A decade ago, presenters at the “New Perspectives” conference on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, noted at least 85% of all clients seeking help with alcohol abuse are being misdiagnosed and mistreated at virtually all of the treatment programs across Canada, the U.S., and Australia. How is this possible? The problem is that 95% of these [...]
By Dr. Ed Wilson and Dr. Mary Ellen Barnes The Answer Isn’t the One You Expected to Hear… Did you know that the real research has shown that many “alcoholics” actually return to moderate drinking every year? If you think about your own friends and acquaintances you’ll probably remember any number of them who went [...]
This short article was written by a recent client who came to our 5-Day Intensive program. His wife accompanied him and was an active participant in the program. – Mary Ellen Barnes, Ph.D. by Carl and Nicole of Minneapolis Minnesota Imagine yourself at a center for dealing with alcohol abuse. And imagine – really imagine [...]
By Maia Szalavitz for MSN Health & Fitness Although addiction and alcoholism treatment research has advanced tremendously since Alcoholics anonymous was founded in 1935, many people do not know that equally effective alternatives to 12-step programs exist-nor do they know how to find them. In popular culture, AA is often portrayed as the only way. [...]
By Dr. Ed Wilson and Dr. Mary Ellen Barnes Do You Want A Life Long Disease And Label And To Be In Recovery Forever? Your first decision will be based on how you decide to view yourself and your relationship with alcohol. 95% of all U.S. treatment programs follow the AA/12-Step, so-called “Minnesota Model.” The [...]
A very long time ago I heard a story about a man who searched the world over for someone who could tell him the meaning of life. At long last he found himself, starving and freezing, at a cave entrance high in the Himalayas facing a renowned Wiseman “Please,” he gasped, “tell me the meaning of [...]
A colleague recently asked me for my opinion of the applicability of the “disease model” of alcoholism with regard to Native Americans. I knew she asked partly because my adopted children are Inyupik, from alcohol devastated families in northwestern Alaska, but also because I have worked with non-traditional ways of combating alcohol abuse for over [...]
We work with clients very intensively – four or more hours a day for five to seven days – and with a well defined presenting problem – alcohol abuse. Following this initial treatment phase, during the ninety days of follow-up, we frequently see family members sabotage progress once clients return home. Undermining progress is rarely [...]
We recently returned from a conference on alcohol treatment called “New Perspectives.” The conference, hosted by Edgewood treatment center in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, was, indeed, as advertised. Presenters echoed the same theme: the usual methods of “treating” alcohol abuse and dependence don’t work. While this isn’t news to some of us who’ve looked [...]