Blog

You may have heard people around you use the words, addict, addiction, and addictive with regard to any number of things to include Netflix shows, video games, apps, and bath bombs.  While there’s not anything technically wrong with saying, “Oh! I’m totally addicted to True Detective!” or “Americanos are my vice.  I’m a total addict,” […]

Both substance use disorders and mental illnesses are serious health issues that impact millions of people in the United States.  Individually, substance use disorders, including addiction, and mental illness account for serious family, financial, educational and health problems.  Combined, they can be devastating. When someone is diagnosed with both a substance use disorder and a […]

Blursday is a term that’s being tossed around on social media right now to describe the merging of minutes, hours and days since COVID-19 shut so much of the world down.  Before the pandemic, it was a term that described a drunk or hungover day, according to Urban Dictionary.  You can probably see the similarities. […]

I began my work as a substance abuse counselor during my Masters level internship in 2001. I’d been around alcoholism my whole life, and had you asked me way back then, I would have told you that yes, maybe there was a relationship between alcohol and trauma.  My father, after all, was a 4-time Vietnam […]

Something happened in London in the early- to mid-18th century.  It was called the Gin Craze.  It represents a moment in time, perhaps a first moment, that illustrates how the wider social context plays a key role in substance use disorders. London’s reaction to the Gin Craze and those impacted is also an early picture […]

Gray-area drinking is a new catch phrase that you might find as you search the internet.  The term describes that space between very casual, periodic drinking, and heavy binge or daily drinking.  Essentially, it was coined to provide a category for those folks whose drinking may not look outwardly problematic (i.e. they haven’t gotten into […]

Trauma is a loaded word, and we can talk about it in several different contexts, but for the next few minutes, let’s talk about trauma as it relates to what’s going on right now with the COVID-19 pandemic and how this experience could complicate addiction and recovery. One way of looking at trauma is this: […]

In our last post, we talked about the importance of staying connected even as we started moving toward social distancing measures.  Time has passed, and many cities and states are observing Shelter at Home Orders, more social settings and events have been shut down, and we are being encouraged to stay at home and stay […]

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” The Tao te Ching   Finally! Step 3. I won’t say this is the most important part of Transformation. It’s not. Walking forward without Awareness and Acceptance just doesn’t work very well when what we’re looking for is deep change — Step 1 and Step 2 […]