Music therapy may be an effective complementary treatment for people recovering from addiction. It is led by a someone trained in music therapy and is meant to be part of a comprehensive treatment program. Music therapy has been shown to be most effective for people who don’t respond well to other forms of treatment. It…
Right now, most people think of addiction as a disease. This idea has largely been popularized by AA. The idea is that people who struggle with addiction are physiologically unable to resist whatever they are addicted to. Fighting addiction isn’t a matter of willpower, according to the disease model, because addicts have a disease that…
There’s a common misconception that people addicted to drugs and alcohol simply lack the willpower to quit. A recent poll found that more than 40 percent of Americans believe addiction indicates a lack of willpower or discipline and more than 30 percent see addiction as a character flaw. In reality, addiction has little to do…
You hear about opioids a lot in the news lately, specifically how the opioid crisis is killing thousands of Americans every month. However, many people also use the word “opiate.” What’s the difference between an opiate and an opioid? There is a difference between opiate and opioid, sort of. An opiate is technically a drug…
Relapse is a common part of recovery. Various studies put the relapse rate at somewhere around 50 percent, with the chances of relapse being greatest early on. Although relapse is common, it is not inevitable. Here are some common misconceptions about addiction relapse. A relapse means you’ve failed. Some people feel like a relapse is…
Addiction rarely happens right away. You might hear stories about someone who tried cocaine or heroin once and became addicted immediately. If those stories are true, they are rare exceptions. Usually, addiction develops gradually and by the time someone realizes she’s addicted, she’s already stuck. No two people have the exact same experience of addiction,…
Gratitude is one of the pillars of a positive mindset. Feeling grateful takes your attention off all the things you don’t have and puts it on the good things you do have. As a result, you feel safer, happier, and more optimistic. That kind of attitude is contagious and it helps to strengthen relationships, which…
In broad terms, addiction is similar for most people. It involves regular use, physical dependence, fixation, frustration, and loss of control. Whether you’re a man or a woman, you can probably recognize the familiar features of addiction. However, there might also be some important differences between the ways men and women experience addiction. It may…
Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, and dialectical behavioral therapy, or DBT are both common models of psychotherapy used to treat a range of conditions, including anxiety, depression, and addiction. Each has its uses and they may be used together or separately. In fact, DBT is a specific form of DBT, so in a sense, they…
“Kaizen” is a Japanese word that means “improvement.” The concept of kaizen is continuous, incremental improvement. That is, instead of making big changes all at once, you make continually make small changes that accumulate over time. This is most often used as a management concept. You find small ways to make a business a little…
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