How the Mind Works: No Need For A Vacation, Your Mind’s Already On One by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. We like to think we are in control, making conscious decisions, and acting of our own free will.   Causes lead to effects, stimuli trigger responses, nature carries on in an orderly fashion.  We are thoughtful, contemplative, questioning beings right?  Wrong.  Much to our chagrin the world makes far less sense than we think, we rarely question ourselves, and the coherence that we experience is mostly a product of how the mind works. Fascinating research findings on how the mind works continue to challenge our understanding of the world and ourselves.  Nobel Prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman (from whom the content of this article is borrowed without permission) breaks the hum...

by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. Turn New Year's Resolutions into Lasting Change Achieving lasting change can be elusive.  Whether you make resolutions at the dawn of the New Year or at other times in your life, we all make promises to ourselves to change.  However, many times the firm commitments we make to ourselves fade like a sigh within weeks or months.  Those who exercise year-round will attest to the inevitability of their fitness centers becoming more crowded in January than during the other 11 months of the year.  So what gets in the way of adhering to our new year's resolutions and the promises we make to ourselves?  We do. Significant and lasting behavior change is rarely achieved without also looking inward.  Whether you call them your demons, your hang-ups, your vices, your ...

Adapted from Pages 32 and 34 of the SMART Recovery Handbook, 3rd Edition This post has been updated from the original version that first ran in 2015. With so many people on day two of their 2018 New Year’s resolutions, it seems appropriate to offer some basic strategies for coping with urges that tempt us to give into habits. If you're changing habits, such as trying to stop drinking, quit smoking, eat better, spend less, or change any other unwanted behavior, here are 14 basic strategies designed to help you with changing habits so you can cope with the urges in the days, weeks, months (and sometimes even years) ahead! Avoid – Learn what triggers your desire to act on your habit, and avoid the triggers that lead to urges. Escape – If you are presented with a trigger, esca...

by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. The Surgeon General's Report and the US Prescription Drug Epidemic Trusted Physician or Neighborhood Drug Dealer? It is no secret that the United States has a serious problem when it comes to prescription drugs.  Heroin’s renaissance is puzzling to many, but the trail of evidence leads back to our own medical community.  This week’s article explores the current prescription drug epidemic in light of the recent Surgeon General’s report. The Surgeon General’s Facing Addiction in America report includes startling statistics that paint a grave picture of the current epidemic in the United States.  Opioids alone account for nearly 300 million prescriptions every year and have accordingly taken the crown for most prescribed medications in the U.S.  The addicti...

David H. Jacobs, Ph.D. 1945-2016 In Memoriam Our brilliant and beloved colleague, David Jacobs, died last month. He had been with Practical Recovery since 2003. David was a therapist’s therapist. In our era most therapists rush to learn the latest evidence-based techniques. David was not opposed to new ideas, but his focus was on continually refining the basics of the psychotherapeutic art: listening well, responding authentically, developing a relationship that is simultaneously a working relationship and to some extent a personal one, all in service of fundamental change, perhaps in both parties. I believe that all of us at Practical Recovery benefited from our collaboration with this therapeutic sage. We will miss him deeply.   With the permission of his wife the home...

by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. Defects of Character: Helpful or Hurtful? This week’s article explores the widely accepted, rarely contemplated idea that identifying defects of character is helpful in recovery.  Fault, failing, weakness, flaw, shortcoming, and inadequacy are all synonyms for the word defect.  Character refers to the mental and moral qualities of an individual.  Thus, the ubiquitous phrase in the recovery world defects of character implies moral and psychological flaws and failings in an individual.  I will assume, perhaps incorrectly, that the idea of emphasizing defects of character arose as a method of advocating for personal growth through self-reflection.  Indeed, looking at the imperfections we all have is a valuable tool for self-growth.  However, the problem with th...

Addiction as a Brain Disease? Cherry-Picking the Surgeon General’s Report by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. The Surgeon General’s “landmark” report is generating a fair amount of media attention and discussion.  While it is valuable that substance use and related issues are receiving more attention, the aspects of the report receiving the lion’s share of the limelight are disappointing. Yes it is a true, as many media stories highlight, the report refers to addiction as a chronic brain disease multiple times – 10 times in 428 pages by my count.  Unfortunately, the reporting stops there.  What is not covered in the media is that the Surgeon General’s report specifically states that addiction is a chronic brain disease, and the term addiction refers only to the most severe form of subst...

by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. Thansgiving and the Problem of Instant Gratification Somehow Thanksgiving, our holiday of gratitude, has morphed into a gluttonous melee of over-indulgence and excess.  If there is ever a time to practice coping with urges, resisting temptations, and moderate indulging, it is amidst the relentless onslaught of food and drink offerings that we are bombarded with throughout the celebratory festivities of November’s fourth Thursday. The P.I.G., or Problem of Instant Gratification, is a hallmark of the feverish consumer culture that abounds today.  As if the multitudinous dishes of the Thanksgiving meal weren’t enough, now we have trample-happy shopping sprees to add to the frenzied fervor of our most indulgent holiday.  One-click buying, drive-through “dinin...

by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. Recovery from Addiction: One Person’s Recipe for Success Arguably the most meaningful aspect of working in a helping profession is receiving updates of success.  With permission from the individual and after removing identifying information, this week’s article shares one person’s recipe for continued success in changing a problematic pattern of substance use.  The following paragraphs are elements of the individual’s success story verbatim, with some minor changes to protect the individual’s identity. I write to give you a recovery update.  I want you to know that I truly am following the after-care plan.  I have been maintaining balance since I left, an aspect my previous self underestimated but now am benefitting greatly from.  Before moving I would m...

by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. I often hear words of empathy from people struggling with the use of illegal substances offered to individuals struggling with the use of legal substances.  “I feel bad for you,” and “I can’t imagine having my drug of choice available in every store I go to,” are examples of the types of comments I hear.  The election this week brought more dents to the armor of substance prohibition, which raises important considerations for the world of recovery. Recreational cannabis use was legalized in Arizona, California, Maine, and Massachusetts on November 8, 2016, bringing the total number of states to legalize cannabis to eight.  The end of cannabis prohibition across the United States seems to be more a matter of how long it will take, not if it will happen.  ...