Help for Families | Secondhand Drinking | Codependency
National Recovery Month September 2012
National Recovery Month September 2012 – this year’s theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery: It’s Worth It.” Mental and/or substance use disorders (also known as behavioral health conditions) affect millions of individuals, as well as their families and friends who are concernedabout them. Many opportunities exist to help them reclaim their lives, restore their relationships, and build promising…
Read MoreConversations About Drinking – Starter Tips for Parents of Soon-to-be College Freshman
Conversations about drinking with your soon-to-be college freshman or high school senior? Isn’t it way too late? Consider these conversation starters. These aren’t your typical conversation starters. These are rooted in a bit of the science behind drinking and its impacts on the brain — the kinds of conversations that allow you and your teen…
Read MoreWho Really Pays the Price of Addiction?
Addiction – who really pays the price? The following is a guest post by Carolyn Hughes, a freelance writer with special interest in alcohol issues. Carolyn is currently writing The Hurt Healer, a novel based on her own experiences of abuse and alcoholism, and lives in Northern Ireland with her husband and their two daughters. She…
Read MoreRemembering Our Troops
Remembering our troops this Memorial Day. I was at a loss for how to express my feelings, today. “Thank you for giving your life to serve our country,” is not nearly enough, no matter how many other descriptive words I add. “How can I possibly express the depth and awe of my feelings behind those…
Read MoreHow To Find Your Joy When Your Loved One Has an Addiction
Finding joy in your life when a loved one has an addiction can be difficult. The following is a guest post by Cathy Taughinbaugh of TreatmentTalk.org. Cathy is the author of the book, “101 Natural Highs for an Amazing Drug Free Life,” and a gifted writer whose first-hand experience as the mother of a recovering drug…
Read MoreA Different Kind of Conversation About Underage Drinking
Broaching the topic of underage drinking with your teen — now that’s a conversation stopper! It’s that time of year — graduating high school seniors off to college in the fall, 19 year old college students home for the summer, and parents concerned about how to talk to them about drinking at this stage of the…
Read MoreStress – “Is It a Stick or a Snake?”
The Fight-or-Flight Stress Response System Tying back to yesterday’s post, one of the most important discoveries (after the one about why and how addiction is a brain disease) I made was to learn that the family member’s “problem” is rooted in the fight-or-flight stress response system. This system is the one wired into the human species…
Read MoreThe Family Disease of Addiction – Reflections on Mother’s Day
The family disease of addiction affects all members in a family — not just the addict / alcoholic. As my daughters took charge of making dinner last night, I sat on the tall white stool in our kitchen and beamed. This Mother’s Day was a testament to the power of breaking the cycles of the…
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