By Tom Horvath, PhD If you are a behavioral health professional and would like an invitation to this event in late January, please email Susie.Lee@practicalrecovery.com. Practical Recovery Turning 40 In gratitude, we are preparing an event that will be both party and networking event. Over the years we have established many relationships in the behavioral healthcare community, but some of our connections may not have met each other. You can also meet our current staff. I am deeply indebted to the many talented and dedicated professionals who have contributed over these 40 years to the development and success of Practical Recovery and SMART Recovery and more broadly to the dissemination of the self-empowering (science-informed, progress-oriented, and holistic) approach. We apprec...

By Tom Horvath, PhD On October 22, 2024, in Lisbon, Portugal, SMART Recovery held its first international conference, in conjunction with the Lisbon Addictions 2024 conference. Lisbon Addictions drew over 2,000 attendees. SMART’s event only had about 50, but they attended from Indonesia, Australia, Hong Kong, Africa, the US, and throughout Europe. SMART was also celebrating its 30th birthday. Although a human baby requires nine months preparation for birth, SMART’s birth required about five years. By October 1994, it was an independent non-profit operating with the name SMART Recovery. At the conference SMART had a booth in the exhibit hall, where we explained to our many visitors what the differences between AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and SMART Recovery are. SMART Recovery, ...

By Tom Horvath, PhD “If we have our own why, we shall get along with almost any how.” -Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows, #12, translated (1954) by Walter Kaufman, originally published 1889. Our Own Why There is a range of “whys” that explain how we behave. We have in-the-moment behaviors like eating (why? “I’m hungry”). As we mature, we also have much longer-term timeframes, such as multi-year educational plans (why? “I want to be an X”), and multi-decade parenting plans (why? “I want to give my children opportunities and an upbringing that I did not get to have”). You can probably recall many examples of how you tolerated discomfort or pain for the sake of a longer-term outcome. I suggest that it is helpful to make a list of these experiences in you...

By Tom Horvath, PhD “We are disturbed not by events, but by our views about them.” - Epictetus, 60-138 CE Bad events happen to all of us. To some of us, they happen to a great extent. Whether we have first-world problems, third-world problems, or something else, our problems focus our attention. We want to solve them. In some cases, solving problems means changing or exiting a situation. In many cases, however, there are no obvious changes or exits to make. What now? These types of problems require a change of “view.” Psychologists and others who help people change their “views” have used many terms to describe what needs to be changed to address these types of problems: perspective perception context viewpoint beliefs point of view interpretation *gui...

by Kenneth Anderson, MA The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines binge drinking as drinking enough alcohol to reach a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher, i.e., to become legally intoxicated. For men, this typically means drinking five or more US standard drinks in a two-hour period. For women, this is typically four or more standard drinks in a two-hour period. Extreme binge drinking, also known as high-intensity drinking, is defined as drinking enough alcohol to achieve a BAC of .16% or higher, in other words, drinking twice as much as the amount for regular binge drinking. Extreme binge drinking is associated with throwing up or passing out. In the United States, extreme binge drinking is a common occurrence at 21st birthday celebr...

By Tom Horvath, PhD I was recently contacted by a website putting together a list of 50 very brief accounts, including before and after pictures, about individuals resolving addictive problems. I was pleased that they included a few quotes from me, about the process of change. https://www.boredpanda.com/best-all-times-before-after-addicts-transformation/ Perhaps the most important fact to know about significant addictive problems is that most individuals fully or mostly resolve them. So often the stories we see are focused on problems, not success. The process of change often takes more effort and more time than we would like, but nevertheless it happens! The results of the change process are quite different from individual to individual. The lengthy time needed to change ca...

By Tom Horvath, PhD Although occasionally we hear someone say “I’m addicted to everything,” it appears that most of us deeply enjoy only a few substances or activities. You would not have time for all of them! This fact means that there are many or at least some substances that you do not feel strongly drawn to, even though others may be. For instance, you might like gambling, but not be interested in any substances. Or you might very much like alcohol (or weed, or meth, or opiates, or coke, or ketamine, or various activities, etc.) but not especially be interested in MDMA (or alcohol, or weed, or meth, or opiates, or coke, or ketamine, or various activities, etc.). How do you do it? How do you NOT get carried away with substances or activities that others find so tempting? How...

Progressive Muscle Relaxation: Using My Muscles to Relax My Mind By Tom Horvath, PhD Have you had moments when you believed “I cannot relax” or “I cannot relax unless I use?” Have you then used or drank because it was your best method to relax? Sometimes we do need to relax! The good news is that progressive muscle relaxation is one effective method that can work as well (with some practice) and does not have side effects. Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is over100 years old! There is strong scientific evidence of its effectiveness. It has been applied to anxiety, stress, insomnia, depression, sports performance, and other areas. Edmund Jacobson, a physician, developed the technique and wrote several books about it. You can easily find YouTube videos and other sources (such a...

Part Three from the Series: Does Alcohol Kill Brain Cells? Research on Clinical Samples by Kenneth Anderson, MA Stavro et al. (2013) conducted a review of clinical studies of cognitive impairments in people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and their reversal with abstinence. IQ was found to be unaffected by AUD; there were no significant differences in IQ between people with AUD and control subjects. However, 11 other cognitive domains were moderately impaired in people with AUD: verbal fluency/language, speed of processing, working memory, attention, problem-solving/executive functions, inhibition/impulsivity, verbal learning, verbal memory, visual learning, visual memory, and visuospatial abilities. Cognitive impairments began to abate during the first month of abstinence from alc...

What are your sources of pleasure? By Tom Horvath, PhD If you’ve had addictive problems, you may easily recall experiences (with substances or activities) that you found intensely pleasurable. Addictive behavior can provide that! However, regardless of how much you are still having that type of experience, you can understand and appreciate yourself much better by examining the other sources of pleasure in your life. A daily review of them is useful. That review could happen at any time, but doing so as you fall asleep is a good way to end the day with a sense of pride and gratitude. What experiences from your day stand out to you? You may be surprised at what you discover. Here are some questions to consider in that review. How much did you enjoy sensory experience today? S...