Addiction Treatment Blog by Addiction Experts » Spirituality
New Drug Testing Device Expected to Revolutionize Industry
Drug testing is an invasive process that is usually a drag for both tester and testee. The test typically relies on one of the most private parts of a person’s day-going to the bathroom- to be shared with the tester, who may be a complete stranger. The person administering the test is often required to observe the subject’s genitalia to ensure the legitimacy of the urine. This method of analysis is intrusive and let’s be … Read entire article »
Filed under: Addiction, Drugs, Latest News, Spirituality
Are You There GOD? It’s Me, An Alcoholic
When we come to Alcoholics Anonymous, we are encouraged to take the faith we put in our drugs and old behaviors and place it in a higher power of our understanding. Some of us call this power “God”. Drenched in religious and spiritual dogma, we often find the concept of God, and indeed the word itself, difficult to incorporate into our recovery from drug addiction and alcoholism, but once the fog of addiction has lifted … Read entire article »
Filed under: Spirituality
The Twelve Steps of Star Wars: Yoda’s Perspective
If you have seen the Star Wars trilogy (or the less impressive Episodes I through III) then you are familiar with the battle between good and evil, and the Jedi knights’ commitment to restoring and maintaining balance and harmony in the galaxy through their relationship with the Force. A Jedi knight must undergo rigorous training with a mentor who can provide them with wisdom. They learn to master their emotions and receive guidance with finding … Read entire article »
Filed under: Recovery, Spirituality
Higher Power, You’ve Got a Funny Sense of Humor
Four months since my last dose of heroin, and I was still dogged by the merciless impulse to use. I’m not at fault, I seem to have been born this way. Whether I talked about it or I kept it to myself, the obsession remained, though it was briefly quelled if I verbalized it. Every friend in recovery that I’d made sympathized, but no one understood better than my sponsor, for he suffers from obsession … Read entire article »
Filed under: Recovery, Spirituality
AA and Spirituality Go Together Like Peanut Butter & Jelly
Some people avoid AA altogether – and the 1.2 million existing members — for fear of the “higher power” concept. Atheists and agnostics alike flee in the opposite direction to avoid opening their minds to the concept that an omnipotent, intangible force exists in the universe. What many people don’t realize is that AA encourages alcoholics to foster a relationship with the God of their understanding only – and that can range from anything to “mother nature”, to Alcoholics Anonymous itself. A devotion to “God” (replace with the term of your preference) is a key component of AA’s 12-step program, not only because no human power can restore alcoholics to sanity – but because conscious contact with a higher power has proven to be an effective venue through which recovery has … Read entire article »
Filed under: Addiction, Drugs, Latest News, Recovery, research, Spirituality
How to Survive the Holiday Season with Your Sanity and Sobriety
Oh no! Here it comes again: THE HOLIDAY SEASON. Do you have fond memories of chestnuts roasting on an open fire, creamy eggnog, and yuletide cheer? Or do you dread the unrealistic expectations, increased anxiety and annoying relatives? If you have the urge to act like a groundhog, crawl into the nearest cozy hole, and not emerge until this crazy season is over sometime in the spring….well, you’re not alone! Many of us feel that way. But the holidays are rapid approaching like a speeding Amtrac train. So how do you survive the holiday season with your sanity and sobriety? Here are a few tips: PACE YOURSELF: Remember you do not have to shop ‘til you drop. You do not have to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Addiction, Drugs, holidays, Life, Love and Relationships, Recovery, Spirituality
Keith Richards’ Memoir
Keith Richards, the Rolling Stones guitarist and songwriter, recently came out with his new memoir, Life, one of the most interesting revelations about recovery that involves the role of music, his work and passion, in the rocker’s decision to give up heroin and cocaine. For much of his life, he used these drugs to fuel his work– many of the Stones’ greatest songs were written during the peak of Richards’s drug use. He still drinks copiously and smokes marijuana and cigarettes. Drugs had caused a number of problems in his life– he’d suffered the death of a child and the drug-related deaths of several friends and band makes, but when heroin threatened his ability to make music, he was finally willing to quit. Media accounts of drug problems rarely mention the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Addiction, Celebrity, Drugs, Latest News, Life, Recovery, Spirituality, Treatment
Sober Companion or Treatment Centers
Adolescent treatment centers are mostly used today as scared straight programs rather than rehabilitation centers. Some will call themselves therapeutic boarding schools or residential treatment centers but there are loopholes to these places for adolescents. The counselors know that the kids cannot leave on their own volition so the counselors and directors get to feeling entitled and end up having too much power and money in their hands.I speak from experience as I have visited many of these places myself and have had friends who have lived in an residential treatment center, wilderness or therapeutic boarding schools for years on end. Some will keep perfectly normal teenagers for three to four years minimum or until the client reaches age 18. Even still, the programs convince the parents of how sick … Read entire article »
Filed under: Love and Relationships, Recovery, Spirituality, Treatment
Relapse Prevention
One main reason for 12 step relapse prevention techniques proving to be helpful is because they embody a wide-ranged plan that incorporates all aspects of a person from spiritual to physical to emotional. They work especially well when the addict takes massive action toward studying, practicing and understanding elements of a 12 step program. The 12 steps may seem daunting at first glance, but in all reality they are one sentence each, and most sponsors encourage their sponsee’s to go through the 12 steps at their own pace. No time is too long or too short, within reason. No one expects a person to work the 12 steps completely in solitude. This is why addicts and alcoholics go to as many meetings as we can, to surround themselves with friends … Read entire article »
Filed under: Addiction, Conditions and Disorders, Drugs, Life, Recovery, Spirituality, Treatment
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Original AA Manuscript to Be Released to the Public
October 11th, 2010 | 1 Comment
For nearly 70 years the original manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) by co-founder Bill Wilson has been hidden away. However, next week the original manuscript is set to become public for the first time, complete with edits by Wilson-picked commentators. Since AA was originally founded in 1939, there has been much debate over whether or not AA is a religious-based group. The release of the original manuscript will release some interesting edits that … Read entire article »
Filed under: Addiction, Conditions and Disorders, Drugs, Latest News, Life, Recovery, Spirituality, Treatment