On Wednesday, March 16, Erica Lubetkin, LMHC described CRAFT (Community Reinforcement and Family Training) and how parents can benefit. CRAFT is a skill set for those who support a loved one struggling with substance use. There are 4 major goals with CRAFT: 1) decrease the harmful substance use: 2) engage the user into treatment; 3) increase the family member’s own

Dr. Tom Woodman, a neurofeedback therapy practitioner based in Norwalk, did a great job presenting on neurofeedback at our Zoom Pathway Session on January 19, 2022. Dr. Tom described what neurofeedback is and how the brainwave training typically works. He then presented significant clinical evidence on how neurofeedback enhances recovery. In his opinion, neurofeedback can be an important recovery pathway,

I listened to an amazing podcast about how to be a CRAFTY parent. You can find the podcast here, in which Brenda Zane of Hopestream interviews Erica Lubetkin of NYC, a certified CRAFT therapist. CRAFT stands for Community Reinforcement Approach to Family Training, and was originated at the University of New Mexico by Robert Meyers, Ph.D. The CRAFT approach is

Dr. Joe Feuerstein of Stamford Health discussed acupuncture & hypnosis at our December 14 Pathway Session. He is an integrative medicine physician, which means he combines conventional medicine with complementary and alternative therapies including acupuncture, diet, essential oils, herbal supplements, hypnosis, meditation and therapeutic massage. Following Joe’s presentation which you can find here, we had a good open discussion. Some

On Wednesday, November 10, 7pm our next Pathway Session takes place over Zoom. Author and clinical interventionist Debra Jay will discuss her book It Takes A Family: Creating Lasting Sobriety, Togetherness & Happiness. During the virtual session, Debra will describe Structured Family Recovery and how all family members can participate in a loved one’s recovery from addiction. To register, go

Last evening, we held our first in-person Pathway Session in 16 months. It was a great success. The audience, made up of mostly parents and recovery coaches, heard Linda Rost, LCSW speak about both trauma and EMDR Therapy. (EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). This therapy has been gaining notoriety and popularity recently. The hype appears to be

I’m grateful for Greg Williams sharing his insights yesterday, May 12, 2021, during our Pathway Session. The replay is here: https://bit.ly/3ofwVl5.  To sum, Greg first discussed his film projects.  He is firmly convinced–as I am–that the key to opening hearts is through authentic storytelling.  I personally loved watching The Anonymous People, Greg’s first full-length documentary. In it, authentic recovery stories by Michael Askew,

Dr. Cyril D’Souza’s April 14 presentation on Cannabis Use & Addiction was informative and captivating. He presented a number of facts, based in large part on research studies he has conducted himself. As a Professor and Researcher at the Yale University School of Medicine, Dr. D’Souza has received NIH funding for studies out of New Haven that have received national

Today is the first day of National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week, and it is appropriate that we use this day to review our last community event with Ken Winters, PhD called The Developing Brain and THC.  Ken’s presentation was in three parts: 1) brain development; 2) addiction and 3) cannabis/THC.     Key points included: The limbic system of the

Back in 2018, we were honored to host Ruth Potee, MD’s talk about the adolescent brain.  She gave a provocative presentation—defining addiction as a pediatric disease.  The reason: first use of substances usually begins in the teen years, when the reward system of the brain is more vulnerable to “hijacking”. In a worthy follow-up to that session, I’m excited to