In the COVID era, you may have noticed your drinking habits have changed as a shutdown of the economy occurred, and working from home became more common. Access to alcohol certainly increased for many people, and anxiety over the uncertainty of the pandemic's impact...

Scott Vandenburg, MA, LPC, LCDC, CART | Senior Program Director Organizational culture may be defined as behaviors, expectations, and practices, all guided by an overarching set of values that collectively shape and inform all team members' actions within an...

By Joshua Love, MDiv, LCDC-I This work challenges us to be creative, intuitive, resourceful, hopeful, accountable, and mindful. It also calls us to be restful, setting aside the business of the day while working against the odds to support the healing of those whose...

David Tejeda, LPC - Family Services Director  When a person first hears the phrase “addiction is a family illness,” it may rouse several innate objections and skepticism. This is the challenge that every non-addicted family member must confront. The therapist holds up...

As the goal of any treatment program for substance use should be sustainable recovery, it’s essential to be aware of all of your options for treatment programs. As you become aware of what each one offers and how it compares to the others, you can get a sense of...

The coronavirus pandemic and concerns over the spread of the virus have prompted some people to question whether seeking treatment for substance use disorders right now is a sensible choice. It’s a reasonable concern given the numbers of people infected nationwide,...

Individuals with a substance use disorder who eliminate addictive substances from their lives will often feel the physical effects of what’s known as “withdrawal symptoms.” According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, withdrawal is the onset of predictable...

An important first step in opioid detox is educating yourself about what exactly will take place throughout the process. Getting acquainted with the impact of this kind of detox on both your mind and body is tremendously important, especially regarding the types of...

Even when you have witnessed what alcohol misuse has done to the men in your life for years, making the decision to help doesn’t necessarily come easy. Of course you want to be supportive, but you may not be sure what form of support to choose and how effective it...

One of the most difficult decisions you or a loved one can make is the decision to enter treatment. Because addiction is a disease that affects the whole family, it’s imperative to involve all family members from the time of admission. Unfortunately, the consequences...

Your family member’s addiction is an illness that you cannot cure alone.  Growing together as a family that supports one another in making healthy choices, developing proper boundaries, communicating constructively, and creating space for self-care techniques are...

Seeing your son frequently drink alcohol or routinely appear to be under the influence of any kind of substance can be unsettling for a parent, but you might not know if he’s reached the point of having a substance use disorder. While only a physician or addiction...

Since the Covid-19 pandemic sent college students home prematurely and abruptly ended their social time with peers, some parents have begun to see evidence of substance use, perhaps even significant amounts, for the first time in these young adults. No longer able to...

If you were to rank the perceived risk of using marijuana, in any form, it would likely end up somewhere lower than heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamines. The perception that marijuana is “safer” leads many users to believe there’s no real harmful effects from it,...

A man living with a substance use disorder may recognize its impact on his work and family, but he may not see how something not yet diagnosed could be contributing to the problem, even worsening it. When the undiagnosed condition relates to trauma, a man can feel...

In your struggle with addiction as a man, you may not be aware of how substance use disorders show up differently in different genders, including the severity of the disorder and the appearance of co-occurring disorders. We can look at some distinctions between the...

Parenting a teen or adult son with a drug addiction puts some extraordinary demands on a family. Whether you’re doing the work as part of a parenting team or going it alone, coping with your son’s addiction and making time for your own self-care can feel like an...

Forget what you’ve seen on TV or in the movies about attending rehab. The script writers and directors usually are telling their version of what it’s like to spend time getting treatment for drug addiction. As you consider beginning treatment on your own, let’s look...

While the highly addictive properties of heroin make it a big risk for anyone, we can turn to the facts about who is most at risk for developing addiction. With this information, we can identify the individuals throughout society who need treatment most urgently. This...