Topic: therapeutic models

Most people in stable recovery got there the hard way, through major alterations in the way they live.

This is where ‘recovery work’ comes in, in the form of acquiring healthy strategies to successfully handle (i.e., without resorting to substance use) stressful situations and resulting emotions.

I’m told that less than half of contemporary medical practice is actually rooted in evidence.

Complex behaviors often require complex explanations.

Stats are something we impose on them when there’s already another client waiting in the corridor and the charting still isn’t done.

The challenge is to develop that relationship quickly enough to engage the client and create an environment that promotes success.

From the beginning, it was designed to be a program for living… a grass-roots approach based not on scientific research or professional practice but on the direct experience of recovering persons.

Addiction has been described as a chronic problem that we’ve attempted to treat as an acute illness –a big reason for the revolving door of relapse.

Language– the words we choose for our self-talk– has a powerful influence on our brain function. Words can help us re-shape the cycle of feelings, impulses, and behaviors.

We can’t always predict which problem will require attention first — or indeed, when opening a door in therapy will introduce a whole new set of emotional needs and issues.