How To Avoid Conversation Traps
If you are someone who would like to help a loved one change their relationship with substances or to make any behavioral change, there are four essential tools you can learn. First, Helping through Understanding or thinking about issues of addiction differently using the science we now have available. Second, Helping by Taking Care of Yourself […]
Learning Requires Practice
Fall is back to school time. Summer is over and students everywhere are making the transition to new routines and the anticipation of learning new things. Even though “learning new things” is the point, this is a great time of year to remember that learning news things is often difficult. Whether it is learning how […]
Remember . . . You Are Not Alone!!
If your partner or loved one is using drugs or alcohol, you are likely facing a very complex problem in your family. One that is affecting everyone and causing you to feel overwhelmed and doubtful that anyone will understand. Unfortunately, there is also usually an immense amount of shame associated with substance use problems, both […]
Encouraging Change Talk
When you are trying to help someone decide to make a behavioral change, it’s more common than not to experience a back and forth process of openness and resistance to the change being considered. Change is hard and ambivalence is normal. As family members, friends, and treatment providers we can contribute to the change process […]
Improve Communication Through Greater Awareness of Triangulation
We’ve all been there. You get in a fight with your mother and immediately call your sister to tell her all about it. You and your sister commiserate on how horrible your mother is, you start to feel better, and you’ve got an ally against your mother. Sound familiar? What you’ve created in this situation […]
Confrontation: The Biggest Motivation Killer
Excerpt from “Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change”. The following segment is from our book and outlines all the reasons why confrontation as a strategy is typically far from effective. It also describes strategies that are more effective when you want to encourage change in your loved one. Confrontation: The Biggest Motivation Killer The […]
Dr. Carrie Wilkens and Dr. Nicole Kosanke on Answers 4 The Family
Listen to Drs. Carrie Wilkens and Nicole Kosanke on LA Talk Radio’s Answers 4 The Family.
An Important Conversation about Addiction
The New York Times article (A Different Path to Fighting Addiction, published July 3, 2014) discussing CMC and our book Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change has generated so much important commentary. We are grateful to have the opportunity to start a conversation about all the options available to people who struggle […]
Chiara de Blasio’s Bold Admission & The New Way to Think About Addiction & Treatment
In a recently released video, Chiara de Blasio, daughter of New York City’s new mayor, talks about her struggles with substance abuse and depression. In it, Ms. de Blasio speaks eloquently and personally about the struggles she had, how she thought about her drinking/pot smoking, how she justified its use, and how hard it was […]
A Change in Treatment Begins with Increased Consumer Knowledge
David Sheff, author of Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America’s Greatest Tragedy, and Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction, wrote a small piece on Time.com about the need for more treatment programs to use evidence based treatments for substance abuse. In the author’s box at the bottom, there is a very common disclaimer, […]
