The Many Faces of Addiction

The journey to healing and recovery

by Claudia Black, M.S.W., Ph.D.

Camp Mariposa

Camp Mariposa for children affected by addiction in the family Read More

Women and Addiction: From Betty Ford to Amy Winehouse

In 1978, a year after she left the White House and at the time of her 60th birthday, the wife of President Gerald Ford, Betty Ford, found that her drinking and use of prescription pain medications had drastically increased. Read More

Your Life's Baggage Part 3: Are you using a cart?

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this blog you had the opportunity to identify the exterior shell of your bags and how that is a metaphor for what life has been like for you, and what beliefs, feelings and skills you may be carrying. Read More

Your Life's Baggage Part 2: What beliefs, feelings and skills are you carrying?

In Part 1, you got to identify what the exterior of your bags look like and how that is a metaphor for what life has been like for you. Now go inside your bags and take a look at the beliefs, feelings, and skills you may be carrying. Read More

Your Life's Baggage Part 1: What are you carrying?

Think about the baggage you take with you on your life journey - what are you carrying? Do you need to consider repacking your bags? Read More

Best Little Boy in the World

Michael was doing very well in school. In fact, he was the brightest kid in class, the teacher's favorite, one of the best behaved. He never created any disciplinary problems and always hung out with the good crowd. The best little boy in the world. "Why can't we all be like Michael and sit quietly?" Sister Gertrude would say in her most melodious voice. Read More

Biology of Caring

The brain is wired to react empathetically to someone in pain in order to warn others of danger and elicit help. Read More

Under the Influence: Kids of Alcoholics

It's a good feeling to know you can rely on your mom or dad - someone who's in control when things start to feel out of control. But some kids don't know that feeling. The reason: They have a parent who's not in control. And that parent is not in control because he or she is an alcoholic. Read More

Difficult Family Relationships: Staying Connected with Limitations

How do you re-enter the arena of family relationships and be true to who you are and what you believe? Read More

Present Day Relationships

You have choices about who you invite into your life and how you interact. Read More

The Power of Secrets

By admitting the reality of what is, you deflate the power of secrets. Read More

The Emotional Injury of Distorted Boundaries

We must understand that our abandonment experiences and boundary violations were in no way indictment of our innate goodness and value. Read More

Understanding the Pain of Abandonment

Abandonment experiences and boundary violations are in no way indictments of a child's innate goodness and value. Instead, they reveal the flawed thinking, false beliefs, and impaired behaviors of those who hurt them. Read More

Lois Wilson Story - Hallmark Hall of Fame Presentation

The Lois Wilson Story - When Love Is Not Enough Read More

Deceived: Denial and Minimizing

Denying, minimizing, and rationalizing are the most natural responses to living with someone acting out an addictive disorder. Read More

Deceived: Denial & Rationalizing

Denial induces numbness. Now couple your need for denial with the fact that sex addicts are masters of misdirection. Read More

Deceived: Denial In the Face of Truth

Partners deny in an attempt to hang on to what is really an illusion, the fantasy that all is really okay. Read More

Children of Addiction

Children living with addiction in their family need to know that the addiction and the resulting behavior is not their fault. Read More

Parenting Under the Influence

Ways that drug and alcohol abuse affect children Read More

Deceived: Facing Sexual Betrayal, Lies and Secrets

No matter their ‘drug’ of choice, men and women who act out sexually leave their partners reeling in fear, rage, incredible shame, and isolation.

This is a time not just for giving but also graciously receiving. Keep realistic expectations and let go of the shoulds. Read More

The Triggering Effect Part 6: Slippery People, Places, or Situations

Know your triggers and make a plan accordingly. In the face of a trigger, what do you need to do? Read More

The Triggering Effect Part 5: Loss

By the time you get to recovery, you have had multiple losses in your life, often related to childhood, many times due to being raised with abuse, addiction, mental illness, etc. Read More

The Triggering Effect Part 4: Feelings

Recovery is the ability to tolerate your feelings without the need to medicate, or engage in self-destructive or self-defeating behaviors and thoughts. Read More

The Triggering Effect Part 2: Romanticizing the Behaviors

Romanticizing involves glamorizing using behaviors and, in the moment, totally forgetting about the negative consequences. Read More

The Triggering Effect Part 3: Resentments

Resentments are like burrs in a saddle blanket, if you don't get rid of them they fester into an infection. Read More

The Triggering Effect

Once the roller coaster car gets to a certain spot in the track, a threshold is met, there is no turning back, and it starts the downward loop - a relapse.