In late February the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a government agency dedicated to studying addiction, published a free resource on what to ask when looking into addiction treatment programs. This short booklet, which can be viewed online or downloaded for free, lists 5 questions to ask any addiction treatment provider you are considering … Read more
Recently a colleague alerted me to an article in the Chicago Tribune about CRAFT (Community Reinforcement and Family Training). A few months back I wrote a blog post about CRAFT that described the research support and basic ideas of the treatment. Briefly, CRAFT teaches family members with loved ones with addictions how to non-confrontationally change … Read more
A couple weeks back I was perusing the news on the internet when I came across an interesting story and really cool idea in addictions research. Researchers at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute in Roanoke, Virginia have created a National Quit & Recovery Registry. To better understand how people quit using drugs and alcohol, … Read more
Changing a habit is hard. Anyone who has tried to change their eating habits, quit smoking, start an exercise program, or stop drinking or using drugs can tell you how difficult it can be at times to change old habits. In my last post I discussed how slipping (i.e., falling back into an old habit) … Read more
If you’ve ever tried to change your diet, you’ve probably experienced a situation like the following: You’re committed to pursuing a healthy lifestyle and as part of that commitment you’ve decided to reduce the amount of processed sugar you eat. It’s been tough, but over several weeks you’ve steadily decreased it. Then, you’re invited to … Read more
