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Substance Abuse Programs for Teens Lacking in U.S.

Few substance abuse programs in the U.S. offer high-quality treatment designed specifically for adolescents, a new study finds.

Of the more than 700 treatment programs the study surveyed, less than one-third had specialized services for teenagers — with some excluding underage patients altogether and others integrating them with adult patients.

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What is Recovery?

An essay on the subject of “What is Recovery” raises, for me, the question of what is Addiction. Since everyone of us has an idea, our own idea, of what Addiction is, we'll also have our own answer to “What is Recovery?”

Since we don’t have agreement in our field on what Addiction is, I doubt that we can come up with an easy agreement on what recovery is. I could just tell you my definition of both but my goal is not for us to have a debate over which we can come to a resolution. My goal is that we all look at ourselves and how we got to this question. It may be, that after examining ourselves, we may choose to change the question we ask.

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More on Bringing Lives into Balance

Written by John Newport, PhD

Tuesday, 22 July 2008 08:15

I am revisiting the subject of my previous column titled “Bringing Our Lives Into Balance” as I’m convinced that those of us working in the addictions field need all the help we can get in creating balance in our lives. A wholesome sense of balance is essential to maintaining sobriety in recovery, as well as in promoting positive health and well-being across the physical, mental-emotional and spiritual dimensions of our lives.

Unfortunately, it often appears next to impossible to attain even a modicum of balance in our lives in the context of our fast-paced, overly achievement-oriented and excessively materialistic society. This is especially true for obsessive-compulsive, overly task-oriented folks like yours truly. If we’re not careful, what begins as a manageable undertaking with noble goals can spiral out of control, to the point where we end up feeling burdened, drained and otherwise victimized. When we fall into this pattern, we are setting ourselves up for increased risk of rationalizing a return to our old addictive, self-destructive behaviors from which we have worked so hard to break free.

Attaining balance in our lives

To move toward greater balance and harmony in our lives:

1. Live in the Now. Living in the now, rather than spending our waking lives ruminating on the past or borrowing problems from the future, is a basic tenet of Buddhism and other Eastern spiritual teachings. An important step toward increasing our awareness of the present moment involves cultivating the quality of mindfulness. Simply stated, mindfulness involves directing our full attention to whatever activity we are presently engaged in — be it counseling a client, writing an article, watching a beautiful sunset or walking in nature. I find my morning walks to be an excellent exercise in cultivating awareness of the now, as I focus my attention on walking and appreciating the scenery I encounter.

2. Try something new and “out of the box.” We especially need to do this when we find that our lives and our approach to our work are becoming stale.

As an over-educated guy with two PhDs, I tend to be somewhat cerebral and drawn to intellectual pursuits. Recently, I decided to venture out of my comfort zone by joining the Men’s Group at our church. One of our group’s focuses is to raise funds for the church through channeling our energy into projects involving intensive physical labor. I’m looking forward to a major house painting project, as an opportunity roll up my sleeves and “get out of my head.”As an intellectual, I have spent a good deal of my working life interacting with physicians, upper level managers and other left brain types. Since retiring from my day job, I’m enjoying giving full expression to my love for music (I’m a closet jazz vocalist) and hanging out with local musicians as an integral part of my support system.

3. Get out of our heads and into our bodies. Again, this is critical to achieving balance when we spend a great deal of time tackling problems that require us to utilize our intellectual capabilities. Some of my own favorite ways of renewing my connection with my body include vigorous exercise and hiking.

4. Learn to take care of ourselves, and place a high priority on connecting with our loved ones. Getting caught up in all-consuming, over-involvement in our work is an occupational hazard of working in the addictions field. Many, if not most counselors are faced with overwhelming caseloads and mountains of paperwork. Being drawn to the field through an intense desire to help others who are still suffering, one can easily get sucked into a pattern of 10-12-14 hour workdays. The inevitable result is that we become totally depleted both physically and emotionally, and isolated from our loved ones.

Talk about a perfect set-up for relapse. We need to learn to take care of ourselves and set reasonable boundaries in the work-related sphere of our lives. We need to TAKE CHARGE and create the time for exercise, sound nutrition, growth and self-renewal, while reaping the full benefits of spending joyful, quality time with our loved ones. Recently, my wife and I decided to head South to escape from the Northwest winter. An unanticipated dividend of our desert retreat was the precious time we spent with our granddaughters. Seeing the world through the eyes of these two highly inquisitive, energetic young ladies brought me closely in touch with my own inner child, while providing abundant opportunities to dust off my sense of humor and “let it roll!”

5. Run a daily “serum fun level check” as part of our ongoing personal inventory. Obsessive-compulsive, workaholic types, like myself, need to learn to frequently pause and ask ourselves — “Am I having FUN?” If the answer is “No” more than half the time, then we need to creatively find ways to either change what we are doing, or infuse more fun into these activities. We can accomplish the latter by consciously lightening up and bringing some new, out-of-the-box approaches to our daily tasks. As a personal note — I KNOW that I am having trouble with balance in my life when I find myself getting irritated with people around me who are exuberantly laughing and having a royally great time with whatever they are doing.

As is the case with all aspects of recovery, bringing our lives into balance is a lifelong process. Since we’ll never get it down completely, we should refrain from taking ourselves too seriously, while remembering that the joy is in the journey. Until next time — to your health!

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