What’s News Blog
Latest Allies in Recovery News
Can You Trust a Person With Substance Disorder?
…In over 20 years of experience working with individuals who use substances in a way that causes harm, most individuals I have known, abstaining or actively using, defy these stereotypes. This opinion column from the Huffington Post focuses on the strengths of these individuals through the truths they tell.
What’s News Posts
A&E TV’s “Intervention”: More Harm Than Good?
Participants and SUD professionals alike question the methods, and even the premise, of A&E’s longstanding series. Now in its 24th season, A&E’s show arranges, funds, and films confrontations between family members and sufferers from substance use disorder. The show’s many critics deem its methods coercive and counterproductive.
Section 35: Playing Russian Roulette with Involuntary Treatment in Massachusetts
While many states use civil commitment, Massachusetts is believed to be the only state in the union that allows family members to file a Section 35 petition and court-order their Loved One to treatment. More often than not, they are sent to treatment inside jails and prisons — even if they haven’t committed any crimes. Family members who ask for involuntary committal call it “Russian Roulette”.
Fentanyl’s Deadly Toll Leads Parents to Seek New Ways to Keep Their Children Safe
How do parents keep their children safe amidst an ever-changing drug landscape? Illicit drug suppliers are mixing cheap, potent fentanyl into everything from heroin and cocaine to counterfeit prescription drugs. Click the image to read the full article.
Involuntary Treatment Usually Fails. Here’s Why.
A New York Times contributor explains—and tells us why voluntary treatment, and approaches like CRAFT, succeed more often.
“Patients’ Bill of Rights” For Substance Use Disorder Becomes Law in California
It has more teeth than most past efforts in any state. And it may well save lives.
How To Ask If They’re Getting Addicted
Worried about someone’s drinking or drug use, but not sure what to say? The CRAFT approach can help!
Dabbing is Growing In Popularity, But the Risks Are Real
Dabbing, a method of cannabis use, produces a fast high, but can expose you to a host of toxins and other risks.
A Profile of Allies in Recovery
Allies in the news! A knowledge-packed introduction to Allies in Recovery and our work with families, by a leader in the field.
Your Mind Needs Good Nutrition as Much as Your Body
The evidence is overwhelming: eating well—especially foods rich in vitamins and minerals—has great benefits for our mental health. Don’t try to go without.
Northwest ATTC webinar – Digital Health Services to Address Addiction in Families: Allies in Recovery
This webinar, sponsored by the Northwest ATTC (Addiction Technology Transfer Center), introduced participants to Allies in Recovery.
Toxic Moods
We hear a lot about Serenity in recovery programs. For me personally, developing Serenity meant no longer being codependent to four dynamics when they show up around me: Jealousy, spitefulness, moodines and rudeness.
Is Your Loved One in the Criminal Justice System in MA?
Our collaborator, Dr. Haner Hernandez, has shared with us these "talking points" for Massachusetts families facing a Loved One's involvement with the Criminal Justice System. You will also find the necessary forms to request a criminal offender record.
Study Finds Two-Drug Combination May Help Treat Meth Addiction
A two-drug combination may help treat addiction to meth, according to a study published in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine. The study found the two drugs were safe and effective in treating adults with moderate or severe methamphetamine use disorder.
Contingency Management Works – Why Is It So Underused?
In a recent article, nytimes.com focused on contingency management, finally putting addiction treatment at the heart of the conversation. How does it work? What are clinicians, researchers and patients saying about it? What are the obstacles preventing people with addiction from accessing this innovative treatment method?
Five Science-Backed Strategies to Build Resilience
Even for the relatively self-aware and emotionally adept, struggles can take us by surprise. But learning healthy ways to move through adversity—a collection of skills that researchers call resilience—can help us cope better and recover more quickly, or at least start heading in that direction.
When Does Drinking Moderation Work?
If you’re the family member of someone with a drinking problem, you probably have strong opinions about whether your Loved One can, or ought to, continue drinking. You know by now that it’s not up to you…. Learn more about moderate drinking and read Dominique Simon-Levine's full article on addictionblog.org.
Alcoholics Anonymous vs. Other Approaches: The Evidence Is Now In
For a long time, medical researchers were unsure whether Alcoholics Anonymous worked better than other approaches to treating people with alcohol use disorder. In 2006, a review of the evidence concluded we didn’t have enough evidence to judge.That has changed.
Alcoholism vs. Addiction
This article was originally published in thefix, a news website devoted to all things...
Alcoholism vs. Addiction
Using a wide range of first-hand accounts, this article takes a frank look at the language we use to label addictions, and unpacks some of the meaning within these terms.
Dual Diagnosis: When It Seems Like It Will Never End
There’s no putting aside the pain, exhaustion, and disappointments that go on, sometimes for years – even decades – when loved ones struggle with dual diagnoses.