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5 Assets of an ACOA

What’s Your Greatest Asset? Strengths of an ACoA

Amy Eden writes about the assets of ACOA’s.

“I don’t know about you, but I sometimes feel exasperated with the emphasis on problems tied to being the offspring of alcoholics.

Today I need to hear the B side of the record, to think about our other characteristics.”

Here are her first five assets of ACOA’s.

• YOU CAN EMPATHIZE
• YOU’RE INDEPENDENT
• YOU’RE CREATIVE
• YOU’RE RESILIENT
• YOU’RE CALM

Full post at Guess What Normal Is.

See also;

• Adult Children of Alcoholics
• Al-Anon
• Alcohol intervention may help.

Al‑Anon Family Group

Problem drinkers commonly deny that their drinking is a problem.

Similarly, family and friends have a tendency to minimize how seriously the drinker’s behavior has affected them.

These questions can help you consider whether you could find support and understanding in an Al‑Anon Family Group.

1. Do you worry about how much someone else drinks?

2. Do you have money problems because of someone else’s drinking?

3. Do you tell lies to cover up for someone else’s drinking?

4. Do you feel that if the drinker cared about you, he or she would stop drinking to please you?

5. Are plans frequently upset or cancelled because of the drinker?

6. Do you make threats, such as, “If you don’t stop drinking, I’ll leave you”?

7. Are you afraid to upset someone for fear it will set off a drinking bout?

8. Have you been hurt or embarrassed by a drinker’s behavior?

9. Do you search for hidden alcohol?

10. Have you refused social invitations out of fear or anxiety?

11. Do you feel like a failure because you can’t control the drinking?

12. Do you think that if the drinker stopped drinking, your other problems would be solved?

12-Step Speaker Tape Links

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XA-Speakers Tapes have 1,232 AA and other 12-Step related MP3 recordings.

XA – Speaker Tape Category

• AA - Alcoholics Anonymous -
  » Speakers who identify as alcoholics
• Al-Anon Family Groups -
  » Speakers who identify as Al-Anons
• NA - Narcotics Anonymous -
  » Speakers who identify as drug addicts
• CA - Cocaine Anonymous -
  » Speakers who identify as cocaine addicts
• OA - Overeaters Anonymous -
  » Speakers that identify as overeaters
• GSA - GreySheeters Anonymous -
  » Speakers who identify as compulsive overeaters
• CDA - Chemically Dependent Anonymous -
  » Speakers who identify as chemically dependant

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AA Primary Purpose Speaker Tapes

All AA speaker tapes are now in MP3 format. Thy can be played with Windows Media Player, I-Tunes, or the software of your choice.

Includes AA Cofounders and other AA Pioneers

• Pioneers –
• 12 Steps –
• 12 Traditions –
• 12 Concepts –
• Sponsorship –
• Passing It On

==========================

Miami Valley AA Al-anon Winter Conferences 1999 through 2006

http://www.winterconference.com/Listen.html

 

Caution there are many sites on the Internet who charge for 12-Step recordings – why pay when you can download recordings for free.

Doctors Advice on Alcohol

Doctors' own alcohol consumption colors advice to patients

Doctors who drink more themselves are more liberal in their advice to patients on alcohol consumption. They set higher thresholds for what is harmful, and while men who are heavy drinkers get to continue drinking, women are often advised to stop altogether, reveals a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg's Sahlgrenska Academy have for the first time looked into how family doctors' own drinking habits affect their advice to patients. The study, which took the form of a questionnaire for doctors revealed that those who drink larger amounts set significantly higher limits for harmful levels of consumption than those who are teetotalers or drink little.

Gender plays a role

Gender also plays a role in the advice doctors give. Where men and women present with the same health problem and consume comparable amounts of alcohol, male heavy drinkers are often advised to cut down on their drinking, while female heavy drinkers are urged to stop drinking altogether.

Men less likely to be referred for treatment

Heavy drinkers are also much less likely to be referred for treatment if they are men than if they are women – especially if the doctor is a man. "Doctors who drink more have a more liberal view of alcohol, but their attitude is also coloured by high consumption among men being the social norm," says Magnus Geirsson, doctoral student at the Unit of Social Medicine at the Sahlgrenska Academy and himself a family doctor in Skaraborg.

More training, higher limits

Doctors' alcohol training also plays a role, but perhaps not as one might expect. Nine out of ten doctors in the study set the limit for safe alcohol consumption below the Swedish National Institute of Public Health (FHI) recommendations of 14 units for men and nine for women. Interestingly, doctors who had the most alcohol-related training and considered themselves knowledgeable in the area set higher limits, but they were still below the FHI recommendations.

Government project made no change

"This may be because doctors feel that the FHI sets the limits too high, but it could also be that doctors who feel less confident in this area prefer to be more cautious", says Geirsson.

His thesis also shows that the training activities carried out as part of the government's five-year Risk Drinking Project, which aimed to make alcohol-related issues a natural part of health care, have probably not led to the desired effects of increasing the numbers of patients being advised on alcohol, in spite of a considerable increase in the numbers of GPs and nurses that consider themselves to be more skilled in giving such advice.

Alcohol Intervention

Brief Twelve Step Facilitation is research based and written by a long term recovered alcoholic who is a professionally trained welfare therapist.

It is a method to begin to create awareness of alcoholism, break down denial and connect alcoholics or problem drinkers with Alcoholics Anonymous.

By using the processes in this manual you can start and give ongoing support to a person on the road to recovery from alcoholism. It is suitable for treatment resistant, previously treated and newcomers to treatment. The processes are gentle incorporating Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Twelve Step Facilitation.

It may also be complimentary to any 12 Step peer helping.

Buy and down load the e-book; now only $7.00 a copy.

PayPal with Mastercard, Visa and Americam Express payment available.

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One Day at a Time

My best friend was going through some tough situations in her life. I was in the midst of a hard stretch too. We didn't particularly like the things we had to do in our lives. We talked about our feelings and decided that what we were going through was necessary and important, even though we didn't like it. We expressed gratitude for our lives.

"It's still a dreadful time," I said.

"Brutal," she said. "I guess we're back to the old one-day-at-a-time approach. We're so lucky. What do people do that haven't learned that gem?"

There are times when we can look at the stretch ahead and like what we see. Taking life one day at a time is still a good idea, even when things are going well.

Taking life one day at a time can be particularly useful when the road ahead looks dreadful. We may not even know where to start with some challenges. That's when taking life one day at a time is essential.

"I've been using alcohol and other drugs every day since I've been twelve years old," I said to my counselor years ago in treatment. "Now you're telling me I need to stay sober the rest of my life. Plus get a job. And a life. How am I going to do that?"

"One day at a time," she said. She was right. Sometimes I had to take life one minute at a time or one hour at a time. And all these years later, it still works.

You are reading from the book:

52 Weeks of Conscious Contact by Melodie Beattie

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What I said never changed anybody

For recovering alcoholics, addicts and co-dependents this meditation has real meaning.

What I said never changed anybody; what they understood did. - Paul. P.

How often have we given our all to change somebody else? How frantically have we tried to force a loved one to see the light? How hopelessly have we watched a destructive pattern - perhaps a pattern we know well from personal experience - bring terrible pain to someone who is dear to us?

All of us have.

We would do anything to save the people we love. In our desperation, we imagine that if we say just the right words in just the right way, our loved ones will understand.

If change happens, we think our efforts have succeeded.

If change doesn't happen, we think our efforts have failed. But neither is true. Even our best efforts don't have the power to change someone else. Nor do we have that responsibility. People are only persuaded by what they understand. And they, as we, can understand a deeper truth only when it is their time to grow toward deeper understanding. Not before.

Today, I will focus on changing myself and entrust those I love to the Higher Power who loves them even more than I do.

Today's meditation comes from the book – buy today

Days of Healing Days of Joy: Daily Meditations for Adult Children

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Help an Alcoholic?

Do you want to discover how to effectively help alcoholics

• improve their life,
• recover their health,
• retain or regain their loved ones love,
• restore earning ability, and
• avoid conflict with the police

by helping them get sober? 

Alcoholics can be frustrating.

While drinking or trying to get sober

alcoholics may be baffling in their

response to normal help. 

 

 success is possible

with a strategy that has

proven results

Help An Alcoholic?

via twelvestepfacilitation.com

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Medical Marijuana

American Society of Addiction Medicine

Public Policy Statement on Medical Marijuana

Background

In the last twenty years, both the scientific community and the public have become interested in the therapeutic potential of cannabis and cannabinoids. Scientific interest has been based in large part on the discovery and elucidation of the endocannabinoid receptor system. Popular interest has focused on state initiatives and other legislation decriminalizing the use of smoked cannabis for personal medical use.  Because of this legislation, herbal cannabis in various forms is now being distributed by dispensaries to large numbers of individuals with a wide variety of medical conditions. This cannabis is not, in most cases, standardized or quality-controlled; the dosage forms (smoked, vaporized, baked goods, teas, elixirs, etc.) do not provide a known and reproducible dose; and data on efficacy and adverse events are not being collected in a reliable manner. 

Cannabinoids are insoluble in water and subject to degradation by temperature and light; thus, optimal delivery systems or dosage forms are difficult to design. As a result, research into their medical applications is technologically challenging and has lagged behind that of the opioids and other modern medications. With improvements in technology and the development of research tools, such as high affinity agonists and antagonists, preclinical research has flourished.  At present, however, only a few properly controlled clinical studies, of adequate size and duration, have investigated the use of cannabis or cannabinoid products in specific therapeutic contexts.

The pace of such clinical research is increasing.  As corporate sponsors successfully resolve the regulatory and technological challenges, new products will enter the market. These products will be accompanied by extensive quality, pharmacological, toxicity, safety/tolerability, and efficacy data that will allow physicians knowledgeably to prescribe them, thereby making them available to appropriate patients. Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) will reduce the likelihood of abuse and diversion by both patients and non-patients, including adolescents.

The FDA approval process ensures that a robust body of data accompanies a product when it becomes available to patients. The FDA has invited industry to develop botanically based products and has set forth the regulatory path that must be followed to ensure that such products meet the standards of modern medicine.   It is feasible for cannabis-derived products to proceed down that path. Doing so will enable them to be recognized by the medical community as legitimate treatment options.

Under the current state distribution systems, physicians serve as the gatekeepers of patients’ access to cannabis, yet they lack both information on the quality/composition of the cannabis materials and data on their efficacy/safety. When specific cannabis-derived or cannabinoid medications have passed through conventional regulatory approval processes, and their risk/benefit profile in a particular medical condition is known, physicians can be confident that they are meeting the standard of care when advising patients about potential treatment choices.

“Cognitive dissonance” is a term that aptly describes the current approach to “medical marijuana.”  Scientists recognize the public health harms of tobacco smoking and urge our young people to refrain from the practice, yet most cannabis consumers use smoking as their preferred delivery mechanism. The practice of medicine is increasingly evidence-based, yet some physicians are willing to consider “recommending” cannabis to their patients, despite the fact that they lack even the most rudimentary information about the material (composition, quality, and dose, and no controlled studies provide information on its benefit and safety of its use in chronic medical conditions). Pharmaceutical companies are responsible for the harms caused by contaminated or otherwise dangerous products and tobacco companies can be held accountable for harms caused by cigarettes, yet, dispensaries distribute cannabis products about which very little are known, including their source. Efforts are being made to stem the epidemic of prescription drug abuse, including FDA-mandated risk management plans required for prescription medications, yet cannabis distribution sites proliferate in many states, virtually without regulation. 

In order to think clearly about “medical marijuana,” one must distinguish first between 1) the therapeutic potentials of specific chemicals found in marijuana that are delivered in controlled doses by nontoxic delivery systems, and 2) smoked marijuana.

Second, one must consider the drug approval process in the context of public health, not just for medical marijuana but also for all medicines and especially for controlled substances. Controlled substances are drugs that have recognized abuse potential.  Marijuana is high on that list because it is widely abused and a major cause of drug dependence in the United States and around the world.  When physicians recommend use of scheduled substances, they must exercise great care.  The current pattern of “medical marijuana” use in the United States is far from that standard. 

If any components of marijuana are ever shown to be beneficial to treat any illness then those components can and should be delivered by nontoxic routes of administration in controlled doses just all other medicines are in the U.S. 

In order for physicians to fulfill their professional obligations to patients, and in order for patients to be offered the high standard of medical care that we have come to expect in the United States, cannabis-based products must meet the same exacting standards that we apply to other prescription medicines.  Members of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) are physicians first and experts in addiction medicine with knowledge specific to the risks associated with the use of substances with high abuse potential.  ASAM must stand strongly behind the standard that any clinical use of a controlled substance must meet high standards to protect the patient and the public; the approval of “medical marijuana” does not meet this standard.

Recommendations

1. ASAM asserts that cannabis, cannabis-based products, and cannabis delivery devices should be subject to the same standards that are applicable to other prescription medications and medical devices and that these products should not be distributed or otherwise provided to patients unless and until such products or devices have received marketing approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

2. ASAM rejects smoking as a means of drug delivery since it is not safe.

3. ASAM recognizes the supremacy of federal regulatory standards for drug approval and distribution.  ASAM recognizes that states can enact limitations that are more restrictive but rejects the concept that states could enact more permissive regulatory standards.  ASAM discourages state interference in the federal medication approval process. 

4. ASAM rejects a process whereby State and local ballot initiatives approve medicines because these initiatives are being decided by individuals not qualified to make such decisions (based upon a careful science-based review of safety and efficacy, standardization and formulation for dosing, or provide a means for a regulated, closed system of distribution for marijuana which is a CNS drug with abuse potential). 

5. ASAM recommends its members and other physician organizations and their members reject responsibility for providing access to cannabis and cannabis-based products until such time that these materials receive marketing approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

6. ASAM asserts that physician organizations operating in states where physicians are placed in the gate-keeping role have an obligation to help licensing authorities assure that physicians who choose to discuss the medical use of cannabis and cannabis-based products with patients:
• Adhere to the established professional tenets of proper patient care, including
o History and good faith examination of the patient;
o Development of a treatment plan with objectives;
o Provision of informed consent, including discussion of side effects;
o Periodic review of the treatment’s efficacy;
o Consultation, as necessary; and
o Proper record keeping that supports the decision to recommend the use of cannabis
• Have a bona fide physician-patient relationship with the patient, i.e., should have a pre-existing and ongoing relationship with the patient as a treating physician;

• Ensure that the issuance of “recommendations” is not a disproportionately large (or even exclusive) aspect of their practice;

• Not issue a recommendation unless the physician has adequate information regarding the composition and dose of the cannabis product;

• Have adequate training in identifying substance abuse and addiction .

 

 

via asam.org

Posted via email from Recovery Is Sexy's posterous

The Spiritual Dozen

Am I a spiritual being or a human being

Becoming a spiritual being is synonymous with becoming a miracle worker and knowing the bliss of real magic. A spiritual being has a conscious awareness of both the physical and the invisible dimension, while the non-spiritual being is only aware of the physical domain. Here are a dozen beliefs for you to cultivate in order to manifest miracles in your life.

• The non-spiritual being believes that if you cannot see, touch, smell, hear, or taste something, then it simply doesn’t exist. The spiritual being knows that beyond the physical senses, there are other senses available to us. He knows that the soul is beyond limits and defies birth and death.
• The non-spiritual being accepts the existence of a God, not as a force within us but as a separate power. The spiritual being uses his own divine guidance to become a miracle maker.
• The non-spiritual being is focused on external power. The spiritual being is focused on personal empowerment and helping others live in harmony. A mind at peace and centred, is stronger than any physical force in the universe.
• The non-spiritual being feels separated and distinct from all others, a being unto himself. The spiritual being knows that he is connected to all others. Then, the need for conflict and confrontation is eliminated.
• The non-spiritual being believes in a cause/effect interpretation of life. The spiritual being knows that there is a higher power working in the universe.
• The non-spiritual being is motivated by acquisitions. The spiritual being believes the measure of a life is in what is given to others.
• The non-spiritual being has no room for meditation. The spiritual being knows in deep meditation one can leave the body and enter a sphere of magic.
• For the non-spiritual being, the concept of intuition can be reduced to a hunch. For the spiritual being, intuition is guidance and is never taken lightly.
• The non-spiritual being knows what he hates but, in order to manifest miracles, the spiritual being works on what he is, rather than fighting what he is against. Real magic occurs when you have eliminated the hatred in your life, even the hatred that you have against hatred.
• The non-spiritual person feels no sense of responsibility to the universe. The spiritual being has a reverence for life that goes to the essence of all beings.
• The non-spiritual being is laden with grudges and the need for revenge. The spiritual being has no room for these impediments to miracle making. All religions preach forgiveness. One cannot profess to be a member of a particular faith, and then behave in ways inconsistent with its teachings.
• The non-spiritual being views miracles as random happenings but the spiritual being believes in them, and in his ability to experience a world of magic. He believes the forces that have created miracles are still present in the universe and can be tapped into.

Excerpt from Real Magic (William Morrow & Company Inc) by Dr Wayne Dyer. Dr Dyer, based in the US, has a doctorate in counselling psychology, and is a well-known speaker and author. Featured in Harmony Magazine, July 2005.

Related articles

• We Agnostics (recoveryissexy.com)
• AA and Spirituality (twelvestepfacilitation.com)
• The effects of spirituality in Alcoholics Anonymous on alcohol dependence (alcoholismcoach.com)
• Meetings + Spirituality = Recovery (recoveryissexy.com)

Denial Makes the World Go Round :Recovery Is Sexy.com

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I “Heart” Chocolate

Image via WikipediaI “Heart” Chocolate

With Valentine’s Day today, many women will soon be opening heart-shaped boxes of chocolate. This sweet indulgence is a once-a-year splurge for many women. But this customary gift may tell that special woman in your life that you love her, and her heart.

Chocolate has been consumed for centuries, often used as a food staple, medicine, and an offering in religious ceremonies. Chocolate has been the topic of numerous literary works, as well as involved in countless crimes (culinary and otherwise). Chocolate has impacted religion, economics, and culture throughout the world. And now, evidence shows it is a heart-healthy treat.

Full story at - I “Heart” Chocolate | Brain Blogger

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• Chocolate is so Good (recoveryissexy.com)
• 5 Ways of Flirting (recoveryissexy.com)
• Heart of Serenity (recoveryissexy.com)
• Happiness Comes Cheap (recoveryissexy.com)

Portugal's drug policy pays off; US eyes lessons

via foxnews.com

LISBON, Portugal – These days, Casal Ventoso is an ordinary blue-collar community — mothers push baby strollers, men smoke outside cafes, buses chug up and down the cobbled main street. Ten years ago, the Lisbon neighborhood was a hellhole, a "drug supermarket" where some 5,000 users lined up every day to buy heroin and sneak into a hillside honeycomb of derelict housing to shoot up. In dark, stinking corners, addicts — some with maggots squirming under track marks — staggered between the occasional corpse, scavenging used, bloody needles. At that time, Portugal, like the junkies of Casal Ventoso, had hit rock bottom: An estimated 100,000 people — an astonishing 1 percent of its population — were addicted to illegal drugs. So, like anyone with little to lose, the Portuguese took a risky leap: They decriminalized the use of all drugs in a groundbreaking law in 2000. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/12/26/portugals-drug-policy-pays-eyes-lesso...

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Al-anon MP3 Podcasts

An official Al-anon MP3 website

For over 55 years, Al-Anon (which includes Alateen for younger members) has been offering strength and hope for friends and families of problem drinkers. It is estimated that each alcoholic affects the lives of at least four other people... alcoholism is truly a family disease. No matter what relationship you have with an alcoholic, whether they are still drinking or not, all who have been affected by someone else’s drinking can find solutions that lead to serenity in the Al-Anon/Alateen fellowship.
New Podcast website
Welcome to “First Steps to Al-Anon Recovery” from Al-Anon Family Groups. This is a series of podcasts to discuss some common concerns for people who have been affected by someone else’s drinking.
Drinking During the Holidays
Janie, Ernie, and Frances are with us today. All are active Al-Anon members. They are willing to talk about how Al-Anon helped them deal with drinking during the holidays.
New to Al-anon
Renee, Paula, Dick, and Edith are with us today. All are active Al-Anon members. They are willing to talk about what they wish they knew before they came to their first Al-Anon meeting.

MP3 Podcasts at Al-anon First Steps 

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• Detachment from Emotion (recoveryissexy.com)
• Children and Alcoholic Family Roles (recoveryissexy.com)
• The Healthy Family (recoveryissexy.com)
• 
  

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Healthy Sexuality for Co-dependents

Image via Wikipedia

Many areas of our life need healing.

One important part of our life is our sexuality. Our feelings and beliefs about our sexuality, our ability to nurture, cherish, and enjoy our sexuality, our ability to respect ourselves sexually, our ability to let go of sexual shame and confusion, may all be impaired or confused by our co-dependency.

Our sexual energy may be blocked. Or for some of us, sex may be the only way we learned to connect with people. Our sexuality may not be connected to the rest of us; sex may not be connected to love - for others or ourselves.

Some of us were sexually abused as children. Some of us may have gotten involved in sexuality addictive behaviors - compulsive sexual behaviors that got out of control and produced shame.

Some of us may have gotten involved in sexual co-dependency: not paying attention to what we wanted, or didn't want, sexually; allowing ourselves to get involved sexually because it was what the other person wanted; shutting off our sexuality along with our other feelings; denying ourselves healthy enjoyment of ourselves as sexual beings.

Our sexuality is a part of ourselves that deserves healing attention and energy. It is a part of us that we can allow to become connected to the whole of us; it is a part of us that we can stop being ashamed of.

It is okay and healthy to allow our sexual energy to open up and become healed. It is connected to our creativity and to our heart. We do not have to allow our sexual energy to control our relationships or us. We can establish and maintain healthy, appropriate boundaries around our sexuality. We can discover what that means in our life.

We can enjoy the gift of being human beings who have been given the gift of sexual energy, without abusing or discounting that gift.

Today, I will begin to integrate my sexuality into the rest of my personality. God, help me let go of my fears and shame around my sexuality. Show me the issues I need to face concerning my sexuality. Help me open myself to healing in that area of my life.

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990

Buy today >> The Language of Letting Go

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Online Community for People in Recovery

Hazelden: New 'Sober24' Online Community for People in Recovery.

See full details at Recovery Is Sexy

See also

• A Gentle Path Through the Twelve Steps
• Understanding Co-Dependency
• Compulsive Overeater - A Recovery Book

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Recovery Programs can Help Teen and Adolescent Addicts

Recovery Programs can Help Teen and Adolescent Addicts

Information about Addiction Recovery for Teens and Young Adults

Information about Addiction Recovery for Teens and Young Adults