Busting Addiction and Its Myths

In this article, we address the fact that family members can do more to help improve treatment outcomes in their communities and at large. We ask them to consider that: They can have an impact on the larger picture of improving outcomes by supporting initiatives such as the ones proposed by Shatterproof. In so doing, family members will have the satisfaction of knowing that they are not powerless...

In this article, entitled "My Love Affair with Marijuana". It describes in some detail the author's journey that started with flirtation and ended in disaster, save for the wake-up call. He comes to the following conclusions: It wasn't until I put on a new pair of glasses and looked back at my life to see how I had embedded a drug into my life as if it were the most natural thi...

In this article, we discuss the importance of aftercare in helping recovering people own their recovery as a way of achieving the real goal: a lifetime of clean and sober living. We believe that our best-practice We Care aftercare program inspires and guides our clients to stay on the path for the long haul, one day at a time. We make the following points: Treatment is a short but necessary period...

In this article, we tackle the myth that AA is a cult. The evidence is clear that neither is AA a cult, nor that it's a small, obscure organization. Unlike a cult, Alcoholics Anonymous, AA: Is about privacy, not secrecy, in order to protect the identity of individuals who would prefer to remain anonymous. Because there is still the stigma associated with an addictive disorder. Encourages you...

In this article, we discuss what success in recovery should look like. We also dispel the notion of the "success rate" for rehabs. We make note of the following: A success rate for a rehab is a misnomer because almost all success in staying clean and sober relies on the client's owning his or her own recovery after treatment. We at SafeHouse recognize the responsibility we have for...

In this article called It's A Shame, we examine the two types of shame, toxic and acquired, and discuss their causes and roles in addictive settings. We conclude the following: Families who have an active addict in their midst invariably experience shame, and as a consequence, are compelled to keep that fact secret. Secrecy requires great effort to maintain. Lying, denial, and covert behaviou...

In this article, we discuss how the subtle effects of early-stage addiction or alcoholism are difficult to spot and often denied, and how enabling happens with good intentions and bad results. We cover the following topics: The signs of early-stage addiction are so subtle, there is a high likelihood that loved ones will miss them, and therefore they will attribute troubling behaviour to a "no...

In this article, we cover the essential things to watch for in the context of Thailand treatment reviews - these are the checkpoints that experts in the space say you should watch for as you scan the possibilities of treatment in Thailand. Watch for best-practice, evidence-based treatment processes and by all means, do not fall prey to miracle cures when we all know there is no cure, but there is...

In this article, we discuss the benefits of choosing SafeHouse Rehab when seeking drug and alcohol treatment in Thailand. The key features of Thai treatment at SafeHouse Rehab are as follows: We stand apart from other rehabs in Thailand because we are dedicated to advancing the art and science of recovery in a clinical setting. We asked ourselves, at the moment of our founding, what we could do di...

In this article, we discuss why SafeHouse Rehab stands apart from other rehabs in Thailand. In this climate of concern about Safety, the fact that we are founded on the very idea of Safety and that it's part of our very name, our DNA, shows that we've taken the issue seriously right from the start. We do not aspire to be a luxury resort treatment centre. Instead, we've designed our...

In this article, we discuss the advantages for us to own and operate a rehab clinic in Thailand, and why our modern approach to recovery allows us to outperform traditional rehabs who offer solutions based on a traditional model of recovery. That said, we are mindful of the fact that all rehabs must conform to basic principles of treatment which have yielded success for clients who fully commit th...

In this article, we discuss how an addict's or alcoholic's loved ones can be deceived by the appearances of normalcy while the addict is an abnormal mess on the inside. The adventure we describe below vividly demonstrates the insanity of just one night out, showing how an addict will take risks that he would never consider were he clean and sober. We point out that: The addict is a geniu...

In this article, we tell a story which we entitle "A Close Call with Death", as a means of demonstrating how an addict's impulsive behaviour can lead him unknowingly into situations that could result in his death. Further, we discuss how this addict's mom, through no fault of her own, wasn't able to recognize the early warning signs of an addiction in the making, and there...

In this article, we discuss how the addiction rules an addict's life in ways that most non-addicts do not understand, and if innocent family members understood the dynamics of the addiction at work, they would see their burden greatly eased. We learn that: Non-addicts have a hard time grasping how much power an addiction has over an addict. Most people would be shocked by the way an entire ex...

This article tackles the issue of what a family member or loved can do to liberate themselves from the ruinous obsession with someone else's addiction, which is, in reality, also the family disease. The reality is that there is not much, if anything, you can do to change the trajectory of your loved one's disease, short of an intervention. Even then, there's no guarantee that it wil...

In this article entitled “Is My Teen Becoming An Addict? we discuss the signs that form part of a pattern that suggests a teen could be on his or her way to a full-blown addiction, and what a parent needs to consider to help the teen make a course-correction. Look for a pattern that suggests secrecy and behaviour that is off the norm along the lines I outline below. Look to have a loving conversat...

In this article which we entitle “You're The Addict, Not Me” we discuss the dynamics of living in a family where addiction has its insidious ways, and what the family members need to start doing to liberate themselves from the grip of the disease. People in recovery, whether in AA or Al-Anon or other 12-step programs must hold themselves accountable for their behaviour as part of their progre...

This article is entitled "Are You Wasting Your Energy?" and it covers the following topics as we discuss the futility of trying to change the trajectory of someone else's addiction.  We have learned that, speaking for the family member who loves an addict: Addiction has had a far more powerful effect than we realized. It denied us any sense of normalcy and dealt out punishment that,...

In this article, we discuss and dissect the idea of being a "victim" of addictive disorder; we discuss the how family members and significant others are perfectly set up to see themselves as victims, and what to watch for in order to disengage from that kind of role. Here's what we cover: Loved ones, family members where one of you is an addict, are perfectly set up to become so-cal...

In part two of our interview with Tomas, he shares the role that other recovery programs have had on the trajectory of his own recovery. This is what we learned from Tomas: Al-Anon can not only help families who are not addicts themselves, but it can be a vital tool in helping addicts focus on their own recovery. Having a daily ritual helps keep the recovering person stay on track, reinforcing hea...

These are the topics we cover in our interview with Tomas, a young recovering alcoholic who travels the world for his music profession but doesn't stray far from his recovery program. Some people become alcoholics or addicts because they need substances to soothe the deep emotional pain caused by toxic family situations. When the whole family is sick, there are no rules by which to live &quot...

In this article, we discuss how the stigma associated with addiction is a dangerous myth that keeps addicts and their families from seeing the light and seeking the help they deserve. One of the strongest barriers to seeking help with an addiction is the stigma associated with the concept of "addiction", still a taboo among traditional communities. Much of our society still sees addictio...

In this article, we discuss the role of the Johari Window in gaining a deeper understanding of how we can communicate more effectively with each other. We show that: The Johari Window is yet another useful method for therapists to use in the recovery setting involving addicts and their loved ones drawn into the dysfunctional world of addiction. The whole point of the Johari Window is to uncover tr...

In this article entitled "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Freedom', we discuss the following topics: The "Pursuit of Happiness" is a hollow promise if we pursue it directly and not see it as an outcome of living a worthy life. A new Freedom and a new Happiness promised by recovery programs is based on having the freedom to make better choices and happiness that is an outcome o...

Here we discuss the upside of recovery and what family members and the recovering person should expect. We cover the following topics in this article entitled " The Art of waking Up and Staying Awake". Treatment is but a start to recovery as a lifelong endeavour. It is, nonetheless, best achieved one day, one action at a time. It will come as no surprise to veterans of the 12-step progra...