12 Step – Basic Steps Mental Health

The 12 “Basic Steps” to Issue Resolution

Scott Alpert — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 16:00:48 +0000

It had been 15 years since I was reunited with my paperwork from school. Like an ancient treasure that I vaguely remembered, all of the handouts we used at the University of Santa Monica lay before my grubby hands! I was over the moon with excitement because what lay before me changed me from a […]

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12 Steps vs Spiritual Psychology

Scott Alpert — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 13:23:55 +0000

When somebody remarked in group that our program is not the 12 Steps, a fire was ignited. And no, it is not. When I was admitted into graduate school, I had been working at a 12-Step facility for years and quickly learned that this was the real thing. This is not to say that the […]

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Conscious Living

Scott Alpert — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 17:00:39 +0000

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 […]

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Year End Summary

Scott Alpert — Tue, 31 Dec 2024 16:00:08 +0000

I got pretty emotional today while I watched a duo exercise in our Intensive Outpatient Program. A duo is basically two participants pairing up and one acts like the counselor and the other acts like the client. After the exercise is over they switch roles. This is how we practiced in graduate school, this is […]

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Something I’ve Avoided

Scott Alpert — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 17:00:30 +0000

There is one subject I have tried to sidestep for decades, not wanting to upset people who cannot relate to religion or spirituality. As my practice has progressed, I’ve realized that the mindset I have gained through a spirituality lens has gotten me through each and every day and can only be of benefit to […]

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Special Memory #9

Scott Alpert — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 15:08:50 +0000

For 11 years I worked at the first-ever, mental health urgent care center in the country. I was fresh out of graduate school with a crisp new, Doctoral degree, and trying to prove myself. This was the first facility of its kind, established to take pressure off of the local jails and emergency rooms and […]

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Can an Addiction be Good?

Scott Alpert — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 15:02:29 +0000

What is an addiction? An addiction is something that you are compelled to do and find it almost impossible to stop. I know this isn’t the clinical definition, but this explanation is easy to understand in layman’s terms. It might be surprising to read that not all addictions are bad. Addiction to exercise, healthy diet, […]

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Relapse – A Slip in Reasoning

Scott Alpert — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 13:30:36 +0000

Since 1994 I entered this industry in hopes of making some sort of impact. My first internship was at Tarzana Treatment Center in southern California, a 12 Step facility that housed over 100 people. It taught a combination of the 12 Steps and what they termed “I.T.” or industrial therapy. Industrial therapy was basically having […]

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Partial Hospitalization – Discharge Insights

Scott Alpert — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 19:54:52 +0000

When someone finishes our program, we make a big deal out of it. Our Partial Hospitalization program runs 4 weeks and goes 5 days a week for 6 hours a day. It is the equivalent of residential treatment, but you don’t need to get locked away from family and friends. Facing yourself for an entire […]

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Independence Day

Scott Alpert — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 03:51:55 +0000

Independence day. They are just two words but emotionally can mean a lot. If you are not independent you are dependent. So what are you dependent on? The definition of Dependence is: The state of being determined, influenced or controlled by something else. The state of being dependent on another for financial support. The condition […]

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