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Yearly Archives: 2013

Gratitude

Making a daily gratitude list was a critical part of my early recovery. I finally found a sponsor who had what I wanted. Before I was actually ready to work with a sponsor, I spent about a year “working” with people who did not have what I wanted, and with whom I did not really … Read More

Real Beauty

Last week, preparing to fly to Atlanta to give a talk on co-occurring eating disorders and substance abuse, my husband approached me after my morning meditation/prayer time. I was sitting on the floor, unshowered, no makeup, full strength coffee breath, wearing sweat pants and a hoodie with my meditation candle still burning in the background. … Read More

Avoiding Avoidance

I’m at a conference today about Binge Eating Disorder at Ruffled Feathers golf club in Lemont, IL. I spoke, along with other team members, about Binge Eating Disorder and Food Addiction. This place has profound meaning to me. The very first sponsor I summoned up the courage to do a 5th step (Admitted to God, … Read More

The “functional” addict

One of my favorite things to talk about with patients is their perspectives on functional alcoholism or addiction — whether in their own selves, their parents, or others in authority such as bosses, or the President. I ask with a curious mind, what is the definition of functional? Most people define functional as the ability … Read More

The Dangers of Ignoring Mental Health & Addiction History in Prescribing Opiates to Women

According to a CDC report released earlier this month, 6,631 women died of opioid overdoses in 2010, five times more than a decade ago. The rate surpassed the increase seen in men over the same time period. In a NY Times article about the study, researchers hypothesized that it might be because conditions associated with chronic pain, … Read More