http://www.insurancequotes.org/health-insurance/health-resources/addiction-treatment-coverage Addiction was not truly considered a diagnosable and treatable mental illness by the U.S. medical community until about forty years ago. And while we no longer see an addict’s need to use as a failing in good judgment, stigmas still cloud the public image of people who need specialized substance abuse treatment to stop.…
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By Kate Picker TIME, Monday, Feb. 03, 2014 The raisins sitting in my sweaty palm are getting stickier by the minute. They don’t look particularly appealing, but when instructed by my teacher, I take one in my fingers and examine it. I notice that the raisin’s skin glistens. Looking closer, I see a small indentation…
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By Stephen Mitchell Penguin Press, 2009, $25.95 Adapted from two anthologies of Chinese wisdom compiled probably between 300 and 100 B.C.E. (the Chuang Tzu by Master Chuang, and the Chung Yung, ascribed to Tzu Ssu, the grandson of Confucius), The Second Book of the Tao is a sprightly complement to the Tao Te Ching, thought to…
Details by George DuWors,MSW, LICSW, BCD At least three books (Alexander, 1997) (Ash, 1993) (Griffin, 2004) document the integration of Buddhism and 12-step recovery. Another (Fields, 2008) refers to the compatibility of mindfulness and 12-step recovery. The AA Big Book (Anonymous, 2008) and the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (Anonymous, 1981), on the other hand, urge…
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by Samuel G. Freedman Three floors above a Manhattan street of loading docks and coffee shops, in a functional room of folding chairs and linoleum tile, a man who introduced himself as Vic began to speak. “Today is my 35th anniversary,” he said. The dozen people seated around him applauded, and several even whooped in…
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BY ANDREW M. SEAMANNEW YORK Thu Mar 20, 2014 6:03pm EDT (Reuters Health) – A treatment program incorporating mindfulness meditation is better over the long term than traditional approaches at preventing relapses of drug and alcohol abuse, according to a new study. One year after treatment for substance abuse, far fewer participants who got relapse-prevention…
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By John Newport Ph.D. Counselor Magazine2014/Jan-Feb. Faith in a beneficent higher power, a power greater than all of us, is a basic cornerstone of all Twelve Step recovery programs. Indeed, faith and its application is an explicit theme running throughout the Twelve Steps of AA, NA, and other programs. Specifically, Step Two states that we…
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Introduction In many twelve-step programs newcomers are either consoled or chastened by being told that it can take three to five years to “get out of the woods.” It’s a way of saying that recovery takes time. Later, at about the five-year mark, after attending a considerable number of meetings and working the steps and…
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Last week, Radio Boston featured an interview with Dr. Lance Dodes, author of “The Sober Truth: Debunking the Bad Science Behind 12-Step Programs and the Rehab Industry.” Here, two Harvard Medical School professors of psychiatry respond, arguing that Dr. Dodes misrepresents the evidence and that 12-step programs have among the strongest scientific underpinnings of any…
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By Michelle ConwayMorningside Recovery Alcohol is one of the most popular recreational drugs available in the United States. Alcoholism and alcohol abuse occur when an individual drinks excessive amounts on a regular basis. Several factors play a role in the development of alcohol dependency, including one’s genetics, social environment, emotional health, and early childhood discipline.…
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