Many patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) have significant medical and psychiatric problems. SUDs can cause or worsen numerous health conditions related to the central nervous system (e.g., impaired memory or seizures), digestive system (e.g., ...

Of considerable concern, particularly to general or acute care hospitals, are patients who are high medical service utilizers (HMSUs), particularly those admitted for withdrawal management (i.e., detoxification). Staff complain that they see these people—who they ...

One of my favorite songs from the 1960s is “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy),” originally released by Simon and Garfunkel in 1966. I was mesmerized by the lyrics, which I still sing daily ...

Dear Dr. Toni,I’m a recovering love addict and per my program took a year off from dating. I went online with a dating service and have been really shocked at how quickly men expect you ...

In this issue of Counselor, a forty-year veteran in addiction treatment sounds a sobering alarm. On page 22, Robert “Bob” Lynn, EdD, concludes that our field faces a crisis in credibility.An “independent researcher, professor, and ...

Resilient qualities are not only what we are born with, but also the strengths that we build through encountering life’s challenges and developing the personal and interpersonal skills to meet them. The idea of growth ...

After years of continuous recovery from heroin addiction, Daryll had dental surgery and received prescription opioids for postsurgery pain. His addiction was reignited after several days of using the drug.Beth, addicted to methamphetamine, developed “meth ...

I believe that the development and three subsequent revisions of The ASAM Criteria (Mee-Lee et al., 2013), along with motivational interviewing (MI) and medication-assisted treatment (MAT), have made the greatest contributions to assessment and placement ...

Overwhelment occurs when we experience severe overload to the point where we feel mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually depleted. While the adage that “God never gives us more than we can handle” may hold true, ...

Dear Dr. Galardi,I’m a therapist at a residential treatment facility. What I’m writing you about is very difficult for me to talk about to anyone because it involves someone else with great visibility. I’ve been ...