activities? Does he not want to lift weights when he used to? Did she used to like tennis, and now makes excuses not to play?

12. Has there been a change in your child’s dress, even within the implied dress code of his or her peers?

13. Does your child no longer do chores willingly, if he or she used to? Are you given as an excuse, “I have to go out”?

14. Does your child often tell you that he or she “has to meet friends on the playground”?

Often, after hours in elementary and junior high school, the school grounds are filled with alcohol and other drugs. Parents tell themselves, “I’m glad my kid is straightening out and going along with school friends to play.” (After all, when we were kids, there weren’t drugs on the playground.) And you, of course, want to believe your children. We think it’s a moral issue; we forget it’s a disease.

Continued on page 24

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1ST Annual Charles McCutheon MEMORIAL Golf Tournament

By Sivan J. Fraser

Inspirations Teen Rehab to sponsor Boca Raton Police Athletic League’s 1st Annual Charles McCutheon Memorial Golf Tournament Inspirations Teen Rehab and the Boca Raton Police Athletic League (PAL) are proud to announce the 1st Annual Charles McCutheon Memorial Golf Tournament. This year, the tournament will honor the late Chief Charles McCutheon, former PBSO sheriff and Boca Raton Police Chief, as well as raise funds for “at risk” youth of Boca PAL. The event will take place on Friday, May 3rd at the Broken Sound Golf Course. To register or purchase tickets, please call 561-350-3505.

Inspirations Teen Rehab is excited to serve as the Title Sponsor for this community event because McCutheon, PAL, and Inspirations share a common goal: to inspire people to be the best they can be.

McCutheon was a well-respected community leader who empowered cops to pursue education and live ethically—just like the police officers of PAL, the counselors of Inspirations serve as role models to youth. Additionally, McCutheon, a homegrown cop who began his career in Delray Beach in 1954, was a loyal supporter of the Police Athletic League.

PAL is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to assisting youth who are at risk for academic failure, substance abuse, or criminal activity by providing them with a safe place to go during non-school hours with structured recreational activities. As a non-profit, all programs are free and there are no eligibility requirements for the youth that participate in PAL. The program includes both girls and boys. Law enforcement officers supervise all activities and act as mentors for the youth. For many youth, PAL is a saving grace.

“PAL saved my life,” said Ehsan Joarder, former PAL boxer and current Marketing Manager for Inspirations Teen Rehab. “I know firsthand what this

program can do for the kids because I’ve been through it.”

As a youth, Joarder participated in Boca Raton’s PAL to deal with his personal struggles. He explained that PAL is a place for everyone, not only those struggling with drugs/alcohol. While some PAL boxers stay in the program to avoid using drugs or alcohol, others also use it as way to build confidence and self-esteem.

“It’s a great way to see what these kids are doing to stay sober,” said Ehsan.

As a youth, Joarder participated in Boca Raton’s PAL to deal with his personal struggles. He explained that PAL is a place for everyone, not only those struggling with drugs/alcohol.

As the event’s Title Sponsor, Inspirations Teen Rehab aims to save lives just like PAL does. Inspirations is a nationally-recognized and licensed residential treatment center for teens ages 13 to 18. They host a variety of programs and interventions, and they also offer therapy for both teens and their families for issues related or unrelated to drug and alcohol abuse. The center is located in Fort Lauderdale and is moving to Boca Raton soon.

For more information about Inspirations Teen Rehab and their involvement in the golf tournament, please contact Ehsan Joarder at 561-860-0357. Boca Raton PAL can be reached at 561-361-4944.

Broken Sound Club of Boca Raton: 2401 Willow Springs Drive, Boca Raton, Florida 33496.

Sivan J. Fraser is a freelance journalist and copy writer. She holds an M.S. in New Media Technology, as well as a B.A. in Multimedia Journalism. Please feel free to contact her at sivanfraser@gmail.com.

Newlyweds Facing Addiction – Get Help Now! Beverly Buncher, MA,PCC,CTPC,Family Recovery Coach

Picture this scene: A young, newlywed couple has an argument. He says she won’t listen. She says he is domineering. Tensions rise and the argument leads to the husband walking out the door. Perhaps he walks around the block or goes to a friend’s house to blow off steam. Maybe she calls her mom for some comfort and insight. Later that night, he comes home and they make up. It wasn’t pleasant, but this couple has experienced a milestone of married life: the ability to have an argument and get over it.

Now imagine a twist in the story: The husband struggles with drinking. The fight ensues and he leaves for a bar instead of a friend’s house. He doesn’t get home until 2 AM. Smelling like beer and smoke, he sways into the apartment, smashing glass objects off of the buffet as he enters. Of course his wife is awake, worried and angry. The fight escalates further and if he stays the night, they sleep on opposite sides of the bed or in separate rooms. The next morning, he doesn’t remember much and she pretends it never happened. This couple has experienced a milestone of an alcoholic marriage: the habit of coping with drunken behavior with denial.

In both scenes, learning new skills for their relationship could help a great deal.

The couple not affected by addiction could have their share of extra stress if they don’t learn new communication skills and the lack of those skills could, indeed, eventually ruin their relationship. But what they do have is two people who actually remember what happened and hopefully have the consciousness to consider getting help if they have a hard time getting along.

focused intently on helping their addicted clients, either ignore or pay minimal attention to the people most influential in their clients’ lives: their families. While this focus is understandable in an era of cut budgets and so many addicts to help, someone has to fill in the gap. And the time is NOW - For those already in treatment, and just as importantly, for those families whose addicts have no intention of going into treatment at all or who have had multiple relapses.

Ignoring the challenge of empowering families to wake up and learn new, more helpful ways to relate to their addicted loved ones, leaves countless addicts, who could have gotten help, mired in toxic relationships and environments that only serve to inadvertently encourage their continued use.

Beverly Buncher, MA, PCC, CTPC, Family Recovery Coach, helps family members of addicts turn their chaos to sanity, through her Be a Loving Mirror (BALM) Family Recovery Coaching Programs. She is the originator and host of the Daily BALM, a weekday teleseminar that helps family members around the world learn practical recovery principles and tools. Author of the BALM E-Book series, Coach Bev is internationally recognized as a Professional Certified Coach by the ICF (International Coach Federation). You can learn more about her work on her website at www.familyrecoveryresources.com. To contact Bev; you may email her at bbuncher@familyrecoveryresources.com or call her at 786 859 4050.

Cravings: Why We Can’t Seem to Get Enough

The second couple however, has an added dilemma. If the sober spouse does NOT learn a new way to take care of herself and communicate with her spouse, and the drinker does not learn alternatives to coping with alcohol, there will very possibly be life threatening, marriage destroying behaviors growing over the years. For them, catching this pattern early and dealing with it wisely may be a matter of life and death.

Continued from page 6 your cravings with what other people experience is a losing game and can only serve to undermine your success. If you must share and compare your experiences with that of other people, be sure to look for similarities rather than differences.

This, my friends, is the challenge of an alcoholic marriage. Its behaviors approach insidiously, sometimes just an extension of the bachelor party brought into daily life. The non-drinking spouse may try everything from going along, to scolding and shaming, to crying and begging, to leaving for a long weekend with mom. If the marriage survives the first year, there may be not only a spouse, but children may come into the mix.

Your cravings matter because you alone are experiencing them, they are influencing your behavior, and your actions can directly influence them. You are not helpless when it comes to your cravings, nor are you destined to experience them forever. There are specific actions you can take, that can affect the frequency and intensity of your cravings. Your actions can also reduce the likelihood that, should you experience a craving, you will act on that craving and relapse to the behavior you have been trying to control.

Working with families affected by addiction is the key to saving lives. As a wise friend once said, “Very few addicts wake up one morning and say, ‘It’s a beautiful day! I think I will go into treatment.’” Therefore, it is often left to the family to see what is unfolding and take action. This can be done first by changing their own actions and reactions in relation to the behaviors of their struggling loved one.

Changing a family environment from toxic to sane and healthy is one of the most powerful ways to help addicts get and stay sober. Yet, many treatment programs,

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Where to buy: Craving is available at Classic Bookshop in Palm Beach, FL and wherever books are sold.

Omar Manejwala, M.D., is the senior vice president and chief medical officer of Catasys in Los Angeles, California, and is the former medical director at Hazelden Foundation. Dr. Manejwala is a transformative speaker and appears frequently in the national media to address the topic of addiction.

We Can Help Intervention • Detox • Day Treatment Intensive Outpatient Treatment Dual Diagnosis • Aftercare Program Family Program • Alumni Program

800-817-1247

www.recoveryteam.org

450 Northlake Blvd., #11 • North Palm Beach, FL 33408

To Advertise, Call 561-910-1943

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Treatment for Drug Abusers in the Criminal Justice System

By Myles B. Schlam, J.D., CAP/CCJAP

Scientific research since the mid-1970s shows that drug abuse treatment can help many drug abusing offenders change their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors towards drug abuse, avoid relapse, and successfully remove themselves from a life of substance abuse and crime. It is true that legal pressure might be needed to get a person into treatment and help them stay there. Once in a treatment program, however, even those who are not motivated to change at first can eventually become engaged in a continuing treatment process.

Untreated substance abuse adds significant costs to communities, including violent and property crimes, prison expenses, court and criminal costs, emergency room visits, child abuse and neglect, lost child support, foster care and welfare costs, reduced productivity, unemployment, and victimization. The cost to society of drug abuse in 2002 was estimated at $181 billion, $107 billion of which was associated with drug-related crime.

Successful drug abuse treatment in the criminal justice system can help reduce crime as well as the spread of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases.

It is estimated that for every dollar spent on addiction treatment programs, there is a $4 to $7 reduction in the cost of drug-related crimes. With some outpatient programs, total savings can exceed costs by a ratio of 12:1.1

• Offenders with co-occurring drug abuse and mental health problems often require an integrated treatment approach.

• Medications are an important part of treatment for many drug abusing offenders.

• Treatment planning for drug abusing offenders who are living in or re-entering the community should include strategies to prevent and treat serious, chronic medical conditions, such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C, and tuberculosis.

Drug abuse treatment can be incorporated into criminal justice settings in a variety of ways. These include treatment as a condition of probation, drug courts that blend judicial monitoring and sanctions with treatment, treatment in prison followed by community-based treatment after discharge, and treatment under parole or probation supervision. Outcomes for substance abusing individuals can be improved by cross-agency coordination and collaboration of criminal justice professionals, substance abuse treatment providers, and other social service agencies. By working together, the criminal justice and treatment systems can optimize resources to benefit the health, safety, and well-being of individuals and the communities they serve.

The connection between drug abuse and crime is well known. Drug abuse is implicated in at least three types of drug related offenses:

Advocare Solutions Inc. (ASI) is an agency that specializes in treatment alternatives for criminal justice clients. We work together with the courts, probation and law enforcement to effectively reduce recidivism through comprehensive treatment plans. Anyone who is facing alcohol or drug-related charges may be eligible for some type of diversion program. Entry into a pre-trial diversion program is usually at the discretion of the State Attorney’s Office and the Judge.

(1) Offenses defined by drug possession or sales (2) Offenses directly related to drug abuse (e.g., stealing to get money for drugs) (3) Offenses related to a lifestyle that predisposes the drug abuser to engage in illegal activity (e.g., through association with other offenders or with illicit markets).

When exploring these options, it is always best to consult someone who is an expert in the criminal justice system as well as Addictions. ASI is available to perform substance abuse evaluations for in-custody clients by appointment only.

In many cases we are able to get early termination of probation for clients who complete our program successfully.

In 2003, nearly 6.9 million adults were involved with the criminal justice system, including 4.8 million who were under probation or parole supervision (Glaze & Palla, 2004, www.ojp.gov/bjs/content/pub/pdf/ppus03.pdf (PDF, 578KB)).

*Myles B. Schlam is a nationally recognized expert in Drug Addiction and the Criminal Justice System and an Internationally Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor.

He is one of approximately 100 Criminal Justice Addiction Professionals (CCJAP) in the State of Florida. Mr. Schlam also 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. www.drugtreatmentpro. com & www.drugcourtpro.com

Extent of the Problem

In its 1997 survey, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) estimated that about 70 percent of State and 57 percent of Federal prisoners used drugs regularly prior to incarceration (Mumola, 1999, www.ojp.gov/bjs/content/pub/pdf/satsfp97.pdf (PDF, 103KB)).

A 2002 survey of jails found that 52 percent of incarcerated women and 44 percent of men met the criteria for alcohol or drug dependence (Karberg & James, 2005, www.ojp.gov/bjs/content/pub/pdf/sdatji02.pdf (PDF, 218KB)).

Juvenile justice systems also report high levels of drug abuse. A survey of juvenile detainees in 2000 found that about 56 percent of the boys and 40 percent of the girls tested positive for drug use at the time of their arrest (National Institute of Justice, 2003, www.nij.gov).

The substance abusing offender may be encouraged or legally pressured to participate in drug abuse treatment. Even so, few drug abusing offenders actually receive treatment. The 1997 BJS survey showed that less than one-fifth of incarcerated offenders with drug problems had received treatment in prison (not including participation in self-help or drug education).

Untreated substance abusing offenders are more likely to relapse to drug abuse and return to criminal behavior. This can bring about re-arrest and incarceration, jeopardizing public health and public safety and taxing criminal justice system resources. Treatment offers the best alternative for interrupting the drug abuse/ criminal justice cycle for offenders with drug abuse problems.

Effective Treatment for Criminal Offenders Studies show that treatment can cut drug abuse in half, reduce criminal activity up to 80 percent, and reduce arrests up to 64 percent. Based on a review of this and other scientific literature on drug abuse treatment and criminal behavior, in 2006 NIDA released Principles of Drug Abuse Treatment for Criminal Justice Populations. This publication discusses 13 principles proven through research to help criminal justice organizations tailor treatment programs to better serve their populations. In brief, these principles are: • Drug addiction is a brain disease that affects behavior.

• Recovery from drug addiction requires effective treatment, followed by management of the problem over time.

• Treatment must last long enough to produce stable behavioral change.

• Assessment is the first step in treatment.

• Tailoring services to fit the needs of the individual is an important part of effective drug abuse treatment for criminal justice populations.

• Drug use during treatment should be carefully monitored.

• Treatment should target factors that are associated with criminal behavior.

• Criminal justice supervision should incorporate treatment planning for drug abusing offenders, and treatment providers should be aware of correctional supervision requirements.

• Continuity of care is essential for drug abusers re-entering the community.

• A balance of rewards and sanctions encourages prosocial behavior and treatment participation.

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Internet Users Lose Brain Function/Cognitive Control

By John Giordano PhD. (hon.) MAC, Certified Criminal Justice Specialist

Last month I had the distinguished honor of being a keynote speaker at the 1st International Conference on Behavioral Addictions held in Budapest, Hungary. The foremost authorities on addiction and its treatment came from every corner of the earth to freely share their knowledge and experiences. The conference was all that I had hope for and much more.

But what did come as a bit of a surprise was the magnitude of process addictions in the world today.

Process addictions have become interwoven into the fabric of our society.

You can’t walk through the checkout at a grocery store without seeing a bulimic, anorexic or binging movie stars’ picture splattered across the covers of the tabloids. Not long ago I was in an elevator with a man madly tapping the tiny keys on his cell phone completely oblivious to the world around him.

Sex, bulimia, anorexia, over-eating, gambling, internet and other process addictions are beyond obsessive, compulsive and impulsive behaviors that become a danger to an individual and/or the people around them.

They have been growing unnoticed in the shadows of their big brother, substance abuse. These addictive behaviors were once thought to be minor addictions compared to drug and alcohol abuse. Yet new scientific evidence is now emerging suggesting internet addiction among other process addictions has a similar effect on behavior and is just as damaging to the brain as drugs including cocaine.

Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) is so new and expanding that research scientists and doctors are scrambling to establish parameters and an accurate definition of the disorder. Currently, the broad interpretation of IAD is the extended excessive use/interaction of content accessible by computer, cell phone or game platform to the extent that interferes with normal daily life. It is important to note that it is not the internet itself or a computer that is of issue, but rather the content that the hardware can access and provide an individual. However the lack of structure has not hampered efforts of scientists to research the disorder.

To better understand IAD it is important you have a basic understanding of what makes us feel comfortable and at ease. We all get pleasure and reward from basic everyday experiences. Some days it might be a beautiful morning, others might feel good wearing a new outfit. However, not everyone feels as much pleasure and/or reward as others. In fact, some people can feel down right edgy and uncomfortable day in and day out. My good friend and colleague Dr. Kenneth Blum – who discovered the addiction/alcohol gene – describes the condition as, Reward Deficiency Syndrome or RDS. According to Dr. Blum, the culprit is a brain chemical called dopamine – the primary neurotransmitter or reward and pleasure. This is the brain chemical that communicates to the rest of the brain that all is well and good. It gives us the sense of ease and comfort. It’s what puts a smile on our face and resonance in our laughter. When Dopamine is not fully processed in the brain, the message of well and good gets garbled, much like what you’d hear when you’re talking to a friend on a cell phone driving through a dead zone. As a consequence, the rest of the brain that gets the scrambled and incomplete ‘feel good’ message shifts gears into an edgy, uncomfortable mode. From Dr. Blum’s website: http://www.rdsyndrome. com “When levels of these ‘feel good’ chemicals are low or blocked from the brain’s receptors; stress, pain, discomfort and agitation are the result.

This condition is called “Reward Deficiency Syndrome” (RDS).”

The human brain is an incredible mechanism in the respect that – like a magnetic compass always pointing north – it is always trying to move the needle to normal and balanced. Instinctively, our brain’s diagnostics recognizes the failed ‘feel good’ communication due to damaged or congested avenues of message transmission. It then immediately sets out to correct the situation through behaviors and/or substances that can stimulate additional Dopamine production.

It has been theorized that some of our ancestors who roamed the earth thousands of years-ago may have first been attracted to sweet fruits and berries because of their natural ability to increase Dopamine production.

Today the fruits and berries have been replaced with donuts, pastas, breads, candies, cakes, alcohol and other foods and drinks that metabolize into sugar, thus having the same effect in the brain, increasing Dopamine production. A person suffering from RDS might also engage in dangerous activities such as skydiving, bungee jumping, extreme sports, swimming with sharks, unprotected sex with multiple partners, gambling and a host of other behaviors as a way to achieve the same, increased production of Dopamine. For most of these people who suffer from RDS and the many that have a genetic predisposition to addiction, the actions they take and the substances they abuse are more often to experience – albeit temporary – a sense of normalcy rather than to get high.

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So, when you’re sitting on the edge of your seat navigating the virtual dangers in life-like hi-tech graphics glaring at you from your hi-res screen while you’re punching the living daylights out of a game controller firmly embedded in your sweaty palms, what do you think is going on between your ears? If you guessed increased Dopamine production you’d be right.

But there is far more to it.

People log on to the virtual world for a variety of reasons from work to entertainment. Those who sign-in for enjoyment and escape seem to be the one most likely to engage in online activities over longer periods of time. And this is where the problem begins.

The science of Internet Addiction Disorder is so new that that we don’t have volumes of research at our disposal. However, early indications are that the virtual world offers a plethora of instant gratification mechanisms often associated with Dopamine spiking.

One doesn’t need to be a neuroscientist to see the effects gaming has on its players. Just watch a young adult or child play a video game. Their eyes get wide and their actions become animated. You’ll hear their oohs and aahs as they traverse the virtual dangers woven into the challenges the game presents. It all seems pretty harmless, that is until you look at their MRI. Research is now emerging that, for the first time, it shows the physical brain damage digital games have on gamers who play for long extended periods of time. I found one study in particular, published in the Jan. 11 issue of the pear reviewed journal; PLoS One, to be a real eye-opener.

The scientists compared the MRIs of young men and woman who were excessive gamers and diagnosed as having IAD to the scans of their peers, healthy young adults of the same age who weren’t addicted to the web. In comparing the scans of the two groups, the scientists discovered more patterns of ‘abnormal white matter’ on brain scans of Internet addicts as compared to the non Internet addicts’ scans.

This is significant because white matter makes up 60 percent of the total brain volume. But equally as important, white matter contains nerve fibers that transmit signals between regions of the brain. One could easily make the analogy of the nerve fibers being the cable that connects to your TV. When the cable is damaged or cut completely, the image on your TV is going to be fuzzy or a completely dark screen respectively.

The exact same thing occurs in the brains of Internet Addicts! Every tap on the game controller contributes in a small way to messages between brain regions going fuzzy or missed completely. IAD literally changes brain anatomy. It alters its physical make-up. The results of this study clearly shows the interruption of white matter fibers connecting brain regions involved in emotional processing, attention, decision making and cognitive control.

The researchers went on to state in the study: “The results also suggest that IAD may share psychological and neural mechanisms with other types of substance addiction and impulse control disorders.” They said earlier studies found similar white matter changes in the brain scans of people addicted to alcohol, cocaine, heroin, marijuana and meth.

Dr. Henrietta Bowden Jones, consultant psychiatrist at Imperial College in London, who runs the U.K.’s only clinic for Internet addicts, told The Independent Newspaper “The majority of people we see with serious Internet addiction are gamers - people who spend long hours in roles in various games that cause them to disregard their obligations. I have seen people who stopped attending university lectures, failed their degrees or their marriages broke down because they were unable to emotionally connect with anything outside the game.”

The consensus among the world’s leading experts on addiction that I’d met at the 1st International Conference on Behavioral Addictions in Budapest, Hungary last month was that Internet Addiction Disorder is far more dangerous that previously thought. Much of the conversation revolved around the impact of digital devices on young developing brains. No one has a crystal ball, but the prognosis from these experts – although varied – was far from encouraging. One suggestion all agreed upon was parents limiting the time their children spend gaming or online.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me directly at 305945-8384. Also check out my website: www.holisticaddictioninfo.com John Giordano is a counselor, President and Founder of G & G Holistic Addiction Treatment Center in North Miami Beach and Chaplain of the North Miami Police Department.

To Advertise, Call 561-910-1943

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DOES THE TREATMENT INDUSTRY NEED TO ADOPT FCAT STANDARDS?

By Jack Kelly, CAP, NLP, LHMP

Teachers in Florida spend months preparing their students for the FCAT, Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. The goal set by the State of Florida was to increase student achievement by implementing higher standards which made administrators, teachers, and students accountable for the results they achieved. The test measures a student’s progress in mathematics, reading, science, and writing.

What do you think would happen to a school where 80% to 90% of the students came in well below the national average on their scores? The State would probably close the school and fire all the administrators. The teachers from that school would, more than likely, be looking for new careers because no one would hire them.

What do you think would happen to a treatment center where 80% to 90% of the alcoholics and addicts who came to them for treatment consistently relapsed within hours, days, weeks, or months after leaving treatment? Absolutely nothing! Why? Because there’s no FCAT STANDARD which makes treatment centers, therapists, or patients accountable for the results achieved. We have the RCAT, Relapse Comes After Treatment. What can we do, as an industry, to make the RCAT mean Recovery Comes After Treatment?

Within the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous insanity is defined as, “Doing the same thing and expecting the results to be different.” Is there anything more insane than that? Yes! Doing the same thing and – not expecting the results to be different; knowing that 80 to 90 percent of the people who leave treatment will relapse, come back to treatment (two or three times in the same year), or die because addiction, left untreated is a terminal disease. Remember Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, and Whitney Houston.

Is there anything we can do, as an industry to help the people who come to treatment get off the Relapse Roller Coaster Ride? Yes! • • • •

Teach them the three major obstacles they will encounter Raise the recovery bar. Set higher standards Inspire them to develop the mindset of a warrior.

Shed light on the myths that “keep them coming back” to treatment.

THE THREE MAJOR OBSTACLES TO BECOMING AN ADDICTION SURVIVOR ONE: Don’t Believe What You Read “You may be suffering from an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer.”

(Alcoholics Anonymous, Page 44) TWO: Don’t Believe What You Hear The “truth” about the Twelve Steps is heard every time an alcoholic attends an A.A. meeting: (a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives. (b) That probably no human power, (or something less than human, like a chair or doorknob) could have relieved our alcoholism. (c) That God could and would if He were sought.

Most alcoholics and addicts completely deny or dismiss these truths. It is much less frightening and challenging for an alcoholic or drug addict to accept myths instead of truths, to accept the idea that they are powerless, instead of power-full. The original members of A.A. understood what they were powerless over. They had an “allergic” reaction to alcohol and drugs.

Once they put alcohol or drugs “inside” their body, their brains got high-jacked. They lost all access to rational thought, “I could lose my job, career, or marriage.” They lost all access to the promises they made, “I love you. I promise I will never drink again.”

They lost all access to their spiritual beliefs “God if you help me out of this mess, I guarantee you, I will never pick up another drink.”

The book, RADICAL RECOVERY: Twelve Recovery Myths – The Addiction Survivor’s Guide To The Twelve Steps, identifies the myths keep so many alcoholics and drug addicts trapped in the slavery of addiction. When these “myths,” which are presented as truths, come under the microscope of common sense, they consistently fail the test, but that doesn’t seem to bother many people who attend meetings. It is much easier to believe that their addiction is doing pushups, instead of actually doing the pushups that can “banish” the desire to drink or use drugs.

After he was sober for thirty years, Bill Wilson saw that the “message” being delivered in the rooms of A.A. was being diluted; that A.A. had taken a detour that could only end in relapse, death, or living as dry drunks, no personality change, because members failed to understand the real purpose of the Twelve Steps: “Our real purpose is to become spiritually fit, so we can be of maximum service to God, and the people God puts in our lives.” (A.A. Page 77) THREE: Don’t Believe In A Power Greater Than Yourself The third greatest obstacle to becoming an addiction survivor is the unwillingness of many alcoholics and drug addicts to really believe that there is a Spiritual Force and Power inside them that is - much more powerful than their addiction, much more powerful than the obsessive thoughts, compulsive feelings, and physical cravings that control and dominate their lives. They are like the caterpillar screaming at the butterfly: “No, it’s not true. I am what I am. I will never fly or be as beautiful as you.”

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RAISE THE STANDARDS - THE M.I.N.E. PROGRAM The M.I.N.E. PROGRAM, Motivate, Inspire, Nurture, and Empower, is a holistic brand of therapy created by The Lazarus House, www.thelazarushouse.net, in Boca Raton, Florida. It is being used by treatment centers in the U.S. and England.

THE CHALLENGE – THE FIVE STAR RADICAL RECOVERY PROGRAM • M - Meditate: For ten to twenty minutes.

• R - Read: Just For Today, As Bill Sees It, The Twenty-Four Hour Book, etc.

• S - Serve: Do something to help the group or another alcoholic or drug addict.

• E - Exercise: Commit 5 to 30 minutes - stretch, walk, run, do pushups or sit-ups.

• E - Eat Healthy. Food is a drug. It can nurture or destroy our bodies. Choose wisely.

The Five Star Radical Recovery Program is designed to motivate alcoholics and drug addicts to aim higher, reach farther, and go beyond any limitations they have placed on themselves; to inspire them to transform their cravings for pills, alcohol, or drugs into cravings for courage, integrity, humility, and peace. The key to success in this program is honesty. It’s never, “I didn’t have time,” or “I was too busy.” It’s always, “I didn’t make it a priority.” The focus is on progress, not perfection.

One of the primary reasons alcoholics and addicts use drugs and alcohol is to create a mood altering experience. They want to change the way they feel. With the tools and resources that they gain access to in The M.I.N.E program, they learn how to do this without using alcohol or drugs. Here’s a sample the results achieved with this program.

“At the beginning of the session, I felt extremely anxious, in physical pain, and had strong cravings. At the end of the session, I felt motivated, eager, hopeful; completely relaxed, clear headed and had significantly less pain, cravings, and anxiety.” Adam L “At the beginning of the session, I was anxious and my pain level was at an 8. At the end of the session, I felt calm and relaxed, and my pain level was at 3. This is the best I have felt in years.” Anna L. “At the beginning of the session, I was tired, anxious, and down. At the end of the session, I felt rejuvenated, happy, like a new woman.” Claire W. “At the beginning of the session, I felt depressed, anxious, and overwhelmed. At the end of the session, I felt great, happy, and amazing.” Julie S. INSPIRE PATIENTS/CLIENTS TO DEVELOP THE MINDSET OF A WARRIOR A warrior is a protector of ideals, principles, and honor. A warrior seeks to be both noble and heroic, essential qualities alcoholics and drug addicts need to develop as they begin the process of transforming cravings for pills, alcohol, or drugs into cravings for freedom, courage, honesty, humility, integrity, and peace. Like the warrior, the original members of A.A. understood that the most formidable obstacle they had to overcome, to become addiction survivors, was not alcohol or drugs, but their our own SELF. “Self – manifested in various ways was what defeated us.”(A.A. Page 64) They set two radical goals, which should be the goal of every alcoholic and drug addict who participates in a Twelve Step Program: 1 “It was agreed at the beginning we would go to go to any lengths for victory over alcohol.”

2 “We decided we would go to any lengths to find a spiritual experience THE MYTHS THAT KEEP PEOPLE COMING BACK TO TREATMENT You discover a formula for a pill that eliminates cravings and the desire to drink or use drugs. You let everyone know what ingredients are contained in the formula. It has great success. At every A.A. and N.A meeting, people stand up and give testimonials about the miraculous changes that have taken place in their lives as a result of taking this pill every day. As time passes, people change the formula, but don’t tell anyone about the changes. The results aren’t so great any more, but the cheering section continues to promote the wonderful benefits of this pill.

Today, we have OLD A.A., the original formula developed by Bill Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith. It works very well. We also have NEW A.A. where the ingredients have been changed. This doesn’t work very well.

OLD A.A: “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” (A.A. Page 45) NEW A.A: Came to believe that a power less than ourselves could restore us to sanity. (Doorknobs, chairs, toilet paper, empty shoe boxes, etc.)

OLD A.A: “Remind the prospect that their recovery is not dependent upon people. It is dependent upon their relationship with God.” (A.A. Page 99) NEW A.A: Remind the prospect that their recovery is dependent upon people.

“Meeting makers make it.”

OLD A.A: “The problem has been removed. It does not exist for us.” (A.A. Page 85) NEW A.A: The problem will never be removed. We will never achieve victory over our addiction or have a spiritual experience than can banish the desire to drink or use drugs.

Jack Kelly, CAP, NLP, LHMP is the founder of The Lazarus House, in Boca Raton, Florida.

He holds certifications in the following areas: Addiction, Neuro Linguistic Programming, Trauma, and Hypnosis Therapy. He is also a Licensed HeartMath provider. He provides training for The M.I.N,E. Program, and conducts educational programs for schools, parent teacher organizations, treatment centers and prisons. He explores the myths presented in his book: RADICAL RECOVERY: Twelve Recovery Myths – The Addiction Survivor’s Guide To The Twelve Steps. Reviews of the book are available on Amazon.

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23

A Talk about the Designer Drug - Synthetic Marijuana: Is it really harmful?

A Drug Education Article Presented by Suncoast Rehab

There is a drug which is rarely tested for – synthetic marijuana (which is commonly called Spice – as well as Zohai, Genie, K2, Bliss, Nice, Smiley, Black Mamba, Incense, and fake weed). The use of this drug is rising among teens and young adults.

But what is synthetic marijuana? It is basically a type of dried leaf (bay leaf, clove, parsley, or a mixture) treated with a set of chemicals which are supposed to mimic THC – the part of marijuana that gets the user high. The drug is easy to obtain online – it is often sold as potpourri, and can even be found in some gas stations, convenience stores, and smoke shops. In fact, there have been recent busts involving synthetic marijuana in counties across Florida.

The components which make up synthetic marijuana have only been made illegal recently and often the potential buyers of the drug are told that it is a “natural” substance. Additionally, to keep the sale “legal”, some dealers will substitute the chemicals used to make Spice with other chemicals, thereby making it more dangerous to take.

NONE of the chemicals used to create synthetic marijuana have been deemed to be safe for human consumption. In fact, one of the chemicals actually creates more negative effects than marijuana, with a lower dose.

Additionally, synthetic marijuana is so new that the tests for Spice are not yet in wide-spread use. The military tests for these chemicals, and the tests are becoming more available for purchase among private companies, but it is hit or miss whether a hospital, police force or school will test for these chemicals. The drug testing companies are working on how to get these tests more widely known about and available.

The effects of synthetic marijuana don’t all mimic those of natural marijuana.

Getting high on synthetic marijuana can cause feelings of acute anxiety or paranoia, panic attacks, disassociation, hallucinations, extreme coughing, nausea, vomiting, inability to hold on to a thought, severe brain damage, heart palpitations, psychotic episodes, seizures, tremors, and suicide. Some of the hallucinations have been reported as having a command component to them – where they tell the user to do things. This is often what causes the violent or suicidal tendencies – a command from a hallucination to harm, kill or commit suicide.

Another side effect that has only recently come to light is that synthetic marijuana use can cause serious kidney damage. This drug is so new to the market, that they do not have years of clinical research. Last year 16 people in 6 states suffered severe damage to their kidneys after using the drug (They had no previous history or predisposition to kidney damage, so it is believed that the drug itself caused this damage.). Researchers believe that the kidney issues are caused by a recent additive to synthetic marijuana, called XLR-11.

While it is unknown if synthetic marijuana is addictive, experts believe that it is. Many counselors across the US have talked to teens seeking treatment who – while they did not like the effects of synthetic marijuana – felt the need to continue to take it. Synthetic marijuana is considered a Schedule I drug – which means that it is illegal, and has a high potential for abuse.

If you are hooked on synthetic marijuana, or you know someone who is suffering from addiction, contact us today. We have years of experience in helping addicts free themselves from the shackles of addiction. Additionally, our drug-free program is effective when it comes to addiction to any drug.

Call us today at 866-572-1788.

EXCERPTS from the “Getting Them Sober” BOOK SERIES

Continued from page 12

15. Does your child refer to “pleasurable” drinking that is months or years in the future? (“I can’t wait to go to college so I can drink and party there!”)

Or, if you’re talking about another person who stopped drinking, does your child exclaim, “But, what about beer and crabs next July?” (Even though it’s only December).

16. Has your child ever come in after a good time and commented that he or she drank everyone under the table?

17. Does your child use the word “party” as a verb, rather than the noun which it is? (i.e., if your daughter is going to an upcoming party, does she talk about “partying” in general, or is she talking about the people who might be there?)

18. Does your child often ask to spend the night at a friend’s house? Does Susie’s mother maybe not mind if they drink “just beer”? Does your child tell you that Susie’s mother will be there and she’s not? Check on the facts.

19. Are you finding empty liquor or beer bottles under your child’s bed?

20. Is your child hanging out at a shopping center? Is there a liquor store there? Are the kids buying booze there, or getting an adult to buy it for them?

21. Has your child’s circle of friends changed in a way that is noticeable?

22. Are drugs in the medicine cabinet slowly disappearing? Kids often get their initial supply of drugs there.

23. If you keep alcohol in the house, does it seem diluted? If you’ve had a party, have people claimed that it seems weaker than usual?

24. When you ask your child questions, does he or she seem to “skate”; meaning, not being direct with answers, but kind of going all around the point, being vague?

25. Is money missing from your pocketbook or piggy banks in the home?

26. Is your child getting an allowance and lunch money, and still coming back and saying he or she needs more?

27. Are your possessions disappearing?

28. Has your child been stopped or arrested by the police for drinking while driving?

29. Have you ever considered seeing a professional about your child’s behavior?

30. Has your child ever spoken about, or attempted suicide?

If your child has two or three or more of these symptoms, they often form a pattern of probable addiction. Children manifest these symptoms differently, at different times.

As discussed earlier, at times they may appear to stop altogether. That is the disease’s deception which makes parents think that their child’s problem is gone, that it has cleared up.

AA says that alcoholism is cunning, baffling, and powerful.

So, how can you know – when the symptoms disappear for a while – if the problem might really be gone? Well, unfortunately, the statistics are not on your child’s side. The disease may lie dormant by the seeming “controlling” of it, and your child may appear to “do well” again at school and in his or her general behavior. But, if that child holds on to his or her “right” to drink socially, that is often a symptom of a continuing problem with alcohol.

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.

The Missing Peace Most of the men and women I have worked with have said, “I thought the way our family was, was the way all families were. I didn’t know it could be different.

Where do we go to learn?” Some reading this are unsure if they even have an anger problem. Many genuinely live with the assumption that it is their father, wife or child that has the problem. If they are the ones with the problem then this book will help you, and if it is you that has the problem then perhaps it will help them.

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

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Continued from page 8

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, codependency, 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 (678494-1296) 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.

To Advertise, Call 561-910-1943

25

Back to the Basics of Recovery Guidance: Step Eleven

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.

According to the “Big Book” authors, we rely on prayer and meditation to enhance our relationship with the “One who has all power.” This relationship was established with our surrender (Steps One, Two and Three) and strengthened with our inventories and amends (Steps Four through Ten). We are now ready to “grow in understanding and effectiveness” by practicing Step Eleven on a daily basis for the rest of our lives.

Prayer and meditation have been described by some A.A. pioneers as two-way prayer. It works much like a telephone. Prayer is the transmitter.

This is how we talk to the “Power greater than ourselves.” Meditation is the receiver. This is how the Power communicates with us.

thing any human being can ever learn—how to be in touch with God. “All that is needed is the willingness to try it honestly. Every person who has done this consistently and sincerely has found that it really works.”

Then, the author provides guidelines for conducting two-way prayer. They are: “1. To be quiet and still, 2. To listen, 3. To (record the thoughts, feelings and images) that come, 4. To test the thoughts (feelings and images) to be sure they come from God, 5. To obey.”

One-way prayer is talking into the telephone but hanging up before receiving a reply. Two-way prayer involves both talking and listening.

As Bill W. writes in his story, “I was to sit quietly” and “I was to test my thinking by the new God-consciousness within.” The test Bill W. and John Batterson are referring to is the same one we use in Steps Four, Ten and Eleven to distinguish between the “voice of addiction” and the “voice of recovery.”

We listen to receive guidance. We listen for answers to our questions. We listen for direction to overcome our difficulties. We listen to know God better.

In the section of the pamphlet titled, “Results,” the author again emphasizes the importance of listening:

Listening is an integral part of the recovery process. In Steps One through Ten, we remove the blocks that limit our ability to listen. In Step Eleven, we expand our listening skills and in Step Twelve we listen as we work with others.

On three occasions, the “Big Book” authors provide us with a test we can use to tell the difference between what I like to call the “voice of addiction” and the “voice of recovery.” The “voice of addiction” is all about “selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear.” The “voice of recovery” has to do with unselfishness, honesty, forgiveness, and faith.

The question we need to ask ourselves is, “Which voice are we listening to? Are we listening to the voice that takes us to that “bitter morass of self-pity, . . . loneliness and despair,” or are we listening to the voice that directs us on “the Broad Highway, walking hand in hand with the Spirit of the Universe?” It is the “voice of addiction” that deceives us into thinking that “somehow, someday (we) will control and enjoy (our) drinking.” It is the “voice of recovery” that gives us insight “into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed.”

The importance of receiving guidance through two-way prayer is mentioned throughout the “Big Book.” Here are just a few of the references.

In the second paragraph on page 70, the “Big Book” authors suggest we ask for guidance when we pray: “. . . We earnestly pray for the right ideal, for GUIDANCE in each questionable situation, for sanity, and for the strength to do the right thing.”

In the second paragraph on page 85, the authors state that we become “God-conscious” as we follow guidance: “Much has already been said about receiving strength, inspiration, and DIRECTION (GUIDANCE) from Him who has all knowledge and power. If we have carefully followed DIRECTIONS (GUIDANCE), we have begun to sense the flow of His Spirit into us. To some extent we have become God-conscious. We have begun to develop this vital sixth sense.”

On page 56, the “Big Book” authors provide an example of the lifechanging effects of listening to guidance. This is how “Our Southern Friend,” Fitz M., came to believe: “. . . Then, like a thunderbolt, a great thought came. It crowded out all else: “Who are you to say there is no God? “. . . In a few seconds he was overwhelmed by a conviction of the Presence of God. It poured over and through him with the certainty and majesty of a great tide at flood. The barriers he had built through the years were swept away. He stood in the Presence of Infinite Power and Love.”

In the late 1930’s, John Batterson, a personal friend of Dr. Bob’s, wrote a short essay titled, “How to Listen to God.” It is one of the clearest set of instructions on meditation I have come across in my archival research.

The pamphlet predates the “Big Book” and, as such, can be considered a source document for our Eleventh Step.

The author opens with this profound statement: “These are a few simple suggestions for people who are willing to make an experiment. You can discover for yourself the most important and practical

26

“Every person who has tried this honestly finds that a wisdom, not their own, comes into their mind and that a Power greater than human power begins to operate in their lives. It is an endless adventure.”

The pamphlet, in its entirety, can be found on the www.aabacktobasics.org website.

Next session we will learn more about prayer and meditation as described on pages 85-88 of the “Big Book.”

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

To Advertise, Call 561-910-1943

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P.O. Box 880175 Boca Raton, Florida 33488-0175 www.thesoberworld.com

The contents of this book may not be reproduced either in whole or in part without consent of publisher. Every effort has been made to include accurate data, however the publisher cannot be held liable for material content or errors. This publication offers Therapeutic Services, Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitative services, and other related support systems. You should not rely on the information as a substitute for, nor does it replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have any concerns or questions about your health, you should always consult with a physician or other health-care professional. Do not disregard, avoid or delay obtaining medical or health related advice from your health care professional because of something you may have read in this publication. The Sober World LLC and its publisher do not recommend nor endorse any advertisers in this magazine and accepts no responsibility for services advertised herein. Content published herein is submitted by advertisers with the sole purpose to aid and educate families that are faced with drug/alcohol and other addiction issues and to help families make informed decisions about preserving quality of life.

• 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.

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