Change is Hard. Here’s How to Make it Easier!

From personal experience and working with hundreds of clients, we know that change is hard and all too often old habits come back.

Fortunately, there is a way to be successful – if you know how successful people actually change and follow their example!

First:  Acknowledge that change involves, well, change! Ingrained behaviors and habits die hard.

Our brain has ingrained neural pathways that mostly serve us well – from getting dressed to driving our cars to walking, for example – and make life easier and efficient. But when we try to change our habits, our brain resists.

As a result, we often note that giving up alcohol is relatively easy – giving up the associated habits is not!

Take this normal resistance seriously, admit it exists, and let us help you learn to create new habits that override the old ones.

That’s how you eliminate a negative behavior, by replacing it with a posative one that works better for you than self-medicating. If you don’t, or simply substitute a new negative behavior – AA for example – the old drinking patterns will soon return.

Second:  Be PRECISE about the change you want. For example, “I want to quit drinking.” Generalities and hopes to “do better” never work. With a clear goal we can help you formulate the real “steps” you take to achieve the desired end.

Third:  List the COSTS of continuing to drink. What will it cost you over a lifetime to continue your old habit? Will you die younger? Will you be poorer or more frustrated or have less
integrity? Will you lose spouses and family and friends?

Fourth:  List the BENEFITS of making the change you want. How will you (and your loved ones) benefit from this change? Will you be richer, stronger, live longer, be happier, orhealthier?

Fifth:  DECIDE the change is worth it! Make the commitment and decide what form your action plan will take. Calling us and engaging in designing your enhanced life is a positive and productive step.

Remember most people stay stuck in “contemplation hell” – always thinking about changes but never actually making any, or dropping out when some discomfort appears.

Sixth:  Be ACCOUNTABLE. Working with us over 13 or more weeks helps you stay motivated and accountable to yourself.

Seventh:  CHART your progress. You can’t change what you don’t manage and track. We’ll help you develop the schedules and other tools to reinforce progress.

Eighth:  CELEBRATE! Too many people skip or forget to do this. Change should be rewarding and your new life better than the old. Celebrating and remaining self-aware help you avoid returning to the bad old days.

Take the money you’ve saved on alcohol and enjoy it in a new way that actually enhances your life and the life of those around you!

Change is difficult but with the right attitude, knowledge, and support it can be far more interesting than it is hard, much more of an adventure than a burden. So how about making that call and let’s see just how good your life can be?

Campral – NOT an anticraving medication

We frequently have caller and clients ask about Campral which their doctor has prescribed as an “anti-craving med”. It isn’t.

Unhappily, most physicians receive all of their prescription medication education from drug company sales reps who aren’t above pushing medications as something they aren’t.

We first came across Campral a few years back at a Canadian conference on effective treatment practices and read that the medication supposedly was usefull in relaxing over-excited brain Beta waves. On the theory that these over-excited waves led to alcohol abuse, Campral was supposed to reduce relapse rates in alcoholics who BEGAN taking it after 90 days of sobriety!

Even then the effectiveness didn’t appear to be any greater than a placebos.

According to our medical advisor, subsequent research reviews have substantiated its ineffectiveness.

It’s important to note that by far the most effective anti-craving med is Naltrexone which 80% of our clients find to be a very helpful short term adjunct to their work with us.

But Naltrexone is a generic so Big Pharma isn’t pushing it, quite the contrary, and it isn’t punative like Antibuse so the moralists hate it, and it is effective so traditional treatment programs hate it too.

But you’re looking to fix your alcohol problem effeciently, effectively, affordably, permanently, and confidentally, aren’t you? That’s what we thought which is why our consulting physican prescribes Naltrexone.

Really, isn’t it time to get your show on the road and leave alcohol problems behind? Time to make that first call that starts the dialogue about what’s best for you?

Links to Success:

AA Doesn’t Work, So What Does?

“How Can You Possibly Cure My Years of Alcohol Abuse in Just 5 Days?”

And for details on our 5 Day Recovery Retreat, click on: Our Expanded Program Description

Odds and Ends

Confidentiality, why you want to avoid residential treatment and groups of all kinds.

The Bucket of Crabs or Why AA and Al-Anon are Bad For Your Health.