In addiction recovery, if your life is filled with non-pleasurable activities, you are more likely to relapse. The relapse will provide an intense, but only temporary, satisfaction. Let’s explore what preventing relapse and the role that lifestyle balance plays in everyday life. Perhaps the greatest risk for imbalance comes when we are too focused on what...

In the news media, the typical expert describes addiction as a disease. Often these experts work at addiction treatment facilities. It would be easy to conclude that experts agree that addiction is hereditary, incurable, and lifelong. In the addiction field, this view is referred to as the “disease model.” There is significant disagreement about the disease model, but the...

A. Tom Horvath, Ph.D., ABPP 1)  Stay focused on the desired outcome, not the process.  You may be hoping to find the “right” treatment for a loved one.  Rather than insisting that your loved one do this or that (some treatment program you think will be helpful), focus on what you want: no more (or...

DIY Moderate Drinking Are you interested in moderating your drinking? Many individuals are! Here are two books which provide everything you need to know about DIY moderate drinking. Responsible Drinking: A Moderation Management Approach for Problem Drinkers This book, by Rotgers, F., Kern, M. & Hoeltzel, R. (CA: New Harbinger Publications, 2002) is the basic...

A well-functioning family, community or society needs to have a balance between self-interested behavior, and altruistic or service behavior. If every member of a group pays attention only to his or her own immediate needs, life becomes very difficult quickly. For instance, a hunter-gatherer group that could effectively cooperate to hunt large animals would have more...

Science has revealed that addiction is far more complex than we formerly thought. As a result, professionals and individuals in recovery have changed their language about addiction and recovery. Addiction is now described as a complex problem, and recovery is described as having biological, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects.  This “biopsychosocial” model of recovery groups...

Although Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and other 12-step groups are far more widely known, there are other addiction support groups worth knowing about.  They are listed here in approximate order of size and influence.  All of the self-empowering recovery groups support abstinence, with Moderation Management supporting both abstinence and moderation with alcohol. SMART Recovery:  Self-Management And...

Even if you have been away from your children because of reasons related to your addiction, your kids are probably not far from your mind. In early recovery, it is important to focus on yourself long enough to build a solid foundation for change (however long that takes will vary from person to person). Once...