As a mental health clinician working in the addiction recovery field, I highly recommend Gabor Mate’s exceptionally well-written book on addiction, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction.  Mate, a psychiatrist, has worked for 12 years with severely addicted people on skid row in Vancouver.  In the first half of the book, he weaves together stories of his patients with the story of his own “high status...

“Why don’t you just stop?†“I wish I could change but I don’t know where to start!†How many times have you heard this from yourself or a loved one? Change sounds easy—just stop, do it differently, try another way, etc. They sound like good suggestions but carrying them out is a different issue entirely. Many people really don’t know how to stop because they d...

  One of the core elements of our program at Welwynn is mindfulness: being aware of the present moment in a non-judgmental way. Mindfulness is the first step towards any change in behavior or belief. If we don’t realize what’s happening, or are too wrapped up in judgments, we cannot our response.  In mindfulness practice, we set aside a few minutes to practice tuning into the present.  This time of focused practice makes it easier to be mindful as we move throughout the day. I...

Michael Botticelli is a former Director of National Drug Control Policy, as well as a person in recovery from addiction and a gay man.  In this talk, Michael explains the paralells between the way society shamed and neglected gay men suffering with HIV/AIDs in the 1980 to the way society treats people struggling with addiction today.  In both cases, blame for the disease was placed on the person suffering instead of in a broader context of society and biology. Â&nbs...

Studies show that rats placed in empty cages with the choice to drink drug-laced water or normal water will drink the drug-laced water until they kill themselves.  On the other hand, rats placed in cage with plenty of friends, potential mates, and an interesting play environment do not choose the drug-laced water.  This simple experimental finding has profound implications for how we think about and treat addictive disorders.  Like rats, humans are mammals wit...

Emotional ups and downs are a normal part of being human.  One of the most moving things for me as an addictions therapist is to be with our clients as they move through the ups and downs of life without the chemical filter of drugs or alcohol.  Clients are not used to tolerating, or “being with†their hard feelings.  In addiction, substances are used to medicate the “downs,&...

substance abuse disorders. We have a beautiful facility with comfortable couches, natural light, and a warm and competent staff. Client’s also receive weekly massage and biofeedback relaxation. Anyone with insurance can receive all these wonderful services for a small co-pay. The longer I work here, the more I see that these “luxuries†have a much deeper impact than you might expect. I have the unique pleasure of being able to offer both mental h...

Have you ever watched the long running, A&E reality show ‘Intervention’? It’s always been one of my favorite TV shows because of its approach to the reality of the drug and alcohol epidemic in this country, and the hope that is spawned as the ‘addicted one’ enters treatment at the end of the show. Not all segments, however, end the same, but there is one component of each show that has stayed consi...