Topic: defense mechanisms

Clearly, these folks don’t experience shame in the way society expects. It’s why they arrive in treatment angry and defensive.

There are folks who make the rounds, getting the same advice over and over, and never putting it into action.

Of course, left to its own devices, addiction often worsens.

Our goal is to reframe the discussion in a way that supports rather than undermines change.

Here was a physician who regularly committed an assortment of crimes without considering himself a criminal. To his way of thinking, he was the victim.

It seems to me that it’s entirely possible for one person to be lying, ambivalent, and in denial at the same time.

The addicted brain is unable to accurately evaluate the situation.

Addiction programs, conversely, targeted elimination or at least substantial reduction in substance use– a narrower goal that permitted greater focus in treatment.

He perceives it as gradual when in reality it’s progressing rather quickly.

Families often think it’s the addict or alcoholic’s emotions that need to be overcome to succeed. But in fact, we need to start by dealing with our own feelings.