Over 20 million Americans find themselves deep in the trenches of drug and alcohol abuse. Without hope and healing, many of these individuals will continue destroying their lives. On an individual level, any kind of drug or alcohol abuse causes innumerable physical, emotional, and psychological damage. Close to 94 percent of users deny that they…
Categorized: Treatment
In the early days of substance abuse treatment, the focus was on detox and “getting clean,” to the exclusion of almost everything else. As the field of addiction treatment has grown, professionals have come to understand that substance abuse is about much more than a chemical addiction. For lasting success, you need to treat the…
For those who haven’t battled a substance abuse problem or other addiction, just getting the hang of the vernacular surrounding addiction and the healing process can be a difficult undertaking at first. Even the basics aren’t always clear. Take the terms treatment and recovery for instance. If you’re in treatment, aren’t you going through recovery?…
Not surprisingly, people who suffer from chronic pain may experience judgment regarding their condition or medication prescriptions. I’ve had some clients tell me they hate going to the emergency department because they feel like the staff assumes they are seeking drugs, rather than experiencing real, valid pain. Other clients mentioned they’ve lost friendships just because…
Experts know there is a significant link between sex work and drug use. Sometimes sex traffickers use drugs to keep young girls under their control or men share drugs with sex workers as a way to enhance their encounters. Depending on the country, approximately 0.1 percent to 7 percent of an area’s population may include…
This is a question commonly asked by those who are considering addiction treatment for themselves or a loved one. There are so many forms of treatment out there such as detox, family therapy, medicated assisted therapy, adventure programs, 12-Step, PHP, IOP, outpatient… it’s like learning a new language! What do all of these treatments mean,…
“Did you bring some?” Chloe asked Ben as he followed her into the crowded living room. Ben had been excited when Chloe invited him to her party. She was in his communications class. She was a sophomore and really good looking. He didn’t tell her but he’d looked forward to the college party scene since…
Through my years of facilitating adventure-based counseling activities, I have seen the benefits of slowing down so as to get the maximal therapeutic gain out of a particular activity rather than focusing on building successes by moving quickly from one activity onto the next. A recent experience with a group captured this shift in my…
Jackson closed his office door and sat down before his computer. Taking a deep breath, he typed “find a rehab” in the search bar. He shook his head in disbelief at the millions of search results. Then he saw articles about how to choose the right rehab facility, questions to ask about insurance and even…
On This Page: Helping vs. Enabling Finding Help Even though addiction is a struggle for individuals, the disease impacts entire families. Each person within the addict’s circle of love and influence is changed in some way, even if only slightly. For parents of adult children struggling with addiction, the situation is extremely difficult. Helping without…
