The major topic of this essay is “hermeneutics” as it applies to addiction counseling. Definition and aim What is “hermeneutics”? “Hermeneutics” can be defined as “the science of interpretation”.   It’s the knowledge about and methods for the task of interpreting.  Interpretive methods differ across different fields of thought.  Different hermeneutical methods are used to understand … Continue reading Comments on the Task of Interpreting

Disclaimer:  nothing in this post should be taken or held as clinical instruction, clinical supervision, or advisory concerning patient care.  In his 1916 article1 titled “Mourning and Melancholia” Sigmund Freud grappled with clarifying the differences between melancholy and mourning.  In his usage melancholy refers to what we would loosely call “depression” and mourning refers to … Continue reading Grief and Depression as Factors in Addiction Counseling

A few weeks ago, while I was reading in the psychoanalytic literature, I saw that Freud (1915) abbreviates the Conscious mind with the initials “CS” and the Unconscious mind with the initials “UCS”.  To me this seemed like much too much of a coincidence.  Why did it seem like a coincidence?  From my rather extensive … Continue reading Rescorla is to Pavlov as Semiotics is to Freud

In the first part of this article, I’ll note one particular barrier I have heard expressed about the idea of changing an addiction treatment campus to “tobacco-free” or to the idea of a tobacco-free model of care.  And then I’ll discuss a few responses to that barrier.  In the second part of the article, I’ll … Continue reading Our Unconscious Relationship with Tobacco

Can the presence of recovery, or the level of recovery function, be somehow detectable when it is unspoken and not overtly displayed? Can recovery be intuitively recognized or somehow felt in another person? Can recovery be intuitively recognized within an interpersonal space? Can recovery be present and sensed in the atmosphere? Sixth-sense, Spidey-sense, Radar When you walk into a room, do you ever pick up on any … Continue reading “Throw Flour On the Invisible Man”: Toward locating recovery function and assessing recovery quality

Beyond one’s personal recovery, what could the general idea of recovery be good for? To explore what the idea of recovery could be good for, I would like to separate the word “recovery” from its normal use (about people making personal changes in the face of addiction illness), and highlight some other benefits that could be found in the idea of … Continue reading Recovery: What Is It Good For?

Negative Space and Art In visual art, the area outside or around the main object is called “negative space”. For example, if one draws a deer and places the deer on an abstract background, the abstract background is termed “negative space”. In art, negative space is important. What should the negative space be made of? … Continue reading Negative space

Why consider the change process, and what is the application of the ideas I will present? Clinical addiction professionals are trained in sequential change (Stages of Change, 12 Steps, etc.) rather than continuously wholistic, organic and dynamic change processes.Should we always assume and work within a staged approach?Clinical addiction professionals are trained in symptom reduction … Continue reading The Change Process

Is the person that is speaking relatively known or relatively unknown to us?  Do we hear their words, or do we hear them (their person)? As we listen, how do we determine if we hear or neglect their words? As we listen, how do we determine if we hear or neglect their person? As we … Continue reading Is It Too Late to Ask, “What Is Empathy?”

My intent in this writing is to provide a fresh (if not unusual) perspective and provoke thought experiments for the reader.  My hope is that the reader will look for hints of relevance to our work, opportunities for improvement, and perhaps some more direct challenges. First, I will provide a quotation from Bill Evans that … Continue reading Reflections on “The Universal Mind of Bill Evans”