Soul Steps…Power Stepping to Recovery
                By Jyude Allbright

    Soul Steps offers a radically different view of addictions and the human experience. It pictures humanity so you can feel it from the higher dimensions of your own perfected self!

•    What if you really are a powerful being?
•    What if you came to earth to forget your power so you could remember it?
•    What if you NOW choose to use your power to free yourself from the addictions that no       longer nourish you?
 
     My intention in writing Soul Steps has been to expose the myth of personal powerlessness that has pervaded this planet for such a very long time.   This little reminder is a gift from my soul to YOU!  It was written for those of you who know deep within the very pulse of your being that you are powerful and always have been.  Like me, you may have been aware that you have often side stepped your power, given it away, or acted victim-like, but ultimately, you have known that you really had “the power!”
    
    You may, in addition, have suspected that you were never powerless over anything because you knew true power really came from your thoughts.  You were aware that no one controls your thoughts but you.  You were and always have been in charge, no matter what outside circumstances were happening in your life.

    Your addictions have been diversions to your divinity.  They have been an expression of your fear...of yourself and your magnificent power.  They never have been in control.  You only relinquished your power to them temporarily.  NOW you can re-claim your power over them with the next 12 steps to addiction healing and total release.
   
 1.    We admitted we were powerful beings--that we created our addictions so our lives                 appeared to be unmanageable.
 2.    Came to remember that a Power greater than ourselves could help us release our                     misperceptions about our own sanity.
 3.    Made a decision to once again return to our Source as we understand it and reconnect             with our soul’s desires.
 4.    Admitted we were afraid to take our own personal inventory but did so in a powerful             way.
 5.    Admitted to our Source, ourselves and others, the exact nature of our misperceptions.
 6.    Were entirely ready to allow ourselves with the help of our Source to release our                     misperceptions that we were in some way defective.
 7.    Humbly asked the Source to help us reconnect with our true power.
 8.    Made a list of all persons we thought we harmed, especially ourselves, and became                 willing to release those thoughts and be freed from old beliefs.
 9.    Made direct amends to anyone we believe we harmed.
10.   Continued to take personal inventory and made appropriate behavior changes as                      needed.
11.   Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with our                     Source, asking for our soul to be in charge.
12.    Having realized that we are spiritual beings having a physical experience, we carry                   this message of power to those with addictions that they may also wake up to their true          destiny.   
 

 

Sex After Recovery
                by Jyude Allbright


    SEX…now there’s a word that can cause an immediate response in a majority of our population.

     Look at the teenager wondering how the first experience “should be” or the parents who refuse to allow their children to take Sex Ed classes in school.   Listen to the church that preaches about the morality of sex...to be used for pro-creation...refusing to admit that it can take one to unbridled heights of spirituality and connection with the real self.  And then hear the pain of the women married for 20 years or more and never having experienced a true orgasm, or the men fearing lack of erection and thereby resorting to Viagra.  Now get in touch with the adults still afraid to masturbate, and the men who do not realize that when they satisfy their partner first, they become more aroused and able to enjoy themselves to a greater degree.  And consider feeling the dilemma of men and women fearing nakedness and “lit room” lovemaking with their partner.  Sense the guilt and shame that still haunts many gays and lesbians.

    Have you ever wondered why we have so many negative responses around such a sacred, beautiful and fulfilling act?  Could it be that we as a society have been programmed magnificently to fear the true nature of sexuality, sensuality and love making?  And...when we had sex under our addictive influences, wasn’t it impossible to experience true love making because in order to experience it, we needed to love ourselves?  And if we had truly loved ourselves, we would not have destroyed our lives through addictive behaviors.  With addiction, the senses and feelings were dulled...we were not in our heart spaces...it was impossible to be.

    True love making, sex, sensuality (call it what you may) comes from the heart...an open heart.  As addicts, our hearts were closed and that gave us “excuses” to continue on our path of destruction.  Bottom line, we were afraid of our true selves...our emotions, feelings and “beingness.”

    As recovering persons, we must first look at how we may have used sex to further sedate our feelings or to take advantage of someone or simply to release pent up energy in our genitals.  It no longer serves us to behave in such a manner.

    Sexuality after recovery needs to be expressed as “sensuality from the heart,” if it is to be satisfying, empowering and spiritually encompassing.  It is imperative that we mend our broken hearts, forgive ourselves and all others for all perceived faults and let go of all guilt and shame.  By doing so, we begin to release our guilt of being a “bad or tainted person.”  Trusting ourselves, and allowing for vulnerability become the natural byproducts.  We can finally accept ourselves as sexual beings and be truly intimate with ourselves.  Without the release of this emotional garbage, our hearts will remain shut and we will be unable to reach those intense, multi-orgasmic connections to spirit and our spirit selves while intimacy with another will remain impossible.

         This planet has indeed been a difficult place to live and understand who we really are and what we are really capable of.  Addictions have been a perfect way to show us who we are not so we can reclaim who we really are.  True spiritual power involves having access to all parts of ourselves, including our sexual parts.  Is it loving to deny yourself sexual bliss?  The choice is up to you...the empowered you.  You are not powerless over your thoughts and beliefs and what they create.  Please reconnect with your true power and.......Happy Creating Your Orgasmic Bliss!

 

Todd came to see me at the encouragement of his mother.  He "talked the right talk" about leaving his drugs and alcohol behind, although he had a long track record of failed attempts.  Todd had been in and out of residential treatment programs without success.  This young man looked to me and rational recovery as his last chance to live a lifestyle free of the ravages of addiction.

 

I pushed Todd to explain to me, in every conceivable manner, how "this time" things would be different from all of his other failed attempts at sobriety.  In a straightforward, yet probing way, I took him apart in the process of working to hold him accountable for his wasted life.  Fortunately, he didn't run away from therapy.

 

Todd came to see me every week as we combined my cognitive-behavioral treatment with a local outpatient rational recovery program.  Since the efficacy of inpatient substance abuse treatment programs is marginal, I felt that this would be a more effective treatment approach.  This two-pronged strategy appeared to be the perfect mix.  Naltrexone, a medication employed to stop the urges and cravings of alcohol was used with my patient.  The goal of treatment was to focus on his lifestyle of excessive drinking and to rationally, reconfigure patterns of behavior that were consistent with a lifestyle of sobriety.

 

Todd began drinking when he was eight years old.  His father would take him on camping trips and would provide him with hard liquor during their journey.  Todd recalled his father handing him small, open alcohol bottles for consumption which had been purchased from the airlines.  Todd reminisced about how he would eventually end up vomiting during stops along the way to the camping sites.  According to Todd, his father was too "wasted" to be of any assistance to him.

 

This father and son drinking dynamic went on throughout Todd's adolescence.  Todd began being admitted to residential treatment programs by the time he was thirteen years old.  Each time Todd was placed in a rehab program for drugs and alcohol, Todd's father would make a special effort to visit him during recovery.  Ironically, he would wish his son well and then would depart.  On one occasion, Todd remembered his father drinking and smoking pot with him in their car just prior to his being admitted.

 

I found it fascinating that Todd never thought about the peculiar, symbiotic, outrageous abusive nature of his father/son relationship until we began exploring it.  Even then, Todd deflected the experience through anxious laughter.  As I "turned up the heat" on the emotional impact of what he experienced, Todd's vision of his past became clearer.  He began to understand the betrayal, shame and humiliation foisted upon him by his father’s alcoholic enmeshment.  It was painful for Todd to learn to hold his father responsible for the hurt, disappointment and destructive behavior he created.

 

As we moved through therapy, Todd was afraid of his anger and where it would lead him.  We addressed that fear along with ways of coping with his enfeebled, alcoholic father in the present.  Todd set more appropriate boundaries related to any contact with his father, and on several occasions broached the subject of his father's past behavior to no effect.

 

Todd learned to accept the fact that his father would never change, and that he would need to grieve and release a history filled with horrible memories.  Todd's rational recovery, based upon cognitive-behavioral therapy, is working.  He has a positive support system, medication for his urges and cravings, and takes full responsibility for his recovery.  Every day is a choice about whether to allow his father to continue to have power over his life or to choose to forgo a pattern of drinking that started many years ago  during his father/son camping trips.

 

 

This narrative is a composite.  It has been deliberately altered in order to protect an individual’s right to confidentiality and privacy.

For many people, obsessive-compulsive disorder responds well to cognitive-behavioral therapy. Most people with OCD appear to be predisposed to the condition and/ or have been raised in family environments that were chaotic.  In response to the unpredictability of their home environment, adults will attempt to maintain control and order at all times.  Usually you can find other extended family members who share a similar pattern of ritualistic behavior.  Therapeutic treatment involves the following process:  relabeling, reattribution, relaxation techniques and refocusing strategies.

Relabeling and reattribution techniques are designed to assist in objectifying the disorder and realizing that people are more than their obsessions. For example, I teach people to internally respond by saying, "A part of my brain works in ways that make me repeat things continuously. This is merely my disorder speaking; I am more than my disorder."  This way of perceiving one’s obsessive features helps people to detach the nature of their problem from their self-identity.   

Relaxation techniques may involve exercise, music, message, meditation and vacationing in a soothing environment. These strategies slow down the sympathetic nervous system minimizing anxiety and making it easier for people with OCD to manage their thoughts and behavior.  One’s level of anxiety is directly related to the impact of compulsive behavior. 

Refocusing techniques refers to assisting patients to shift from obsessional thinking and behavior to other more self-rewarding activities. A change in activities lessens the impact of the OCD thinking and behavior.  For example, a child may have a ritualistic pattern of continuously changing the television remote control in a certain order.  A therapeutic goal might be to get the child to leave his obsession by getting up and leaving the room, possibly departing the house for a brief walk. I have people track the intensity of their anxiety during the time that they are away from their ritualistic behavior. When removed from an obsessional behavior, anxiety initially becomes worse and then dissipates in strength over time. Once the child returns to the obsessional pattern after voluntarily leaving it, it usually has decreased in its impact and intensity.  The child may say, "I was able to keep from repeating the pattern continuously. I only did it twice!"  Reinforcement and encouragement are important for people attempting to minimize obsessive patterns.

 

Those who experience OCD are typically anxious about their symptoms and fight to get rid of them.  It is essential that those who suffer from OCD learn to accept their symptoms rather than struggle with them.  Acceptance of any form of anxiety helps one to minimize the symptoms.  For example, one might say, “Here come those “crazy feelings” again.  They sure are annoying but they won’t hurt me.  If I learn to “let them be” they will eventually dissipate.”

 

It is important for those who experience OCD to share their problem with a close friend or therapist.  Expressing one’s feelings about the pattern may help in dealing with any feelings of shame or embarrassment.  For the OCD sufferer, it is significant to remember that most people experience features of the disorder.  All behavioral problems lie on a continuum.  Struggling with OCD is no exception.  When we share our problems with others, we realize that we are not alone in our difficulties.  It takes courage to admit that we are less than perfect and to allow ourselves to share our humanity with others.  When we learn to quit fighting with our imperfections, the issue eventually seems less troublesome. 

COGNITIVE THERAPY’S TREATMENT OF ANOREXIA NERVOSA

 

 

Anorexia is a troublesome disorder characterized by an obsession with weight and food.  With a target group consisting primarily of adolescent girls (80-90%), the anorexic will crave food, but will refuse to eat or retain it because of an overwhelming fear of weight gain.  The individual may stop eating almost entirely, and will deny that her behavior is abnormal and that health is deteriorating.  Typically, the anorexic will say that “she feels fat,” even when she is obviously underweight. 

 

The behavior of the anorexic may be characterized by a pattern of social withdrawal, rigorous exercise, and ritualistic eating habits.  The emotional profile of the anorexic is marked by a pattern of depression, fear of obesity, and loss of self-confidence.  Physical symptoms include a loss of menstruation and a weight loss of up to 20-25% of body mass.  According to diagnostic criteria, a female patient is clinically suffering from anorexia nervosa when body weight has fallen to 15% below normal and she has not menstruated for at least three months.  The same body weight criteria apply to male patients. 

 

Anorexic teenagers are generally unwilling to receive treatment, resisting any attempts at counseling. Those who reluctantly seek treatment begin the process from an adversarial perspective.  Developing a collaborative relationship with an anorexic patient is no easy task.  It is critical that the therapist develop a warm, friendly, honest and accepting relationship with the anorexic.  The quality of the therapeutic relationship will be a factor in determining the individual’s willingness to deal with the terrifying aspects of eating and weight gain. 

 

The relationship provides a means for examining cognitive distortions and maladaptive underlying assumptions that the anorexic applies to her internal world.  It is critical that the counselor accepts the individual’s beliefs about body perception as genuine for her.  Any attempt to refute, challenge, or devalue the person for holding erroneous assumptions about weight and body misperception is counterproductive.  Anorexic teens are used to hearing from significant others that their beliefs are illogical and irrational. 

 

It is the goal of the therapist to enter into a mutual fact-finding process with the anorexic client.  By accepting the patient’s belief system as genuine for her, it is possible to introduce doubt about the anorexic’s basic cognitive assumptions.  The individual may be encouraged to reexamine core assumptions about the value of thinness.  Several lines of inquiry might be, “Is it practical for you to embrace this idea?” or “How does losing weight fit in with other values that you cherish?”  Emphasizing that treatment will follow an experimental model is an important notion.  The therapist’s approach with the anorexic might be, “Let’s try this out and see what happens.” 

 

Therapy with the anorexic involves challenging faulty thinking and beliefs.  For example, if the patient expresses apprehension around the issue of losing competence if she gains weights, the therapist can help her develop a working definition of competency that will establish a concept of whether or not it is influenced by weight changes.  Such questions such as, “Would you appreciate your friend more if she weighed less than you?” may help cut into the double standard established by the anorexic patient. 

 

Questioning the anorexic about what would happen if their worst expectations came to pass may minimize the imagined effects of the event.  The person who demands “thinness” is obviously anxious when she considers herself “fat.”  The counselor may inquire, “What’s the most horrible thing that could happen if you were to gain weight?” 

 

Cognitive distortions are numerous in the anorexic and must be gently challenged.  Distortions such as dichotomous thinking, (“If I gain weight, I’ll be considered obese.”), overgeneralizations, (“I will never get any better and my eating will never improve.”), magnification, (“Gaining any weight will be more than I can take!”) must be directly, but gently confronted in counseling.  The anorexic is encouraged to design experiments to test the validity of specific irrational thoughts.  For example, the anorexic individual may be encouraged to interview her friends for preferences in physical appearance, checking out how often people select a friend based exclusively on the merit of weight. 

 

Body-size misperception is a significant feature of the anorexic disorder.  The individual may be asked to reinterpret what she sees.  Such counter-arguments may involve the use of reattribution techniques such as, “When I try to estimate my own dimensions, I am like a color-blind individual attempting to create my own wardrobe.  I will rely on other’s objectivity to assess my actual body size.”

 

With the anorexic, maintaining a multidimensional approach to treatment is necessary, focusing on information processing, cognitions, and other strategies such as:

 

• Dealing with family issues.  Some therapist’s believe that the anorexic disorder actually acts as a stabilizing force for the family. 
• Dealing with personal goals and ambitions of the anorexic.
• Focusing on issues of control, perfectionism, assertiveness and autonomy. 
• Dealing with social adjustment issues.
• Assisting with problem-solving and coping skills.

 

Dealing with the anorexic patient is demanding and requires flexibility and creativity as necessary ingredients if the therapeutic process is to be successful.  Many anorexic clients struggle with their body misperception issues throughout their life and may need to revisit the counseling process during times of high stress. 

The intention to suppress a response has the paradoxical effect of strengthening it.  In the "Tell‑Tale Heart," Edgar Allan Poe described the Imp of the Perverse. An example: 

Try not to scratch your nose. Continue reading, but be aware that even letting your nose itch would indicate a lack of personal control. So try not to even think about your nose, and see if you can read to the end of this article without once scratching your nose or the area around it.  

The intention to not let your nose itch ‑ especially if you take it seriously ‑ may have the perverse consequence of causing the very behavior you are trying to prevent.  This is true even if the behavior initially had a low probability.  Some causes of counter-intentional behavior are described below: 

Negative Suggestion

Negative representations are defined in terms of positive representations [their opposite], but positive representations are defined directly.  For example, the statement: "It is not raining" requires a representation of:  "It is raining."  The statement: "Chester is not a pedophile." requires the audience to comprehend the assertion: "Chester is a pedophile," and then reject it.  But the association between Chester and child molestation now has a representation in the audience's mind.  Likewise, to understand the instruction: “Don’t let your nose itch!” the reader must refer to an internal representation of an itchy nose - which causes the nose to itch.  

Ironic Processes

Another semantic source of counter‑regulatory motivation: To determine if you are successful in having a nose that is not itching, you must compare the current sensations with what they would be if your nose was itching.  In this case, it is checking to make sure you are successful that causes the nose to itch.  Ironic, isn't it? 

To avoid semantic sources of counter-regulatory motivation:  Always frame intentions in terms of what you want, not what you don't want.   

Reactance

Humans hate restrictions ‑ especially of those freedoms they already have.  Reactance refers to the motivation to react or rebel against restriction.   For example, in one study, two-year old boys accompanied their mothers into a room containing equally attractive toys. The toys were arranged so that one stood in front of a transparent Plexiglas barrier, and the other stood out of reach behind the barrier. The boys showed a strong preference for the toy they couldn't have. Their inability to get the toy behind the barrier caused many boys to tantrum,  which was not relieved by giving the child the equally attractive toy. 

Once an object [such as chocolate, alcohol, etc.] is forbidden there is an emotional reaction to the restriction, which, perversely, enhances the desire for the forbidden object.   

                  Restrained Eaters Research

By  Raymond Smith

Been reading this the last few nights:
 
Assessment and Treatment of Patients With Coexisting Mental Illness and Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (Treatment Improvement Protocol Serire, Vol 9) (Paperback) by Richard Ries
 
I wrote a review for Amazon, it's awaiting approval:
 
  12 step meetings?, May 28, 2009
By  Raymond Smith (Asheville, NC United States) - See all my reviews

"There are few situations that are as safe, supportive, and predictable and less demanding than the average 12-step group meeting." (page 50)

I stopped when I hit page 50. This is quite possibly the worst and most misleading statement I have read in any book on mental health.

Anyone who works with people who have co-existing disorders SHOULD know that 12 step groups are NOT safe for people with mental illnesses.

People with mental illnesses are often shunned when their illness become known through disclosure or when they become symptomatic. There is a large and vocal anti-medication, anti-therapy faction that exists within the rooms, one that tells members they are not "really sober" if they take medications.

AA has the highest mortality rate of any of the accepted alcoholism treatment approaches, at least in part due to people throwing away their medication on the advice of the senior members' advice.

While there are good people in the rooms, there are also predators and people with mental illnesses are often easy marks. I worked for a dual diagnosis program where every client had unsuccessfully attended 12 step treatment and meetings, every one of them had their own AA horror stories.

Sending someone to 12 step meetings are easier than working with them on their substance abuse issues; easy is not good practice.

Professionals who promote 12 step groups need to stop believing the PR about 12 step meetings and actually attend a few, anonymously. The downtown or clubhouse meetings that their clients would end up attending.

Our Five Basic Needs

Almost all approaches to psychology assume that people have certain basic needs and, indeed, there is broad agreement on what these needs are.

In Reality Therapy they are classified under five headings:  

• Power (which includes achievement and feeling worthwhile as well as winning).
• Love & Belonging (this includes groups as well as families or loved ones).
• Freedom (includes independence, autonomy, your own 'space').
• Fun (includes pleasure and enjoyment).
• Survival (includes nourishment, shelter, sex).

One of the core principles of Reality Therapy is that, whether we are aware of it or not, we are all the time acting to meet these needs.

But we don't necessarily act effectively. Socialising with people is an effective way to meet our need for belonging. Sitting in a corner and crying in the hope that people will come to us is generally an ineffective way of meeting that need - it may work, but it is painful and carries a terribly high price for ourselves and others.

So if life is unsatisfactory or we are distressed or in trouble, one basic thing to check is whether we are succeeding in meeting our basic psychological needs for power, belonging, freedom and fun.

In this society the survival need is normally being met - it is in how we meet the other four ``psychological'' needs that we run into trouble.

Weight-loss is about majoring in the majors; it’s not about how you “butter your bread.”

Often, people can be obsessive with weight-loss behavior.  Weight-loss and weight maintenance can become a ritualistic, compulsive cycle.  Charlie Whitfield, author and addictions expert calls the pattern the “repetition cycle.”  Anxiety and depression mount, followed by the urge to eat, leading to self-indulgence, and ending with symptoms of self-blame and guilt.  Then the cycle of abuse repeats itself.  Ironically, those who follow an addictive quest to lose weight may actually end up sabotaging their own goals. 

 

Self-defeating thinking and behavior tend to foster the cycle of unhealthy eating.  No amount of exercise or nutritional support will address the need for individuals to learn to rationally respond to their troublesome eating patterns.  Unhealthy eaters are usually overwhelmed by self-blame.  A downward spiral is set in motion by the way the person views himself.  Unhealthy eaters will label themselves as being “fat” (whether they are or not), and will chastise themselves for not making progress in losing weight.  Viewing oneself as an “overweight louse” is not an effective motivator for change.  In fact, browbeating oneself for being less than perfect only aggravates the cycle of unhealthy eating abuse.  Self-blame is a form of tyranny which keeps one stuck in the midst of the problem. 

 

Most unhealthy eaters experience thwarted anger.  Rather than direct their resentment at the source of their difficulties, they self-destruct by internalizing their anger and directing it toward themselves through their eating behavior.  They may feel frustrated by the conditional nature of a relationship, may have had a family member who humiliated them about their weight, or experienced rejection through social betrayal.  As confidence was stripped away, they developed a negative concept of self which fueled their unhealthy eating pattern.  The self-blaming message is, “I guess I really am a slob, so the best I can do is to continue to prove it to myself.”

 

Unhealthy eaters can untwist their “crazy thinking” and meet their weight goals by:

 

• Learning to rationally respond to negative thinking.  For example, instead of saying, “I’ll never meet my weight goals, I’m just worthless,” one might say, “Just relax and be patient, Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
• Identify cognitive distortions such as castastrophizing, labeling, personalizing, and black and white thinking.  An example might be, “If I can’t lose 5 lbs. this week I might as well give up” (black/white thinking).
• Instead of being unkind to yourself, talk to yourself the same compassionate way you would to a dear friend who is experiencing the same weight problem. 
• Instead of assuming your negative thoughts are accurate, examine the evidence that supports your conclusions.  “If I don’t lose 15 lbs., will people really think I am hopelessly obese?”
• Instead of taking full responsibility for your weight problem, you can assess the many factors that may have contributed to it and address those issues with the support of others.
• Set a realistic agenda.  Ask yourself, “What would it be worth to me to stop my unhealthy eating?  How hard am I willing to work on a rational solution?”
• Evaluate weight maintenance progress based upon the process – the effort you put in – rather than the outcome.  Your efforts are within your control, but the outcome may not.  Be patient.
• Substitute language that is less emotionally loaded.  “I shouldn’t have eaten that extra helping” can be redefined as, “It would have been preferable if I hadn’t eaten more.”

Often, people will expose themselves to a diet that will dramatically assist them in losing excessive weight only to have the weight return.  Setting a realistic agenda for weight-loss is a rational, thoughtful approach.  A slow, gradual loss of weight helps us to more easily adjust to the psychological ramifications of body perception change.  Weight-loss goals need to be established because we prefer the change, not because others want it for us.  Feeling coerced to change, or sensing that others acceptance of us is conditional upon weight-loss will lead to resentment and a feeling of helplessness in our quest to change.  Instead, we must vow to learn the difference between self-indulgence and self-respect and work to put self-kindness into our everyday experience and choose our relationships based upon these positive qualities.

 

Weight loss is about majoring in the majors. It’s not about how you “butter your bread.”  It’s about feeling good, getting out of self-blame, planning goals, changing one’s life style, setting personal boundaries and getting involved. People who are unhappy with their life are more likely to self-indulge, to be compulsive and obsessive, and carry out other self-defeating behaviors as a means to ward off psychic pain.

 

Making the courageous efforts to lose weight calls for a radical transformation in one’s thinking. Because we are humans, we may all relapse, but the changes we make in our life can be imbedded in a new life style when we give ourselves personal permission to change.

 

There are no secrets to losing weight.  It would be nice if there were a quick fix. But like almost all struggles in life, this, too, takes hard work and commitment. From childhood, we are conditioned to believe that the only way we can change is when we are coerced.  Therefore, we learn to mistrust our instincts. Without exploring the psychological issues that may be triggering weight problems, most people will be doomed to repeat a pattern of self-defeating behavior.  We must understand that we are more than the pleasure center of our brain.  We are much more than the darkest side of our soul.  Many may say that if I am not intolerant of my mistakes, how will I learn to motivate myself to change?  However, real change only occurs when we learn to respect and value who we are.

Because intoxication provides an immediate payoff, it is corruptive. The desire for pleasure or relief from suffering causes some individuals to trade what is truly precious [health, wealth, or relationships] to maintain their access to alcohol. Some individuals pay dearly for their drinking problem, and once you develop a relationship with something that can deliver this immediate gratification it is deceptively difficult to escape. The long-term outcome statistics for people your age with a drinking problem are probably worse than you think.

The extraordinarily high relapse rates of conventional treatment programs for problem drinkers is sobering only for us treatment providers. For the problem drinker, ill advised treatment efforts can make things worse. for example, consider an individual who has been clean and sober during the 30-day rehab program.  As the influence of the external sources of control (the therapeutic environment, support group) dissipate, they become less protective against the influence of local stressors and temptations grow. During a genuine crisis the abstract ideas discussed in meetings or during psycho-educational groups does not have much influence during the critical moments when irreversible errors are made.  That fact that treatment outcome for problem drinkers is so dismal, suggests that whatever treatment they recieve leaves them unprepared to cope with situations that precipitate relapse.

This blog will offer a model of problem drinking and its treatment, which is quite contrary to the disease model of alcoholism and treatment programs based on the 12-Step model of Alcoholics Anonymous. In contrast to encouraging problem drinkers to admit they have a disease over which they are powerless, here the focus is precisely the opposite. This web site contains tools that can enhance the user's ability to exercise will.

A wide range of information and experiential invitations are available at no charge at www.psycharts.com. These tools can help high-functioning individuals follow their path of greatest advantage rather than yield in the direction of least resistance.