High-Risk Recovery Situations – What Should I DO?

  The National Council of Drug Abuse (NIDA) defines high-risk recovery situations as “those that threaten your recovery or trigger a strong craving to use substances.”  One of the easiest ways to identify risk is by categorizing situations as people, places, or things.   People, Places, or Things People may be those you have used […]

Addressing Trauma with Alternative Therapy

  Trauma is an event or circumstance that results in emotional, physical, and life threatening harm. It is important to note that trauma is highly individualized. This means, we all respond to events differently. How we respond is largely based on prior experience. For this reason, one person may demonstrate resilience after an event while another […]

Happiness in Recovery – Reset Your Day!

  It has been a long winter, and some of us may be feeling a bit down lately. To be sure, there’s nothing wrong with feeling down. Happiness is not a prerequisite of recovery for our clients at Sanford Behavioral Health. However, we do teach coping skills to help our clients move through the rough patches: […]

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A New Look at 10 Addiction Relapse Triggers

You are new to recovery and innocently pushing your cart down the aisle at the local Fresh Market. Let’s say it’s a gloomy Sunday afternoon. You round the corner, and there in front of you is the alcohol aisle. Aisles more like it, all shapes and sizes of beer and wine stacked and displayed artfully. […]

What is the One Gift Your Family Will Not Return?

The Season of Hope and Family Recovery This is the season of hope, joy, and the giving of gifts to honor that hope and joy.  A season of this type applies to all people who practice traditions of their culture or faith. I am the Family Program for Addiction Treatment facilitator at Sanford Behavioral Health. […]

Introducing Michigan’s One-Stop Shop Behavioral Health Campus

  One-Stop Shop for Behavioral Health Scroll down to 2-minute video What does it mean when we say Sanford Behavioral Health is a one-stop shop? It means we treat the whole person. Our integrative programs treat addiction, eating disorders, and related mental health conditions at the same time. Sanford’s multi-disciplinary team of experts communicates minute […]

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Avoiding the Whack-a-Mole Eating Disorder Game

  I’ve never liked the carnival game whack-a-mole. Bashing heads with a cartoon hammer while an endless succession of new rodents appears. It is too stressful and unpredictable. But I could relate when a friend in recovery said they thought eating disorders, popping up during addiction treatment, reminded them of playing whack-a-mole. Because just when […]

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Behavioral Health Professional’s Day – Free CEUs

  Join us for a full day of presentations and networking at Sanford Behavioral Health’s Professional’s Day. Behavioral Health Professional’s Day is an in-person event in Midland, Michigan. Five experts will speak on topics such as the common characteristics central to eating and substance use disorders; suicide prevention; the PIES model; and recovery efforts at […]

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Men’s Alcohol Addiction – The Bad and Good News

  Let us begin with the bad news: statistically men are more likely to use every type of illegal and legal drug than women. When it comes to men’s  alcohol addiction, men drink more than women in every category. This includes binge drinking, overall consumption, and substance use disorders. According to a CDC Fact Sheet […]

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Michigan Excursions – Nature Therapy in the Great Outdoors

  I work for Sanford Behavioral Health, and as the marketing director, I notice the organization’s communal language. Words have power and we are in the business of stigma busting, so we are mindful about our words when it comes to addiction, eating disorders, and mental health conditions. A few years ago, when we launched […]

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