Codependency is a Toxic Myth in Addiction Recovery
The influence that the concept of codependency has had on addiction treatment and policy has been toxic — and its tenets are not supported by data.
Chronic Sorrow
When people talk about grief, they usually mean the loss they feel when someone dies. But other losses bring a type of grief with them too…
Concealed Stigmas and What Science Tells Us About Our Need for Support
Some things we choose to share with our family/whanau, friends, and acquaintances. Such things may include: our successes, family members’ successes, holiday plans and even just small everyday matters. Some things we cannot easily share, because there may be a stigma attached to them.
Love Has No Labels: The Rise and (hopeful) Fall of Tough Love
By Dee-Dee Stout
Dee-Dee Stout is Family Drug Support Aotearoa New Zealand’s Guest Contributor. She is a pioneering harm reduction therapist, educator, advocate and author.
With acknowledgement to Families for Sensible Drug Policy US
Harm Reduction Principles for Effective Parenting
By our Guest Contributor Barry Lessin
Barry Lessin is an addiction psychologist and public health advocate in Philadelphia, USA.
With acknowledgement to Families for Sensible Drug Policy US
Reinventing Recovery
By Dee-Dee Stout
Dee-Dee Stout is Family Drug Support Aotearoa New Zealand’s Guest Contributor. She is a pioneering harm reduction therapist, educator, advocate and author.
With acknowledgement to Families for Sensible Drug Policy US
Health Check: what makes it so hard to quit drugs?
Most people who use alcohol and other drugs do so infrequently and never become dependent (or “addicted” as it’s sometimes called). On average about 10% of people who use alcohol or other drugs are dependent. The rate is around 6% for alcohol, around 10% for cannabis and around 15% for methamphetamine.
Please Hear What I’m Not Saying
Don’t be fooled by me.
Don’t be fooled by the face I wear
for I wear a mask, a thousand masks,
masks that I’m afraid to take off,
and none of them is me.
Tuhaitara’s Story
I have recently celebrated my 18 years of complete abstinence from all mind altering chemicals along with taku hoa rakatira.
Vicky’s Story
There was nothing I wouldn’t have done for him…but I couldn’t follow him down a path of destruction and harm, the direct result of his drug addiction.
Nicholas’s Story
I have been at war with myself for fifteen years now. Oh, the sorrow of war!
Anna’s Story
Our son’s addiction has had a significant affect on other family/whānau members.