Trauma and Substance Use The connection between trauma and increased risk of substance abuse disorders is well documented. As a result, most treatment centers and medical professionals in the addiction field can be described as “trauma informed:” their treatment philosophy and methodology takes into account the experiences that might be undergirding a person’s struggles with...Read More

Teamwork Consider the five players on a basketball team. On every play—offense or defense—what one player does affects all five players. If you aren’t in position to rebound a missed shot, your team might lose the ball. If you don’t guard the person you are assigned to guard on defense, the other team might get...Read More

Nutrition’s Role in Overall Health Good nutritional choices are seldom a priority for someone wrestling with a substance abuse disorder such as opioid or alcohol addiction. But once the journey toward lasting sobriety has begun, nutrition can play a key role in helping to limit the risk of relapse and in reversing some of the...Read More

Family Whether you are close or estranged or somewhere in between, your family may loom large in the early days of your recovery. There may come a moment when you have to decide how much you want to share with your immediate and extended family members about your recovery journey. On the one hand, the...Read More

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” So says Romeo as he considers Juliet—the woman he loves whose family is in constant conflict with his own—in Shakespeare’s play about star-crossed lovers. The young doomed lover is suggesting that it isn’t words or names that...Read More

Sound Advice Flight attendants always give passengers an important piece of advice when sharing emergency procedures: make sure you are wearing your own oxygen mask before you try to help others. After all, you’ll be no help to anyone if you collapse from a lack of oxygen, right? The same thing is true when you’re...Read More

Coming to terms with the fact that someone in your life has a substance use disorder is difficult, to say the least. And the need to find your loved one an appropriate place to get help only adds to the stress and upheaval. In fact, it may seem impossible to make such an important choice....Read More

Marketing Ploys Increasingly, marketing professionals want to encourage you to try their products in ways other than traditional advertising. For example, a company might pay to ensure that the beloved characters on a given television show drink a certain soft drink or drive a certain kind of car. The industry name for this technique is...Read More

Alcohol Use Disorder Addiction to alcohol can be difficult to face—and it can be easier to reframe your drinking as simply something you do socially or that you happen to enjoy rather than as a problem. But alcoholism, which is known in the medical community as an alcohol use disorder (AUD), is not about good...Read More

Almost no one has a perfect childhood. Even those with loving parents, financial security, and other positive factors in their lives are likely to experience a variety of negative situations, ranging from the minor to the truly traumatic. For some, a traumatic experience or combination of traumas can have a lasting negative impact on their...Read More