All Things Substance

Avoiding topics of conversation is super normal for people. We work hard to help our clients talk about the hard things and to face the things that need to come to light. There’s an area that we migh…

What is recovery? Recovery really is, at its core, the process of change. It is a living and active process through which people make long lasting changes in their lives. There isn’t an end date or a…

Stages of addiction can help us understand how severe someone’s use is and if you need to refer out. What’s the difference between dependence and addiction? When does normal use move to risky use? On…

Triggers and cravings are a huge key to what helps addiction develop. It’s not just the reward pathways that drive addiction progression. Today we’ll talk about how triggers and cravings impact this …

Some therapists worry that adding substance use to their scope of practice will expose them to more risk and liability.  Our licenses are super important to us and we want to protect ourselves. Today…

The 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous have brought many into recovery and saved lives all over the world. Most people know that there are 12 Steps, but they don’t know what the Steps are and most have…

Recovery meetings can be a giant help to people as they move through recovery from all kinds of things. Today we’ll talk about the benefits of recovery meetings, the spiritual aspect to meetings and …

Sex is a vital part of who we are as humans. When people are using substances, sex becomes entwined with their use. So what happens when a person has to navigate sexual experiences without the use of…

Addiction and love? I got a chance to sit down with Andrea Owen (our January recovery story) on her podcast Make Some Noise. During that conversation she talks a bit about her own recovery journey an…

It was all about love. That’s what Dufflyn was looking for from the time she was a small girl all the way into her 40’s. She consistently was seeking to fill a need and find a place to belong. For a …

In this episode we talk about the three most popular sleep medications used in the non-benzodiazepine class.  We’ll discuss the risks inherent in these medications as well as the risk of addiction.  

What type of sleep disorder warrants prescription sleep medication? What types of sleep medications are there? Sleep medications are an important tool in treating insomnia. There are different kinds …

The key to staying sober isn't loving others enough, fear of getting in trouble, nor the hope of a good future. These reasons are unique to each person and vary wildly. The thing these people have in…

Check out this free downloadable resource and this podcast episode will give you more information on it. It's a quick reference guide to help you determine if someone’s substance use is appropriate f…

ADHD treatment can bring to mind a few different things. Medications, particularly stimulants are usually at the top of the list. ADHD treatment for adults can be complicated due to the abuse of stim…

ADHD diagnoses are becoming more common for children but especially in the adult population. Research tells us that approximately 70% of people with ADHD benefit from stimulant medication. This means…