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Archive for: Addiction Recovery

Going green to support National Mental Illness Awareness Week

By Pinnacle Counseling
Thursday, January 1st, 2015

Pinnacle Counseling is proudly going green in support of National Mental Illness Awareness Week from Monday, October 7th – Friday, October 11th. Although there are many things you can do to show your support for National Mental Illness Awareness Week, the number one thing every single person can do is to help spread awareness to stop the stigma of mental illness. Starting the conversation is the first step to reaching out and supporting your loved ones as they seek help in a struggle with any sort of mental illness or mental health issue can be remarkably beneficial. At Pinnacle Counseling, we are ready to help you on your journey to becoming more mentally healthy. Check back throughout the week for more posts to help spread the word about the importance of mental health awareness.

 

Erika McCaghren

 

Categories : Addiction Recovery, Anxiety, Change, Depression, Emotions, Grief, Marriage Counseling, Mental Health, Sexual Addiction, Therapy, Trauma, Uncategorized
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The myth of hitting bottom

By Pinnacle Counseling
Thursday, January 1st, 2015

Alcoholics frequently deny their addiction to alcohol. Problem drinkers who acknowledge that alcohol has negatively impacted their lives still resist suggestions that they change their behaviors. What their family or loved ones see as a problem, alcoholics may see as a preference, a lifestyle choice. So they continue to drink despite increasingly negative consequences. Untreated, their alcoholism may cause them to lose their families, friends, jobs, money, and physical and mental health.

This is called hitting bottom. Bottom: the place where the alcoholic has lost it all. It is only after hitting bottom, the myth of hitting bottom tells us, that the alcoholic will be willing to see the truth about their addiction. Only then will they realize that what they thought was a preference is really a life threatening problem.

This pervasive myth has resulted in unnecessary suffering for many alcoholics and their families. The bottom for many alcoholics is the point at which they entered an inpatient or outpatient drug treatment program. Maybe they were told by a loved one that the nagging would stop if they went in for an evaluation. Maybe they received an ultimatum.

It doesn’t matter how someone gets into treatment. Treatment for drug and alcohol addiction works. It is possible even for those who don’t see their behaviors as destructive to come to realize that change is necessary.

Categories : Addiction Recovery

Check it out!

By Pinnacle Counseling
Thursday, January 1st, 2015
Categories : Addiction, Addiction Recovery, Alcohol, Anxiety, Change, Depression, Drugs, Emotions, Grief, Marriage Counseling, Meditation, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Relationships, Therapy, Trauma
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Addiction Recovery: Baby Steps

By Pinnacle Counseling
Thursday, January 1st, 2015

Recovery from drug or alcohol addiction requires a level of self-honesty that many people struggling with alcohol or drug abuse find challenging, if not impossible, to achieve. For this reason, it is good to proceed cautiously, gently. What starts as a tiny glimmer of truth in the mind may grow into the strong conviction one needs to get truly honest and seek help. We’re looking for a statement that the addicted individual can recognize as truth.

Something like this:

  • I really, really love drugs and alcohol. Maybe I need them. But they may be negatively impacting my life.

 

Nothing in there about change. Nothing in there about what, if anything, will be done to fix the problem. Just a simple statement of the truth.

The fist step is someone seeing and understanding this type of truth in his or her own life. This is not as easy as it sounds. Some people never develop the ability to see the truth in their own lives. The second step is for the addicted individual to share this truth with someone who loves him or her. This is the very earliest part of addiction recovery.

Categories : Addiction, Addiction Recovery, Alcohol, Drugs

How Sugar Affects the Brain

By Pinnacle Counseling
Thursday, January 1st, 2015

Have you ever wondered what actually happens when you ingest that delicious bit of sugar you have been craving? Here is a TED-Ed video that explains how the reward system works in the brain. This also applies to sugar, other behaviors, and even substances.

Categories : Addiction, Addiction Recovery, Drugs, Emotions, Mental Health, Video
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Christian Perspectives: Prayer for Addiction Recovery

By Pinnacle Counseling
Thursday, January 1st, 2015

Dear God, the journey from addiction to recovery is a journey from slavery and bondage to self-determination and freedom. You want Your people to be free. Help me to become free. I know that with freedom comes great responsibility. Help me to find Your will for me this day and every day. Amen.

 

Categories : Addiction Recovery, Christian Thought

Love yourself enough to seek help with addictions this Valentine's Day

By Pinnacle Counseling
Thursday, January 1st, 2015

There is no doubt that substance abuse and addiction is difficult during every season of the year. Once the rush of the holiday season, balancing work and holiday time off, and a long few days of travel to see friends and family is over; all that is left is getting back to ‘normal’. January is a month full of change and resolutions, so making time to cope with personal hardships (like addiction and substance abuse) is put at the bottom of your to-do list. As February approaches, the usual hustle of preparing for a magical and romantic Valentine’s Day for you and a significant other, spouse, or partner takes priority. This reveals the real question: is there ever time to get help for myself?

Realizing that you are important enough to get help is the first step on your journey to navigate out of the dark path of addiction and substance abuse to a healthier life. The problems associated with addiction and substance abuse seem to start out slowly and pick up speed in what seems like no time at all. Using and abusing substances affects your life, the life of your friends, family members, children, co-workers, and everyone else you interact with on a daily basis. What began as a coping method for stress or an activity during your downtime quickly becomes a lifestyle and the center point of many more problems. To take charge of the cycle of use and abuse of drugs and alcohol is often the hardest part of the recovery and healing process; and takes courage and support. The process of recovery requires resources to get the help that you need in order to control the substances that have a strong grip on your personal life. Mental health counseling and substance abuse treatment are the vital next steps in the process of your recovery. Overall, wanting to live your life as the healthiest and most well person you can be is reason enough to seek help for addictions for the holiday of celebrating love. Loving yourself enough to get help is a magical and romantic thing that can give you back a healthy fresh start to your relationship with yourse

Erika McCaghren

Categories : Addiction, Addiction Recovery, Alcohol, Change, Depression, Drugs, Emotions, Mental Health, Perscription Painkillers, Relationships, Sexual Addiction, substance abuse, Therapy
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Addiction Counseling: First Things First

By Pinnacle Counseling
Thursday, January 1st, 2015

What is addiction counseling? What is it like? People who struggle with addiction issues often have great difficulty talking about their, use, misuse, or abuse of alcohol and other drugs. An addiction counselor is someone skilled at these types of difficult conversations. An addiction counselor has a high level of knowledge and experience in the areas of drugs, alcohol, and the abuse of drugs or alcohol. Most importantly, addiction counselors understand the complex ways that alcohol and drug abuse affect an individual’s relationships: with himself or herself, with a spouse, with an employer, with God. An addiction counselor seeks to build a trusting relationship with the client in the hopes that this relationship will help the client make changes that once seemed impossible.

 

Categories : Addiction, Addiction Recovery, Alcohol, Drugs
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