Helpful Passages

          Helpful passages for the path to  freedom from addiction

(For help with a drug or alcohol addiction, please call 1-800-513-5423 or visit our website http://drugrehabservices.com/  )

                                           

Ephesians 5:18-20 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;”

Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

James 1:12-15 “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”

John 8:36 - If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

1 Peter 5:10 - But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

James 1:12-15 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

1 Peter 5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Matthew 5:13-16  “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Rom 12:2, cf. 2 Cor 3:18)

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor 10:13, cf. Jas 1:12, 4:7)

Be Yourself

Be Yourself 

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make your something else, is the greatest accomplishment. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

                   
                                                    AudioSlave Be Yourself Video

Advice from Parents of Teen Drug Addicts

          Advice from Parents of Teen Drug Addicts

By the time their teen has entered treatment for their drug addiction, most parents have been through some really horrible and trying times. Most parents worry about grades, or car, or college choices , but a parent of an addict constantly will worry if their child will even live long enough to be able to drive.

What did I do wrong? What could I have done differently? Although every situation is different, counselors have spoken with so many parents over time that they have learned some of the answers to many of the questions parents of addicts have.

“I tried to believe the things he would tell me” is a common thing heard from parents. Addicts often lie about many things, even small, trivial things. An example from one father was, “I would ask her, ‘Did you take the trash out?’ and she would even lie about that. ‘Did you clean your room?’ and she would lie to me again. ‘Who are you spending the night with?’ and she’d lie. ‘Are you using drugs again?’ and she would lie. I’m not an ignorant person, but she is my little girl, and I wanted to believe her.”

Parents reach a certain point where they can't handle it anymore. They will stop letting their kids run over them and they will assume the role, once again, of parent. This is when true healing begins.

“I should have had more rules and been more strict on him.” Parents will often regret not helping their teen make choices regarding sexual encounters, or drinking at parties. They may not have realized that their child was facing a totally different, more dangerous culture than the one of their own youths. They believed in giving children freedom and choices. Now they wish that they had given their child more guidance and information about the dangers of drug use. They wish they had implemented more rules and curfews.


If the parents are divorced, then they will often believe the divorce caused their teenager's drug problem. “She didn't have her mom at her school play” or “He did not have Dad to watch his football games” are some of the situations brought up to counselors during therapy.

“I didn't spend enough time with him when he was growing up.” Many parents feel that their job, or adult friendships took up too much time away from their children and this is what may have contributed to the teen's drug abuse. They regret that they were too busy to notice what was happening to their child.

“We let our child’s situation become desperate.” Parents of addicted teens, will often regret that they let the situation get out of control for fear of upsetting their child and making them either leave or rn away. By not taking control of the situation, this caused the child to get more out of control.


Parents of addicted teens all have different stories to tell. They all love their children very much and know what is it like to go through it. If your child is in need of substance abuse treatment, please contact us 1-800-513-5423 http://drugrehabservices.com/

Intervention Information

 Intervention Information

What pressures does the addict feel now?

 The addict doesn’t necessarily have the same reality about their addiction that non-addicts might. For instance, he/she may have semi serious health problems/no friends and no job or income but feel like they are “doing ok”. Many addicts have actually overdosed on drugs coming very close to death and are right back using drugs the very next day. This may appear crazy, but in fact this is only part of the pain for the addict. With this in mind, the addict from time to time will encounter added pressure, which forces them to make an actual decision about whether to seek help or continue to use. Pending legal charges that could easily lead to jail time, threat of losing spouse, pending loss of job, all are possible situations where a person has enough pressure to fight the addiction and seek help. Although any one in particular may not work in your situation, there are pressures that can come to bear which will help prod the addict into a decision to seek help. It is easy to assume the addict is “only seeking help to avoid jail” or some other evaluation which in many cases is true. The fact remains that an addict will only seek help when some one or some thing pushes him out of his “ addiction comfort zone” and forces him into a decision. Very few addicts with access to money, a place to live, people who agree with his usage and no legal issues seek help. They “don’t have a problem”. This is very important to understand and will be crucial in any attempt at
intervention

What is the ruin of the addict ?

 The addict has things in his/her past or present that seems like a devastating event and which has something to do with drugs. One example is a person that has lost his best friends due to his addiction. Another example is a person losing his wife and child over drug abuse. A family member can look at an addict’s life and see hundreds of reasons he/she should quit using but unfortunately these reasons are not REAL to the addict. There are, however, problems the addict encounters that are real or significant in the addicts life, which he/she sees as a reason to quit using drugs. These are important to identify because they can be used during the intervention to
remind the addict why he/she must seek help.

Who should be there?

 One of the major considerations involving intervention is selecting who will be there. This matter should be well thought out before hand. The number of people there is less important than who is there. If at all possible, the person in the family whom the addict respects the most should be there. This person is an opinion leader to the addict and needs to be there fully supportive of getting the person help and informed
well about the actual agenda. As many family members as possible should be there as long as each and every one are completely in agreement about the fact that the person needs help and supportive of the general agenda. If someone in the family is antagonistic against the addict and is not capable of restraining themselves from arguments and blame then you might consider leaving them out. Usually, the addict has many enemies and has done wrong to most of the family but arguments and in turbulation will not benefit the cause of getting the addict to seek treatment and in fact will usually result in stopping this from happening because the focus of attention gets placed on the argument and not on the matters at hand. Many people hire professional intervention counselors to run the intervention. This is advisable in many situations but not a necessity in most. This depends largely on individual circumstances. For instance, does the person have pending legal issues, external pressures etc. or does the person deny completely any drug usage. These type factors need to be considered intensely before bringing in an outside person. You may want to seek help in establishing who should be present at the intervention because it is a crucial factor

When is the appropriate time?

 When does the intervention take place? Ideally, this has less to do with the family schedule and more to do with what’s going on in the addict’s life. The optimum time for an intervention is just after a major event. Such an event would be if they arrested, or when he/she has wronged (lied, stolen, cheated etc.) a family member and shows remorse or guilt. Another would be spouse leaving. Yet another would be after an overdose. Although you obviously don’t want to risk the addict’s life by postponing forever, an intervention will be exponentially more effective after such events when the addict is down and feels like his/her world is coming to an end. Even in the absence of these situations, an intervention can be successful especially if the family is close to the addict daily so that every little situation is known. An addict’s life is a major roller coaster and the only way an addict can deny their problem is to successfully hide these problems from those who love him. A major consideration should be when the addict is sober. In the case of cocaine, meth- amphetamine etc. this should be in the morning after the addict has slept. In the case of heroin or methadone or opiate type drugs, it will be when they are withdrawing and not high. In either case attempting an intervention while a person is extremely high will usually not be productive because the addict can not see many of their problems and their attention will fixed elsewhere. In general, the timing of the intervention is crucial and needs planning but
at the same time an addict’s life is very unstable so opportunities present themselves reasonably frequently

What is the general language or message ?

 The tone should be concern. The intention should be clear. It should be unwavering. “ We love you, we’ve always loved you, we’ll never stop loving you but we’re not willing to watch you kill yourself with drugs”. The family should definitely express concern but not sympathize with the addict. Sympathy is a form of agreement and can back fire by justifying the addiction. Without any anger or fear, the addict should “get” from every one present that the situation is known and that he/she needs treatment. Don’t allow stories of family problems and life’s troubles sway the attention off the point that the addict has a problem and needs to seek help fixing it. This  is where the family’s preparation pays off.

What is Plan B ?

 An intervention with proper planning and carried out correctly will result many times in an addict agreeing to receive help. But you must accept the fact that ultimately the addict may for whatever reason say “NO”. This scenario needs to be thought out in advance so that the family consistently moves to the proverbial –plan B. If for what ever reason the intervention fails, the addict is still an addict and statistically the situation will likely get worse not better, so what is the action taken by the family at this point? The family knows the
person is addicted and the addict has been confronted with this fact so whatever message the family gives the addict at this point is critical. By refusing to seek treatment the addict in general is saying to the family “ I want to continue to use drugs. I want to continue the families suffering. I want to control my own life. ”The family will in turn answer with every word and action taken. If the
family says " I understand. Please leave and don't expect any money or support in any way unless you decide to get help." then the addict is left to run his/her life which they generally do not have the ability to do, and before long you have a person who "DECIDES" that treatment is the best thing and calls saying just that. If on the other hand the family sort of acts disappointed and carries on as usual, then the addict gets the message that it is OK to continue this life style and will put up even more resistance to intervention in the future having bested the intervention team previously. Obviously, there are certain risks involved with either approach and should be evaluated clearly before hand. One thing is certain, as long as the addict continues to use, they risk the only one thing they have; their life. The bottom line is that an addict needs to decide, for whatever reason, that they need help. Most " locked down " approaches fail because the addict is
not part of the recovery. The only way an addict can usually fight against the addiction is when enough external pressure is applied to cause them to decide to quit. Many call this "the bottom". However, there can be many bottoms. Obviously some are lower than others, but each can make a person quit drugs. It just depends on what happens when the person is there. For instance a person is facing serious charges and is very scared. The person will either have an intervention and go to treatment or will get through this situation and be back out using. In the final analysis, it is often the family who both spots the incident and uses it to achieve treatment, or misses and waits. 

Freedom From Addiction

                           Freedom From Addiction

Be Real

BE REAL

In this time in your life
Look, see with acute, aware eyes
What the devil will try to disguise,
He quells your fears and worries 
on the leaves of a plant,
And your mind will slowly begin to recant.
He embraces you with the nectar of Ambrose
In a falsely induced state of repose.
Your mind slowly loses its thought
Your senses blur and swirl in a blot
And evil entities come to steal your will 
They enter your thoughts in the shape of a pill.
Sometimes liquid, sometimes smoke,
Your feelings are becoming more and more remote.
Then one day you wake up and kind of can tell
That the feelings you ran from then
Would now serve you well.

You can't even feel laughter, sadness or joy on your own
You're blank and a corpse unless you get stoned.
You serve the chemical - you're under a spell.
The Liar trapped you in his drug-dependent hell.
Your Creator is still willing to bring you back
and ransom your mind from the cobwebs of crack.
There's a war waged in the heavens for your eternal soul
Your mind is the door through which it must go.
The only way to regain your life is to lose IT 
and let those feelings return.
Your life is a lesson you have to learn.
Your mind is designed for feelings, ideas prayers and love.
Engineered and exquisitely passioned by your Maker above.
It can't be improved by upsetting its chemistry....
The way it is - is the way it's meant to be. 
So be mad, sad, glad, afraid, brave, content.....
But however you feel.....Be real, be real, be real. 

When Do You Give Up on an Addict?

 When Do You Give Up on an Addict?
 
 Many addicts have gone through treatment in some form or another. The addict is told that they didn't work the program and this is why they have relapsed. The reason that an addict relapses is the program didn't work for them or they were not ready for treatment. 

 Most programs have extended aftercare programs that they offer once you have completed their program. This option is not for everyone as most people have their jobs or family to get back to. But for those who need a lifestyle change this option for the treatment of addiction is the best answer to treat the addiction. Intensive out-patient and sober living give the transition that the Addict needs in order to remain drug free. Most Drug Treatment programs have this option and we highly recommend this to our clients. It is very easy to stay clean and sober in a Treatment Program for Drugs and Alcohol  once you finish it takes some work and support to remain that way. 

 There is no quick fix for Addiction sometimes it can take years to fully overcome and not think about your Drug Of Choice. This is where good friends and support come in everyone needs a checks and balance support group weather you are an addict or not. 

Five Helpful Ways to Support Your Spouse in Recovery

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Five Helpful Ways to Support Your Spouse in Recovery

When your partner is struggling with alcoholism or drug addiction, it can become very stressful on you as well. Drug and alcohol rehabilitation is one step in the right direction, but recovering from addiction will have its own hardships as well. A tough time is ahead even in total sobriety. A typical question that a spouse may have is “How can I support my husband/wife in their recovery from addiction?” Here are Five helpful ways that you can offer your support to them.

1. Allow Them to Follow their Program
   First and foremost, you have to understand that for a while, it is necessary for your loved one put their sobriety first in their life. This can cause some spouses to feel jealous or left out, as their spouse goes to meetings and begins to meet new friends. Do not become jealous! Recovery is a long process and in the beginning, it needs to come first over anything else. Understand that you have to let them follow their program, be with a sponsor or counselor, and attend all of the meetings. You must be supportive in this. Try not to be too involved. This can have a negative response in the beginning of treatment. If your partner wants to share with you any information about how things are going in their program, they will. If they do not want to share things about how their meeting went, or what they talked about with a counselor, don’t take it personal, just continue to give your support and encourage them as they follow their program.
2. Take Care of Yourself
   It is understandable that you are hurting from your partner's substance abuse as well. The alcohol and drug rehab program will help you and your family by providing workshops, educational/emotional support and therapy for families.. As your loved one follows their program, you too will have to take care of yourself. Sadly, in most families where drug abuse is happening, family dysfunction, unhealthy roles and boundaries have been already been established. By getting help for yourself, you can learn to re-create the healthy boundaries and establish the new roles of you and your spouse. 
3. Find your Common Ground and Build on it
   It does take time to build trust real back. It will take time to heal those wounds. As you spend more time doing things together, it will act as an ointment towards these past hurts. Find a something, in your life that you and your spouse in can enjoy together in their recovery. Plan a night each week as a type of date night. Go out to dinner and see a movie. If you have kids, find common ground activities that you can all be involved in together as a family. Once you begin to enjoy these new life experiences with your spouse, it can help with the adjustments that come with addiction recovery. In time, it will help to heal past wounds and hardships.
4. Do Not Blame Yourself
   There is one thing you will learn is how to handle your own emotions when it comes to your spouse's drug addiction recovery. You can’t take everything personally, because this will cause you to be be faced with even more problems in the recovery process. Your relationship will most certainly change to some extent, with a sober spouse. In the future, there may be a few set backs, but you should never take the blame for any of these situations. Your partner’s recovery does involve you, but their sobriety is totally about them. When bad things begin to happen, or the old habits and even during a relapse, you have to understand the nature of the addiction. This is not your fault. Continue to try to support them and encourage them to get the proper help they need.
5. Be Patient 
   Your spouse may not become the person you were expecting them to be right away. Treatment takes time. Recovery takes time. Your patience can be the key. It might be a long process before they start to live up to your expectations. There can be a bit of an adjustment phase to go through after they have completed alcohol or drug rehabilitation. This can be frustrating. Please be patient with them. You will be moving at different paces when it comes to the recovery process and with your relationship. Be patient. 

Substance Abuse Stats.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) National Survey on Drug Use and Health,1 23.5 million persons aged 12 or older needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol abuse problem in 2009 (9.3 percent of persons aged 12 or older). Of these, only 2.6 million—11.2 percent of those who needed treatment—received it at a specialty facility.

SAMHSA also reports characteristics of admissions and discharges from substance abuse treatment facilities* in its Treatment Episode Data Set2 (TEDS). According to TEDS, there were 1.8 million admissions in 2008 for treatment of alcohol and drug abuse to facilities that report to State administrative data systems. Most treatment admissions (41.4 percent) involved alcohol abuse. Heroin and other opiates accounted for the largest percentage of drug-related admissions (20.0 percent), followed by marijuana (17.0 percent).

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