Recovery

Sitting with a client new in recovery from a gambling addiction which is threatening to ruin him he is telling me about a relapse which has, so far, netted him thirty thousand pounds. My cautioning against euphoria falls on deaf ears and, even though it feels to him like everything is finally coming … [Read more...] about Why Gamblers Aren’t Really Interested In Winning

It was spring 2005 and I was flying from Atlanta to New York. During the day there had been the most unbelievable thunder storms and I had pondered that having TV channels dedicated to the weather wasn’t such a pointless idea after all. “They’ll get you out” a Canadian colleague had told me as the … [Read more...] about What You Need To Know About Fear Of Flying

Here's another guest post from Martin Pankhurst. Martin is a recovering alcoholic who now runs support groups for people in recovery from drug and alcohol abuse and other addictions. He is currently working with me to create online programmes to help people with dependency issues, and their … [Read more...] about What Half Closed Curtains Tell Us About The Mind Of The Addict

Friends since school we'd drifted apart. Like broken pieces of a boat which, having sailed quite peacefully for years, had run aground dramatically and without warning. Drawn, defeated, held firmly in the grim clutches of alcoholism and with a recent cancer diagnosis I felt as if I had come face to … [Read more...] about When Hope Is A Strategy

The summer I spent five weeks in a psychiatric unit I ate mint choc chip ice cream for dessert every day. I sat at the same table, in the same seat, with the same people. But inside everything was changing forever. On the cold buffet table one day I drew attention to a small card placed in front … [Read more...] about What I Learned In A Psychiatric Unit And Why You Need To Know It