Marc Lewis's Blog, page 6

Getting SMART in Boston

It’s been 2 1/2 weeks since I put up that summary of Maia Szalavitz’s excellent article. Busy time since then. But now I’m in Boston, visiting my friend Matt Robert and a few others, and sitting in on SMART recovery meetings. Matt has been a SMART facilitator for over six years. I came here to […] (Read the rest.)

(Most of) Maia Szalavitz’s 10 steps to transform addiction treatment

For years, Maia Szalavitz has been making insightful, practical, and evidence-based contributions to the struggle against “the War on Drugs” and the harmful policies that emerge from it. With her permission, and the permission of editor Will Godfrey, I’m posting passages from an article she published in Filter, a magazine covering drug use, drug policy […] (Read the rest.)

A very simple reason why it’s dumb to call addiction a disease

I just listened to the first 15 minutes of a lecture by Robert Sapolsky, a renowned biologist and Stanford professor. Sapolsky begins with an incisive lesson on why humans rely on categories. Categories, he says, make it easier to think about complex phenomena. And human social behaviour is nothing if not complex. My friend Tom […] (Read the rest.)

Combining micro and macro routes to abstinence: Shame vs. self-compassion

I’ve been working with a client (I’ll call him Robert) who’s trying to stop using cocaine. We’ve had some powerful sessions lately, emotionally moving for me as well as for him. I really want to help Robert — or, more to the point, I want him to succeed, with or without my help. He’s just […] (Read the rest.)

Combining micro and macro routes to abstinence

I’ve been working with a client (I’ll call him Robert) who’s trying to stop using cocaine. We’ve had some powerful sessions lately, emotionally moving for me as well as for him. I really want to help Robert — or, more to the point, I want him to succeed, with or without my help. He’s just […] (Read the rest.)

Addicted to rehab

I want to thank people for their very encouraging comments and suggestions following my last post. They have really inspired me. So…I’m going to keep the blog going for a while, and I’m going to enjoy it. Now here’s that guest post I promised you–   …by Michael A… After going through 28 rehabs within […] (Read the rest.)

Back to blogging?

Hi people. I haven’t posted anything in the last couple of months. My last post went up in mid-July, then there was a guest post, and then…the silence of the tomb. But I’m still here. It has been a challenging and chaotic summer. Our planned (temporary?) move to Toronto got rescheduled and rescheduled due to […] (Read the rest.)

Medicare and Addiction

Sorry I haven’t written much lately. My family and I just moved from the Netherlands back to Toronto for six months. Busy summer! But here’s a guest post that may be especially valuable for those of us who keep on keeping on. …by Danielle Kunkle… As a Medicare insurance broker, I’ve seen everything under the […] (Read the rest.)

Addiction and self-criticism

I promised that I’d come back to the problem of the internal critic — and how it might be constructive or (more often) destructive when it comes to addiction. This was part of my plan to translate Jordan Peterson’s prognostications into practical advice for people in addiction. Now, two months later, I hesitate to refer […] (Read the rest.)

Addiction, co-occurring conditions, and Humanity 101

If you’re a regular on this blog, you probably know that Peter Sheath and Matt Robert have enough knowledge, compassion, and common sense about addiction and recovery to lead us to a far far better world. I’ve grabbed these gems from their comments to a recent post. If you’ve already read them in context, well […] (Read the rest.)