Marty Lythgoe’s Journal
By Marty Lythgoe LAADC-CA, NCAC II, SAP
3 Step Guide: Addiction Relapse Prevention
Like other chronic conditions, addiction relapse is a common occurence. It is one thing to stop the addictive behavior; it is another thing to stay stopped. It is still another thing to stay stopped and at the same time enjoy full physical, psychological, social and spiritual health.Step 1: Abstinence Is The Stopping Of Addictive Behavior.It is the first requirement toward recovery. It is the beginning. It is the ticket to get into the theater, not the movie we are going to see. Recovery is...
What Constitutes an Addiction?
Biological - Psychological - SocialAddiction is a bio-psycho-social disorder characterized by a maladaptive pattern of behavior or substance use which leads to significant impairment in a person’s life. It is critical to understand addiction as a complex issue with roots that seem to be: Biological – there is clear evidence of genetic predisposition to addiction and evidence of biological differences in the way addicts respond to different stimuli and experience pleasure. Psychological – there...
Addiction and Personality
Addiction and PersonalityThe belief that personality plays a role in addiction – that it may even be the major or sole cause – has a long tradition. In the nineteenth century, alcoholics were thought to suffer from “degeneracy”, an inherited trait that encompassed criminality, feeblemindedness, sexual promiscuity, along with drug and drinking excesses. In the twentieth century one of the prominent psychoanalytic views was that alcoholics and addicts have a dependent personality. We struggle to...
Codependency
Codependency is a condition of lost “selfhood”. Originally the term codependency was used to describe the person whose life was affected as a result of being involved with someone who was chemically dependent. It is a normal response to an abnormal situation. It is born out of our natural inclination to help and has its roots in caring and compassion. Codependent behavior is an attempt to bring some control to an out of control situation.The ProblemCodependency becomes a problem when we focus...
Addiction is More Than a Brain Disease
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), in a far-reaching decision, labeled addiction as a “brain disease” several years ago. Their statement, which carried significant clout, was the result of brain research and also opened the door for further research. Looking for a pharmaceutical cure for addiction, millions of dollars have been poured into the development of antagonist drugs to stem the epidemic of substance abuse in this country.Is the brain centrally involved in the development...
The Disease of Addiction
One of the “great debates” in the addiction treatment field is whether addiction is truly a disease. While the American Medical Association classified alcoholism as a disease way back in 1956, many are skeptical and continue to view addiction as a moral issue, a character issue, and even a cop out. So let’s take a look at an accepted definition of “disease” and see if addiction fits. Disease: A morbid process with characteristic identifying symptoms, regardless of whether the etiology...
About My Logo
The two trees of my logo have meaning for me both in the natural and in the spiritual realms. In the initial stages of trying to design a logo for my counseling practice, I had in mind symbols which might represent both recovery from addiction and also living victoriously in Christ. As I experimented with different symbols, I became clear that I also wanted to represent the city of Ventura, where I practice and where I was born and raised. I considered the ocean, the islands and the pier,...