Doc Jacques: Your Addiction Lifeguard

Are you suffering someone else's pain or anger or are you lost in your own head that's full of anger and misery? Maybe you are someone who is troubled by trauma in your past and you feel no one gets it so you hide your pain, hoping others will somehow magically get it without you revealing it. Think again.

Is addiction a moral failing or a medical condition? You only get to pick one not both and unfortunately most people I encounter in my practice see it as a moral failing and then use that as a reason to either avoid real effective treatment or suggest it to a family member in need of help. 

A recent newspaper article has lead me to think that maybe she is assuming something that is not true about her sons tragic death due to Fentanyl overdose. 

Have you been drinking during the work day because you are working remotely and now it is a problem? Well, you are not alone. 

People suffering form addiction usually have troubled childhoods. If you had one of those experiences and suffer form addiction minimizing it and dismissing it and the impact it has on your life is actually a trap that will make you get stuck in addiction and undermine your recovery. 

Listen to the wisdom and experiences of Carrie Sue, who has been involved in both ends of substance abuse: personal recovery and helping others get into recovery. 

Four specific things you can do to help an addict recover. Four things that you are probably doing that need to stop to help get them into recovery. 

The three R's of what is causing you to relive your traumas. Are you struggling in your relationships with what seem to be old patterns? Well hear what that could possibly be causing this and to do about it. 

Are you really being tested or guided? We can feel like the suffering we are experiencing is actually a testing of our faith and resolve, but in reality it is more about the idea of an experience that is guiding us to move to healing. However, many times we do not understand that is is not testing at all  but rather an opportunity to move to recovery. 

The rot of the trauma is slowly killing you and everything form the outside looks great.  How can I feel so bad and burdened by the emotions I have and still maintain an outward appearance of "everything's just fine"? Well you can't, so let's talk about why that is really, slowly killing you. 

We have a choice between living in a state of acceptance or denial. We have the power to choose, however most addicts choose denial as a means to protect themselves. The irony is that it usually results in self harming. Find out how why and how to stop this destruction. 

When an intervention is what you need what do you look for in an interventionist and how to find a good one. What does an intervention look like and how does it work? Let's find out in this episode.  

Are you an alcoholic? Did you just ask yourself that question? Well, if you did maybe you are and need some help. This episode is on just plain old alcoholism. It may be the one show for you. 

Todays episode is about what parents can do to move an adult child from failure to launch to launch. 

Part 2 of Maryam Ovissi's interview about her new book "Care of the Whole Self Yoga-Inspired Practices for Befriending the Self". 

Special in studio guest todays is Maryam Ovissi who offers up her wisdom and guidance in recovery form trauma and addiction. She shares her story and her work coming from the perspective of many years of teaching yoga and research on the effects of trauma on the body, mind, and spirit.  

Why should you go to rehab and how do you pick a good one? Good questions I get asked all the time by families of addicts and addicts themselves. This episode explores the ways of picking one and why you should go to a residential rehab. 

Heather Hagaman joins me once again in the studio to talk about the usefulness of adding trauma informed yoga in your addiction recovery program. She shares her experience in teaching yoga and how to select a trauma informed yoga instructor along with what to look for in the teachers training and experience. 

Hear what Pastor Lyman Eddy has to say about self forgiveness and how we can give it to ourselves for what we have done. 

The Doc Jacques guest this week is Heather Hagaman, MA, CSAC-T, C-IAYT who tells of her journey through recovery and the inclusion of trauma informed yoga based treatment she first used and learned to help her treat addiction and later became an expert in the field of trauma treatment. 

How do you forgive yourself? How do forgive something that you have to walk around thinking about 24 hours a day? It can be done but there is a process you go through to do it. It takes courage and fearlessness and you will be able to do it, but it is hard. Not impossible, but hard. 

Dr. Allison Caras, PhD is in the studio to talk about her perspective on the impact of technology and specifically the smart phone on the ability to learn and connect. Her observations on the ability to teach, and more importantly connect, is being impacted in negative ways by technology. The results being anxiety and depression with a lack of ability to connect in meaningful ways has changed her view on teaching and how today's youth. 

Why do addicts isolate? Why can't they just come out and say what is bothering them? Seems simple enough, get out in public and start getting connected to the recovery community and things will get better. But addicts isolate for a reason and it is a good one from their point of view.