Deprogramming from Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
I was steeped in AA and treatment since my first memories. I came from a 12 step family. My mother was a NYS certified alcoholism counselor, some of my eleven siblings went through multiple rehabs, and eventually I too fell into the 12 step prophecy that I would...
Deprogramming from Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
I was steeped in AA and treatment since my first memories. I came from a 12 step family. My mother was a NYS certified alcoholism counselor, some of my eleven siblings went through multiple rehabs, and eventually I too fell into the 12 step prophecy that I would...
How do I explain to the Kids about my Spouse Getting Help for Addiction?
How do I explain to the Kids about my Spouse Getting Help for Addiction? One of the most difficult aspects of drinking issues or a drug problem is how to explain to your children why your spouse left for a period of time to go get help for a substance use problem....
Getting on with Your Life after Treatment
Getting on with Your Life after Treatment This is a common topic when someone calls us for help for their drug or alcohol issue. “What kind of aftercare do you provide once John completes his stay with you?” “Is there relapse prevention so Donna will have the tools to...
Video Gaming Addiction – Virtual or Reality?
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that video gaming can cause an addiction much the same as substance use and gambling. In the most recent article I've read on the topic of addiction written by Lindsay Tanner, an AP medical writer she asks the question,...
My Loved One Seems Worse After Rehab. Is This Normal?
It was 1988, I was 18 years old, I had a significant drug and alcohol habit, and I found myself falling apart at the seams. I was emotionally depressed, and filled with anxiety. I knew adulthood was looming over the horizon, and I felt totally lost and ill-equipped to...
An Open Letter to Those with an Alcohol or Drug Problem – “Are You Ready for a Solution?”
An Open Letter to Those with an Alcohol or Drug Problem – “Are You Ready for a Solution?” Have you been to rehab and thought to yourself, “How is this possibly going to help me?” Or maybe you have family members or friends who have gone to treatment, AA, or NA, and...
Is Urine Drug Testing Useful or a Money Grab?
What You Need to Know about Drug Testing in Addiction Treatment You pee into a cup and they test the urine for drug use. It seems a simple enough process and it is. Yet that simple process is making some people rich running rehabs and sober homes across the US. Some...
Is Track Palin Struggling with Domestic Violence and Drinking after Military Service?
Track Palin, oldest son of former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, was arraigned Sunday December 17th on domestic violence charges including felony burglary, misdemeanor reckless assault, and misdemeanor criminal mischief for property...
There is Still Time to Make a Change in 2017
Here we are again, another year almost over. Festive holiday decorations dot the landscape and there is a buzz of activity and excitement in the air everywhere you turn. Everyone has their holiday time traditions; baking cookies, watching cheesy Christmas love stories...
When Holiday Cheer Gets Out of Hand – 3 Strategies to Keep You and Your Loved One Off the Naughty List
For many people, the holiday season holds memories of celebrations past and anticipation of new memories to share together. For some, the holidays can feel like an obstacle course through a minefield. If you have a loved one who uses drugs or alcohol to excess...
Addiction Treatment and 12-Step in the Media
You can't turn on a sit-com, drama series, or watch a movie without hearing about someone who is an "alcoholic" going to AA or a drug addict who just got out of another treatment program and must go to meetings. Some of the most popular series of the 21st century have...
Everyone Loves the Holidays….Don’t They?
Substance Use Doesn’t Have to Ruin the Holidays or Their Life When You Know How to Get Help A crispness fills the air and everyone is hurrying with packages, scurrying to meet friends and family that we may see often or only once a year. Bright lights are dancing on a...
Do Drugs Have Power Over Us? The Addiction Religion a ‘Breathing Monster’ – VIDEO
There is so much misinformation about drugs, alcohol, drug addiction, and just addiction in general, that it is hard for most people to know what is true and what isn’t. Well, let's begin with the facts: Addiction is not a disease, nor is heavy use of substances a...
TedX Talk – Our Relationship to Addiction.
Mr. Steven Slate of Saint Jude Retreats was given the opportunity to present at a Tedx Talk in Tahoe City, CA on September 17th. Mr. Slate discussed “Our Relationship to Addiction”. He explains the unique approach taken by Saint Jude Retreats in their upcoming work on...
Is Living a Life Free of Addiction a Choice? Why the Answer Matters to the Fitness Community
Before we begin this report, it is important to understand that this survey was just that; a survey. This is by no means a scientific study, but rather a method to gain the opinions and views of the physical fitness community specifically; and to understand the...
Shall Not Be Infringed: How Common Sense Gun Control Means Labeling All Addicts ‘Crazy’
This is not a piece about how Obama wants your guns. It's not a piece about how liberals are evil and conservatives are patriots. You can get enough of that elsewhere, and, for the most part, it's just noise. Keeping you enraged rather than engaged. It works on both...
AA’s 20 Questions Prove Everyone’s An Alcoholic
Our video below reveals the truth... AA is more interested in creating alcoholics than actually helping people with drinking problems. Want to create lifetime dependents? Lifetime evangelists? Lifetime customers? Tell them they're chronically ill, and the only way to...
FYI, ADHD is BS
To an increasing degree, people are having prescription drug issues. Nationwide, prescription drug use kills more people than heroin and cocaine combined, so there is a rising need for people outside the medical community to rise up and question the tactics of those...
ADHD Meds: the New Meth? Protect your kids from addiction.
Over-medicating kids has become a major issue, an issue more and more parents are forced to address as an increasing percentage of our children are diagnosed and medicated for ADHD. Naturally, the idea that over 1 in 10 children is suffering from a chronic disease...
Everything You Need To Know About Detox. Our Latest Radio Show
If you or a loved one ever needed a detox chances are the horror picture that is painted in our culture about that it is, came to light. Listen to Dr. Gallus dispel the myths about detox and show you that a more gentle and humane approach is available to you and your...
Is Suboxone the Answer to Heroin Addiction?
If we want to actually help people create an abstinent lifestyle or one of reduced use, the answer lies not in fear tactics, but in addressing why someone makes the decision to continue their use. This is the source of all use – one’s desires and motives for a brief moment of satisfaction, relief and happiness. By sidestepping the actual reasons people create to continue their use while convincing that individual that they can’t stop or reduce without suboxone’s magic, we are continuing the false belief in the “power of heroin.” It’s time to let go of drug mythology and address people where they are and why they make the choices to use or not to use. Because in the end, no one, not even the hardened and tired “addict” does anything they don’t want to do.
Addiction Treatment Wouldn’t Have Stopped The Chattanooga Shooter
In the media’s mad dash to blame anything for the actions of the Chattanooga shooter, we’re now hearing that an untreated dual-diagnosis of depression and addiction was the cause. An AP report put a familiar storyline out there, stating “Several years ago, relatives...
How The Government Wastes 1.4 Billion Dollars Per Year on Addiction Treatment Research
The thing about being a taxpayer is that it essentially makes you an involuntary investor in the country. Our investment dollars are our taxes... our brokers are our legislators... but the fact remains we invest in the country every day. Some of that money goes to our...
My Son Is A Drug Addict. Now What?
At Saint Jude Retreats, we realize that substance use often affects family members in long-lasting and difficult ways, but not all of them are inevitable. Just as your son can choose to cope with setbacks without using substances, you can choose to deal with his...
My Husband is a Drug Addict. Now What?
If you recently realized that your husband uses drugs, you probably have a lot of unanswered questions. Before you rush to help him or decide to leave him, we recommend taking the following steps to better understand the problem and identify possible solutions. Deal...
It May Be Time For A Change
It looks like you answered some questions yes that probably mean you should evaluate things a bit. For the most part, this test from Alcoholics Anonymous is nonsense. The vast majority of people have felt remorse from drinking, or have had a couple drinks to gain the...
Congratulations! You’re Not An “Alcoholic!”
Wow! This is amazing. Truly incredible. You're part of the 1% of people who is definitely not, according to Alcoholics Anonymous, an alcoholic. Seriously... take a bow or something. We don't have anything to give you, but here's a picture of a magical pink...
Bad News… According to AA…
Yikes... we didn't want to have to be the people to tell you this, but according to AA, you're an alcoholic. Now, what does this mean? Well, if AA is to be believed, it means you have to go to their meetings and admit, before a bunch of strangers, that you have a...
Through the Saint Jude Retreats program I get the opportunity to change the world for the better.
We have come to the final post with our Women of Saint Jude Retreats in honor of Women’s History Month of March 2015. We hope you have enjoyed getting a glimpse into the motivations and inspirations of each of our top 3 female employees that have worked for our...
The Saint Jude Program taught me how to be more caring and to help others
Here is the second of our March 2015 posts on the Women of Saint Jude Retreats in honor of Women’s History Month. Our employees are as diverse and special as our various retreats but they all hold one thing dear: the Saint Jude Retreats Program. Every employee is...
The Saint Jude Program is changing people’s lives every day
In honor of March as Women’s History Month, here is the first of three posts this month on the Women of Saint Jude Retreats. Women make history each and every day in large and small ways as they pioneer new directions, care for their families and communities, and keep...
How My 9 Year-old Girl Changed Our Drug And Alcohol Program Forever
My name is Mark Scheeren, and I am the Chairman of the St. Jude Retreats, a non-12 Step residential program for drug and alcohol use. I have three children: 2 boys and a girl. My daughter’s name is Gabi, and she is all gold to me; a wonderful, smart, beautiful, and...
Dr. Carl Hart and the truth about addictions
Michelle Dunbar, host of The Saint Jude Retreats Blog Talk Radio Show, interviews Dr. Carl Hart and the truth about addictions is discussed. Dr. Hart is a well known researcher in addiction studies. Dr. Hart wrote High Price: A Neuroscientist's Journey of...
Upcoming Radio Show with Dr. Carl Hart
Well known researcher, educator, and activist in drug abuse and addiction studies, Dr. Carl Hart, will be a guest of our upcoming radio show hosted by Michelle Dunbar, Executive Director of Saint Jude Retreats. The show will be available on March 2, 2015 for download...
An Open Letter to the Frightened Mom with an Addicted Son
Dear Worried Mom,Let me start this letter by saying I know how scared you are. I know how confused you are. I’m a parent of 3, and at one time I was a very troubled teen who was emotionally lost, very depressed, drank and drugged heavily, and struggled to understand...
DUI Charge with Kids in the Car
A standard DUI charge is usually classified as a misdemeanor in most states. Certain circumstances, however, can raise the level of the charge to a felony. A conviction for a felony DUI carries stiffer penalties and greater lasting consequences than misdemeanor...
Workplace Drug Testing Goes Futuristic
Workplace drug testing is on the rise in the United States, thanks in part to new technologies that make testing easier and more affordable than ever. The most common drug tests analyze urine, hair and blood, but collecting these samples can be invasive, and analyzing...
Robin Williams: The Power of Choice?
Do we have control over our thoughts through the power of choice? Do we have control over our thoughts? Think about it for a second; do you believe that you control your thoughts? Sure, there are times when random thoughts pop into your head, and sometimes they may be...
Being Safe At College With Prof. Pecoraro and Prof. de Roulet
On being safe at college, college binge drinking, drugs and how to help students make better decisionsThis episode of Saint Jude Retreats’ Radio show features a conversation about being safe at college, substance use in college years and supporting and developing...
Radio Show: The Troubled Teen Industry and Addiction with Maia Szalavitz
This episode of Saint Jude Retreat’s Radio show features a conversation about the troubled teen industry and addiction. The topic was provoked by investigative journalist and author Maia Szalavitz and one of her books, "Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen...