NARCONON AUTHOR

GA

Guest Author

DRUG REHABILITATION

Two Top Causes of Relapse

Having been an addict for over 20 years, and a professional interventionist for 17, I’ve seen and experienced quite a few patterns. One pattern I’ve seen over and again has been around the reasons I, and others, relapse. And there are really just a few major culprits; perhaps the most common one is when - after graduating successfully from treatment - a person returns to his same environment…

DRUG REHABILITATION

The Tyranny of Hopelessness

Four days before Christmas, I came to Paradise, California, a little hamlet in the Sierra-Nevada foothills. I was hired by the well-to-do parents of a 32-year old addict who would fly into a rage every time they mentioned he needed to go to a treatment...

DRUG REHABILITATION

Proof of the Problem

It’s common for families to get stuck proving their addict is, in fact, an addict. They feel a need to convince themselves or others that action needs to be taken, so they do things like search the addict’s room, follow him around with GPS, smell his...

DRUG REHABILITATION

Intervention 101: What If Other Family Members Aren’t in Agreement?

Even as a professional interventionist with a long-standing track record of success with other people’s families, when it came to intervening on one of my own family members, I found myself in the same position you might be in, trying to wrench other...

DRUG REHABILITATION

Intervention 101: Step one—Create a Plan

When people ask me how I succeed, I tell them I do a lot of planning, and then I plan some more…

DRUG REHABILITATION

Narconon—A True Example of “Holistic” Treatment

I was disappointed to find a treatment center that used psychiatric drugs, touting its services as being “holistic.” It used to be that holistic meant something. It was akin to all-natural and all-encompassing.

NARCONON REVIEWS

What If We Succeed?

No matter what the drug—when I took it, bought it, prepared it or used it—I knew that what I was doing was inherently wrong. But, that didn’t stop me.

DRUG REHABILITATION

Intervention 101: Hiring a Professional Interventionist

A lot of families ask me, “if we can’t get our loved one to go to treatment, why should we believe a stranger would do any better?”

DRUG REHABILITATION

The Difference Between a Reason and an Excuse

They say the difference between a reason and an excuse is which side of the table you’re sitting at. Reasons for putting off doing an intervention are easy to come up with: doctors’ appointments, court dates, weddings, vacations, “let’s wait and...

DRUG REHABILITATION

Drugs Are Not the Real Problem

If drugs or alcohol were an addict’s fundamental problem, recovery would be easy. Simply detox the person and you’re done! But—that isn’t how it works.

DRUG REHABILITATION

Intervention 101: Finding the Correct Information

In your preparation for doing an intervention, you are bound to get advice about how an intervention should be done, but be forewarned: A family member, friend or someone you met at a support group who’s been involved in one or two interventions isn’t...

DRUG REHABILITATION

Intervention 101: Handling Objections

Most families go into an intervention knowing there will be objections, but with no real plan on how to handle them. The key is in the word, ”plan.” The simplicity of it is this—an addict will object, so plan to handle the objections.

DRUG REHABILITATION

Bottom’s Up

Some people say an addict or alcoholic who is in denial hasn’t hit bottom, but this concept is very problematic when applied to real-life. First, there is no such place as “bottom.” It’s an abstract idea.

DRUG REHABILITATION

What Is an Intervention?

An intervention is any action or actions which result in an addict arriving at a well-chosen program. I include, “well-chosen,” because, without a program that has a good chance of success in place, an intervention is of little or no value.

DRUG REHABILITATION

The Truth About Denial

Many believe that if an addict does not admit to having a problem, he does not know he has a problem. We are taught to see this as a lack of self-awareness on the part of the addict. I can assure you, it is not. It’s simpler than that.

DRUG REHABILITATION

How Do We Get Him to Admit He Needs Help?

When I began working as an interventionist, I found that many families believed they needed to get their addict to admit to needing help before treatment will work. This may sound logical but as an to me it’s always been puzzling.