by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. Human Adaptation and Adjusting to Change Humans are masters of control.  We push a button for the exact temperature we want, the exact food we want, the exact gift we want, the exact date match we want, the exact everything we want.  God forbid the one-click purchase sends the grey headphones instead of the black ones I ordered, and that darned grubhub driver better not forget my side of special garlic sauce again!  Human efforts to bend nature to our will undoubtedly resulted in numerous advancements that help our survival.  However, when it comes to trying to bend people with addictive problems to the will of counselors and pre-fabricated rehab programs the results often backfire.  In both life and addiction the hyper-focus on control comes at the expense ...

by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D.   Feeling safe is a monumental component of mental health and well-being.  However, a focus on feeling safe all the time is a setup for failure because it is impossible to feel safe all the time.  Furthermore, feeling safe all the time would be detrimental in some ways.  Feeling safe is closely related to feeling comfortable, and there are clearly established health benefits that come from pushing ourselves outside our comfort zone.  Not to mention, there’s that pesky little truth buried in almost all absolute thinking - most absolutes contain fatal fissures at their core.  Efforts to ensure that people feel safe to be themselves, and safe to simply exist, is inarguably an important aspect of a healthy society that encourages individual differences ...

by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. Research chemicals are commonly associated with things like ‘the dark web,’ ‘silk road,’ ‘the amazon of drugs,’ and other, slightly shady and un-salubrious sectors of society.  However, research chemicals earn their family name because there are some actual scientific researchers investigating true therapeutic and clinical potential.  Recently, one such scientific researcher, Dr. Alan Kozilowski, a trained organic chemist from the University of Berkeley and Harvard, outlined his efforts to manufacture a compound that mirrors the effects of psilocybin.     Psilocybin is a compound best know for being the ‘magic’ in the mushroom.  Kozilowski was inspired by the significant, positive research findings for psilocybin and the treatment of various ...

by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. We know that self-efficacy is vital to successful recovery from addictive problems.  We know that feelings of helplessness and hopelessness are cornerstones of depression.  We know that underlying issues like depression tend to fuel addictive problems.  Yet, mainstream addiction treatment continues to promote language that encourages and reinforces feelings of helplessness and an external locus of control, two things that are consistently associated with poor outcomes in the treatment of most mental health concerns.  Here, we will set our targets upon one of the most widely used and rarely questioned terms in addiction that reinforces feelings of helplessness, ‘triggers.’     Encouraging an individual working to overcome addictive problems to ide...

by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. Drugs are bad, therefore, people who use drugs are bad, or so the faulty groupthink of our epoch goes.  For people who seek decency and efficacy in addiction treatment, obtaining results in the realm of positive change often feels like beating one’s head against a wall of misstatements, misinformation, and misanthropy.  First of all, if drugs were bad why are there truckloads of drugs in every hospital, grocery store, and bathroom medicine cabinet around the world?  Drugs are not bad, they are medicine, and people who take drugs are not bad, they are people in search of healing, relief, and/or growth. Many of the most brilliant minds and important figures throughout human history loved drugs.  If people who use drugs are bad, then it’s time to cut ti...

by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D.   Lifestyle impositions stifle our sense of freedom and challenge us to get back to the basics in order to maintain psychological and emotional wellbeing.  Restriction conjures rebellion.  Rarely is the spirit more determined than when caged.  The essence of finding the feeling of freedom amidst extreme limitation lies in reconnecting with the senses.  The modern human has been conditioned to life with a plethora of sophisticated distractions at our beck and call.  With the world and everything we want in it just a one click, buy-it-now, 2-day shipping, instant transfer of ones and zeros is a database away, the beauty of the basics are rendered, well, in millennial vernacular, ‘basic.’  To cultivate the feeling of freedom we need not look beyond the...

by Thaddeus Camlin, PsyD The American Psychological Association (APA) recently published an article offering advice from leading professionals on effectively treating and preventing addictive problems during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our own Dr. Horvath is quoted multiple times in the APA article, speaking about the value of telehealth during pandemic and the importance of fostering resilience through adversity.  The APA article’s endorsement of harm-reduction practices is also a subtle but revealing sign of the shifting landscape of addiction treatment.   For nearly a century the tyranny of abstinence dominated the zeitgeist of American thinking on treating addiction.  A major, national organization like the APA weaving in a concrete endorsement of harm-reduction as a v...

Coronavirus Update: We are still seeing and accepting new clients via online rehab. Sessions and groups occur by video or phone. Call 858-546-1100 for details and to schedule. We are presently authorized to work in some other states (in addition to California). Call to find out about your state.  Need intensive treatment, but fearful about going into a facility? Understood! Call us about an intensive treatment option that won’t place you in high-risk situations.  Four Tips for Getting Sober During Coronavirus Pandemic The recent Coronavirus pandemic has all of us working, schooling, and pulling our hair out at home. Just because the world has seemingly come to a standstill, doesn’t mean that addictions have as well. If you were interested in addiction treatment prior to the quarant...

by Thaddeus Camlin, PsyD Some experts argue that it takes about 10,000 hours to build mastery, others disagree.  Few would disagree that building mastery requires discipline and a significant sacrifice of immediate pleasures over time (aka work).  Sacrificing right now for later is not something humans are particularly well equipped to do.  Sheltering-in-place during the COVID crisis is itself a pay-now, buy-later deal, the exact opposite of addictive behaviors who sell us on our predilection towards buy-now, pay-later deals.  Send me the bill, put it on my tab, charge it to my room, run it on my card, just give me what I want now and I’ll deal with the rest later. Hard-wired human preferences for now over later make sense, given that right now is our only guarantee, tomorrow… who kn...

by Thaddeus Camlin, PsyD Leading harm-reduction experts, April Smith and Kenneth Anderson, recently released an article outlining harm-reduction tips for safer drinking amidst shelter-in-place restrictions.  Many are choosing to abstain entirely, others, not so much.  Many, many industries are hit hard by the societal shutdowns, however, the adult beverage industry is not one of them.  Alcohol sales are up, way up, during the COVID-19 crisis.  Nothing like heroic doses of uncertainty and boredom to drive one to drink!  For those who may be struggling to adhere to their drinking goals, Smith & Anderson offer tips to help maximize drinking safety. Lack of structure is one of the biggest challenges many people face in the era of shelter-in-place.  With external structure no longe...