First Step Consultation – Brian Farr M.S. in Ed., C.A.S.A.C.

  When I decided to take a hiatus from my weekly blogs, a few things happened that I did not expect.  The first was that I stopped writing regularly. I had hoped I would have the discipline to write each week, maybe even each day without knowing that I had something to publish – a […]

My wife and I recently celebrated 12 years of marital bliss.  This year we kept it simple, staying at our house together alone, and asking our in laws to watch the kids for the night.  We refused to answer the phone, and basked in the quality time together that seems so rare in our wonderful […]

Pharmaceutical drugs are quickly becoming a huge problem among young people.  The number one drug of abuse for the youngest age group in our country continues to be inhalants, however.  Can you guess what these two substances have in common that makes them so attractive to these curious young minds? They can both cause death […]

  52 weeks ago I set down a challenge for myself.  I wanted to see if I could post a weekly blog for one year.  Now I have done that.  Hooray! And now, much like I assume Forest Gump felt like when he began running across the country and eventually realized he had no tangible […]

Here is some free and unsolicited advice for you: if you are ever mandated to go for any type of evaluation with a counselor, and they ask questions about your family of origin, DO NOT say that things were “fantastic, wonderful, or, the worst choice of all – normal”. Any of these answers will quickly […]

Last week, my family and I spent a few days in what can best be described as paradise.  Well, for some it might be paradise “unplugged”.  And for others it may just be tedious, boring, torture.  But for us it was magnificent.  The place I am talking about is a resort hidden deep in the […]

  The question I have this week is rather delicate, so I decided to just come out and ask it:  As a parent, have you ever found yourself watching your child/children at play and thought “Wow, what they are doing right now is really not too intelligent?”  Not that the behavior is necessarily dangerous, although […]

To the trained eye, many things around our house may look substandard .  Substandard may be a tad too harsh, though – I’ll go with “slightly askew” instead.  If a contractor, or handyman, or anyone with a background in professional building was to stroll through the rooms and hallways of our home, their eyes may […]

  For anyone who has been in or around a 12 Step program, the concept of “people, places, and things” is nothing new.  One of the first suggestions for people trying to recover from any addictive or destructive behavior is to focus on, and to change these three key areas.  At first glance, it may […]

My lawn looks good.  Not great.  But good.  I don’t know if it will ever look great.  I certainly don’t think it will ever meet the standards of my neighbor whose turf looks like it was transplanted from a P.G.A. golf course.  Every blade of rich, dark green grass on their lawn appears to be […]