New Year’s Resolutions and the Reality of January

New Year’s Resolutions and the Reality of January

It’s the middle of January and I have already slipped! Well, this is why New Year’s resolutions don’t have a great track record of success. As a matter of fact, according to US World and News reports, 80% have succumbed by the first week in February. And the overall...
PART 5: What Feels Better Than Heroin?

PART 5: What Feels Better Than Heroin?

The 4th and final law in James Clear’s Atomic Habits refers to the final part of the habit loop, the reward. In order for a new habit to form and be sustained, any reward must be satisfying. The difficult thing about this step speaks to our biology and evolution. As...
Get Sober For Christmas

Get Sober For Christmas

One of the most moving themes I hear from my patients has to do with how different their lives are in sobriety at the holidays. A big, tattooed, talented father of two told us while we placed his long-acting naltrexone implant that the best thing about being clean was...
All I Want For Christmas Is Sobriety

All I Want For Christmas Is Sobriety

To choose nursing or medicine as a profession comes with the reality that, at some points in your career, you will likely be covering weekends and holidays. So when my children were young, I had to take my turns doing shifts on Thanksgiving and Christmas for many...
Hospice Care and an Addiction Treatment Clinic

Hospice Care and an Addiction Treatment Clinic

This may not be what you would expect to read in a blog of an addiction treatment program but opioids are my best friend right now. You see, my father in law is dying. Sure, he’s 95, but a month ago he was working and driving! And yet here he lies at a beautiful...