The brain plays a central role in both active addiction and recovery. Brain imaging studies as reported by the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) demonstrate that physical changes take place in areas of the brains of drug addicted individuals that affect learning, decision making, judgment, memory, and behavior control. These brain changes can…
As challenging as it can be to learn and develop new skills in any area, in comparison to recovery all the examples I’ve described are simple and concrete. Skills such as accepting things you really, really want to change, but can’t, and tolerating distressing emotions and physical sensations without acting on them in ways that…
Basketball is an excellent metaphor for recovery. On the court, as in real life, the environment and its circumstances evolve continuously. The action is constant, but energy and momentum can shift dramatically. Different players rotate in and out of the game, some playing more substantial roles than others. Each person’s playing time and the significance…
The process of changing patterns of living requires conscious (a.k.a. mindful) and conscientious awareness, along with extraordinary patience and persistent practice. This applies to moving from a life in active addiction and chronic pain to one in recovery from both. It also ties in to one’s evolution from the need to be right to remaining…
In child and human development there is a natural tendency to become like our most important role models, particularly our same sex primary parent figures. In other words, boys tend to take on characteristics of their father figures and girls those of their mother figures. The main processes through which this phenomenon takes place are…
A striking and paradoxical feature shared by many people struggling with addiction is sometimes described in twelve-step recovery as “being an egomaniac with an inferiority complex.” Internally, deep down, we feel inadequate, damaged, broken, “not good enough” (or simply “not enough”) or “less than.” These feelings and the beliefs they are based on usually have…
Active addiction is one of the world’s most effective ways of hiding who we really are. The stigma associated with it taints us and after a while we buy into it ourselves, magnifying our lack of self-worth. The longer and harder we use drugs, the more of our true self goes into hiding and remains…
Of course, professionally provided treatment is supposed to have an endpoint. The primary goal of any level of treatment should be to help clients progress to the point where treatment becomes unnecessary. One of the criteria that defines success for treatment programs and providers is for clients to improve—in whatever area(s) of their lives brought…