Sober Sensations | Alcoholics Anonymous International Convention 2015

Going to be LOTS of sober entertainment at Sober City in Atlanta this July. The AA international is there and I have a booth to sell books! You can buy books, then listen to music, catch a meeting, and then watch a movie--peek at what they have and plan to come!

Sober Sensations | Alcoholics Anonymous International Convention 2015: "Sober City at The Atlanta Tabernacle : 152 Luckie St NW, Atlanta, GA 30303"



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Commentary: The Power of Support Groups -for Parents!

Many of thsoe in recovery from various addictions udnerstand how strong the support group is for support and direction. But it is less well understood how important the groups are for family members affected by the disease. Tehy think, "They've got the problem, not me." And they don't seek support for themselves. But being able to offer the best best help for your kids often depends on you learning what works and what doesn't. That is why my brother and I put together the workbook for parents, "Sober Coaching Your Teen." You can get it from Amazon or at our site--at our site, there are a lot of free downloads and interesting articles. Join together has an interesting article on the power of support groups for parents.

Commentary: The Power of Support Groups - Partnership for Drug-Free Kids: "“I have attended parent support group meetings since 2010. When my husband and I were in the darkest place of our lives, we didn’t even realize how much we needed to be with people who had a shared experience. Nearly five years later, we are still active in our support group, and the men and women we have met in those rooms are some of our closest friends today. I do not know where we would be without that group."

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The Real Definition of Relapse and Why this one doesn't work

This is what one organization wants to say about relaspe--they "redefine" the word or lets say "spin" the word to make sure that kids and parents don't feel bad about treatment not working. Here is the upshot of this article:

The Real Definition of Relapse and Why it Matters: "a lapse in his abstinence, but did he relapse? Many families find it useful to distinguish between a “slip” or a “lapse” as an instance of substance use by someone who has a goal of abstinence and a “relapse” as a return to the pre-treatment pattern of substance use. When someone has fully relapsed, they slide back towards the heavy and frequent us"

So all concerned have a new way to look at this--have the kids using out of treatment "fully relasped?" Or have they only partly relasped? The article says if its partly, then lets call it a "slip" and if they fully relaspe, then we'll call it a relaspe. I pondered this approach for ahwile--chewed on the distinction. Other then the fact they don't want people to think treatment doesn't work (my assessment) they explain "If they believe Jacob’s one night of drinking is a relapse, it is easy to feel that all hope is lost, that all gains from treatment have been thrown away." I simply don't understand why they don't say--"Hey, you relasped! But its only one night, Get back on that horse and get back in touch with your support group and begin again." Instead, they want to say, "well, its not really a failure, its just a setback--don't consider it relaspe--just a little slip. Its OK to use now and again as long as you don't go back into full blown addiction."



The author explains that reframing this word allows the parents to escape the "overwhelming terror of the moment." My assessment is that it allows them to not face the facts--treatment for teens in an all teen setting is likely to make addiction worse, not better. One of the reasons is the sugar coating we see from Teen Treatment centers like this--addiction is not really addiciton, relaspse is not really realaspe--parents and kids will drop into despair if you don't sugarcoat every aspect of the disease...



I think this looks at parents as helpless and hapless and I also think it takes the responsiblity of recovery away from the only one who can recover--the teen themselves.



So, do I think reframing "relaspe" is a good idea? I think kids are smarter than that--if they are going to use again, they will--regardless of what you tell the parents to call it--relaspe, slip, failed sobriety, using, setbacks, --taking a mind affecting chemical means one thing, you have activated your disease again--and calling it by a different name doesn't make your disease less dangerous or treatment more effective..









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Pocket Sponsor Trailer

For parents, a child’s struggle with heroin addiction can be all-consuming

This arents group is founded in a circle of chairs in a church. That is how AA began and for many parents of addicts--that is how they can begin to find help and relief amid the fear.

For parents, a child’s struggle with heroin addiction can be all-consuming – Cronkite News: "On this evening, a woman shares how she dreads the possibility that someone will call at 9 a.m. to say her son is dead. A father with a son coming out of rehab for heroin addiction tells the group he’s decided not to let him come back to work at the family business."



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Our Job in Life is to Move Forward

This is today's illusrated wisdom from the Pocket Sponsor.

Children of drug addicts learn they aren’t alone at a heartbreaking weekend camp

I can't think of a better idea. I wanted to do a book for kids titled "How do you Deal with your Alcoholic Dog?" My thinking was this would give kids a way to explore a parent's addiction in a non threatening way---but my daughter, the rather famous children's book writer, told me that parents would never accept the book and since its the parents who buy the books...I had to agree. So what do we do for these kids?



This looks perfect!!! A camp where they can talk about it around the campfire--amid the other activities..I love this idea! Read about it here.

Children of drug addicts learn they aren’t alone at a heartbreaking weekend camp - The Washington Post: "These are kids who live every day with the demons that haunt adults. Some are already in foster care, or D.C.’s shelter for homeless families or bouncing between Auntie’s and Grandma’s houses. A few also are dealing with drug use that has bled from the adults in the family to their older siblings."

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