May 27

July 15 is a special day for Ballston Spa resident Sean Kelleher Posted on 07.14.14 by pcadmin By Lauren Mineau for The Saratogian>> July 15 is a special day for Ballston Spa resident Sean Kelleher. He’ll be three years sober and attending a film screening at Bow Tie Cinemas that he brought to life. “The Anonymous People,” […]

Continue Reading: The Ying and Yang of RAIS
Jan 1

Since quitting alcohol and other drugs 25 years ago, I always took a pass when it came to making New Year’s Resolutions.  If asked about a resolution for the upcoming year, I simply responded, “I thought I might quit drinking.”  I felt justified in giving other changes and sacrifices a pass not only because the […]

Continue Reading: Becoming Lighter in 2022
Mar 24

Welcome friends and thank you for checking out my first blog of 2020! If you are a returning reader, welcome back! I’m assuming you require less acclamation and explanation for what’s in store. If this is your first time reading my thoughts, I feel that a preamble is necessary. Some of my rambles may not […]

Continue Reading: Top Movies for the Quarantine – Part One!
Feb 10

I’ve never had much game when it came to making initial conversation with women I find attractive.  But despite this affliction, I managed to marry a hottie, whom I love truly and deeply.  The fact that she dealt with my inability to read signs of flirtation (and the countless other character defects she’s put up […]

Continue Reading: Wonder Woman’s QTip of Love
Jan 29

I learned from a young age how to be a hard worker.  It took considerably longer to learn how to work smart. One of the worst four-lettered insults around my house growing up, especially from my Dad, was being labeled as lazy.  I don’t believe the man ever slept beyond seven-o’clock in the morning, choosing […]

Continue Reading: Lessons From My Dad, Professor Hinkle, and Craftsman Tools
Jan 22

              I’ve been told by far healthier people than myself that in a successful Program of Recovery, it’s important to make amends quickly when you’re wrong or when you’ve hurt someone else with your words and actions.  Bill W. and the creators of the 12 Step Program thought this […]

Continue Reading: The Art of The Smirk: If You Can Spot It, You Got It
Jan 12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K5_YQ_e8hY This clip is from my favorite Simpson’s episode, and I think it’s an excellent (and hysterical) depiction of the weird and often uncomfortable dynamic that happens so often once someone enters recovery. When I stopped drinking, I knew some things would need to change. Like drinking so much, and during most of my free […]

Continue Reading: Homer’s Guide to Friendship and Sobriety
Nov 7

  Since the presidential elections last November, I’ve been doing my best to make lemonade with the countless lemons that keep raining down from the White House.  As a person in long-term Recovery from addiction, a substance abuse counselor, and a professor of Addictions Studies, I’m well aware of the wisdom of The Serenity Prayer […]

Continue Reading: An Intervention Plan for America
Aug 25

  I’ve decided that enough is enough.  According to this recent article in The New York Times, close to 60,000 people died in 2016 as a direct result of drug overdoses, and the number of deaths has continued to rise in 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/05/upshot/opioid-epidemic-drug-overdose-deaths-are-rising-faster-than-ever.html These numbers indicate the striking, undeniable truth that we as a society […]

Continue Reading: How to End America’s Heroin Epidemic
Sep 29

  July 25th may not have been a significant date for you this year, but for 8-year-old Charlotte McCue and her family it will forever be a day when everything was lost.  At 9:30 p.m. on that night, Charlotte’s life was taken by Alexander West, a 24-year-old man who collided with the boat that McCue […]

Continue Reading: The Deadliest Drug in America

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