There are many things I struggle to manage in my life, including time, food (or more correctly my weight), exercise and making sure my dog gets her heart medicine every eight hours. I have other vices as well, but what links all of these things together is that they are ongoing issues that come and go… [Continue Reading]
Be the Change You Want to See
Change is tough. Really tough. Whether dealing with an addiction or making a change in an organization to improve treatment, we are wired to keep doing the things we have always done and resist the new. My last post provided an academic framework for how we should get evidence-based practices commonplace in real-world treatment and educational settings,… [Continue Reading]
The Gap Between Research & Practice
Each year our government spends approximately: $95 billion dollars on research to develop new treatments (medical, behavioral, psychiatric, addiction) $1.3 trillion dollars a year on actual services to patients Yet sadly, less than $1 billion dollars a year is spent on understanding how to take what we learn from science and research – the new… [Continue Reading]
Cracked Not Broken Documentary
A comment from a previous post suggested I watch a documentary titled Cracked Not Broken by independent film maker Paul Perrier. It was time well spent. In short, the film is about a woman named Lisa who is addicted to cocaine and works as a prostitute to support her habit. Much of the film is an… [Continue Reading]
3 Critical Lessons From Neuropsych Testing
Years ago I worked as an assistant for two neuropsychologists, essentially doing all the face-to-face testing. Usually, this meant 4 to 6 hours crammed into a small stuffy office conducting various cognitive, memory, and intelligence assessments. 3 Important Lessons I Learned: Although watching patients attempt to stick square objects in round holes had its moments, the lessons… [Continue Reading]
Embracing the Idea of Addiction Management
I believe basic truths in life get repackaged in unique or creative ways throughout time, resurfacing in books, self-help strategies, stories, movies, or movements. When these things come on to our radar seemingly for the first time, we either embrace them and they become big hits, or we reject or dismiss the ideas because the timing is off – our society is… [Continue Reading]
Addiction in Society? Let Me Count the Ways
In the book Rapt Attention and the Focused Life Winifred Gallagher makes a case that life ultimately adds up to what you choose to pay attention to. This got me thinking about how addiction has evolved to our changing world, and the ways in which we are all more vulnerable to excessive behaviors – or at least exposed to far… [Continue Reading]
Power to Create and Move Beyond Addiction
Long-term success in dealing with addiction requires more than a focus on pathology and problems. It requires time and attention to building a life worth living, where intimate relationships with people play a crucial role in happiness. It also necessitates a deepening sense of humanity, empathy for our fellow human beings, a sense of wonder, engaging… [Continue Reading]
Benefits of Tracking Relapses
One of my first and most memorable patients was a Native American man who I was treating for alcohol dependence (among many other complicating factors). On multiple occasions, he had been admitted to the hospital for detox with blood alcohol levels that would kill most humans. He could drink a lot, but the problem was… [Continue Reading]
Autism Expert Can Help Those With Addiction
In the late 1990’s I begin attending workshops on trauma therapy because I realized many of those who struggle with addiction also wrestled with untreated underlying trauma – sexual, physical, and emotional. It was at one of the workshops that I first heard the name Stanley Greenspan. Today he is known as one of the… [Continue Reading]
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