Make an appointment

Archive for: Addiction Recovery

Alcohol Treatment: 5 Questions to Ask

By Pinnacle Counseling
Thursday, January 1st, 2015

Seeking treatment for alcohol abuse can be an intimidating process. It shouldn’t be.

The medical establishment characterizes addiction as a disease. We don’t feel ashamed to seek treatment for diabetes or heart disease. Why should alcohol abuse be any different?

The National Institute on Drug Abuse recommends that individuals shopping around for addiction treatment, for either alcohol or drug abuse, ask the following five questions to potential treatment providers:

  1. Does the program use treatments backed by scientific evidence?
  2. Does the program tailor treatment to the needs of individual clients?
  3. Does the program adapt as the client’s needs change?
  4. Is the duration of the treatment sufficient?
  5. How do twelve-step or other recovery programs fit into drug addiction treatment?
Categories : Addiction Recovery
Tags :

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
Tags : , , , , ,

Teen Binge Drinking

By Pinnacle Counseling
Thursday, January 1st, 2015

Something for nothing does not exist in this world. Not spiritually, not emotionally, not financially. The easy-and-free feeling that comes from ingesting massive amounts of alcohol? It comes, like everything else, with a price tag. Even outside of potentially disastrous context of addiction, binge drinking among teenagers has real consequences, cognitive (brain) consequences.

A recent study, (Binge Drinking May Affect Memory of Teens), shows that binge drinking, even among non-addicted teens, impairs spacial working memory. According to researcher Susan F. Tapert:

“Even though adolescents might physically appear grown up, their brains are continuing to significantly develop and mature, particularly in frontal brain regions that are associated with higher-level thoughts, like planning and organization. Heavy alcohol use could interrupt normal brain cell growth during adolescence, particularly in these frontal brain regions, which could interfere with teens’ ability to perform in school and sports, and could have long-lasting effects, even months after the teen uses.”

Binge drinking, by the way, is defined as five or more drinks for a man or four or more drinks for a woman.

Categories : Addiction Recovery, Teens

Alcohol Use and Women

By Pinnacle Counseling
Thursday, January 1st, 2015

Addiction to alcohol occurs at a much faster rate in women than in men who abuse alcohol. Women metabolize alcohol different than men and hormone levels in females may also make them more susceptible to alcohol’s effects. As a result of excessive alcohol use, certain types of medical complications can result and include:

  • Heart disease and related heart complications
  • Poor nutrition
  • Menstruation complications such as early menopause
  • Fertility and childbirth complications
  • Breast cancer
  • Liver problems
  • Osteoporosis
  • Cancer
  • Brain damage such as shrinkage of the brain and dementia
  • High death rate from suicide and accidents

If you are concerned about your alcohol use or that of someone you care about, seeking the help of a professional who specializes in substance abuse treatment could be lifesaving.

Categories : Addiction, Addiction Recovery, Alcohol
Tags : , , , ,

Prescription Painkillers Drive 91% Increase in Teen Poisoning Deaths

By Pinnacle Counseling
Thursday, January 1st, 2015

A new report released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) provides a chilling statistic driven by teenage prescription drug use. Almost twice as many teens died from poisoning in 2009 compared to 2000. The reason for the alarming increase, according to the report, is an increase in teen use of prescription painkillers like Demerol, Percocet, Vicodin, and Oxycodone. These powerful painkillers are opiates, classed in the same category of drugs as heroin. They are highly addictive and extremely dangerous.

Categories : Addiction Recovery

Expanding the Pinnacle Counseling team!

By Pinnacle Counseling
Thursday, January 1st, 2015

There are exciting things happening at Pinnacle Counseling. We have updated our website to feature the new additions to our counseling staff, Rachel Nachtigal, LPC and Joel Gray, LPC. They are proud members of the Pinnacle Counseling team, both specializing in Mental Health and Relationship Counseling.

You can follow all of the news straight from the source by checking out our website at https://pinnaclecounselingnwa.com/. Or by following us on twitter at @Pinnacle_Cares or liking us on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PinnacleCounseling. So check them out and get to know us better. We look forward to hearing from you.

Categories : Addiction Recovery, Marriage Counseling, Mental Health, Q & A, Relationships, Therapy
Tags : , , ,

What is a Drinking Problem?

By Pinnacle Counseling
Thursday, January 1st, 2015

Ever have a fight about whether or not you have a drinking problem? If you have, that should be your first sign that you might have one. Here are a couple of the others:

  • You’ve decided to stop drinking for a week, but cannot manage to do so.
  • You regret something you may have done as a result of drinking.
  • You wish people would just stop talking about your drinking.
  • You envy people who can drink without getting into trouble.
  • You “black out” or have difficulty remembering things you’ve done while drinking.
  • You’ve done drugs or engaged in other dangerous behaviors while drinking alcohol.
  • Others have noticed that you consistently seem very different when drinking (unusually happy, emotional, angry, relaxed).

Try not to get caught up in the stigma attached to alcohol abuse. No one chooses to have an alcohol problem.

You can find help here: Addiction Treatment

Categories : Addiction Recovery

Check out our newest welcome video

By Pinnacle Counseling
Thursday, January 1st, 2015

As just one new feature of the Pinnacle website, we now have a new welcome video. The short clip explains who we are as a mental healthcare team and why we are proud of what we do at Pinnacle Counseling. For more information, click here to view the clip and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Categories : Addiction Recovery, Change, Marriage Counseling, Mental Health, Therapy, Video
Tags : , , ,
« Previous Page

Ready to reach out?

Give us a call(479) 282-2443

Get in contact with one of our counselors today.

Contact Us
The environment is so relaxing and so much more welcoming than other facilities.
My therapist has been able to offer a different perspective or reframe my train of thought into something easier to process and deal with on…
Our therapist has been fantastic at getting my anti-counseling husband engaged in our sessions and working on fixing our marriage. He is really good.
My therapist is a very friendly, enjoyable person. She is easily relatable and feels like a friend giving you good advice and a listening ear……
Our therapist has been very helpful this year helping our son move from angry, destructive behaviors to more productive ones. There is still a lot…
Our therapist has given my husband and I ideas on how to communicate better with each other and helped us understand each other better.
My therapist taught me so many practical tools to help me work through my anxiety!
From the very first meeting, I have felt comfortable talking to my therapist. I like that he thinks “outside the box” sometimes when we are…
My therapist has an outstanding understanding of core issues not obvious for me. She opened my eyes more every day.
My sessions have been very meaningful and rewarding and I feel I’m making excellent progress thus far. I initially thought I would feel very embarrassed…
Our therapist has really made a good environment for us to talk and reflect!
So pleased that I came to see my therapist. She has helped me so much and my life has changed significantly for the better.
Our therapist is such a sweet lady. I look forward every week to tell her about my life. She helps me out and makes me…
We are delighted with the improvement we have had since coming. Life is much happier at our house.
I am eternally grateful to you for helping me to overcome that [trauma] incident. For the first time in 40 years, I didn’t drink or…
I am more comfortable with my counselor in this short time than I was with my past therapist who I saw for a year.
She was always there to listen and always broke down everything I was going through and made me see things from a different perspective and…
Our therapist has been a huge help to our family in this time of need. Her ability to connect with our daughter is unprecedented and…
I’ve been very pleased with my therapist. My kids have gone to 2 other counselors and she has exceeded our expectations. We are so glad…
I called to make my first appointment and got one same day! That may have just been good luck, but it was great to be…
The counselors have been so patient and helpful! They listen to each of our concerns and offer great insight and ideas to try!
I was in a dark place before contacting Pinnacle Counseling. After the first session I felt a lot better. The counselor said she noticed a…
It was comforting to know my husband and I could both open up and share our true feelings and fears without judgment. I really appreciate…
Thank you for the gentle, supportive care. I especially like the privacy before and after appointments and the peaceful environment. I still have a long…
This is my first experience with any form of counseling, however, it has been an excellent experience. This has helped me and my wife reconnect…
I was so happy to be able to see a counselor within 24 hours of sending an e-mail requesting an appointment during a time of…
 

Pinnacle Counseling | Covid 19 Update Learn more