There has been a push to understand and define addiction in our society as a brain disease, primarily because of the strong evidence from neuroimaging studies that have identified clear changes in the brain for those who struggle with addiction. At the same time, others have provided evidence that addiction is an adaptive response to… [Continue Reading]
Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT)
At a training not long ago on CRAFT, the presenter, Dr. Robert Meyers, told a story that I want to pass on to you. But first, if you have never heard of CRAFT, it stands for Community Reinforcement and Family Training which is an evidence-based approach that family members (or friends) can use to facilitate getting… [Continue Reading]
Investing in Addiction Treatment: Is it Worth the Cost?
I recently talked with a Huffington Post reporter about the Real Tab for Rehab: Inside the Addiction Treatment Biz. In our discussion, I pointed out that to a large extent we still have an addiction treatment system that provides short-term (acute) treatment for a long-term (chronic) problem (this key point did not make the article). In… [Continue Reading]
The Race to Nowhere
Last week I watched the independent film Race to Nowhere that has won numerous awards for its strong messages about our broken educational system. Through interviews with students, parents, teachers, and others, the movie illustrates the dark side of being a kid in school. The Race to Nowhere for students is paved with an over-scheduling… [Continue Reading]
A Long Walk to Tucson
As I laid in bed thinking about the next day, about my turn, fear flooded my entire body. I was like a pressure cooker with no relief valve, and I knew I had to do something fast. I dressed quickly and left my room, walking outside into the cold Arizona night. The black sky was… [Continue Reading]
Interview with Dr. Bruce Alexander
Last year I dedicated a post to the work of Dr. Bruce Alexander, a psychologist from Canada who wrote a great book about The Globalization of Addiction. I am now extremely excited that my good friend Jari Chevalier, from Living Hero, recently completed an interview with Dr. Alexander. There are so many wonderful things in this podcast that I… [Continue Reading]
Mark Girard Working with Altered States
For the past few years I have taught a foundations course on addiction treatment to graduate students. An important aspect of the course is helping students understand that longterm successful outcomes necessitate resolving underlying drivers of addictive behavior, namely, adverse childhood experiences. In an effort to illustrate concretely how this may be done, I enlisted… [Continue Reading]
Calm Energy an Antidote to Addiction
I’ve mentioned Dr. Robert Thayer before on this site, but have not dedicated a blog entry to his ideas until now. When I first read his book, Calm Energy: How People Regulate Mood with Food and Exercise, I was immediately impressed by the implications of his work for those struggling with addiction. In a nutshell, he provides a… [Continue Reading]
Social Isolation in America
As a young boy, I remember venturing out on summer evenings to play hide-and-seek with the other neighborhood kids. We made up teams, sought out secret hiding places, and took full advantage of the local woods that surrounded our corner of the world. Our parents all knew each other, and while we were expending our… [Continue Reading]
Root Causes of Addiction: Part 2
In my previous post on the roots of addiction, I discussed how adverse childhood experiences (ACE’s) to a large extent play an important role in development of addictive behavior. Given that over 80% of those who develop addictions begin adaptive behaviors to cope with ACE’s prior to the age of 15, we as a society need to place a greater… [Continue Reading]
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