Category Archives: Addiction Recovery Posts

When you see someone online who’s expressing suicidal thoughts. How can you help? You’re no expert in suicide prevention.
Here are some things to keep in mind:

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Here’s how to get help for a friend on all the major social networking sites.
Consider bookmarking this page so you have it handy in case you need it:

http://emotiontechnology.com/concerned-for-someone-online

A minority-owned company, Emotion Technology focuses on public health, suicide prevention, through social media use and analysis, and creating help-giving user experiences. With links on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube and other social media sites, if anyone is reading about or viewing a video about potential suicide or self harm they click on links embedded in each social media site or click on this link http://emotiontechnology.com/concerned-for-someone-online (please bookmark this link). You might notice that these sites use language like “report” or “abuse,” which makes it sound like someone’s going to get in trouble if you reach out. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Behind every username is a real human being, and behind every social media network is a group of real people who care about you and your safety.

By clicking on this link, local emergency services are contacted, suicide prevention agencies are linked to provide assistance and the message or video is brought to the attention of the media site. Behind the scenes Emotion Technology has put in place the complex technology to link all of these systems together. In addition, Emotion Technology motivated the social media sites to accept the responsibility to create links for their media users to access suicide prevention information, self injury awareness, education on positive mental health, steps to take against cyber-bullying, teen safety on line as well as parent and educator resources.

Christopher Gandin Le is the chief executive officer of Austin Texas based Emotion Technology. Ever since graduating from Teachers College of Columbia University, Christopher has dedicated himself to harnessing the power of technology to save lives and educate people.

Chris brings an activist’s sensibility to public health, specifically suicide prevention. During his tenure at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, he established protocol for online suicide prevention and partnerships with all of the major social networking websites. With a donation from producer James L. Brooks, Chris co-created the Lifeline Gallery, a powerful virtual space where suicide survivors, attempt survivors, and suicide prevention supporters share their stories.

Chris recently wrote a white paper titled “Using New Media for Suicide Prevention” for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the first inquiry by the national government into online activity around suicide and suicide prevention. Christopher Gandin Le is working to make sure every single new media user has access to the life-saving tools they need.

You can contact Emotion Technology at: contactus@emotiontechnology.com or 512-961-7144

Trailer for The Anonymous People.

A new documentary, The Anonymous People, aims to sensationalize recovery—not addiction. As one of the film’s subjects says, “Recovery is sensational!” The film, which explores the common link among the estimated 23.5 million Americans living in long-term recovery from alcohol and other drug addictions, “is not your tired old addiction story often seen on reality television or in the news,” the film’s producer, Greg Williams, tells The Fix. “There are no needles hanging out of people’s arms, pictures of the brain, or fried eggs in a pan. We set out to find the answer to one very fundamental question: Why don’t we treat addiction in this country like any other health issue?”

According to the filmmakers, “Deeply entrenched social stigma and mass participation in widely successful anonymous 12-step groups have kept recovery voices silent and faces hidden for decades.” But now, many recovery advocates are beginning to “come out of the shadows to tell their true stories.” The powerful message of The Anonymous People is conveyed through the faces and voices
 of the leaders, volunteers, corporate executives and celebrities who are “coming out” in order 
to publicize the epidemic of addiction—and to help other addicts break their silence. This new public recovery movement aims to transform public opinion, change public dialogue around addiction and recovery, and unite the recovery community as a political force. The film’s executive producer is the Morgan le Fay Dreams Foundation (of which Paul McCauley, is the chairman of The Fix’s parent company, and is Recovery Media’s president) and features actress and Guts author Kristen Johnston, Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner, former congressman Patrick Kennedy, news anchor Laurie Dhue, former NBA star Chris Herren and many other public figures who have chosen to “come out” about living in recovery. As follows are the locations for the Preview Viewings in a city near you:

• Athens Georgia, Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 6:30pm The Morton Theater, 195 West Washington Street, Athens. get tickets at: mortontheatre.tix.com
• Greenville, South Carolina, Friday, May 3, 2013 at 7:00pm The Peace Center at Gunter Hall , 300 So Main St, Greenville. Get tickets at: favorscreening.eventbrite.com
• Columbia and Midlands, South Carolina, Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 6:00pm,Tapp’s Arts Center, 1644 Main Street, Columbia Get tickets at : www.favorsc.org
• Minneapolis, Minnesota, Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at 7:30pm, CDT, Walker Art Center , 1750 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis. Get tickets at: www.minnesotarecovery.org
• Saint Louis, Missouri, Thursday, May 9, 2013 at 7:00pm, CDT The Tivoli Theatre 6350 Delmar Boulevard, Saint Louis,Get tickets at: www.ncada-stl.org
• Salt Lake City, Utah, Friday, May 10, 2013 at 6:00pm, MDT, Salt Lake City Public Library 210 East 400 South, Salt Lake City, Get tickets at: www.myusara.com
• Richmond, Virginia, Monday, May 13, 2013 at 6:00pm, Henrico Theatre, 305 E Nine Mile Rd, Richmond, Get tickets at: http://mcshinfoundation.org/The_Anonymous_People_event
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 6:00pm, Holy Family University, ETC Auditorium, 9801 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, Get tickets at: www.councilsepa.org
• Northern California, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Atherton, California Tuesday, May 28, 2013 at 6:30pm,PDT, Menlo – Atherton High School, 555 Middlefield Road, Atherton, California. Get tickets at: theanonymouspeopleca.eventbrite.com
• Danbury, Connecticut, Saturday, June 15, 2013 at 6:45pm, The Palace Danbury, 165 Main Street, Danbury. Get tickets at: tickets.thepalacedanbury.com

This guest blog was written by Sarah Beller, Editorial Intern at TheFix.com. You can contact her at:
sarah.lev.beller@gmail.com

by Kate Rogers

Doug Caine is very specific about the type of clients he works with: They have to be an addict, been in a 90-day treatment facility at least three times, and relapsed at least three times post treatment. The type of client that would send many entrepreneurs running in the other direction. But for Caine, a sober coach, these are exactly the people he wants.

Caine founded Sober Champion in 2003 and, when hired, he moves in with clients and can spend 24 hours a day by their side to help them reach sobriety. Treatments range from 28-day cycles to a maximum of 60 days, with intense follow ups afterward.

But the personalized service doesn’t come cheap, costing between $900 and $1,800 a day.

“This is about decoding. Sometimes people are so accustomed to the distorted reality of their own pain, that to them, ‘getting lunch,’ means, ‘I am going to shoot some dope in the bathroom.’ It may be a $150,000 toilet with a gold sink, but you’re still getting high in the bathroom,” he says.

Caine would know, too, having spent years in and out of rehab facilities, each time returning to drinking and shooting dope. The in-patient program didn’t work for him, but he did manage to clean up in the 1990s with personal, one-on-one help. His personal experiences made him realize that treatment for addiction isn’t a one-size-fits-all method.

Caine employs 15 coaches across the U.S. and in the U.K., and he has even traveled as far as Saudi Arabia and Dubai for patients. Since 2006, he has had only 201 clients. And he wants to keep it that way.

“I am a boutique guy, I don’t have a lot of clients and I don’t want them.”

The people who come to Caine are beyond Alcoholics Anonymous and even in-patient rehab, he says. But don’t call him an expensive babysitter.

“There are people who suffer from addiction and mental disorders that just will not stay clean after residential treatment,” he says. “They don’t need to go sit in a room [for in-patient rehab] with 30 other people who are really sick. But we don’t just sit around and hang out—I am not a minder. If you want someone to slap your hand and tell you not to drink, I say to hire someone else, because it will be a lot cheaper.”

A spokesperson for Alcoholics Anonymous says the group has no comment on outside issues and treatments, and that its services are available at no charge.

Although in-patient rehab can be effective, it’s not the only option, says Dr. Chad Coren, a licensed psychologist and addiction treatment consultant.

“Intensive outpatient treatment several times a week can be equally effective as [in-patient] substance abuse treatment,” Coren says.

Having a personalized, intense coaching therapy like Sober Champion may be more effective for certain types of addicts, he says.

“You have a factory mentality sometimes, where a person comes in and gets treated and comes out fixed. The intensity here can be helpful because it’s created specifically for them. It’s a unique approach, and I can see the value in it. It’s created specifically for them.”

The Finance World’s Addiction

According to Caine, the majority of his clients work in the finance industry, particularly Wall Street. He claims two of the top four banks in the U.S. have paid him to treat their workers, but says most of the time it is the employees reaching out for help. These are oftentimes C-level executives who have not yet lost their jobs, but are nearing their breaking points.

Caine says he has seen an influx of calls in recent months from upper-class women in their mid-30s and early 40s working in the finance world seeking his services.

“It’s frequently [problems with] alcohol with Oxy or Roxy that can be dissolved to inject or snort,” he says. “I am talking about guys on the Street who have never driven because they don’t have to. They’re ingesting 12, 15 and 16 pills a day.”

For people in high-profile positions, doing this type of coaching can also be more effective, says Coren.

“When we think of addiction, we don’t necessarily think of people in power positions,” he says. “Sometimes they can’t get help in normal channels or get treatment as usual.”

The Process

In order to truly overcome their addiction, Caine says patients must fully surrender, and their families have to be a part of their sobering process.

“As the client begins to heal, the family then feels out of balance,” he says. “We have to break through every single wall because there are people in every client’s life who are deeply invested in keeping them sick. This is about education and kicking the door down within their inner circle.”

Even with this intense treatment, the success level for Caine and his patients is still around 50%.

Treatment often begins with a detox, either in a facility or in the patients’ home, if he or she doesn’t want to be seen at an in-patient facility. Then he does a combination of psychotherapy and draws on his own experiences with addiction to find the patients’ triggers. Caine says he was educated at USC and UCLA, but is not a licensed therapist.

Some of his coaches are licensed, but once they cross state borders to treat patients, their licenses become null.

“This is about personality match, not education,” he says. “A degree is fascinating and good for you, but it doesn’t mean you can do this work.”

The work is heartbreaking, and Caine says he dreams to one day train people in marginalized communities how to coach others as he does.

“I want to put this treatment to work in places there isn’t one-tenth of the amount of money you need to do this. There are very few people who are emotionally, spiritually, and educationally-qualified to do this work,” he says. “Finding them is a struggle, and training them is a struggle.”

Follow Kate Rogers on Twitter at @KateRogersNews

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2013/04/02/meet-1k-day-sober-coach/

What is a recovery coach?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recovery_coaching

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