Are you interested in moderating or cutting back your drinking? Many individuals are! Here are two books which provide everything you need to know about moderate drinking. Responsible Drinking: A Moderation Management Approach for Problem Drinkers This book, by Rotgers, F., Kern, M. & Hoeltzel, R. (CA: New Harbinger Publications, 2002) is the basic text of Moderation Management (MM), a support group which helps individuals moderate drinking, or abstain. The first two authors are addiction experts who also volunteer on MM’s Board of Directors. The final author was successful in the MM program. MM offers a summary of its program on its website, and you might wish to start there: www.moderation.org. This book, which provides in-depth coverage of MM’s rationale, the scientific rese...

Developing Good Health Habits in Recovery Last week, in Part II of this series, we looked at finding a healthy balance between momentary and long-term satisfactions. Below, we’ll look at one more component of building a new life in recovery – developing good health habits. Whether you’re in recovery from addiction or not, good health habits are the cornerstone of overall well-being. In such a fast-paced society, with so much to do and so many distractions, it is more important than ever to remember to take care of ourselves and our bodies. Below are the 7 essential health habits Dr. Tom Horvath discusses in chapter 12 of his book, “Sex, Drugs, Gambling & Chocolate.” 1. Get Enough Sleep It’s likely that when you were actively pursuing your addiction, sleep fell to the wayside. ...

As I reflect over the 30 years since Practical Recovery’s beginning, I realize it has been quite a journey! What started as one man (me) in private practice, working to provide quality addiction treatment, has become an entire team of passionate and caring individuals who are seeking to lead a movement to change the country’s perspective on addiction treatment. The Early Years My journey started in 1985 when I began specializing in addiction treatment. I realized then that if I ever personally had addiction problems, the 12 steps and the disease model would not help me. They did not make sense to me. I had worked a rotation at an inpatient addiction facility and had spent three years as a Navy psychologist seeing sailors with alcohol problems. These experiences convinced me that the s...

Adapted from Pages 32 and 34 of the SMART Recovery Handbook, 3rd Edition With so many people on day two of their 2015 New Year’s resolutions, it seems appropriate to offer some basic strategies for coping with urges that tempt us to give into habits. Whether you’re 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 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, escape immediately. Distract Yourself – Try not to focus on the urge. Remember that urges are time-limited, and if you can find something to d...

Have you ever wondered what non 12 step means? This video will walk you through Arthur's discovery of a self-empowering, non 12 step addiction treatment option! Want to be empowered? Call us today!

by Reya Ingle, Psy.D. Providing a Safe Place for Women to Heal Practical Recovery’s newest residential treatment home, The Restoration Inn, opened in late September this year to provide substance misuse treatment for women in a safe and supportive environment. The Inn maintains Practical Recovery’s signature non 12 step approach and commitment to individualized, self-empowering treatment for substance misuse and co-occurring disorders including relationship issues and trauma. The Restoration Inn is purposefully small with only four beds to allow for a true homelike environment. The small size of the home and the individualized focus remove the possibility of unobserved lack of true engagement in treatment as might occur in a large facility. At The Restoration Inn, client motivatio...

by Devon Berkheiser, Psy.D. For many people, recovery can be a vulnerable time. It often involves building up a new support network while dealing with a lot of challenging issues and feelings. A recent news story highlights just how vulnerable people in early recovery can be, and the potential dangers that they face even in places that are supposed to be safe. Karla Mendez Brada was a young woman in treatment for substance abuse. As part of that treatment, she attended Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings which are meant to provide support and “fellowship.” At those meetings, she met a man who quickly became her fiancé. Although AA typically advises against getting involved in romantic relationships in early recovery, it does happen; and not all of t...

Originally posted on the Reunion San Diego blog on June 2, 2013 For a long time, addiction treatment programs have used the word “relapse” to describe a return to drinking or drug use following a period of voluntary abstinence by people with drug and alcohol problems. Often the words “lapse” or “slip” are used to distinguish a brief period of “using again” from a return to more extended and long-term use. At Practical Recovery, we’re joining hands with a number of experts in the field who want to do away with the use of the word “relapse” because we think it has negative connotations. As addiction scholar William White, M.A., author of Slaying the Dragon: The History of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America, points out, the terms lapse and relapse actually have their ...

Barry Hazle recently received media attention, and a nearly $2 million dollar settlement, after he challenged the legality of a mandate to a 12-step substance abuse treatment program. Hazle was convicted of possession of methamphetamine in California and sentenced to a 90-day treatment program. Because he was an atheist, Hazle had difficulty engaging in the treatment, which was 12-step in its approach and required a belief in God. When he was sent to prison for failure to participate, Hazle fought back, alleging that his First Amendment rights were being violated. He sued the parole officer that sent him to prison, California corrections officials, and Westcare Corporation (a company which contracts with the state to provide treatment facilities for parolees). The U.S. district court ag...

by Tom Horvath, Ph.D., ABPP There are multiple ways to experience any well-developed approach to addiction recovery, whether that approach is, for instance, SMART Recovery, a 12-step group or Stanton Peele’s PERFECT Program. In this article I present my observations about experiences in SMART Recovery. I acknowledge the foundation established for this article by The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature by William James, and The Varieties of Recovery Experience: A Primer for Addiction Treatment Professionals and Recovery Advocates, by William White and Ernest Kurtz. This article is written to help celebrate SMART Recovery’s 20th anniversary, and the annual conference last month in Washington, DC, celebrating that anniversary. The highlights of that conference,...