Recognizing Family Recovery
by Claudia Black, PhD, MSW

What do you mean I need recovery, too?

What does that look like?

The impact of addiction in the family is often thought of as the consequences of the addicted person’s behavior directed toward the family member, such as hurt feelings for being yelled at, embarrassment for a scene at an event, or the confusion generated from blatant lying. The greater impact is the resulting long-term shift in the family member’s behavior, thinking and emotions, which is a systematic response to living with the chaos, pain and unpredictability of addiction. Ironically, this change in the family member’s behavior parallels the behaviors, thoughts and emotions of the addicted person.

The following, excerpted from the recently published Family Strategies: Practical Tools for Professionals Treating Families Impacted by Addiction by Claudia Black, PhD, MSW, offers a way to aid family members in recognizing the addictive aspect of codependency. In doing so, it also assists them in identifying issues from which to recover. Click here to read all of this article.

All Work, No Play: No Thanks
by Jenni Schaefer

True recovery from my eating disorder meant saying no thanks to “All work, no play.” Our world celebrates work, constant activity, and being productive. We tend to ignore and even look down upon renewal, recovery, and play. I used to feel unbearably guilty if I were not working. While occasionally relaxing or having fun, I would think to myself, “I should be doing something productive.” The guilt was often so unbearable that I would stop whatever I was doing that seemed unproductive and would get back to work. Of course, when I worked in this way, I was stressed out, lacked passion, and was actually less productive.

I had heard person after person and book after book say that I needed more recovery time in my life, but I did not buy it. (I bought the books, but I did not believe the ideas.) I thought this whole concept of giving yourself a break and taking time to play was just an excuse to be lazy. And laziness meant I would be unsuccessful. And I wanted to be successful. No, I wanted to be perfect. Giving myself time to enjoy life would not be productive. Click here to read all of this article.

The Invisible Golden Ghetto
by Lois Jordan, LCSW, LCDC

In 1968 I was a senior at Highland Park High School, planning for graduation and the hardest decision I had to make was, “What college am I going to go to?” My high school sweetheart, who is now my husband of 34 years, was doing likewise. The strongest mood or mind altering substance any of us could get our hands on was alcohol. And believe it or not, in those days, it was rather difficult to do that. Our community was known as “The Bubble”.

Unfortunately, we seem to have a false sense of security. I hope this article will “Burst The Bubble” and help you to get your feet on the ground, in reality. My own experience as a life long resident of the Park Cities, my experience as a chemical dependency counselor for the last 26 years in the Park Cities/North Dallas communities, and the research available on the effects of wealth, show that there is an invisible golden ghetto filled with severe problems. Those who live in this ghetto are families of wealth, power, and fame. The children of these families show some remarkably similar problems to the poor but also show problems unique to the experience of wealth. Click here to read all of this article.

Are the New Medications for Addiction Effective & Safe?
by Eugene A. Degner, MD

I have seen massive changes in the field of addiction medicine (ADM) since I entered the treatment field in 1983. Some changes have been for the good of the patient and some have been very questionable.

When I was certified in Addiction Medicine, the focus was to help that patient get drug and alcohol free. We were taught that once a brain experienced addiction it was always susceptible to relapse, no matter how long a period of abstinence lasted. Because of that concept, patients were taken off all drugs that hinted of producing dependency, with the thought being that a “clean” brain was best able to avoid relapse (sometimes called “awakening the sleeping giant”). It appears to me that concept is now considered old-fashioned, archaic, and generally wrong. Click here to read all of this article.