Part 2 In the second part of this blog we cite and use excerpts from an excellent article (1) on how 12 step group participation helps with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). “Treatment of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder with Addictions, Utilizing a Twelve-Step Program as an Adjunctive to […]
Most of today’s treatment of substance abuse takes the form of an emergency, intermittent and temporary effort in a start stop fashion. However, to achieve continuity in the treatment of addiction disorders we need more emphasis on models that take a long-term perspective, and where there is adequate overlap between the ongoing and the […]
A criticism often laid against 12 step recovery is that it is too God-centred or religious-based in their program orientation? Something I personally have not experienced in the years I have attended AA, NA and Al Anon. Are there any studies on this either way, to shed so light […]
Part 2 The helper therapy principle (HTP) observes the helper’s health benefits derived from helping another with a shared malady. The HTP is embodied by the program of Alcoholics Anonymous as a method to diminish egocentrism as a root cause of addiction. This article reviews recent evidence of the HTP in […]
Part 1 “Helping others in the program of AA has forged a therapy based on the kinship of common suffering…” Here we cite and use excerpts to show how helping others helps us in recovery and how the wider world can and has benefited from a similar approach. […]
Yesterday we looked a how low heart rate variability in alcoholics (active and in recovery) may influence self, emotion and stress regulation, and have a limited effect on impulsivity, and result in a “locked in” attention to alcohol-related cues, all of which have obvious consequences for relapse. Here […]
In yesterday’s blog we looked at how AA membership and the 12 step program of recovery helped reduce impulsivity in recovering alcoholics. We mentioned also that impulsivity was present as a pathomechanism of alcoholism from vulnerability in “at risk” children from families, were there was a history of […]
Impulsivity or lack of behaviour inhibition, especially when distressed, is one psychological mechanisms which is implicated in all addictive behaviour from substance addiction to behaviour addiction. It is, in my view, linked to the impaired emotion processing as I have elucidated upon in various blogs on this site.This […]
There has much discussion of the effectiveness of AA in recent weeks and months. In order to address this complicated area of studying the effectiveness of a group which does not lend itself easily to being studied we will refer to cite and choose excerpts from an excellent […]
In a recent blog a few days ago I challenged some of Gabrielle Glaser’s “evidence” in her article “The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous “, which purported to demonstrate the so-called effectiveness of “controlling drinking”. Glaser cited the following in her article “ To many, though, the idea […]
Engaging the unconscious in everyday life with Chuck Bender
BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH
It started when I gave up smoking and went from there!
mostly poetry, partly peculiar.
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Practical Lessons for Everyday Life
This blog is about my journey towards a life grounded in balance, gratitude, creativity, and love.
Get your head on straight
The Courage To Shift is my Life Coach business that focuses on moving the client from victim, to VICTOR, regardless of their personal goals! Is there anything in life that you would like more of?
never judge a girl by her weight
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Ditching the drink and waking up
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Life, Sober
Inside The Alcoholic Brain 
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