*Brandon Dellario LMSW LASAC,
recovering addict and alcoholic. Masters
level specialist in addiction treatment, dual-diagnosis and other
chronic mental health conditions. This page is presented by FREE HELP for Addiction Recovery Services (click here to learn more), online and telephone services. For information
on services, please write to brandondellario@gmail.com
Addiction is a disease.
The disease model of addiction is actually the medical model, also the most
widely used model in treatment. Addiction is a funny kind of
disease. Not funny as in W.C. Fields, but funny as in slippery. It
is known to be sly. Addiction is not as easily seen
as diabetes, but similar because it is progressive. Without treatment
it is fatal, and not so fun on the way down.
Along with the sometimes physical,
and always present strong psychological dependence of the disease, the denial
aspect of addiction makes recovery tricky for an addict. It also makes the disease very difficult to
treat, though there are therapeutic modalities known to be effective in
treatment. Twelve-step mutual help programs,
CBT & Smart Recovery and Motivational Interviewing in relation to the
Stages of Change being among the top evidence-based treatments in the field. It is truly amazing to see the fitting
therapy take hold of a resistant patient in treatment. However, addicts find their own special path of
recovery in a variety of ways.
A program of recovery is
needed to treat addiction, but it can only be selected and walked-out by the addict
themselves. No one can do it for someone
else. Once the addict surrenders to an
effective program of daily living, there are no limits to the amount of freedom
they can gain from any self-destructive behavior. Recovery is possible for anyone. If you can get this, buckle in and get ready for the ride of your life! After some sacrifice in working a program of recovery, you will be in the position to do whatever you want, and be effective at doing it too. You will be the one writing the movie script of your own life.
Brandon Dellario LMSW LASAC
Brandon Dellario LMSW LASAC
