By Mary Ellen Barnes, Ph.D., RAS

Click here to contact Mary and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile

Alcohol rehabilitation treatment providers are nearly universally wedded to the outdated 12-Step model that only works for approximately ten percent of the men they were designed for, much less for women. Women, and their usually differing needs, motivations, and solutions, are merely lumped into this one-size-kinda/sorta-fits-all category with predictably poor results.

Many women find it impossible to access help that addresses their particular circumstances, life stages, degrees of alcohol involvement, and other relevant factors. This isn’t surprising, because there are very few programs available that offer these services. Since women generally are more comfortable talking about problems rather than actively making the changes necessary to solve them, we tend to shy away from newer models of treatment that ask more of us. This is unfortunate. The older, 12-step model of treatment, that is readily found in group meetings, undermines our strengths and plays into the “victim” mentality that society imposes on women who drink too much, rather than addressing individual women and their unique situations. (more…)

By Dr. Noah H. Kersey, Ph.D.

Click here to contact Noah and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile

There are four key steps to being successful in the counseling process:

Willingness

Many who need counseling either will not seek it or they come for therapy and are not willing to make any changes in their lives. They want others to change; they want their environment or circumstances to change but they are resistant to doing anything different themselves. It is surprising how much emotional pain a person can endure because they have difficulty embracing the idea of change.

Many individuals have difficulty with the process of change because it can create much anxiety getting outside one’s comfort zone. For some, it’s just being a creature of habit and the known is more preferable than the unknown. New habits, new methods of doing things, and changing thinking patterns or behaviors take a great deal of energy and time, as well as courage. (more…)

By David W. Earle

Click here to contact David and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile

“Watch me grow, Mommy!” the five year old daughter of Joy Irwin exclaimed. Her small child was tip-toeing up over the cabinet to see her little face in the mirror. After each stretching exercise she exclaimed, “Watch me grow Mommy!” Her mother was busy getting ready for work with lunches to pack, hair to brush, and changing the diapers on the youngest. “Watch me grow, Mommy!” She exclaimed again with the intensity and the receptiveness that only a five-year old can inflict upon parents. (more…)

By: Mitchell Milch

Click here to contact Mitchelle and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile

Watch Jane or Bob max out on their credit cards. Is that their partner Jim or Mary registering a feeble protest? Listen to Spot bark and scratch his neck in befuddlement when Jim or Mary pay off the abused credit cards and then, look stunned when the sun rises on another spending spree? Was Spot’s ears playing tricks on him when after one of Jane or Bob’s rants about their partners not contributing enough to their respective households, then agreeing to take out a loan to renovate their kitchen? Could it be that this actually came out of Jim and Mary’s mouths; the same Jim and Mary who are in charge of the finances and know full well they will once again have to rob Peter to pay Paul this month? Did Spot really hear Jim and Mary say to Jane and Bob after screaming at Jane and Bob: “Don’t worry about the finances I’ve got matters under control?” Is insanity reining king and queen with these folks? (more…)

By: Gabriele M Smith, MA

1. BELIEVE you can accomplish your goal.

2. VISUALIZE your success. (more…)

By: Karen Golob, CCDC, CAMF, CH

The Executive Vice President of a large corporation in Los Angeles contacted me seeking assistance with a valuable staff member who was exhibiting an aggressive edge that was causing tension at their workplace. (more…)