Recent Articles on Teen Substance Abuse and Recovery

As a single parent 26 years ago, I adopted a baby girl from Allentown, PA. Today, she is a beautiful young lady, in a long-term stable relationship and a career as a dental assistant; she is the person I always knew she would be. However, it has been a long journey to get here. My…

We wanted to start off by thanking everyone who donated! This was a great success and the Spartan Fundraiser ended up generating over $12,000!! Thanks to your donations, at least 2 people will get to enter treatment this year in an ethusiastic sobriety program. We are planning to repeat this fundraiser next year. If you’re…

Hello all! If you haven’t heard, we’ve got about 16 runners who are committed to run the Arizona Spartan Super on February 15th at 1pm at the Fort McDowell Rodeo Grounds. All of the runners are committed to raise $1,000 each and we are asking for your support. CLICK HERE to be taken to the…

Every year, on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, The Pathway Program holds its annual “Gratitude Meeting”.  If you have never been to one of these meetings, I would strongly encourage you to attend. The room is filled with a giant circle of chairs, some areas of which are 3 or more rows deep.  Looking at…

I frequently get calls or emails from family members in my practice asking what they should do or not do to help a family member who has gone into recovery.  I can sometimes just hear the worry rising as they grip the phone or coming through their labored emails as they begin their process of…

I am frequently reminded in both my personal and professional life, the importance of celebrating even the little successes of hard work.  I am a commissioned officer in the United States Public Health Service and we are encouraged to maintain a journal of all of our accomplishments, big or small, in order to present ourselves…

As a trauma and addictions therapist working in the field for over 20 years, I have worked with literally thousands of family members who are frustrated, hurt, and bewildered by their loved one’s substance abuse issues. Finding out someone you love has a problem with mind changing chemicals is often ranked up there as one…

Tonight, many parents will lie awake. These parents will be tossing and turning, pacing, crying, yelling and feeling powerless to the fear of never seeing their child again. Alcohol and substance abuse in young people are very real issues. They affect not only the individual trapped in the addiction, but also those family members that…