Letter from the Editor RecoveryView

Spring Edition - March 2018

The spring 2018 edition of RecoveryView has arrived! We are looking forward to exciting new beginnings in the addiction and behavioral health industry, bringing continued growth, prosperity and recovery to those in need. We would like to thank our edition sponsor, Satori Center for Wellbeing, which is now open in California and accepting new clients. Satori offers unique services to help integrate and align the physical body with your true spiritual self. We would also like to extend our gratitude to our amazing authors who have contributed to the RecoveryView spring edition. We hope you immensely enjoy their informative and deeply engaging articles, and thank you for your continued support.

In the empowering article, Choosing Kindness:  Have You Tried the 4 Minute Random Act of Kindness Challenge?, authors Jim Holsomback, M.A., and Dr. Louise Stanger, Ed.d, LCSW, CIP, CDWF remind the reader of the intrinsic power of kindness.  The authors show us how the acts of kindness, compassion, and gratitude are truly contagious, positively impacting not only the recipient of the act of kindness, but also the giver and anyone who witnesses the act.  Their 4-Minute Kindness Challenge directs the reader to provide an act of kindness to another human being in four minutes or less.  To help us initiate the charitable act, they offer a list of excellent suggestions to help launch this important call-to-action.

Tonya Meeks, M.A., LMFT, in Intuitive Parenting:  What’s That?, walks us through her most precious romantic relationships and how each one helped to lead her towards a momentous aha! moment.  Nearing age 40 with no sustainable relationship yet found, Meeks shares how a split second of clarity made her realize, without a doubt, her innate desire to become a mother.  Her work is multifold, including a show called Sparrowland (named after her son, Sparrow), her profession as a clinical psychologist, and as an artist.  Mostly, though, Meeks walks the reader toward embracing that voice within, the voice of the intuitive parent.

Tzeli Triantafillou is the founder of Myndzen, a stress resilience wellness provider.  In her article, Self Worth Matters, Triantafillou offers an eye-opening explanation of how self-worth begins developing in the womb as early as 28 days after conception!  She describes how nurturing childhood experiences can lead to developing implicit feelings of self-worth that result in neural pathways.  The author also describes how the devaluing of self can occur if a growing child does not perceive validation in their external environment.   Her invaluable list of self-worth-reducing behaviors provided for the reader to recognize and then work to overcome in their own life, can result in improved self-worth and a more fulfilling life.

In To My Client, Dr. Alia Kaneaiakala, Psy.D, LMFT pens a heartfelt letter to a client she has been counseling in recovery.  Dr. Kaneaiakala compassionately relates how the connection between herself and her client is rooted in an authentic relationship, sharing how the client has touched her heart and become part of her own life experience.  Dr. Kaneaiakala implores her client to forgive herself now that he or she is clean and sober, something that will aid not only the client but everyone who cares for him or her.  The powerful words in this letter will no doubt prove to be a great source of strength for this very fortunate client.

From the Frontlines - Brief Counseling in Disaster Response by therapist Christina Kelley, MSW, CATC IV takes us back to the horrific mudslides that impacted Mendocino, California on January 9, 2018.  Having received a text alert on her phone, she didn’t hesitate to find some way to be of service to those personally impacted by this natural disaster.  She found herself working at the Red Cross shelter, counseling those in deep distress.  As a therapist she is well aware of the potential for these survivors to develop PTSD in response to this kind of traumatic event, and how substance abuse is often the coping mechanism following trauma.  Her article reminds us of the importance of helping those who have experienced trauma by active, empathetic listening and supportive guidance can make a world of difference for their healing.

Gail Echeverria, LAADC, writes a raw, poignant glimpse into her life as a child of alcoholic parents in Addiction has taken My Family Hostage.  With honesty and courage, Echeverria relays deep personal pain in describing her traumatic childhood growing up in a dysfunctional home.  It seems no family member was left unscathed by the impact of addiction in the family, underscoring how addiction is truly a family disease.  Her important advice that underlying mental health disorders, in her case PTSD, must be treated right along with the substance use disorder is spot on for success in recovery.

In Optimism and Stress:  What Does the Research Say?, Dr. Stacey Leibowitz-Levy lays out a persuasive case for the connection between optimism and reduced stress.  In this informative article you will read about clinical studies that have demonstrated how a) those who deal with stressful situations using adaptive coping strategies, such as humor or keeping a positive attitude, lead to a higher quality of life, and b) individuals with an optimistic outlook in the face of life’s stressors have lower levels of the stress hormone, cortisol.  This article is an excellent reminder to practice positive thinking in the midst of trials.

Becoming TMS Informed by Suzanne Jessee, a master’s level addiction therapist and President/CEO of Anew Era TMS, provides an informative overview of a revolutionary treatment for depression and co-occurring anxiety called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).  Eventually, this addiction expert realized how TMS could benefit dual diagnosis patients—those suffering from both a mood disorder and substance use disorder—in helping prevent relapse.  Too often, an individual completes addiction treatment but may stop taking the medication for a co-occurring mental health condition, many times because of the intolerable side effects of the drug, resulting in relapse.  Jessee shows the reader how TMS can successfully treat the mood disorder, which in turn helps reinforce a sustained recovery.

We hope you have enjoyed this edition and look forward to bringing you more to come! If you are interested in writing an article in any of our future editions, please contact marissa@recoveryview.com and review our contributor guidelines.

Warmest regards,

Josie Herndon and Marissa Katrin Maldonado

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