Why Our System Fails — and What Real Recovery Looks Like
Too many people relapse after treatment, leaving families heartbroken and searching for answers. As a lawyer, counselor, and person in long-term recovery, I’ve seen both the failures and the hope. This blog explores evidence-based practices that save lives and move us beyond outdated, one-size-fits-all approaches.
Addiction Treatment Reform Movement: Evidence Based Practices
If you’ve ever wondered what ‘evidence-based treatment’ actually is — or why so few programs seem to follow it — you’re not alone. Here’s how to spot care that’s grounded in science and more likely to support lasting recovery
Addiction Treatment Reform Movement: ASAM Assessment Criteria
For many of us who have struggled with substance use, the moment we or our families reached out for help felt like stepping into an unfamiliar system with its own unspoken rules. We were vulnerable, often scared, and hoping for support — yet the process that followed rarely involved our voice or our preferences. This blog is meant to offer clarity and empowerment, grounded in personal experience and informed by professional standards that many of us were never told existed.
Addiction Treatment Reform Movement: GLP-1RA – Anti Craving/Reduced Drinking Drug
Promising new research is showing that a class of medications originally used for diabetes and weight loss—called GLP-1 receptor agonists, or “GLP-1s” for short—is helping some people cut back on drinking without going through the pain and stigma of total abstinence.
Addiction Treatment Reform Movement: Inflated Outcome Claims for In-Patient Treatment
The conversation around in-patient addiction treatment often centers on “success rates,” yet many of these claims vary dramatically and lack transparency. Understanding how these numbers are produced, and what evidence-based practices like ASAM criteria require, is essential for making informed decisions.
Motivating Addicts to Seek Help
The argument for using research and data to make treatment decisions concerning our loved ones.
New research highlights the benefits of outpatient treatment and begs the question: is inpatient treatment really the best option anymore?
Hazelden Promotes Positive Family Interaction (CRAFT) Model – And it’s ABOUT TIME!
Empathy, support and love do not equal enabling.
Any Recovery Group is Beneficial
Receiving support is of paramount importance.
Alcoholic’s Curse: Can’t Quit After “Two Drinks”
Medication Assisted Treatment to the Rescue – Understanding the Brain Science Behind the Can’t Quit Compulsion and New, Effective Interventions
Five Steps to Stopping on Your Own
Harvard Health Beat offers 5 steps to stopping on your own for those looking for a starting point. This does not take the place of professional intervention and help when those are needed.
Going Overboard with Wine Time
Alcohol consumption in the US has been on a steady increase – what are the red flags? When is it too much?
Al-Anon: A Leading Cause of Death for Alcoholics/Addicts
When help doesn’t help.