Mary Hynes, the CBC Radio host,  did a wonderful show earlier this year on spirituality in AA. More info here: CBC.ca | Tapestry | The God of Your Understanding: Religion in AA.

There is a nice interview with Rabbi Shais Taub, who styles himself “The Recovery Rabbi” and who gives a powerful Jewish perspective on the 12 Steps.

The program is available as a free podcast on iTunes (click on the link above and then look in the sidebar). This program was also broadcast on the Ideas program, also on CBC, and has become quite popular.

I first heard about the show from a non-AA friend of mine. He was fascinated by Carl Jung’s concept of “Spiritus contra Spiritum,” which was influential in the formation of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Pass it on!

–Jeff

Share with others...

Photo by Matt Carr/Getty Images North America

For people who go to meetings in those funky church basements and community centers in southern Callifornia, Paul Williams is a giant. Now, there’s a documentary about the almost-forgotten songwriter and comedian that I can’t wait to see. He is irreverent and inspiring.

Watch the trailer. Paul Williams Is Still Alive Documentary Trailer | Geekscape.

Here are some notes from Wikipedia. Paul Hamilton Williams, Jr.[1] (born September 19, 1940) is an Academy Award-winning American composer, musician, songwriter, and actor. He is perhaps best known for popular songs performed by a number of acts in the 1970s including Three Dog Night’s “An Old Fashioned Love Song”, Helen Reddy’s “You and Me Against the World”, and the Carpenters’ “We’ve Only Just Begun” and “Rainy Days and Mondays”, as well as his contributions to films such as “Evergreen” from A Star Is Born and “Rainbow Connection” from The Muppet Movie. He has also had a variety of acting roles in films such as the villainous Swan in Brian DePalma’s Phantom of the Paradise (which Williams also co-scored, receiving an Oscar nomination in the process), as well as television, theater, and voiceover work for animation.

–Jeff Jay
 

Share with others...

Actor and filmmaker Josh Leonard (“The Blair Witch Project”), in recovery for 13 years, credits the support of his family for saving his life. By being open about his addiction, he believes that he is taking power away from the disease.

This is a great testimonial on the power of family to take action and save someone’s life. Indeed, Josh makes this very point in this short and poignant video.

-Jeff Jay

Share with others...

Leigh Steinberg from USA Today – By Christopher Blumenshine, Getty Images for Mercedes Benz

Really great article in USA Today about the famous agent (and real-life Jerry McGuire) who has battled alcoholism for many years. Ex-super-agent Leigh Steinberg addresses his alcoholism, bankruptcy – USATODAY.com.

Although he is still shy of 2 years sober, as of this writing, his story is compelling. Money is the fuel of addiction and in the heady world of professional sports there’s plenty of fuel. For many people, wealth becomes a buttress against intervention, treatment and recovery. But this doesn’t have to be the case. If the most important people in the addicted person’s life will make common cause and set aside their own financial interests, intervention and treatment becomes possible. In this case, it appears that all the fuel had to be exhausted.

We wish Leigh well in his journey of recovery.

––Jeff Jay

Share with others...

courtesy of photostock

Families always ask me, “Why is my son an alcoholic?” This is a sticky subject. The answer is easy. He has an inherited disease and at one point the genetic switch was flipped. Folks don’t want to hear that answer. They will tell me that their son is depressed, that their daughter experienced a horrific trauma, their mother is always full of anxiety. If the question is being addressed during an intervention training then I reiterate that this is an inherited disease and that everything else is academic in the present. They can explore the believed causes of the addiction at treatment with professionals who understand the disease of addiction. I know that the treatment centers that we use provide the most up to date and accurate education for our clients. So it is better not to get sidetracked during a training and focus on what is important in the present and near future; getting their loved one into treatment.

If I am asked about underlying causes in my psychotherapy practice at Love First I am afforded the time to explain the disease of addiction to my clients. It is key that all family members understand that addiction is an inherited genetic disease. Debra Jay writes in No More Letting Go that although the disease is inherited, addicts are morally obligated to get help and manage their disease. Families are also obligated to learn and understand their role in supporting life time recovery. One area is not to intertwine other issues such as trauma or perceived mental health issues with the addiction. This may be counter to what families hear from other helping professionals, well minded friends, the media, and even some addiction treatment programs. I educate family members that their loved one may use to ease the pain of a trauma, but at some point, the genetic switch is tossed. It is no longer about the trauma. As an EMDR therapist I can help clients resolve the trauma. However with an addict who lives with trauma all I have done is fix one problem. The client is still an addict, now they use without the pain of trauma.

I have had many clients tell me, “I just wish I was crazy. Then there is a pill to fix me.” We know that when clients are off of ALL drugs that most symptoms related to mental health issues disappear. A pill will not fix an addict.

I do not want to minimize the existence of co-occurring mental health issues. Clients do experience anxiety, depression, bi-polar disorder, etc. These are real issues paralyzing millions of Americans. I want to stress that we cannot correctly assess the severity of the co-occurring issue until the alcoholic is clean or dried out for a significant amount of time. Then the appropriate therapies and treatments can be used to address those symptoms.

Treating addiction does not need to be messy and complicated. There exists a rich tradition of successful treatment that includes the 12 step fellowships. Families should work with interventionists and treatment facilities that talk about treating the disease of addiction. Follow their suggestions. During the aftercare process identify psychotherapists in your community who have a firm understanding of addiction. Make sure they are licensed professionals and hold certifications in addiction training. If they are at least master’s level clinicians then they have a strong foundation in mental health counseling. These clinicians understand the disease of addiction and the process of recovery.
 

Share with others...

The real title to this article is unfortunate, but still worth looking at: The 10 Best Colleges for Teetotalers. What you’ll find is a list of top schools with a party life that eschews getting schwaisted (i.e.: hammered). While it might not be a surprise to see Brigham Young on the list, Georgetown and Vassar also make the list. Interestingly, the schools that have dedicated “sober dorms” aren’t mentioned.

Thanks to Buddy T. at alcoholism.about.com for the heads-up.
 

Share with others...

Jeff Jay was a guest on the Eye on Addiction radio show, with host Joe Herzanek. The show was titled: “How do I intervene?” Jeff talked about the power of intervention, different methods for intervening and the ways family can plan and prepare for a successful intervention. He also discussed what to do when the addict finds out about the intervention in advance. The answer may surprise you.

To listen to this one-hour show, including questions from listeners, visit the Eye on Addiction website and check the show archives.

Eye on Addiction – listen now
 

Share with others...

Here is a question we received that we answered in our regular newspaper article…

Dear Jeff and Debra,

I have a running argument with my spouse about my drinking and I want you to help settle it. I have one glass of wine every day and only one glass. Very occasionally, I will have another glass of wine when out to dinner with friends on the weekends. My spouse thinks I drink too much, but I think I’m very moderate. Do you think my drinking is too heavy?

Mr. Moderate

Dear Moderate,

One of the most important pieces of information we need to answer your question is missing, and it’s one of the most important reasons that people mistake “healthy” or moderate drinking for unhealthy or heavy drinking. The question is: What’s the size of a standard drink? Let’s look at the numbers supplied by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

The following drinks are considered equal in the volume of alcohol delivered to the human body. 12 oz of regular beer = 8-9 oz of malt liquor = 5 oz of table wine = 3-4 oz of fortified wine (such as sherry or port) = 2-3 oz of cordial, liqueur, or aperitif = 1.5 oz of brandy(a single jigger or shot) = 1.5 oz shot of 80-proof spirits (hard liquor).

In most social situations, alcoholic beverages aren’t carefully measured, so unless the drink comes in a single-serving container, like a can of beer, it may be unclear how many “drinks” are being served in a single glass. If you have a large goblet of wine and call it a single glass, it may easily contain two drinks, or 10 oz of wine.

For men, at-risk or heavy drinking is defined as more than 4 drinks on any day or 14 per week. So, if you exceed 4 drinks on a given day, you’ve crossed into heavy drinking. If you exceed 14 drinks in a single week, you have also crossed into heavy drinking, though you may never have had four drinks in a single day. For women, the numbers are smaller, both because women tend to weigh less than men and because they metabolize alcohol differently. For women, heavy drinking is defined as more than 3 drinks on any day or 7 per week.

The question for Mister Moderation is: How big is your glass? If you’re only having one 5 oz glass of wine per night, you’re not a heavy drinker. But, if you use a larger goblet, your drinking may put you at risk.

Some people say that light drinking may be good for your heart, but balance that potential benefit against the risks of heavy drinking. These risks include liver disease, heart disease, sleep disorders, depression, stroke, bleeding from the stomach, sexually transmitted infections from unsafe sex, and several types of cancer. Heavy drinkers may also have problems managing diabetes, high blood pressure, and other conditions. Birth defects are a risk with heavy drinking, as is the increased chance of injuries from a variety of accidents.

Quite a rouges gallery of risk for a potential benefit that can also be delivered by grape juice.

If you’d like to delve into this discussion more deeply, the NIAAA has developed a new website called Rethinking Drinking. It doesn’t focus on alcoholism, but rather the risks of heavy drinking. It will also show you how to assess your own drinking pattern. If needed, valuable tips are provided on cutting back, or on finding help if you can’t. http://rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.nih.gov/

Your question lacks a critical number, as we’ve explained, but it also contains an important piece of information that deserves a special comment. If your spouse believes that your drinking is problematic, listen to her. Whether or not she’s technically correct is beside the point. If the use of alcohol is damaging an important relationship, it’s already a problem. It’s often said among recovering alcoholics, “it’s not about how much you drink or how often you drink, it’s what happens to you when you drink.”

Perhaps you shouldn’t be counting drinks or measuring fluid ounces, at all. Instead, try asking yourself: “What’s so precious about this drink and what am I willing to sacrifice to have it?”
 

Share with others...