Changing Your Mind with Mindfulness Meditation, Part 2
Neuronal Plasticity, Mindfulness Meditation, and Addiction Recovery by Nicholas A. Nelson, Ph.D. Part 2 of 2 In Part 1, we visited the motivations for leveraging mindfulness as a tool for overcoming problematic addictive behaviors. We discussed the concept of neuroplasticity and took a theoretical look at how mindfulness meditation can aid in reshaping our brain […]
How Some Physicians with Substance Problems Get Mistreated
By Tom Horvath, PhD This article focuses on physicians with substance problems (and by extension all licensed professionals). However, the underlying idea, that those wanting to assist someone with substance problems should focus on ends not means, applies widely. In most US states there is a state-recognized Physician Health Plan (PHP) which often controls how […]
How SMART Recovery Works
By Tom Horvath, PhD Mutual help groups for addictive problems have been in existence for centuries. No one knows exactly how they work. What follows is my best estimate of what happens in SMART Recovery meetings, and how they help. How SMART Recovery Works SMART offers an approach that will appeal to many (for either […]
Changing Your Mind with Mindfulness Meditation
Neuronal Plasticity, Mindfulness Meditation, and Addiction Recovery by Nicholas A. Nelson, Ph.D. Part 1 of 2 It is not uncommon during active addiction or early in recovery for people to feel that their brain is working somehow differently than before, or to feel like it is going to be impossible to break out of harmful […]
Taking Personal Responsibility Has Become Personal
by Lesley Wirth, MA I’m just going to say it: The self-help world needs to reconsider the phrase, “Take responsibility for your life.” Why? It rarely works. It is usually the wrong medicine, offered at the wrong time, to the wrong person. When someone has suffered from loss, injustice, or trauma, telling them to “Take […]
Persistent vs. Impulsive Self-Improvement
By Tom Horvath, PhD With 2025 now over a week old, we may already be falling short of some of our New Year’s resolutions. Nevertheless, take heart! It is easy to fall into all-or-none thinking about positive change. Please consider the following ideas. Even if you did not make any New Year’s resolutions, you may […]
Syringe Services: Helping Drug Injectors Use More Safely is Beneficial
By Tom Horvath, PhD This blog will publicize a recent blog post on syringe services from Nora Volkow, MD, the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). She states that: Nearly 30 years of research show that providing testing, counseling, and sterile injection supplies to people who inject opioids and other drugs helps […]
If We Have Our Own Why
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 […]
We Are Disturbed Not By Events
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 […]
Radical Acceptance in Addiction, Recovery, and Parenting
Amanda Eversmann of Life Process Program, on Radical Acceptance in Addiction, Recovery, and Parenting I entered on a ten-year addiction because my mother didn’t radically accept me and I accordingly didn’t accept myself. I had to first learn to accept myself, and also my children. Then I radically accepted my mom. 1. My Upbringing I […]