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Alan J Butler - EzineArticles.com Expert Author
Alan Butler has worked with recovering addicts and ex offenders for the last 10 years spending 3 years living on site at the Ovis Farm Project in Devon England. Currently in Australia for a long stay to get to know his grandsons and get down to some serious Blogging based on his experience. Also to take time out and learn to master internet marketing.
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Alan J Butler Email Alerts
- Denial - Is the River in Egypt Flowing Too Close to Home?
[Self-Improvement:Addictions] Why don't they know that their addiction is causing the problems? How can they continue with the addiction and manage to ignore the consequences. Many addicts look at the trail of wreckage in their wake and believe that their drug or alcohol use is the solution. So how can it be the problem?
- 10 Ways to Develop Your Creativity and Rebuild Your Self Esteem
[Self-Improvement:Creativity] You may be living through bereavement, battling through a broken relationship or struggling through financial hardship. Your self esteem will take a blow. You may be overcoming an addiction, and it doesn't matter what that addiction might be, your self esteem will be affected just the same. One way to rebuild your self esteem is through developing that creative talent within you.
- Procrastination - The Smother of Intention
[Self-Improvement:Time-Management] Procrastination robs us of our future. Procrastinating is a habit that can affect us like a drug addiction. How can we stop procrastinating and make the most of the time we have? Here are some tips to help us overcome this insidious enemy.
- The Truth About Anger
[Self-Improvement:Anger-Management] Why do some people get into a rage? Most of us at some time or another get angry. People who are prone to lose their temper, often talk themselves into a hole. This self talk can cause real damage to the anger-prone person and their relationship with others. This self-talk is often based on false assumptions and misinformation.
- Am I Addicted? Answer These 12 Questions
[Self-Improvement:Addictions] Most addicts don't need to ask this question, they already know the answer. A life that revolves around the next fix, it fills your waking hours. Have you ever wondered? How can you tell? This articles may help you to decide if you are addicted.
- The Eleven Forms of Self Defeating Thoughts
[Self-Improvement:Personal-Growth] We are what we think we are. But what if we don't think much of who we are? How do we recognize self defeating thoughts? This article outlines the forms of self defeating thoughts. See if you can recognise any in you.
- Act As If - Do We Need to Fake it to Make It?
[Self-Improvement:Personal-Growth] Act as if is a basic concept for those who travel through the Therapeutic Community. This concept at first glance seems to run counter to the perceived wisdom of changing the way we think before we can change the way we act. But it requires at least an element of thinking that we can change the way we act before we embark on this course.
- The 4 Stages of Addiction
[Self-Improvement:Addictions] Addiction doesn't just happen. There is a progression towards chemical dependency, or any other addiction. It passes through four main stages.
- 7 Barriers to Forgiveness Uncovered
[Self-Improvement:Addictions] One of the big stumbling blocks on the road to recovery is being able to forgive. Yet unforgiveness creates the rubble that blocks our road and prevents us moving forward. We seem to cherish holding onto the pain and the hurt and the rubble piles higher. Why would we rather try and bury the offending pile than face the emotional pain of clearing it? It is well said, that holding onto unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other man to die. When the Old Testament leader, Nehemiah, was confronted with rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, he first had to weep over the ruins.
- What is a Therapeutic Community?
[Self-Improvement:Addictions] The Therapeutic Community is a self help approach to treatment for people with addiction and related problems. It is a drug-free environment in which people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction are able to live together in an organized and structured way. The aim is to promote change and make possible a drug-free life in the community when they move on.
- What Goes Around Comes Around - Do We Deserve It?
[Self-Improvement:Addictions] The importance of maxims to live by, cannot be understated for those in recovery. What goes around comes around is an important maxim to grasp. But what does it mean?
- No Gain Without Pain
[Self-Improvement:Addictions] Those working through drug and alcohol addiction, need to change long held beliefs, behaviours, attitudes and self images, This can take time and involve a great emotional cost. There is often a long struggle and even suffering to break the chains that bind them to their addiction. So for the resident in a community, there is "no gain without pain".
- Why is Honesty the Best Policy?
[Self-Improvement:Personal-Growth] This article looks at the pros and cons and will help people in recovery (and in life) to progress and achieve self growth. People in recovery need to understand the concept of honesty. Developing an understanding of the importance of honesty is the key to recovery.
- The 5 Stages of the Cycle of Change
[Self-Improvement:Personal-Growth] Harold Wilson, UK Prime Minister of the 60s, famously said, "He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery." It is also said that without change there would be no butterflies. What is change?
- 10 Faces of Denial
[Self-Improvement:Addictions] Denial, they say, is "not just a river in Egypt." Denial is a strange beast. It is on the cycle of change (or, rather, just off it), as "pre-contemplation." That time when you are not thinking about change because you don't need to. You are a 'happy user'. Other people are starting to suggest that you have a problem. Then denial raises it's ugly head and starts to show its various faces.
- Addiction - Physical Or Psychological?
[Self-Improvement:Addictions] Over recent years our understanding of addiction is gradually having some light shone upon it. The revelation is gradually unfolding a bit at a time. It's as if we weren't ready for it all in one go. Those who work with recovering addicts are often mystified at the high relapse rate especially when a person has completed, say, a 12 month programme and got a network of support around them. They just figure it's par for the course. If you want to work with addicts - get used to going to funerals!
- Great Acts of Forgiveness
[Self-Improvement:Spirituality] Jesus preached forgiveness from the cross. Those closest to him had betrayed him, denied him or run. Some who he had healed, help put him there. This last prayer was a selfless act. To reach this place cost him everything. Not everyone agreed with him then, and many today find this a difficult message.
- Forgiveness - 10 Steps to Freedom
[Self-Improvement:Spirituality] Jesus preached forgiveness from the cross. Those closest to him had betrayed him, denied him or run. Some who he had healed, help put him there. This last prayer was a selfless act. To reach this place cost him everything. Not everyone agreed with him then, and many today find this a difficult message.
- Abstinence - A Case Against Moderation?
[Self-Improvement:Addictions] Saying 'abstinence' to a recovering addict is like saying 'celibacy' to a hot blooded male. In my years working on the Ovis Farm Project, the concept of Abstinence was one of the difficult principles to get across. It wasn't that your recovering addict didn't understand the word, it was just too difficult to see "how it applies to me." Abstinence was OK for everybody else, but "I will be able to control my drinking or drug taking as long as I have a short break." Moderation seemed the best and logical option. Like, abstinence means forever! A lifetime without a drink was too much to contemplate. The very idea of a life after rehab without their drug of choice was enough to derail them and send them running up the track to the nearest bar.
- Recovery Coaching and Other Professional Relationships - What's the Difference?
[Self-Improvement:Addictions] There are a number of different options to recovery from addiction. How can you choose the right path? What are the differences between coaching, mentoring, sponsoring or just recovering at home with family and friends in attendance? Which service offers the most hope?
- Recovery Coaching - What is It?
[Self-Improvement:Addictions] We often feel that 'just one more time' is a step too far. The thing that has overcome us now stands on the victory side, and we are a defeated. We may go through many challenges in life. Addiction, financial ruin, divorce and bereavement are just some of the 'things' that life throws at us. Can we really recover from these traumas and move forward?
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