Oct 9, 2016 | Addiction, Changing Lives, Instilling Hope, Jail, Mom, Parental Love, Parenting, Saving Lives, The Gray Mile
I loved the movie The Green Mile. It wrenched my heart, but I still loved it. The same cannot be said for a recent experience that I will ever remember as The Gray Mile: a long, empty, silent, seems-like-it-goes-forever, gray-painted, gray-floored, gray-door-lined...
Jul 12, 2016 | Addiction, Addiction Treatment, Choice, Enablers, Mom, Parental Love, Parental Responsibility, Parenting, Patient Rights, Residential Treatment, Save A Life, Saving Lives, Treatment
Recently I helped a mother and son. The son was in need of addiction treatment. The mother was aware. This young man had OD’d several times and was literally at risk every single day of repeating that behavior, and possibly dying. When it came time to place him, after...
Jun 10, 2016 | Addiction, Addiction Treatment, Changing Lives, Dad, Family, Instilling Hope, Mom, Parental Love, Parenting, Treatment
One of the assumptions about parents is that they have unconditional, limitless love for their children. And in many cases, this is true. HOWEVER, when it comes to addiction, a parent can reach their limit. Does this seem fair? We are all human. Parents are often in...
Dec 23, 2015 | Addiction, Enablers, Expectations, Get Over Yourself, Parental Love, Parenting
As parents, we want the best for our children. And we expect the best of them. How many times when they were young did we think…”My kid will NEVER do that!”? Well, for many of us, our kids DID do that…and THAT involved substance abuse (drugs and alcohol), or an...
Jun 3, 2015 | Addiction, Addiction Treatment, Change, Courage, Family, Parenting, Temptation, Treatment, Triggers, Tug-O-War
From the outside looking in, alcoholism and drug addiction would seem to be lifestyles where one would be encouraged to leave, and not encouraged to stay. And yet, on a recent visit to a women’s center in a Southern California treatment center, I learned that our view...
