Ken Burns' Prohibition documentary has provoked a lot of discussion about the motives, wisdom and lessons of prohibition. I haven't seen the film, so I don't know what it did or did not cover. One bit of history that I never hear mentioned is the patterns of alcohol consumption in the 1800s. The following passage … Continue reading A new republic on a binge
Author: Jason Schwartz
I have been an addiction professional and social worker since 1994. I started blogging in 2005 as the Clinical Director at Dawn Farm. I currently serve as the Director of Social Work and Spiritual Care for a healthcare system. I've also served as the Director of Behavioral Health at another hospital. I'm also a lecturer at Eastern Michigan University’s School of Social Work.
Views expressed here are my own.
Keep in mind that the field, the contexts in which the field operates, and my views have changed over time.
Sentences to ponder
Nearly half of all the cigarettes sold in the U.S. are smoked by people with a serious mental illness, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2000. (Source)
Rethinking confrontation
A repost from 4 years ago: I posted on this when it came out, but Bill White and Bill Miller recently published an article on confrontation that was just made available on the Counselor Magazine website. It makes a terrific point on confrontation as a therapeutic goal in contrast to confrontation as a therapeutic style: … Continue reading Rethinking confrontation
grateful
You might look inside yourself and think you know yourself, but over many decades you can change in ways you won’t see ahead of time. Don’t assume you know who you will become. This applies all the more to folks around you. You may know who they are now, but not who they will become. … Continue reading grateful
Transformation of the Culture of Recovery in America by William L. White
From the Dawn Farm Education Series:
The History of Gay People in AA
Earlier this week, we had the pleasure of a visit and presentation from Bill White (video will be posted later). His talk covered the history of the recovering community in the U.S. While he didn't discuss it, his talk made me think about the history of gay people in AA. So . . . here's … Continue reading The History of Gay People in AA
binge drinking=binge spending
Yikes: The CDC estimated excessive drinking cost society nearly $224 billion in 2006, the most recent year for which all necessary statistics were available. That worked out to about $1.90 per drink, 80 cents of which was spent by federal, state or local governments, the researchers estimated. The rest came from drinkers, their families, … Continue reading binge drinking=binge spending
Is alcohol dependence a chronic relapsing disorder?
To me, there's a lot in this article that intimates an ideological agenda, but it makes an important point. Insufficient attention has been paid to the entire distribution of those with alcohol dependence. We believe that a chronic relapsing disorder model is not a useful conception for understanding the experience of the majority of people … Continue reading Is alcohol dependence a chronic relapsing disorder?
Bill White
A sneak peak of tomorrow's Dawn Farm Education Series presentation: Recovery communities from David Clark on Vimeo.
Emotional terrorism
Chronic relapsers can be very intelligent and good with words. . . . It is important for treatment providers to box in chronic relapsers in order to disable their ability to manipulate with words. It has been established that chronic relapsers are treatment-savvy, tricky and highly manipulative. During treatment, it is essential to stay one … Continue reading Emotional terrorism
Recovery Review 