At the surface, this may seem a bit counter-intuitive; that retreating from one’s emotions would be the first step in mastering them. Yet, it’s most often the case that when we react impulsively and emotionally that we get ourselves into trouble. We’re reactive before we’re reflective.  It’s Not Always a Straight Path to Move Ahead In addition to giving us time…

You Don’t Have to be a Therapist to be Therapeutic I was recently watching an online video by author and entrepreneur, Gary Vee, that really impressed me. It was a short video; simple and to the point. While riding to and from appointments throughout the day, he simply filmed himself making three-minute phone calls to several of his fans just…

Why Most Entrepreneurs Fail It takes three primary characteristics to thrive as an entrepreneur: Humility, Enthusiasm, and Hustle. Most entrepreneurs fail because one or all of these characteristics is lacking. Humility I mention humility first because there is always a learning curve when starting your own business. If you assume you know it all, you can do it on your…

LIFE OUT OF BALANCE: HOWARD’S STORY When I tell people that I used to weigh 315 pounds, their initial response is usually something like, “I can’t believe it.” If the first question is, “How did you lose the weight?” The second question is “How did you get so heavy in the first place?” Followed by something like, “No offense intended.”…

Stress: Negative Threat or Positive Challenge?    Stress is always better utilized when regarded as a “positive challenge” rather than a negative threat. For example, think of Tough Mudders. Tough Mudders are 10 to 12 mile runs with 25 obstacles in between. People crawl in mud under barb wire, jump in freezing, ice-cold water, and even voluntarily risk getting shocked….

The 10 Principles of Goal Setting   We all know that most New Year’s goals fail. “Eat better, exercise more, quit smoking.” They’re vague and lack any real depth or planning. The fact is most of us don’t know how to set real goals. I wrote this article to show people how to turn their dreams into reality. My dream was…

Why do we treat Suboxone different than Antidepressants? The answer to this is simple: Because we look at addiction as criminal and depression as medical. For the past five years, I’ve worked with clients taking Suboxone. For the two years before that, I worked with clients taking Methadone. In my opinion, medicated assisted treatment (MAT) is by far the best…

Top 15 Myths about Heroin Addiction There are a lot of myths about heroin addiction. For anyone who has ever known someone who was or currently is a heroin user, their use can come as quite a shock. I wrote this article to help those with loved ones who are struggling to better understand the nature of addiction. Though this…

What a “relapse” means to me: First off, if you’re struggling, it takes courage to seek help. A relapse is nothing to be ashamed of. We’re all human. We all screw up. As a guy who has lost too many friends and loved ones recently to addiction and depression, I can promise you, no matter how low, there is hope….

Did you know the United States current spends 41 billion dollars each year fighting “The War on Drugs?” For me, two questions arise from that statistic. How is that money being spent and is it working? The fact is that 90 percent of our government funding goes towards policing and punishing drug offenses, and only 10 percent goes towards treatment,…