Addiction Professional articles from March 2008

Addiction Professional archives from March 2008

An unhealthy celebrity obsession?(Letter From the Editor)
March 1, 2008... Can a television show educate viewers about addiction, treatment, and recovery when it features celebrities ranging from a former professional wrestler to a past star of adult films? The eight-episode run of VH1's Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew...

Could alcohol follow the path of tobacco?(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... In reading Carlton K. Erickson, PhD's commentary "Let's Keep Up the Pressure Against Tobacco" (September/October 2007 issue), I concur with his observations. There should be no reluctance to link cigarette use with substance abuse. Their...

Music resonates with professionals.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... In your November 2007 Letter From the Editor, you asked about the use of music in treatment processes, which is something Exponents has been doing for years. We begin all of our groups with a few minutes of dancing--what we call...

Article offered wake-up call for counselors.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... The outstanding article "A Profession in Peril" by Kristin L. Milne-Glasser in the July/August 2007 issue is a must-read for every person working in the treatment field, and for every student attending training courses. It also would behoove...

The changing face of older-adult addiction: Baby Boomers are bringing multiple challenges to the treatment milieu.(Feature)(Cover story)
March 1, 2008... Every hour, thousands of leading-edge Baby Boomers turn 61. By 2030, 33.5% of the U.S. population will be 55 and older. The "Youth Generation," those born between 1946 and 1964, is aging, and with this age wave comes a surge in older-adult...

Medication and more: an innovative private practice finds an effective balance of Suboxone and support for opiate addicts.
March 1, 2008... The circumstances that bring Vermonters with opiate addiction to the doors of Synergy Counseling Group's clinics in Montpelier and South Burlington all differ to some degree. Some are longtime heroin users who have attended a more conventional...

Treating the whole man: relational approaches originating in women's treatment can enrich men's recovery experience.
March 1, 2008... The purpose of this article is to begin a more deliberate dialogue about men's issues in addiction treatment and recovery. Current models fail to address the relational needs of men; fall short of adequately addressing the impact of abuse and...

Evaluating programs for impaired driving: more effective tools are arriving to measure change in the DWI population.(Feature)
March 1, 2008... In the years spanning 1997 to 2006 (the latter being the most recent year for which data are available), there were more alcohol-related fatal crashes in 2006 (17,749) than in any of the other years. (1) Also in 2006, 4,434 pedestrians (14 or...

Ethical standards in a practice setting: respecting boundaries in the broadest sense holds the key to humane treatment.(Feature)
March 1, 2008... The media is rife with examples of boundary violations toward patients and families in the arena of addiction treatment. We need look no further than Dr. Phil's "Al-Anon relapse" with Britney Spears to see the effect of offering patients or...

Clergy's pivotal role in helping children: faith leaders and counselors should partner to help children of addicted parents.
March 1, 2008... Our society treasures children and, in many ways, takes a communal responsibility for nurturing, supporting, and protecting them. For example, we try to protect children from family violence, inoculate them against infectious diseases, and...

Programs could use some coaching: recovery coaches can offer an effective adjunct to treatment.(Feature)
March 1, 2008... It takes time and requires patience for any new idea to become integrated effectively into an existing culture. Recovery coaching is a relatively new idea. It is just beginning to gain serious traction, showing strong signs of being much more...

When anxiety and addiction intersect.(Road to Recovery)
March 1, 2008... Like depression, anxiety has a complicated relationship with addiction. A drug lifestyle often involves illegal activities, mistrust, and suspicion, which certainly could be a causal factor in anxiety. In other cases, anxiety could be a causal...

Addictions, mental health must join forces.(Advocacy)
March 1, 2008... There are both shared and distinctly different policy and practice issues regarding mental health and alcohol and drug addiction treatment services. Longstanding barriers to uniting addiction and mental health services range from the historical...

Father Martin's Ashley.(Environments for Recovery)(Organization overview)
March 1, 2008... If one word could capture what Father Martin's Ashley seeks to convey with the design of its stately campus on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay, "continuity" might come the closest. From the acquisition of the same granite used to construct...

Continuing education quiz.
March 1, 2008... Earn continuing education credits by taking this quiz on the article that begins on page 12 of this issue. A grade of 70% or above will earn you a certificate of completion for two nationally certified continuing education hours. This is an...

A testing professional earns parental approval.(Drug Testing)
March 1, 2008... Total Diagnostic Services (TDS) Inc. couldn't have a more appropriate name considering all it has experienced in the drug testing arena since its establishment in 1980. The Livonia, Michigan, company worked with laboratories on the diagnostics...