Maintaining sobriety following treatment can be arduous work, but at Driftwood, we believe life must be enjoyable to sustain long-term recovery. According to Mason Aselage, Director of Recovery Services, “Recovery is about more than abstinence. It’s about building relationships, having new experiences, and most importantly – rediscovering what we love...

"Trauma is any difficult experience that rises to the level of Changing the Brain."

Whether it’s through reduced functioning, hyperarousal, or changes in mood, thoughts, beliefs, or behaviors, trauma impacts how we interact with the world around us. Unfortunately, we can get so caught up in defining the minutia of “what constitutes trauma” that it can be easy to lose the forest for the trees. Simply put, trauma is a neurobiological...

While the rest of us were sleeping, Driftwood clinicians Jacob Umanzor, Michelle Whetstone, Natalie Hisey, and Vanessa Kennedy logged on to a London-based webinar at 3:30 AM to train in a treatment modality few therapists genuinely understand. This training aimed to equip mental health professionals with the necessary skills to undertake mentalization-based work with families. Vanessa, Natalie, Jacob, and Michelle represented a minority of...

"The most important lesson I learned in 2021 is that human beings can reconstruct their narrative with more ease than one might think; we just need to take the time to implement a few simple practices. Often, people in recovery harp on acceptance as the key to emotional health. But it's important not to slide into resignation, expecting life to happen to us (as if we have no power over the outcomes in our life). Pain prompted me to seek out...

Driftwood's Culinary Director, Jason Donoho, provides us with festive mocktail recipes as we plan for the holiday season.

A Pulse of 2020’s Impact on Mental Health in the U.S

“As human beings, we experience difficult emotions—sadness, anger, disillusionment—when faced with a traumatic experience. Giving ourselves permission to feel these emotions and seeking support to help us cope with them are important tools to develop resilience.”

“We truly have seen the contagiousness of personal development, and when more people engage in personal development, more people begin enjoying life”

"When you find your tribe, you can rely on people—and you have to show up for them"

"The critical thing is to face our fears—to stay with an emotion we're having difficulty with, or to stay with the physical pain—and discover: everything's impermanent; this doesn't last forever.”

“I try to frame [a psychological assessment] as an opportunity to grow, as opposed to a process of labeling or judging. We aren’t saying ‘you are bad, because you have this.’ It's more like: ‘you are human.’”

"In some ways, a person who comes through a program like ours has an unfair advantage over the general population. Because people don't ordinarily get that education in coping with life. We're not born with a manual.

“Some trainers have one way to do something. But every client is different. Each body is weak and strong in different ways. I see that uniqueness in the residents who stay at Driftwood.”

“At Driftwood, the staff and residents always eat meals together, we do a lot of things together, and we don't ever want the clients to feel like the staff is separate from them. It's very integrated. We know so much about every client, and work so much on each case. We get creative with every treatment plan, with every discharge plan.”

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“When you take people who have been eating badly, and you feed them [well] for thirty, sixty, ninety days, the transformations are astonishing. You see people's lights come on again.”

Loneliness shortens and impoverishes our lives—and we’re increasingly enveloped in systems that, by design or accident, isolate us.

Loneliness “predisposes people to entire spectrums of physical and mental illnesses. [It] creates a hunger in the brain [that] hypersensitizes our reward system.” Lonely people easily become “restless, irritable—and impulsive.”

“Everyone has experienced trauma to some degree, and everyone out there numbs. Whether the numbing strategy is binge-watching Netflix, or gorging on cookie dough, or injecting heroin, there's some way that we try to numb the pain from the experiences that we've been through. When numbing comes from alcohol or drugs, it's easy to get addicted. And it’s even reasonable to become addicted, because the drugs work—they numb the pain of...

People struggling with addiction, economic insecurity, or mental illness are not separate from us; they're our family members, our neighbors, and, in many cases, they’re the people we honor on Veterans Day.

Drug courts and jail-like “treatment centers” may seem like a humane alternative to conventional drug criminalization — but they carry their own serious risks, especially to youths and people with co-occurring mental illnesses.

For obvious reasons, Pain and Glory should interest anyone interested in addiction and recovery. It’s reminiscent of Ingmar Bergman's best movies, like Winter Light and Wild Strawberries, in which reflective, intelligent people grope in the dark for meaning, and try to form lasting and valuable connections with other people who are as damaged, anxious, and confused as they are.

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“People’s reluctance to accept that they have this illness—the blow to one's sense of identity and the social stigma associated with accepting the label of ‘alcoholic’—continues to this day”

“At Driftwood, we have a multifaceted approach to treatment. We try to foster a recovery lifestyle, and a big part of that, for us, is the 12 Steps. But most importantly, our program is about teaching people how to take concrete actions that will help them work a program of recovery.”

“The first thing people need to know is that these drugs take over the survival center. I don’t call it ‘the pleasure center.’ It’s the survival center.”

Welcome to Kuraĝo, a new blog covering addiction, trauma, recovery, wellness, and the search for meaning.

Despite the popularity of drugs like amphetamines and marijuana in Texas, alcohol remains the substance of choice for most users. Further, alcohol abuse statistics indicate that this fondness develops early. In fact, just over half of Texas secondary students have experimented with alcohol according to the 2014 Texas School Survey. 21.2% percent of them reported drinking at least once within the last month.

When people struggle with addiction, one thing that becomes more difficult is pain management. In most cases, they can’t take the opioid pain medications that doctors usually prescribe. As a result, they have to count on a more holistic approach to pain relief such as exercise. However, does exercise for pain relief really work?

Therapeutic recreation is one therapy option that drug rehab facilities use. But what is therapeutic recreation? Furthermore, what are the benefits that can come from the use of this effective tool?

It’s very common for people who struggle with depression to turn to drugs as a way to self-medicate. The other issue is that there are also people who begin to develop symptoms of depression due to their substance use. This is why when you’re seeking treatment for your addiction, it’s important to go to a dual diagnosis facility. Here, depression and drug abuse both receive attention to give you the best chances of staying clean.

Prescription drug abuse is a significant problem in the United States. According to SAMHSA, while marijuana is the most commonly used controlled substance, prescription drugs are second on the list. While opioids are the most pressing issue regarding the abuse of prescription drugs, Americans regularly abuse other types of prescriptions as well. Prescription drug abuse statistics can reveal a lot about the scale of the problem.

Your loved one’s drug abuse is out of control. You’ve tried to help, but there’s no interest. Maybe you’re not the only family member or friend who’s been working with the person. Here’s how to help a drug addict who doesn’t want help.

People often refer to addiction as a family disease. That’s because the development of addiction is frequently rooted in family issues. Plus, addiction can often run in the family. Take a closer look at the connection between addiction and family as well as the need for family therapy in rehab.

Pain is largely considered to be a physical condition. Anxiety, on the other hand, is largely considered to be a mental health condition. However, the two conditions can often overlap. Let’s look at the connection between anxiety and pain as well as how therapists can address them at the same time.

Addiction treatment takes many forms. Treatment specialists don’t take a blanket approach because they understand that each person seeking help needs individualized care. Of course, maybe you’ve heard of alternative therapies and wondered how they work. In other words, what is a holistic approach to addiction treatment?

Texas faces unique challenges when it comes to drug abuse. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas is in the direct path of cartels looking to traffic illegal substances into the United States. From cocaine to marijuana to heroin, Texas drug statistics show that the state is a popular route for drugs entering the country.

Interestingly, this activity also results in trends in drug treatment admissions along the border...

You may not know many facts about meth. While you might know that it’s addictive, do you know how dangerous meth use can be? Every year, tens of thousands of people visit hospital emergency rooms for meth-related reasons. Stroke, visual impairment, and death can all result from meth abuse. However, these are far from the only startling facts about the drug.

Spotting the signs of drug addiction can be tough unless you know what to look for. The descent into drug abuse can be gradual, meaning it isn’t always easy to catch the signs. While drug use may not pose much of a problem at first, it can eventually take over a person’s life. This makes noticing the signs and taking action important.

Taking note of the signs of drug addiction in yourself can be nearly impossible. They can also be easy...

Taking the first step towards addiction recovery isn’t easy. Often, individuals need motivation in the form of an intervention. But what is an intervention, exactly? Learn more about this effective way of helping a loved one, and why it might be necessary.

If you’ve watched the news within the past year, you’ve probably heard of opioids. Opioid use has been a trending topic on most news stations due to its rise in use. However, how much do you really know about opioid epidemic statistics? Let’s look at the numbers.

Although many people develop dependence on drugs or alcohol due to trauma, everyone has a unique history. Additionally, some people struggle with addiction as a result of mental illness symptoms. Therefore, the right rehab approach should include individualized addiction treatment. This gives people the best chance of reaching successful recovery.

While choosing a rehab program, you’ll face one major decision: Inpatient vs outpatient. Ultimately, both options offer similar treatment and support. However, there are notable differences between them. Take a look at your recovery options and decide whether inpatient or outpatient is right for you.

In the United States, there are multiple debates surrounding addiction. Overall, alcoholism is a national crisis. Therefore, you might wonder is alcoholism a disease. By understanding alcoholism as a disease, many struggling users are more optimistic about rehabilitation. Let’s explore how alcoholism affects millions of Americans, and the steps to seeking the proper addiction treatment.