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Tag: addictions Might As Well Face It You're Addicted to . . . Everything! No less an authority than George Bush recently declared that the entire nation was "addicted" to oil. From a Republican viewpoint, you might excuse the President from engaging in a bit of po... Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous 35: Harm Reduction Harm reduction is an ancient and natural plan for minimizing the unpleasant and harmful effects of dangerous behavior. Addictions certainly are dangerous behaviors, and some experts have cha... Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous 34: Therapists Of All Sorts In general, there are two kinds of therapist qualifications: (1) earned degrees and, (2) licenses and certifications. Some clinicians, of course, may have both. Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 33: Pitfalls In Finding Treatment Problems confront addicts when they decide to seek mental health services. They can be serious problems, but they are not impossible. Here are a few of the big ones: Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 32: When a Friend Needs Help In the days when I was working as a clinical psychologist in hospital programs where we treated addictive behavior, it was common to have members of Twelve Step groups bringing people in for help. Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 31: Does Prohibition Work? Vulnerable Groups Experience and research show that gamblers and other addicts entering treatment are not exactly like the general population on a number of important psychological dimensio... Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous 30: The Way to Be, Part Two I remind the reader who may be studying these choices that I have not announced my own preference in terms of which of the choices, A or B, I think is most appropriate to a mature and normal way of thinking. Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous 29: The Way to Be, Part One No one really teaches us the whole story on how to live in the world. We learn some of what works and some of what causes pain. We learn what people like and dislike about our behavior. Unfortunately, we don’t have teachers who teach us how to live comfortably in the world, how to develop and keep the everyday euphoria that is our right. If we knew what to do to reduce self-inflicted misery, we would probably want to learn it because we need something better than the School of Hard Knocks. Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Chapter 28: Normal As The Gold Standard—Part Two In this chapter I finish a brief discussion of each of my proposed dimensions of noble character that I claim are important qualities of thought and behavior. They are both learnable and teachable. Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 27: Normal As The Gold Standard—Part One If normal is to be the standard towards which we strive, exactly what qualities of personality will be important? What will we try to measure, learn, and teach to others? In this chapter and the next, I present a list of seventeen proposed character dimensions and offer a brief discussion of each. Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 26: Searching For Normal Beyond finding problems and flaws in the thinking of others, a philosopher might go the next step and offer some better path to what we hold as a valuable goal. Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 25: Normophobia Normophobia: I made that word up myself. At least I’ve never seen it used anywhere, but I could be wrong. Being wrong once in a while is normal and the best reason to look for and listen to critical feedback. Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 24: More On Religion In Recovery The Steps, Traditions, and Promises of Alcoholics Anonymous have become important to millions of people throughout the world. In early chapters of this book, I looked at the philosophy that underlies the steps and traditions, a philosophy that is widely accepted and used in self-help groups. From the beginning, the steps stirred debate and controversy along with a remarkable number of good recovery stories. Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 23: Group Traditions And Management Not long after A.A. was founded in Ohio in the 1930s, meetings began to experience problems with personalities and procedures. Recovering alcoholics proved to be a tough group to lead wit... Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 22: Continuing The Growth The last three steps in the recovery program deal with personal growth, a renewed growth that is possible after some amount of clean and sober time. By now, if the reader has been following previous articles, the ideas behind steps ten, eleven and twelve should be rather obvious. Together, these three steps offer a plan for essential, continuing personality development. I will comment on each briefly in this chapter. Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 21: Setting Things Right 8. Made a list of all persons we harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 9. Made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 20: Asking For Help 7. Humbly asked the help of others in the removal of our short comings and be resolved to work to remove these faults ourselves. Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 19: Growth Through Practice 6. Were entirely ready to practice the program in order to remove all these defects of character. Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 18: Confession, Honesty And The Open Life Step 5. Admit to our Group, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. If loneliness is your problem, confession may be a solution. There’s nothing like hold... Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 17: Self Knowledge Step Four: Made a searching and fearless inventory of our character for ourselves. The word inventory is a bit misleading, but this step comes down to the adage, “Know thyself.”... Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 16: The Surrender Of Ego Step Three: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of this Program and to the loving care of this group. Hopefully, as you come to the third step, you have acc... Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 14: The Art Of Being Powerless Step One: We admitted we were powerless over addiction—that our lives had become unmanageable. The mind of the active addict works in a hazardous environment surrounded by a swirling ... Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 15: Living With Higher Authorities Step 2. Came to believe that The Program, as a power greater than ourselves, could help us toward normal living. The term higher authority, in the original context, referred the God o... Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 13: A Universal Secular Twelve Steps There are two important thoughts to keep in mind when we consider what have been called the Twelve Steps of Recovery. First, each step is really an important idea that can be incorporated into every aspect of life. Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 12: The Stages of Addiction and Recovery While interviewing hundreds of addicted clients over the years it became obvious to me that addictions are what mental health experts call developmental disorders. That is, they deve... Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 10: Dark Feelings Euphoria is a good word that today has a negative meaning; it is often used to describe the artificial high or altered state of mind produced by an addictive trigger. It’s earlier meaning ... Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous. 11: The Addiction Cycle We can summarize the conditions that create addictions this way: Risk Factor(s) + Attitude + Dark Feelings + A Trigger = Vulnerability to Addiction If someone is caref... Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 9: How Attitudes, Beliefs And Values Create Vulnerability If you’re miserable you probably know it even if you think you can’t control it, and you can very likely tell exactly what is making you miserable. On the other hand, some people have b... Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 8: Risk Factors Just as I ask addicts to consider all the different addictions, I urge them to think in a very general way about potential risk factors, situations that may help set the stage for the development of an addiction. These risk factors, like triggers, make up another important group of conditions that lead to addiction. Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):   Addictions Anonymous, 6: Triggers What addicts do involves either a substance such as alcohol or a behavior like gambling, but that’s just the surface. Save Print Digg Username    Password   If you don't have an account yet, one will be created for you automatically with the username & password you have set.   Code (6642A):