Coping Skills Help Make Behavior Change Last
Making a change in your life is a pretty big deal. If you’ve move into the action stage of change, we’d first like to first offer you a huge congratulations! This is a bold move, and one that deserves a lot of praise! Next we’d like to offer you some helpful tips to help make […]
Changing the Focus of Substance Abuse Treatment
This is part 2 of two responses to the New York Times article about Dr. Carl Hart’s research at Columbia University. You can read Part 1 here and the the original NY Times article here. Some of the work of Carl Hart, an experimental psychologist at Columbia University, was described in the NY Times recently, and […]
The Anatomy of a Relapse
Relapses (and lapses and slips, whatever you want to call a return to old behavior) are frustrating events. Sometimes it feels like you’re (finally!) on the path you want to be on, and then, out of the blue, you fall off of that path and feel like you are back at the beginning (and that […]
Increasing Positive Support with Relationship FIT-ness
Relationships matter. A lot! “Ugh, every time I see my brother, I feel so stressed/undervalued/ mad/ alone (and want to go get a drink)!” Sound familiar? Substitute mother/father/classmate/ boss/friend and we are certain that you have significant people in your life with whom your relationship could be described as “difficult.” Then, there are those people […]
Understanding How We Change
Motivation for a given action (like, for instance, stopping smoking pot) is different at different times, and changes over time. Because of this, if we are trying to help motivate someone to make a change, we do best to try to understand a person’s stage of “readiness” for the change we are discussing, and start […]
Practicing Collaboration – A Critical Parenting Skill
One of the most important skills for parents to learn in trying to help a substance using child is how to work together! Over and above the issue of “what is our game plan?” (which takes collaboration also!), getting on the same page involves a lot of practice for parents. Typically, one parent is viewed […]
Collaboration helps you, your partner, and your child
Collaboration matters a lot. The collaboration (or lack of) you may be thinking about is collaboration with your child (which is important); we’re talking first about collaboration with your parent/partner. When your child is struggling with substances or other behavior problems, there is often a communication breakdown between the adults, and tension about how to […]
Caring for Yourself in order to Care for Someone Else
Many parents who have a child struggling with substance abuse notice that these concerns start to consume huge amounts of time and energy. As you’ve probably experienced, under the best of circumstances with kids, it’s hard to carve out space to focus on yourself. When your child and your family is dealing with something as […]
Why “Practice Makes Perfect”
Often, the process of making lasting change requires trying new and unfamiliar things. Maybe it’s walking to work a different way so you can avoid a tempting or triggering location. Maybe it’s practicing new coping skills in the face of an old problem. Maybe it’s reaching out to other people when you normally would go […]
How to Help your Potential Support System Really be Helpful
Many people start using substances (often as teens) as a way to engage socially. The reality is that almost all substances with abuse potential initially have a “social lubrication” effect (i.e., they are disinhibiting, relaxing, anxiety-reducing, buffers to self-criticism, enhancers of pleasure, etc). The problem? Further down the road (and sometimes right out of the […]
