Sometimes an intervention goes all they way to the last step. Offering a choice between recovery and family life.
Continue readingFinal Bottom Lines: Two Options
Enchanted: Drawn to a Substance
I earned my first pilot’s license at 16 and I was hired to fly for an airline the week that I graduated college. From that moment on, my career path was carefully laid out before me and all I needed to do was follow it to the end. But then I didn’t. I abandoned the path.
Continue readingThe Hard Road to a Happy Life
I draw a parallel between using drugs and a ride in an amusement park. Just like a roller coaster, drugs have an exhilarating aspect, but we don’t go to the amusement park every day. We enjoy the ride and move on to the next thing; our experience becomes a memory – not a way of life.
Continue readingReaching Out: The First Call for Help
The first call sets the ball in motion for a suffering person to move towards the path of recovery. From the outside looking in, a phone call may seem small, but that person may have been thinking about dialing my number for weeks, years even.
Continue readingHow to Survive the Road to Recovery
Continuing to use is a direct path to problems while a life in recovery is full of new opportunities. Things that I couldn’t imagine doing when I was using are now my reality.
Continue readingCelebrating the Milestones of Recovery
There is no overnight success for people in recovery. People need to stay engaged and actively working to overcome their addictions.
Continue readingComprehensive Care: Why 6 Months of Treatment?
Comprehensive Care, the POC goes into treatment with love. We continue to meet as a family while they are in treatment. The family is also prepared to support their journey of recovery after treatment.
Continue readingWill Rehab Work? What is the Success Rate?
When families ask to know the success rate of a facility, they’re really asking me, “will this work? Is it worth the investment?”
Continue readingUnderstanding Addiction Using Food Cravings
We have all had cravings for food, cravings pop up out of no where and can be so strong that we ‘just must’ act on them. How many slices of pizza, General Tso’s Chicken, and late night Ben and Jerry’s binges have you had that were born of a craving for them?
Continue readingThe Butterfly Effect – In Recovery Small Changes Can Make A Huge Difference
In recovery, the butterfly effect starts with a simple phone call. The first call is the start of a process, the first flap of the butterfly’s wings.
Continue readingLife On The Road: The Story Of A Pilot
As long as I could stop drinking 12 hours before flying, I didn’t see a problem with my drinking. In a way, having a federally mandated “hard stop” on my use kept my drinking in check, but it also allowed me to maintain the false belief that I didn’t have a problem.
Continue readingGenerational Effects of Alcohol and Drug Use
The trauma of loss – of culture, family, and country – could drive anyone to cope by using alcohol. People of those generations may have been trying their best to raise their children, but they probably didn’t have much bandwidth to parent.
Continue readingWorth it: taking 30 days off of work to go to a treatment center
A thirty-day treatment program may seem expensive. It may seem like too large a time commitment. But if you actually evaluate what you can gain, the investment of time and money will seem well worth it.
Continue readingDon’t Make Excuses to Avoid Treatment
When I present someone new with options for recovery, I often hear two common objections. They are; “I’m a private person” and/or “I have to do it my way.” Both of these justifications keep the person from actively beginning their path to recovery.
Continue readingTell It Like It Really Is
I encourage family members to support and celebrate any level of recovery, but also to verbalize how this level of recovery affects them. Family members might not be ready to fully repair relationships at this level. The person suffering needs to hear the truth.
Continue readingAlcoholics Anonymous: Building the foundation of AA (with a dog named True)
I learned about the concept of a Higher Power from True. She wanted the best for me; she didn’t want me to suffer or relapse. Prior to making True my Higher Power, I would happily argue with anyone about religion. But after I met True, I no longer put up a fight about it. If a dog could be my driving force, who was I to argue against anyone else’s beliefs?
Continue readingIdentifying Triggers While Getting Sober
g to sober, identifying triggers that might stand in the way of recovery is necessary. It’s not uncommon for people who struggle with addictions to relapse at least once during recovery due to these triggers. Some even fall off the wagon several times before committing to sobriety.
Continue readingGetting Stabilized in Early Recovery from Addiction
In early recovery, there are some major benchmarks to celebrate and also specific discomforts to expect.
Continue readingAddiction is a Response to Trauma: My Halloween Story
I don’t know how a trauma in my family a few generations back might show up in my life, that is until I recently passed up buying a pumpkin. I stood in front of a beautiful pumpkin at a farm stand. It was marked half price and I stood in front of it, frozen, unable to decide if I wanted to buy it. I walked away from that pumpkin feeling sick to my stomach.
Continue readingReturning Home from Treatment – Considerations for the Family
After a person completes treatment, there need to be changes at home. Prior to entering into recovery, there was a dynamic that allowed and perhaps even supported active addiction.
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