Substance Treatment
I was asked to write a note to a lawyer ensuring I was providing substance treatment to their client, so I thought I’d use this as an opportunity to draft something that I could have on my website. My approach is different than 98% of the approaches out there because we focus on the core wounds underneath substance and mental health treatment. Ours is a program of empowerment, where people...Learn More
Am I Burning Out?
I had a first-of-its-kind week — every session was filled! In fact, even our IOP program was at maximum capacity. Because of this, I am exhausted. Running a facility is interesting. I am, first and foremost, a counselor and have done this for 30 years. I know what I am doing in this regard and feel I am very good at it. But running a company? That’s where I am a novice. I have surrounded...Learn More
Music Therapy
Years ago, I learned the value of music in therapy when I was working at an independent living facility. This placement was for young adults with learning disabilities, and when I realized I wasn’t able to make any progress with them, I opted to have some fun singing karaoke. So, I set up the machine, began to sing, and one by one, all of the clients showed up, sang, and had the time of...Learn More
Is Boredom a Problem?
We do a fun exercise in our Intensive Outpatient Program called “The Wall.” Taken from Pink Floyd’s The Wall, our participants are asked to tell the group what stops them from living a happy and prosperous life. After each participant tells us their problem, we have them bring their chair to the front of the room, and it is stacked onto the others—soon a large wall is formed, thus walling...Learn More
Re-Centering
When the stormy days hit, when you don’t even like yourself, there are a few things you can do to get yourself through until you find that happy foothold again. Spiritually speaking, it is easy to be spiritual on the mountaintop. However, the real challenge is taking that spirituality into the valley. If you find your heart racing, feel dizzy, like you’re going to pass out, and fear you...Learn More
Feelings of Frustration
I am beyond frustrated. I just had my computer wipe out the article I was preparing, and “frustrated” doesn’t begin to describe the feelings shooting through me. It was going to be the greatest paper ever created, but no—my computer had another agenda of its own. So now I am faced with a decision: either be angry and complain to my staff, or take it in stride and see the computer glitch as...Learn More
Conscious Living
What’s familiar is familiar, no matter what it is. Bad relationships, addictions, bad habits. If it is a daily experience then trying to change it takes effort. Are you willing to do so? Hey, I get it. I too have been stuck in the same ol’, same ol’ time and time again, so being stuck in what we call ‘Limiting Behaviors’ is not an experience reserved only for...Learn More
How to Fix Other People
I am sure that you know someone in need of help. 20% of the people in this country suffer from severe mental or substance-related problems–that’s one in five! It makes you think twice about getting behind the wheel of your vehicle. So how do we fix them? This is always a fun topic when teaching interns. Well, cutting to the chase, the answer is–we can’t. The truth is–the only person we can...Learn More
Overcoming Anxiety
It’s about time to talk about my battle with anxiety. Anxiety was thought of as a burden that everybody had to carry. I looked at it as the cross I had to bear for the rest of my life. As most of my friends did, I turned to drugs to numb my fears, but after years of doing so, I became a prisoner and felt there was no way out. Because of my drug use, my personality began to change. I became...Learn More