Insights for the Helpers
Substance Use and the Holidays: A Guide for Families and Loved Ones
The holiday season is often portrayed as a time of joy, connection, and celebration. But for individuals in recovery from substance use — and the people who love them — this time of year can…
When to Refer to an LADC
We all know that collaboration leads to better outcomes—especially when each professional brings their specific expertise to the table. As a therapist in private practice, you may be supporting clients through trauma, relationship challenges, anxiety,…
What Does it Meant to Be in Recovery?
An estimated 22 million Americans among every gender, race, and social class are currently in recovery. For those in recovery, it is not a one-size-fits-all situation but one completely unique to one’s life experiences and…
Do I Have a Problem with Alcohol?
If you are asking this question, you are probably not alone. In fact, 18 million Americans struggle with misusing alcohol or with the symptoms of Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD). If you feel as though your…
How Do I Feel Better? Recovery After Complex Traumatic Stress, Violence & Abuse | Presented by Julie Colpitts, LCSW. 6 Contact Hours
Clients come to us to heal from complex traumatic stress and the associated health, substance, mental health and social problems…
Self-Worth & Acceptance
Hi again! I am back with another blog. I was re-reading my first one “Shame: Managing Stormy Days” the other day and thought it was, “to my surprise” not bad.I say this not with an…
Ending Stigma Around Mental Illness
If you’ve read my blog on What Is Mental Health Anyway? then you will know that everyone has mental health concerns at time’s throughout their life. Truly this includes every person, every family, relatives, everyone in…
Resilience: Do You Have It?
“The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.” ― Robert Jordan, The Fires of Heaven Resilience can be described as the process of returning to normal daily functioning…
Behind Every Overdose Are Friends & Family Left Suffering
This fact could not have been made clearer than in a conversation with Theresa Russell*, who agreed to talk about how heroin has touched her life.Theresa began by handing over a list of six people’s names, their ages,…
Shame: Managing Stormy Days
Hi, everybody! I am attempting my first blog for Health Affiliates Maine. They say it simply. ”Everyone needs help now and then” and in my experience, that has certainly been true. What I like is…
Addiction and the New Year: Recognizing the Signs
In Maine, over the last 10-15 years, the rising tide of prescription painkillers abuse and other opiates based drugs (legal and illegal) has reached epidemic proportions. The abuse of alcohol and other addictive drugs like…
How to Maintain Sobriety at the New Year’s Party
For those in early recovery, it is probably not a good idea to go to a New Year’s party where there is going to be alcohol. Even those who are well established in their sobriety…
A New Year, A New You?
Each January, millions of people attempt to improve something in their lives by committing to a New Year’s Resolution – a promise to themselves that, this year, things will be different. By February, many of…
Maine’s Opiate Epidemic
According to Maine’s Attorney General’s Office, the evident opiate epidemic in Maine has resulted in 50 more deaths in 2014 from just 4 years ago. In response to WMTW’s series on Maine’s Heroin Epidemic this…