For Lavato, known for her role on the Disney hit "Sonny With a Chance," the painful ramifications of having an eating disorder recently manifested with a direct impact on her career. The actress stepped down from her "Sonny With a Chance" role in April 2011, commenting in interviews that she couldn’t tolerate her physical appearance on the screen. She also cited bullying from peers concerning her weight as a factor in her self-esteem problems and her eating disorder.

Linkages between bullying and patients using an eating disorder to escape the negative emotions associated with bullying have been studied worldwide. In a study from a British nonprofit organization, 91 percent of 600 teens or young adults who have an eating disorder reported being the victim of bullying. They also said that their eating disorder became a way of escape from the stress of being bullied.

Lavato’s struggle with eating disorders and poor body-image began in her pre-teen years, as is true for many women with similar disorders. As early as age 12, Lovato recalls drastically dieting or refusing to eat all together, resulting in 30 pound weight loss – and a body height and weight ratio that caused alarm, according to a Yahoo! News article.

Emotional factors, such as struggles to release tension and to cope with anxiety, have also been part of Lovato’s conversations about her eating disorders, including bulimia. She has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and rather than keep her struggle silent, Lovato commented in praise for actress Catherine Zeta-Jones who has recently discussed in media interviews her diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

Demi Lovato’s efforts to recover from her eating disorder and as a victim of bullying are ongoing, and the work continues on a daily basis, says the actress – including efforts to help her see her body in a more positive light.

When a nurse is discovered to have a problem with substance abuse, administrators have been faced with a tough situation. While it is impossible to continue to support a nurse with a substance abuse problem working closely with highly addictive medications, it is important to show the nurse the same compassion that is offered to patients. In addition, the industry is experiencing a chronic shortage of qualified nurses.

A recent article published in the February issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing argued that the answer to the difficult problem of nurses with addictions is to be supportive and offer rehabilitation through treatment instead of resorting immediately to punishment.

The research team reviewed findings regarding the subject and presented six key elements of an effective alternative-to-dismissal (ATD) plan. Lead author Dr. Todd Monroe of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in Tennessee explains that an ATD program enables administrators to better protect patients. Traditional disciplinary procedures may take months, while an ATD can be efficiently carried out.

In addition, an ATD program operates with support of the nurse and an atmosphere of non-judgmental treatment that can help nurses seek help while retaining prospects of returning to the profession following recovery.

The authors of the study also emphasize that nurses are faced with the same problems as the general population, including addiction. While nurses are expected to extend compassion to patients with substance abuse problems, they are often dismissed without the same empathy from peers and administrators for a condition widely recognized as an illness.

The ATD program suggestions include provisions for nurses returning to work after recovery. Reinstatement to the position is closely monitored, with random substance checks and support offered by managers and regulators.

One positive aspect of the ATD program is that it allows nurses to address many of the problems previously stemming from a discovery of a substance abuse problem, such as obtaining liability health insurance after discipline. Making these obstacles less daunting will help nurses reenter the workforce.

The researchers believe that ATD programs are a promising alternative to disciplinary action. They provide the protection necessary for ensuring safety for patients and allow nurses the same compassion and support that they offer to patients every day.
 

Laser therapy, also referred to as cold laser therapy, is gaining attention for helping smokers quit because it is believed to trigger the release of endorphins and ease the painful withdrawal process. Patients who have tried laser therapy to stop smoking say it also creates a feeling of relaxation, lessens stress and boosts energy.

Similar to acupuncture, laser therapists target points on the ears, face or hands because these areas are believed connected to the addiction response. Also called auricular therapy, the laser therapist uses a map of the ear to pinpoint specific portions that are linked to other parts of the body via the brain and spinal cord. The practice has ancient roots and has been used as an alternative therapy to treat numerous diseases.

Laser therapy isn’t used only for smoking cessation techniques, but also for helping relieve pain, typically occurring with fibromyalgia, migraine headaches or carpal tunnel syndrome. However, the treatment has not yet received approval from the Food and Drug Administration for smoking and patients must seek laser treatments in a clinical research setting.

During a session, a low-beam (also known as cold) laser is pointed at the skin on various body locations. For helping people stop smoking, a similar pattern of bodily points as those used during acupuncture are activated. Therapists say when a laser touches the skin, photons are emitted into the tissues and then captured by cells, causing modifications to occur. A sense of peace is said to result as well as relief from symptoms like a headache, a sore throat or insomnia, which are typical of the nicotine withdrawal process.

One benefit of cold laser treatment is that there is no pain, and the procedure does not have any invasive elements. Some patients have reported a sense of skin tingling, but the lasers are at a low enough level that burns do not occur. Positive benefits from cold laser treatments have been reported in as little as one half-hour procedure, although the treatment is not available aside from clinical trials.

However, the treatments are reported to have been utilized to help smokers kick the habit in Europe and Canada for several years. While evidence-based research that clearly determines the effectiveness of cold laser treatments has not yet emerged in the U.S., the treatments may still provide some hope for patients who have tried various forms of nicotine replacements or treatments.

There are more than 46 million smokers in the U.S., and according to the American Cancer Society, 157,300 Americans were expected to die from lung cancer related to smoking in 2010.

The nicotine in cigarettes releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter responsible for a variety of behaviors, including motivation, feelings of reward or accomplishment, mood and gratification. Quitting smoking can be extremely difficult because the addiction carries strong physical and emotional impacts, but alternative therapies like laser treatments may help open doors in the future for smokers to become nicotine-free.
 

Before you object that it’s out of the question, that you can’t possibly outgrow your sponsor, consider your own circumstances carefully. Think about where you are today versus where you were months ago. You may be surprised at the changes you’ve made.

And life in recovery is all about movement, discovery, and change. In this case, the change we’re talking about is positive change that you actively work to bring about.

Let’s look at some situations that may precipitate your outgrowing your 12-step sponsor.

You’re No Longer Desperate

For many in early recovery, particularly the first few days and weeks, it’s a period of near desperation. They rush to meetings with the fervor of seeking salvation, as if to stay away would mean damnation or instant relapse (which, for many recovering addicts is essentially the same thing). Remember back to your days in treatment? You attended 12-step meetings, grasped the concept and the basic format, and went through the whole introductory phase. Before you completed treatment, you were advised to continue attending 12-step group meetings and to get a sponsor as soon as possible.

This was likely high on your recovery to-do list – as it should be. So you gravitated toward a meeting that pretty much met your needs relative to time, location, and possibly group members. After all, it’s easier to attend meetings where there are others that you either like or feel some sort of kinship to. They don’t have to become bosom buddies, but it’s much better if they’re articulate, polite, and offer interesting insights. Early on, you’ll listen to just about anything. After a few months of sobriety and daily or weekly attendance, however, you may find your attention waning.

Somewhere along the line, you asked someone to be your sponsor. You felt the desperate need for connection with someone who knew the ropes, who would always be there for you, even in the middle of the night when you awoke with nightmares or couldn’t sleep because of overwhelming cravings. You didn’t have enough practice in using your toolkit strategies to avoid triggers or cope with out-of-control urges. You felt like you were going out of your mind and called on your now sponsor to help you out.

Good thing that you did. It may have saved your sobriety.

That was then. This is now.

You’re no longer so desperate that you feel the need to cling to your sponsor’s every word. You don’t call hourly or frequently during the day to check in. When you do get in touch with your sponsor on some long ago agreed upon schedule, you find yourself saying the same old things. There’s no progress. You’re not learning anything new. Maybe you’re feeling bored, restless, in need of a change.

It may very well be that you’ve outgrown your 12-step sponsor.

You’ve Reached a Point Where You Need to Grow

Let’s face it. Some sponsors are excellent for newcomers simply because they are calming and reassuring and offer the newbie the security and stability of always being there for them in times of need. We’re all human, after all, and there is no denying that we crave (in the good sense) security and stability and peace in our lives.

But after a point in your recovery – whether it be three months or six months or a year – when you are able to greet each day with joy and hope and excitement to learn something new or take advantage of new opportunities, when you see positives in every challenge, perhaps you need something more in the way of a sponsor.

Growth isn’t something that can be scheduled. You never know, when you first start going to 12-step meetings, how long it will be before you’re on your feet and able to do more than just get through the day without using. You do know that growth is something you want to achieve, however. You’ve probably detailed various short- and long-term goals in your recovery plan. Accomplishing them is a measure of your growth. But you don’t know how you’ll do any of them at the beginning of recovery.

When you’ve achieved certain sobriety milestones, you’ve likely begun to realize that you do have lots more options ahead of you. In fact, you begin to look forward to tackling even greater challenges, charting perhaps a different future than you had ever before envisioned.

This is growth of the best kind.

But what happens if your sponsor is still the same comforting and stable fatherly or motherly figure from your first days in the room? What kind of interaction do you have today versus what it was in the beginning? Is it like meeting with an old friend who continues to see you as needy or uncertain? Does your sponsor lecture you or seem patronizing? Does he or she tell you that it’s too soon for you to embark on any of the new directions you’ve said you’d like to take?
If so, your sponsor may be standing in your way. You may need to change sponsors in order to continue to grow.

Your Sponsor Seems Stuck in the Past

You’re going along, attending meetings regularly, being in frequent contact with your sponsor, and you notice that things just don’t seem right. When you discuss your problems or issues with your sponsor, he or she seems to always go back to things in the past – yours or his/hers. Everything seems viewed through the lens of the past: what you didn’t do right last time, how you didn’t listen to what you heard or put into practice the recommendations, how you’re not working the steps. Or, looking at it another way, your sponsor could be framing his or her comments based solely on how he or she thinks recovery should work. This may or may not be appropriate for you.

Who are sponsors, anyway, but regular people who have been through recovery and are at a point where others – and they themselves – feel they are ready to sponsor newcomers? They are subject to the same kinds of daily stresses and challenges and opportunities as we all are. They live and breathe and eat and go to work and deal with bills just like we do. They’ve had to overcome their addiction and learn how to manage their disease just like we had to and are currently doing.

Sometimes, they’re stuck in the past. Addiction recovery experts and 12-step participants alike say that you can’t move forward when you’re firmly rooted in the past. Despite what he or she may outwardly profess about making goals and working toward achieving them, if their expressions and words of encouragement and support start to seem false, it may very well be that your world-view and theirs are no longer compatible.

What are you to do if your sponsor is stuck in the past? You could continue to keep him or her as your sponsor, but what good would that do you? Rehashing old ways of doing or not doing things won’t help you advance in recovery. If your sponsor continues to see you as the needy, desperate newcomer who’s incapable of making decisions, where does that leave you in terms of developing your own self-confidence and abilities?

It may be time for you to find a new sponsor, having outgrown your current one.

Your Sponsor Relapses

One of the worst scenarios is, thankfully, not all that common – although it does happen. Sometimes sponsors relapse. When it’s your sponsor who relapses, what should you do? First of all, don’t panic. Relapse is an unfortunate and – to all concerned – concerning circumstance. But it doesn’t mean failure. Just because your sponsor relapses doesn’t mean that he or she can’t or won’t be able to pick up where they left off and resume recovery.

It may mean, however, that it’s time for you to get a new sponsor.

Isn’t this abandoning someone in their time of need? Actually, it’s not. While you are supportive of your sponsor’s getting back on track in recovery, it’s in your best interest to move forward. If your sponsor goes back into treatment, or is staying away from meetings as a result of relapse, what good is he or she to you as a sponsor? Obviously, the person isn’t the one you’ll be checking in with to give your daily or weekly progress report. Besides the obvious fact that when someone relapses, they’re not the best judge of the most appropriate thing to do and therefore incapable of giving advice or offering support and encouragement in return, you shouldn’t be involving yourself in a situation where you may be in over your head.

Your sponsor likely has his or her own sponsor to fulfill that role.

If your existing sponsor relapses and is out of the picture, you can and should go ahead and get a new sponsor. You can tell yourself – and the potential sponsor – that it’s temporary, just until your original sponsor returns. Or you could honestly say that you don’t know how long this will be for. It could be that you’re ready for a new sponsor.

It could also be that your sponsor relapsed at a critical time in your own recovery. You may be devastated by the loss of your sponsor at this time and fear that you’ll likewise slip and go back to using. This is all the more reason for you to get back in the room and find yourself a new sponsor.

So, one way or another, if your current sponsor relapses, now’s the time for you to look into getting a new sponsor. Depending on where you are in your recovery, look for a) someone who has more time under their belt in recovery, b) someone you admire from having seen him or her in the room, or c) someone whom others recommend highly.

You Suspect Your Sponsor Wants to Limit Your Growth

What if the unthinkable happens? What if you suspect that your sponsor, for reasons you believe to be true, wants to limit your growth? Could such a thing happen? While it’s probably not very likely or common, there are instances where a sponsor has subconsciously held back the individual or encouraged him or her to make bad choices.

Personal bias, sexual orientation, religious preference, social or political standing – any of these could get in the way of the relationship you have with your sponsor. None of them should, but sometimes they do.

Here’s one example of how this might play out.

Let’s say that you are struggling with your own sexuality and have been for years. You’re part of a co-ed 12-step group and have been with the same sponsor (of your own gender) for almost a year. During this time, you’ve begun to test out meetings whose members are gay or lesbian. You may have met someone in your home group that gave you the info on the subgroup and that’s how you decided to attend. Or you may have seen a notice of the group’s forming or looked up their meeting location and schedule.

All excited, you come back to your home group and talk with your sponsor privately about this new group. You may feel that you have more in common with this new group than your current one. You may wish to explore a part of your sexuality that you’ve not yet allowed yourself to think about. It doesn’t mean that you’re actually going to do something sexual, just that you feel a comfort level with members of this new group. It feels good to be there. You tell this to your sponsor and your sponsor reacts with strong disapproval, saying that you’re too vulnerable to make the right choices, and that you need to stick with what works.

You’ve always trusted your sponsor. Maybe he or she is right. Maybe you are getting out of your depth. But are you? Look at what else is going on between you and your sponsor? Are there other areas where your sponsor seems to hold you back? Is he or she too critical whenever you are excited about venturing into something new? You can’t always be too green. Sooner or later you need to move forward, to take advantage of opportunities or work through challenges with all that you have learned through interacting with your sponsor and your fellow group members.

It may be time for you to have a candid, but caring, conversation with your sponsor. It may be time for you to say that while you appreciate his or her being there for you, now is the time that you would like to look for a new sponsor.

How to Choose Your New Sponsor

Recognizing that sponsorship isn’t a permanent or forever relationship, you still may feel a bit uncertain about how to go about choosing your new sponsor. There aren’t any hard and fast rules on what to do. In fact, there aren’t any rules at all.
But recovery experts and 12-step members have suggested a number of things that may help. Here are some tips:

• Look for someone who has been clean and sober for a minimum of one year. Beyond just being clean and sober, make sure that you choose someone who is stable.

• The best person to be your sponsor is also someone who understands your particular situation or needs. If you are struggling with a certain addiction or multiple addictions, it’s better to have a sponsor who is familiar with and understands co-occurring recovery.

• Do not select someone as a potential sponsor with whom you have a romantic or sexual attraction or relationship (or one that feels that way toward you).

• Choose someone who is working on a recovery plan and will provide a model for you to use in your own recovery journey.

• Look for someone you feel you can trust, and someone with whom you believe you can develop a meaningful relationship (note: not romantic or sexual).

• You should look for a sponsor who will always challenge you to keep moving forward and to always be accountable to the truth. This does not mean that you necessarily have to feel comfortable with the sponsor. In fact, being a bit uncomfortable is probably a good thing, in some respects. What you want is someone whose recovery example you admire, a person you think will challenge you to develop your own personal and healthy program of recovery.

• Find someone to be your sponsor that has the energy and the time to take you on as a sponsee.

• Finally, make sure that your potential sponsor lives, acts, and talks the steps and principles. In other words, make sure he or she isn’t just “talking the talk,” but is actually “walking the walk.”

How to Approach Changing Sponsors

If you’ve decided that it’s time to change sponsors because you’ve outgrown your current one, don’t just blurt it out. That’s both hurtful and inconsiderate. In recovery, you’ve learned a great deal from your relationship with your sponsor. You owe your sponsor at least the respect and courtesy to approach the subject of a change with dignity and patience.

Arrange to have a private conversation with your sponsor at a time and location where neither of you will be disturbed nor need to rush off to attend to something else. Broach the subject by saying that you’ve been feeling for a while that you’d like to explore different areas or you are thinking about changing home groups – or whatever you feel will work to break the ice. Mention how much help your sponsor has been to you, how much you’ve grown as a result of being in the relationship. While this is not a romantic/sexual union, it is very much a kind of partnership. Think of the break-up, if you will, accordingly. You need to handle it with care.

Eventually, bring the conversation around to your desire to change sponsors. You could say that you will not do so right away, and that you want to remain close, but that you will be looking. You want to do it right, not jump into anything.
How will your current sponsor react? It could be any number of ways. Your sponsor could be angry, upset, relieved, excited, pleased that you are taking the next step, indifferent, challenging, or anywhere in between. You should not be surprised at any of the reactions, no matter how well you think you know the person. It isn’t a rejection of him or her as a person. It’s simply recognition that you feel the need to move on.

Remember that you don’t always have to be comfortable with your sponsor in order to learn. A little discomfort may mean that you’re being challenged or called on your stuff. If, when you are contemplating getting a new sponsor, your underlying motive is to get out from under being challenged, maybe you’re not ready to change sponsors. Examine what’s really going on. Are you trying to escape your responsibilities or are you sincerely looking to continue to grow?

Answer the question honestly: Have you outgrown your 12-step sponsor? If the answer is yes, then you know what you need to do. If the answer is no, get back to working your steps and talk about whatever comes up with your current sponsor.

One day – it may be sooner or later – you will find yourself ready to make a change and find a new sponsor. And when that day comes, you will be ready

Enlist an Ally

First of all, you can’t do this on your own. It’s just too easy to fool yourself, tell yourself a few lies, and fall back into your old habits. You need an ally, someone who can help by reminding you of your goals and encourage you to stick with the program.
The person you choose should be someone you trust. After all, you’ll be getting some flak from your ally if you veer from your path, so you’ll want that constructive criticism to come from a person whose opinion you value. If you are married or have a partner who shares your desire to quit drinking, this is an obvious choice. If, however, your spouse or partner is also a drinker who’s had difficulty quitting drinking, you might want to choose someone else with a little more fortitude – and not as much skin in the game.

This is not to say that two spouses or partners can’t make a go of it together in a mutual goal to steer clear of alcohol. It’s just recognition of the fact that it makes it tougher. Sometimes, however, you two are all you’ve got, In that case, make the best of it and move forward with your plans. Just be sure you both know that you’ve been enablers of each other’s drinking in the past, and that’s got to stop – right now.

Make a List

When you’re trying to change ingrained patterns of behavior, it’s important to figure out the people, places and things that prompt you to drink. This includes friends that you hang out with at the bar or after a game or co-workers with whom you de-stress by knocking back more than a few toddies. It also includes the sports bar, tailgate parties, a friend’s house for weekend barbecues where everybody gets sloshed. For some, just the sight of a billboard advertising Ketel One vodka or some other spirits is enough to get them turning off to the nearest liquor store. Better get your supply, right? Don’t want to run out of your favorite drug of choice.

These people, places, things – and sights, sounds, smells, and tastes – are the cues the signal to your brain that it’s time to drink, that you want to drink, that you must drink. It’s the response to stimuli that has always resulted in you actually drinking. These are things you will need to change. And it’s definitely not going to be easy.

How can you alter your behavior to avoid these cues or, if they are unavoidable, how can you overcome them when they occur? Here are a few suggestions you can try to start:

• Change Your Driving Route – Don’t be a creature of habit – in more ways than one. A simple and easy-to-do behavior change is to vary the route you normally take to work, school, church, the mall, grocery store, gas station, etc. If you always take the same way to and from home, and that driving sequence takes you past your neighborhood hangout or the liquor store or the gas station where you also buy Lotto tickets and booze, guess what? You need to drive a different route.

• Turn Off the TV – If you’re watching a TV program and an ad comes on for beer, wine or spirits, either change the channel, get up and leave the room, or turn off the set. Ditto if a program that’s on depicts characters boozing it up. You don’t need the reinforcement of bad behavior or the visual and auditory cues of people drinking.

• Recommend Something Different – One way to switch off what’s become a habit of going to the bar after work with co-workers is to recommend something different. Instead of meeting up at the saloon, why not suggest an alternate location – or an activity that doesn’t involve drinking alcohol? Maybe you’ll get opposition and some deprecating comments, such as, “What’s up? You trying to lay off the sauce?” What do you care? You can be upfront about it and say you are, or deflect the comments by saying you’re just tired of the same old thing all the time. You’d rather engage in other types of activity – and tell them they’re welcome to join you, but there’ll be no drinking involved. If they don’t want to go along with the idea, don’t allow them to pressure you into going back to the bar. Head out on your own and create more constructive uses of your free time.

Do a Thorough Inventory

Begin at home to scour all the nooks and crannies for liquor – and get rid of it. Pour it down the drain and take the empty bottles and cans to the recycle container. Don’t save a single bottle or can of booze. It will only tempt you – and, once you start in on that last remaining reminder of drinking, you’ll only go on to get more.

Removing all liquor from the house, garage, shed, car, office or any other hiding places is just the first step. Donate or give away or discard all your favorite drinking glasses, mugs, towels, shirts or other items that have liquor slogans or advertising on them. Even T-shirts from vacation that depict people drinking need to get the old heave-ho.

Is such a cleaning-out really necessary? It is if you are serious about breaking your ingrained patters of drinking behavior. Problem drinkers as well as alcoholics simply cannot have alcohol anywhere in their presence. If it’s there, it will be consumed. Why take the chance? Get rid of it all – and don’t buy any more.

Schedule Your Time

Many people get into trouble with alcohol because they have too much time on their hands, or they’re bored, and use alcohol as a way to pass the time and not think about how empty their lives are. When you’ve become accustomed to using alcohol regularly, you’ll need to find alternatives to occupy your time.

Schedule your days so that you account for the free time that you have available to you. You should be able to create other activities to fill up those hours when you used to drink by getting involved in hobbies, sports, exercise, or relationships. If you don’t have anything that readily comes to mind, think about what’s interested you in the past. Take lessons or buy a book or check out things on the Internet.

Factor in vacation time as well. If you’re planning a trip, make sure it’s to a place where you’ll be occupying your time with activities that don’t involve getting hammered.

Become Physically Active

Physical activity is a great way to promote healthier patterns of behavior. You don’t have to lay out a big chunk of change to do it, either. You can start by taking brisk walks around the neighborhood. Ask your spouse or partner to join you. The workout will be good for both of you. Start small, maybe 20 minutes a day. Work up to a good hour 4 to 5 times a week. It’s easy enough to do, and you’ll be amazed at how much better you feel after you get used to the schedule.

Add in a little more challenging activity as your body becomes stronger. Take up a sport, such as racquetball, or tennis, or golf, or go swimming, skiing, backpacking, kayaking, whitewater rafting. Plan vacations where you can engage in a variety of challenging recreational pursuits.

The endorphins that kick in following an active workout are the body’s own feel-good chemicals. This natural high is physically and mentally enjoyable – and healthy for you. Better yet, adopting a physically active lifestyle is a great way to establish healthy patterns of behavior.

Find Appropriate Substitutes

Once you give alcohol the boot from your environment and your life, you’ll undoubtedly need to find appropriate substitutes. This goes for drinks you consume as well as for ingredients in popular recipes. Obviously switching from an alcoholic beverage to a carbonated drink is a little like swimming in a wetsuit. You go through the same motions (downing the beverage) without the same experience (the buzz of the alcohol). But carbonated drinks do have caffeine, which works to give you a lift, a bit more energy, and the benefits of not being addictive.

People who drink too much and too often likely experience not only hangovers, but dehydration as well. In fact, the headaches and nasty after-effects of too much booze are caused by dehydration. In any event, make it a practice to start drinking more water. Your body has already suffered the accumulated damage to various organs and systems – not to mention your brain – caused by problem drinking. Rehydrating is one way to replenish your bodily fluids and is a healthy substitute for alcohol. Besides, if you drink a full 8-ounce glass or bottle of water at a sitting, you’ll feel full. So, it’s a double benefit: You won’t need anything more to drink and you’ll probably not over snack either.

Find New Friends

If Walt and Jimmy or Becky and Sue are your drinking pals – and they have no intention of quitting their regular routine – it’s time to find new friends. These should be non-drinking ones, of course, in order for you to begin establishing healthier relationships that are not based primarily on the ritual of drinking.

Where to find new friends is always an obstacle that drinkers toss out as an excuse not to do anything about it. Where do you meet people? The answer is: everywhere. Strike up a conversation with the parent of your son or daughter at the next school function or PTA meeting. Join in a discussion group at your church. Participate in a community picnic by volunteering your time at a games booth or take up a sport that puts you into contact with like-minded individuals with whom you may become acquainted.

Join a travel club, a group that goes on week-end camping trips, hiking or mountain biking, or cross-country skiing. Or, consider taking a gardening or cooking class, going back to school to resume or complete your degree, gain additional training or just learn something new, such as a language or skill.

Everywhere you go there are new people to meet. If your efforts to engage individuals in conversation don’t pan out, don’t give up. Some people are too shy, don’t talk to strangers, or just are too wrapped up in their own lives to let anyone else in. You don’t need those people anyway.

Sooner or later, you’ll find one or more individuals who you not only like, but can share meaningful conversation with. Go out of your comfort zone and try new activities that can put you together with a diverse set of people. You’re bound to come up a winner.

Join a Support Group

Sometimes, however, the effort of staying away from drinking buddies, places and times of day are enough to get you down. You may figure, what’s the harm in having a few drinks? I’ll get back on my routine next week, you may tell yourself. Don’t fall for it. This is your mind playing tricks on you, pushing those cravings and urges smack in your face and tempting you to give in.
Instead of doing that, you might consider joining a support group. If you’ve never had treatment for a problem with drinking, a 12-step group may be unfamiliar to you. But you don’t have to be a recovering alcoholic to find benefit from a support group such as Alcoholics Anonymous. The fellowship is comprised of members who genuinely want to make a change in their lives, to live clean and sober, and to help others who have the same desire.

There are other support groups that may be more to your liking. You’ll have to do your homework to find them, and to determine if what they have to offer meets your particular situation. Support groups, by their very nature, encourage and support members. The support group that you join may be a support group for parents of autistic children, or for gifted children, or for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If it works for you – that is, you find friendship and help in overcoming your self-destructive patterns of drinking behavior – by all means, get involved.

Get Counseling

Making a list, doing inventory, scheduling your time, becoming physically active, finding new friends – what if you still have doubts? What if you find it increasingly difficult to turn your thoughts away from the desire to drink? What if you find yourself falling back into your ingrained patterns of drinking behavior? Maybe it’s time that you seek counseling.

Professional therapists who are trained to help people with problem drinking, abuse of alcohol and/or other substances, and alcohol dependence can definitely help. Don’t think that you have to be a stone alcoholic to benefit from counseling. You can still get a lot out of counseling even if you’re not bad enough to require detoxification and residential treatment at an addiction treatment center. What is counseling, anyway, but an objective look at what’s been going on in your life, the underlying causes for your drinking, and learning new ways to cope and overcome unhealthy habits?

You can get a referral by visiting your doctor and talking candidly about your desire to break drinking patterns. You can say you want to improve your chances at living a longer, healthier life or be honest and say you would like a referral to someone who can help you break ingrained habits that you believe are self-destructive.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one type of therapy that is very helpful in assisting individuals to establish healthy behavior patterns and break the cycle of self-destructive habits.

If you are leery of speaking your mind to your doctor, you can still get help. Call 1-800-662-HELP to speak with trained representatives who can refer you to local treatment facilities. Or, check out the treatment facility locator (http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/) maintained by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Create New Goals

Look at your immediate situation. Do you have any short- or long-term goals? Or do you just exist day-to-day without any plan, any roadmap for the future? Vague goals like getting ahead, having more money in the bank, and so on, won’t get it. You need something specific, tangible, measurable.

When patients go through treatment for addiction (to alcohol, drugs, compulsive gambling or sex or overwork, to name a few), they always create a recovery plan that helps guide them through their early days of recovery. This is a useful tool for anyone who seeks to change ingrained patterns of behavior – drinking or otherwise.

Put down on paper (or create a spreadsheet on the computer) things that you’d like to accomplish in the next 6 months, one year, 5 years and 10 years. Does this seem a bit like busywork? It isn’t, and here’s why. Where many people get into trouble is that they have nothing to look forward to. They fall victim to the bad habits they’ve allowed themselves to become entangled in and never make any progress. They may think about doing something positive down the line, but they never get around to it. Time just slips away until next week becomes next year and nothing ever changes. Where’s the satisfaction in that?

It doesn’t matter what your goals are, just put them down. Keep in mind that nothing is etched in stone. Consider this a living document, one that you revise as new opportunities occur. Be sure to include a mix of goals, too. Make some personal, some professional, some that challenge you intellectually, physically, and emotionally. Include those that will require some stretch – in your abilities, your self-confidence, and your comfort zone.

Monitor Your Progress

Now that you have your goals, you need to monitor your progress toward achieving them. Revisit the document on a monthly basis – or sooner, if you have accomplished one or more of the goals you’ve set for yourself.

This practice is called tracking. It’s useful to help keep you motivated and grounded in what’s important to you.

Celebrate Wins

While we’re on the subject of accomplishments, it’s important that you take time to celebrate wins. When you master a challenge, reach a goal, advance to the next level, or determine that you’ve now entered a new phase where your horizon has expanded beyond that which you’d ever imagined, give yourself kudos. Acknowledge your efforts and celebrate your victory.
Just like receiving presents at Christmas or on special occasions is a reason for high spirits, so, too, is giving thanks and patting yourself on the back for all your hard work in achieving your goals. Be sure to include your spouse or partner (your ally) in your celebration. And, of course, you’ll make your celebration alcohol-free, in line with your new and healthier lifestyle.

Many join the group as their first step towards making a change in their lifestyle, while others are introduced to AA as a secondary aspect of a treatment program at a medical facility. Because AA operates without the use of any United States government funds, they represent a critical part of ongoing care for those with substance abuse problems.

Jane Witbrodt and Anders Romelsjo are researchers who wanted to examine the effectiveness of programs like AA one year past the initiation of treatment. They wanted to explore whether there were gender differences in the role AA played in recovery, and participants in both the United States and Sweden were examined.

To gather data, the researchers compared men and women from treatment samples showing parallel designs. There were 1,525 Swedish participants and 926 participants from the United States.

Individual characteristics, such as demographic, severity and motivational factors were examined, as well as formal and informal influences, such as treatment, mutual help, coercive and social factors. These measures were studied to discover whether there was a relationship of help-seeking correlates of attendance.

In both the United States and Sweden, similar proportions of men and women were involved in mutual-help groups like AA. Twice as many U.S. clients reported attendance. Also, twice as many U.S. clients perceived abstinence to be the goal of their attendance at the mutual-help group.

In both countries several factors predicted posttreatment attendance. If a participant was supported by having an abstinence goal, a perceived need for treatment, suggestions from an employment environment and prior mutual-help attendance, they were more likely to continue the mutual-help group. Gender difference was also found to be a factor.

The results of the study show that mutual-help groups are an important component of services offered to those struggling with addictions, given the cyclical nature of relapse and recovery.

Groups like AA are often a critical component for those trying to overcome an alcohol or drug addiction. The support found there can be very important for accountability, and the low-cost nature of the program makes it very attractive as an addition to programs found at treatment facilities.