Blog posts, news articles, and other resources from The Center • A Place of HOPE
Almost everyone has heard of cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, are digital currencies that don’t rely on banks to secure transactions. Cryptocurrency has become increasingly popular recently, with 16% of Americans reporting investing in it[1]. As cryptocurrency trading rises, it’s essential to talk about how this activity can affect mental health....
Do you feel lonely? Do you wish you had more deep social connections in your life? If your answer is yes, you’re not alone. Loneliness and social isolation rates have steadily been increasing for decades, and we’re now experiencing what experts have termed a social isolation epidemic. Despite being constantly...
How do you know if you’re psychologically addicted to something or physically addicted to something? In this article, the differences between psychological and physiological dependence on drugs and other addictive substances and behaviors are explored, including a list of the ten most addictive substances, alongside best practices around treatment for...
Substance use disorder and eating disorders are both serious illnesses that can lead to dangerous health consequences. They’re often talked about together because they tend to appear together; people with substance use disorder are much more likely to also have an eating disorder than the general population. On top of...
“Things were going well all week with my wife and me, and I thought the tensions were behind us,” a client told me recently. “But no, last night, she got all upset again over nothing.” If your marriage has been disrupted by your spouse exploding over their discovery of your...
The Addiction Cycle Do you ever sit reading your phone, reach for that second cookie and then sit baffled and disappointed when you discover it's gone? You don't remember eating it! You were acting on automatic pilot. Something similar is true with any bad habit or addiction. Whether it is...
How can you put your life back together after addiction? Healing happens when you reintegrate healthy connections with yourself and others. Once you admit you’re broken, you must agree to look at reconnecting the pieces of your life that addiction has torn apart. Your relationships may be strained, estranged, or...
The term narcotics covers a broad spectrum of substances that affect mood or behavior. They include both naturally occurring opioids and opiates, such as opium, morphine, and heroin, as well as those synthetically produced, such as Oxycontin and its generic, oxycodone, hydrocodone, Demerol, Percodan, or any number of branded or...
I encourage you to consider your truth. Are you able to recognize it? Has it become obscured by denial, shrouded in secrecy, deflated by minimization,or inflated by maximization?
Addictions are compulsive behaviors that take over your life. They can come through behaviors that charge up the body's own feel-good responses. They are meant, initially, to bring relief, comfort, excitement, or pleasure. They do not provide control; they take control.
You may be over forty, but most of us have one stubborn little kid rattling around inside. This “kid” represents some unfilled childhood need. And until we either fill or let go of that need, there he or she stays—never aging, always demanding.Kids like to eat junk food. They’re not...
One of the prime factors in denial of an eating disorder is pride. An eating disorder and many types of disordered eating patterns begin as a way to cope with pain, but along the way pride can take root.In the beginning, pride in your cleverness in handling the pain through...
Few things are as frightening as losing control, feeling powerless against overwhelming forces. When overcome by events, we can feel swept up on relentless waves of circumstance that hurl us toward terrifying heights and bone-jarring lows. Each event is made worse if we have tried to stop it and been...
Three toxic yet common accompaniments to eating disorders are fear, guilt and shame. These emotions are often a response to a pain or trauma in a person’s life and deeply intertwined with that person’s disordered eating patterns. Let’s dig into these three emotions a little deeper. Fear If you grew...
Terry sat in the train station worrying. She worried she was at the wrong track. She worried the train would be late. She worried her daughter wouldn’t be able to pick her up at the other end. Terry worried this entire trip was really a bother to her daughter, especially...
There is something so fundamental about sex that it can be difficult for people to view it as potentially addictive. However, much like an eating disorder, often the most difficult addictions are those that are connected to an otherwise healthy activity. Sex was created to be pleasurable and beneficial, but...
Excessity is the impulse that demands immediate satisfaction - the blindness that occurs when comfort is more important than consequences.
If you think you have an addictive personality, review and reflect on this checklist of addictive behaviors.
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The whole person approach to treatment integrates all aspects of a person’s life: