Slip Vs Relapse
Families of individuals with addictions are not just an important part of treatment, but an important part of recovery (i.e. life after treatment). Relapse can be one of the biggest worries once loved ones return home from treatment, yet many can’t identify what true relapse looks like. TO complicate matters, there is no universally agreed upon definition for “relapse”. What is Relapse? While there are many definitions available, a relapse can be defined as “a return to previous levels of substance use or behaviour(s) after a period of improvement”. Generally, total relapse reflects a higher severity in the return to addictive behaviours. Many factors can influence relapse. To start, it’s not a sign or lacking willpower and control. Certain characteristics affect treatment outcomes and recovery. One study found those with higher self-efficacy, less avoidant coping styles, and a readiness to change showed better outcomes. In contrast, untreated concurrent mental health problems, multiple substance dependencies, and high impulsivity were linked to increased vulnerability for relapse. According to the same study, people experiencing mental health issues like distress, depression, and anxiety are also at higher risk for relapse. Negative emotions account for 30% of relapses and increase the chances of a ‘slip’ turning into relapse. What is a Slip? A slip is defined as “a break in abstinence” or “the act or instance of back-sliding”. A popular belief is that slips are not as detrimental as relapse. The belief is that it is different from relapse, because a slip is not a complete return to addictive behaviours. However, there are a number of people who don’t believe in slips; abstinence is “all or nothing” to them. Any consumption of substances is considered relapse. This belief doesn’t work for everyone. Behaviour & Process Addictions Adding to the confusion surrounding slips and relapse, are those with process addictions such as food, sex, video games, and internet use. For this group, it is not necessarily realistic to abstain permanently. For example, people with food or sex addiction need to develop moderate, healthy sexual or eating behaviours. Harm Reduction Definitions of relapse and slips also become confusing when the definition of recovery shifts from the traditional view of abstinence to moderate removal. For example, individuals with opioid addiction may need to taper in order to achieve long-term recovery. They may even need to use other painkillers to ease an injury or recover from surgery in the future. Recovery is not a State, it’s a Process Recovery is a learning process and a slip or relapse may be a necessary part of that individual’s learning. Individuals who slip or relapse learn more about themselves and better ways to prevent slips in the future. Relapse can also be a sign of boredom and a lack of meaning and purpose. Individuals who slip or relapse have an opportunity to look at their life and find ways to make it more meaningful. This insight can greatly improve their recovery and prevent relapse in the future. Your Role As friends and families, it’s important not to react drastically to a loved one’s slip or relapse. Our negative reactions can translate into failure in their eyes. This sense of failure can cause your loved one to believe they’re hopeless and return to old patterns. Individuals with more supportive relationships with families and friends show better treatment and recovery outcomes. The post Slip Vs Relapse appeared first on Canada Drug...
Family Support in Alberta
This mother is struggling with her daughter’s substance abuse issues asked us for information on how to support herself. We thought this was a great request to highlight because many family members call us looking for ways to support their addicted loved one (which is natural). But the truth is, you can only influence and control your loved one so much. Finding ways to support yourself can be more effective because you’re helping change the pattern of addiction that’s occurring within the family. We provided Sheila* with the mental health and addiction office in Drayton Valley. They often have counsellors funded by AHS to help you find the best ways of supporting yourself and your family as affected loved ones of someone else’s addiction. Call to see what support services they can provide you: Drayton Valley 5136 51 Avenue Drayton Valley, AB T7A 1S4 Phone: (780) 542-5669 You can also attend peer-support groups with other family members/parents who are affected by a loved one’s substance use. 1. Online Al-Anon 2. http://www.naranonchat.com/ 3. http://www.nar-anon.org/ FAMILY RESOURCES This link will take you to different therapies and models used to treat families of addicts. The first part outlines the different styles of therapies and the second part lists several resources organized into categories for the family (e.g. codependecy and addicts, cocaine addicts and family, al-anon and family, etc). The following books are on enabling and boundaries (they come from the webpage above). They can be helpful in deciding what sort of approach you want to take with your addicted loved one. Boundaries and Family Addiction Addictive Relationships: Reclaiming Your Boundaries (1989) Joy Miller Better Boundaries: Owning and Treasuring Your Life (1997) Jan Black, Greg Enns Boundaries – Where You End And I Begin: How To Recognize And Set Healthy Boundaries (1994) Anne Katherine Boundaries and Relationships: Knowing, Protecting and Enjoying the Self (1993) Charles Whitfield Boundaries in Marriage (1999) Henry Cloud and John Townsend Boundaries in Marriage – Participant’s Guide (2002) Henry Cloud and John Townsend Boundaries: When to say Yes, When to Say No, To Take Control of Your Life (1992) Henry Cloud and John Townsend Where to Draw the Line: How to Set Healthy Boundaries Every Day (2000) Anne Katherine This is a link to information on parents and teens +...
Family Support for Gambling Addiction in Alberta
This family has dealt with their brother’s gambling problem before. He racks up huge debts and then becomes overwhelmed. The last time they bailed him out he didn’t gamble for about 10 years. They want to have an intervention and confront him, but do not have a plan for afterwards. We advised that they might want to hold off on an intervention until they have some options for treatment. That way they can offer him solutions for treatment during the intervention process. We provided the following information: Intervention resources Family resources AHS public programs Private non 12-step programs Intervention Information: http://www.sunshinecoasthealthcentre.ca/family-intervention.html http://www.canadadrugrehab.ca/Alcohol-Drug-Intervention.html Here is the contact information Catherine MacDonald: Website: http://www.onmywaycounselling.com/ Phone: 1.613.722.1884 Note: Uses a gentle approach to intervention. She invites the person to their intervention rather than ambushing. From your basic details, it sounds like your brother already acknowledges his gambling problem and does not need to be ambushed by his family. FAMILY RESOURCES This is a link that will take you to different therapies and models used to treatment families of addicts: http://www.sunshinecoasthealthcentre.ca/family-addiction-help.html This webpage outlines different styles of therapies and lists hundreds of resources organized into categories for the family. Here are some books on Enabling and boundaries. They can be helpful in deciding what sort of approach you want to take with your addicted loved one. Addictive Relationships: Reclaiming Your Boundaries (1989) Joy Miller Better Boundaries: Owning and Treasuring Your Life (1997) Jan Black, Greg Enns Boundaries – Where You End And I Begin: How To Recognize And Set Healthy Boundaries (1994) Anne Katherine Boundaries and Relationships: Knowing, Protecting and Enjoying the Self (1993) Charles Whitfield Boundaries in Marriage (1999) Henry Cloud and John Townsend Boundaries in Marriage – Participant’s Guide (2002) Henry Cloud and John Townsend Boundaries: When to say Yes, When to Say No, To Take Control of Your Life (1992) Henry Cloud and John Townsend Where to Draw the Line: How to Set Healthy Boundaries Every Day (2000) Anne Katherine TREATMENT RESOURCES Now, there will be a variety of treatment options for you to offer Ben*. Treatment is generally more effective when the individual needing treatment is an active part of their recovery and not just pushed in one direction. After all, only they can keep themselves “sober” and they often have an idea what might work best for them. In this section, resources are organized into two options: programs you pay for and programs subsidized by provincial healthcare. PUBLIC Here is the website for the responsible gaming program in Alberta: www.aglc.gov.ab.ca/responsiblegambling/ With the public systems (if you cannot or choose not to go the private route) there are always going to wait times and protocols. Typically a person must be assessed and then referred into treatment (outpatient and or inpatient/residential). Here is the assessment office in Calgary. Ben will need to book an appointment or find out when drop in times are. You may want to call ahead to see if they deal with gambling. They may need to redirect you to a mental health office instead the addiction and mental health office. Calgary Adult Addiction Services (AHS) Stephenson Building 2nd floor, 1177 11 Ave. SW Calgary, AB T2R 1K9 Phone: (403) 297-3071 Toll-Free: 1(866) 332-2322 Fax: (403) 297-3036 Note: Service hours are Monday to Friday 8:00 am – 4:30 pm. Intake and assessment is available on a drop-in basis weekdays at 1:00 PM. Residential Gambling Programs Poundmaker’s Adult Residential Treatment Program PO Box 34007 Kingsway Mall Post Office Edmonton AB T5G 3G4 Phone: (780)458-1884 Email: info@poundmaker.org Problem Gambling Resource Network 2nd floor, 3312 Parsons Road Edmonton, AB T6N 1B5 Phone: (780)461-1259 Email: pgrn@programgamblingalberta.ca Note: The...
Women’s & Children Addiction Treatment in Calgary, Alberta
This woman, Erica*, emailed us looking for a First Nations treatment program. We weren’t sure if she was searching for treatment for herself only or one that included services for her kids. We never heard back from Erica but sent her an email with the following information that would hopefully be of help if she’s still seeking treatment. Erica expressed interest in the Lander Treatment program. However, if she wished to bring her child(ren) to treatment, this program is not a good fit. There is a long-term treatment program called Youville Residence that is 150 days in length and has a house for women with children. This program also works with Alberta Works to help secure funding. Youville Women’s Residence 3210 – 29th Street SW Calgary, AB T3E 2L1 Phone: (403) 242-0244 Intake Phone: (403) 984-2707 Fax: (403) 242-3915 E-mail: intake@youville.net Website: www.youville.net There are more family programs in Canada. Most of them are First Nations programs as well, which might help Erica secure funding for one of them. Here is a link to all the NNADAP options, which includes federal-funded Fist programs. You will need to find the one that meets your needs as well as your family’s. Just in case you feel like you can find the right program through the NNADAP link, we recommend you ask these questions that might help you figure out how to get into treatment sooner rather than later. When a program tells you about wait times there are two types of waitlists: 1. Some programs have fixed intake takes for fixed programs lengths. 2. If the program does not give fixed intake dates, then the waitlist timeframe they give is based on: (1) how long the treatment program is and (2) how many people are already on the waitlist. Most waitlists are based on the assumption that all admitted clients will successfully complete treatment. In other words, a 4-month waitlist could be less that a couple months because people drop off the list (e.g. don’t go or attend another program) or leave treatment early. Once you have answers to the first set of questions, there are typically two options from this point: (1) The program isn’t a good fit (e.g. waitlist is too long, doesn’t provide services you need, etc), so you start calling the next program. (2) You like this program and you start asking them this next set of...
Peer Support Meetings near Edmonton, Alberta
Heather emailed us several times looking for peer-support resources in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. We provided her times and contact information for Al-Anon and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) in the Fort Saskatchewan area (near Edmonton). Soonest meetings in Ft. Saskatchewan 08.17.14 – 7:30-9pm @ the Boys and Girls Club 08.24.14 – 7:30-9pm @ the Boys and Girls Club 08.31.14 – 7:30-9pm @ the Boys and Girls Club Boys and Girls Club 10090 93 Avenue, Fort Saskatchewan, AB T8L 1N4 [contact phone number] and [email] CLOSEST MEETINGS August 13, 2014 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm: Faith Group The Church of the Holy City, Edmonton Alberta August 13, 2014 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm: One Day Wonders Red Willow Church, St. Albert Alberta August 13, 2014 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm: Straight From The Heart Grace Lutheran Church, Edmonton Alberta August 13, 2014 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm: Open Mike Henwood Treatment Centre, Edmonton Alberta For future use, we gave Leanne the link to Narcotics Anonymous in the Edmonton Area: http://www.eana.ca/ Leanne later requested Al-Anon meeting times in the Fort Saskatchewan area. We directed her to their website: http://www.al-anon.ab.ca/ for al-anon meetings in Alberta. We called the Al-Anon international group for local Al-Anon Meetings in Fort Saskatchewan and here’s what they offered: FORT SASKATCHEWAN Tuesdays 8pm @ The United Church (10409 100 Avenue Contact: Carrie – 780.777.1809 Alternatively, we gave Leanne the contact information for AHS support services (Alberta Health Services – Addiction Services). Leanne can make an appointment with the closest office which is the Edmonton Mental Health and Addiction office. Edmonton Adult Counselling and Prevention Services Alberta Health Services 10010 102A Avenue NW, Edmonton, AB T5J 0G5 Phone: (780) 427-2736 Note: Open Monday and Friday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Tuesday to Thursday 8:00 am to 9:00 pm. Intake/Assessment is available on a drop-in basis Monday, Tuesday, and Friday 8:00 am to 3:00 pm and Wednesday 8:00 am to 2:00 pm Additional Information on Groups Calgary Al-Anon Information Service (AIS) PO Box 512 Station M, Calgary AB T2P 2J2 Phone: (403)266-5850 E-Mail: aiscalgaryinformation@gmail.com Website: www.al-anon.ab.ca Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. 1600 Corporate Landing Parkway Virginia Beach, VA 23454-5617 Phone: (757) 563-1600 Toll-Free: 1(888) 425-2666 Fax: (757) 563-1600 E-mail: wso@al-anon.org Website: www.al-anon.alateen.org Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters (Canada) Inc. Suite 900 – 275 Slater St. Ottawa, ON K1P 5H9 Phone: (613) 723-8484 Toll-Free: 1(888) 425-2666 E-mail: afgwso@al-anon.org Website: www.al-anon.alateen.org...
