Struggling with addiction is one of the most difficult hardships one can face, yet those who support loved ones going through this process endure the same highs and lows as their loved one who suffers from addiction, but from a slightly different vantage point. While there is no guarantee that anything you do will help “cure” your loved one, there are some things you can do to provide a positive, supportive environment to help them in their quest to achieve lasting recovery.

Intervene as soon as possible. Some say that someone who suffers from addiction has to hit rock bottom in order to understand the harm they are doing to themselves and others, in order to truly start to change their ways…this is a myth. The earlier that addiction treatment is sought, the easier the transition back to sobriety will be and the smaller the chance of relapse. Therefore, the best time that you can seek to intervene is as soon as you notice that substance use could potentially become abuse, before a full-fledged addiction takes hold. Express your concerns in a non-threatening, concerned tone, and suggest preventive addiction therapy, or another form of treatment, to help the problem.

Stop enabling your loved one. If addiction is already a reality, make sure your behaviors aren’t making the situation any worse. The following are helpful ways to avoid enabling behaviors: don’t make a habit of lending money or paying bills for your loved one; refrain from making excuses for his or her behavior (even to yourself); set limits and boundaries for behaviors you will deal with and stick to them; and don’t fight over his or her behaviors. While these are all very hard things to do, they will help to ensure a stable environment for both you and your loved one suffering from addiction.

Take care of yourself! This is one of those instances where you have to help yourself in order to help those that you love, and this advice is two-fold. First, make sure you set an example by staying clean and sober as well. If you keep alcohol in the house for special occasions, you are creating a tempting and easily accessible trap for a spouse who is a recovering alcoholic. Secondly, you can’t help anyone else if you break down emotionally or physically, so make sure to proactively manage stress. It’s very likely that in the time you’ve been witnessing this addiction, you’ve suffered emotionally, financially, and even physically. If necessary, seek counseling and support to help you deal with the stress. Counselors can also teach you the steps you should take to help your loved one stay on the road to recovery.

Recovering from addiction is difficult, but it’s never impossible. Informed, patient support from friends and loved ones can be a key to successful recovery for anyone seeking to recover, whether one is just beginning to show signs of a problem, or whether one has struggled with addiction for decades. By knowing when to intervene and what to say, you can help make a difference for your loved one!

MEDIA ADVISORY/PHOTO OP                                                            Contact: Liz White, 401.831.3700

For immediate release: September 8, 2010

Rhode Island to Host 8th Annual Rally for Recovery, Welcome Gil Kerlikowske, White House Director of National Drug Control Policy, to State

PROVIDENCE, RI - As part of its Recovery Month celebration, the Rhode Island Recovery Month Coalition and Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities, and Hospitals (BHDDH) will welcome Gil Kerlikowske, Director of National Drug Control Policy as keynote speaker at the state’s 8th annual Rhode Island Rally for Recovery.

The annual Rally is Rhode Island’s celebration of National Recovery Month and those who have achieved long-term recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.  The event is supported and attended by thousands of allies and supporters, including mental health, developmental disability, and addiction treatment providers, the Rhode Island National Guard, and elected officials.

Over fifty organizations from across Rhode Island will be on site to raise awareness about drug and alcohol addiction, mental illness, developmental disabilities, and the journey of recovery.  The event will also feature two musical sets from the 88th Army Band (National Guard), music from NGP, and performances from the Tim Taylor Blues Band and The Recovery All-Stars, featuring Doreen Collins.

The Rally for Recovery is a free, family-friendly festival with great activities for kids, including arts and crafts, face painting, a reptile show, toys and balloons, and more.  For more information, visit www.rally4recovery.com.

WHO: R. Gil Kerlikowske, Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy

Ivette Torres, Associate Director of Consumer Affairs, SAMHSA/CSAT

U.S. Representative Jim Langevin, 2nd Congressional District, State of Rhode Island

The Honorable Donald L. Carcieri, Governor, State of Rhode Island

The Honorable Elizabeth Roberts, Lieutenant Governor, State of Rhode Island

The Honorable Frank Caprio, General Treasurer, State of Rhode Island

Mayor David N. Cicilline, City of Providence

Mayor Scott Avedisian, City of Warwick

Mayor Allan Fung, City of Cranston

Craig Stenning, Director, Dept. of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities & Hospitals

Major General Robert T. Bray, Adjutant General of Rhode Island

Dannie Greenberg, Faces and Voices of Recovery

WHEN: Saturday, September 11, 2010

2:00 PM - 7:00 PM

WHERE: Roger Williams Memorial National Park

Corner of Canal Street and Park Row

Providence, Rhode Island

** MEMBERS OF THE PRESS SHOULD PROCEED TO THE INFORMATION TENT NEXT TO THE STAGE **

WEST WARWICK, RI - Today, members of the Rhode Island alcohol and drug addiction recovery community, surrounded by their families, friends, state legislators, health care providers, and fellow advocates, will kick off National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month (”Recovery Month”) with the official unveiling of the annual Recovery Quilt.

“National Recovery Month is an exciting time for the thousands of Rhode Islanders who have achieved long-term recovery, along with their families, friends, and supporters,” said Craig Stenning, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities, and Hospitals (BHDDH).  “This month also provides important opportunities for our state to showcase the effectiveness of treatment and celebrate those in recovery who are living healthy and productive lives.”

Click here to view the press release.

September is Recovery Month and there are tons of free events scheduled around the state.  For more information, please visit www.rally4recovery.com or www.recoverymonth.gov

Here are a few events on the Recovery Month calendar…

• September 1st - Recovery Month Kickoff - Quilt Event- 11:00 AM - West Warwick Senior Community Center (Washington St.)

• September 11th - 8th Annual Rhode Island Rally for Recovery - 2:00 PM - 7:00 PM.  Roger Williams Memorial National Park - North Main Street (Corner of Canal Street & Park Row) - Providence.

• September 14th - F.I.R.E. Recovery Month Event at Public Square Days - 11:30 AM - Burnside Park, Kennedy Plaza, Providence

• September 15th - RICAODD Annual Dinner - 6:00 PM

• September 16th - ARI Patient Appreciation Celebration

• September 17th - CTR Recovery Month Celebration - 9:00 AM

• September 24th - Recovery Month Awareness Day at Providence Center School

• September 25th - Amos House Friendship Cafe Recovery Month Celebration with Recovery All Stars - 6:00 PM - 11:00 PM.

For more events

We’ve all heard the news.  Lindsay Lohan, a famous Hollywood actress and the target of media scrutiny, reported to jail this week to serve her 9o-day sentence for probation violations on two DUI cases.  At the age of 21, Lohan has suffered with substance use disorders throughout the past several years, largely in front of the country, in the public spotlight.  And she’s not the only celebrity that the public has watched live through this - the list is lengthy, including Drew Barrymore, Whitney Houston, Keith Urban, Courtney Love, Kate Moss, Amy Winehouse (who sang a hit song, “Rehab,” about her experience), and most recently, Mel Gibson.  The new apparent rehab “trend” has also led to the production of several television shows, including “Celebrity Rehab.”

Does this new celebrity “trend” and behavior impact the stigmas associated with addiction?  I hate to think that seeing this would influence younger audiences to follow the behavior of their idols, but it is possible.  On the contrary, however, the recent publicity around those suffering from untreated addictions also brings the topic into the mainstream, public dialogue, which, in many cases, is great for the cause.  By forcing the public to see and acknowledge the reality and pervasiveness of substance use disorders, we are helping to change public perception.  By advocating for those with untreated addictions, those in treatment, and those in recovery, we can further help to influence public perception that addiction is a disease.

While shows like “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” chronicle the lives of celebrities who enter treatment, other recent shows, such as A&E’s “Intervention,” which showcases “normal” folks’ lives as their loved ones, with the help of trained specialists, hold an intervention in order to encourage them to seek treatment, have also received significant air time and public interest.  This can only serve to make addiction and substance use disorders the subject of public discussion and consumption, and will hopefully help tear down some of the century-long stigma associated with this disease.

Click here to view photos from the Healthy Mind Body Spirit Festival on June 25, 2010.

Please join

David L. Rosenbloom, PhD, Director, Join Together

Representative Steven M. Costantino, Chairman, House Committee on Finance (Invited)

Craig Stenning, Director, Rhode Island Department of Mental Health, Retardation & Hospitals

John Femino, MD, President, American Society of Addiction Medicine, Rhode Island Chapter

Brian J. Zink, MD, Chief of Emergency Medicine at Lifespan and The Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Dale Klatzker, PhD, President/CEO, The Providence Center

Sol Rodriguez, Executive Director, OpenDoors Rhode Island

Nick Zaller, PhD, Project Lead, Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap Initiative

for the release of the Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap Coalition’s Report and Recommendations to help close the addiction treatment gap in Rhode Island.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

10:00 AM

The Providence Center

530 North Main Street - 3rd Floor Community Room

Providence, Rhode Island

Today only 1 in 8 Rhode Islanders with an alcohol or drug addiction are getting the treatment and care they need to successfully fight their disease.  The health care, prison, and governmental costs related to the tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders with untreated addiction are growing.  Treatment works — expanding access to addiction treatment will produce significant societal and other savings.  Please join us as we unveil the Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap Coalition’s Report and Recommendations to improve the quality, access, and efficiency of Rhode Island’s substance use treatment system.

Another attempt at recovery lasted about a year, and after relapsing yet again, I moved to England.

I stayed abstinent for a bit, but hung around in the village pubs every night, and soon started drinking to the point of shaking in the morning.  I hooked on with a Scottish folksinger and we traveled throughout Europe, performing at schools during the day and pubs or small art centers and fairs.  I quickly learned how to work the hospitable nature of the people I met, and stayed drunk most of the time.

When I returned home, I bounced around New York and Maryland, burning bridges everywhere I went.  One day, I awoke in a strange place, and when I asked where I was, I was told that I was in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

I have been able to piece the story together over the years, but in a nutshell, I convinced some people I knew from my show days to drive to Brooklyn and pick me up.  After 3 days, they asked me to leave.  I wound up in South Providence, living in a rooming house and drinking myself into oblivion.

At that point, I felt I had lost the will to live.  My family didn’t know if I was alive or dead.

After a few months, I knew I didn’t have many options left, so I found a bed in the State Detox, which got me a bed at the Providence Center’s Residential Care.

That was 12 years ago.  When I celebrated my first year in recovery, my mom was diagnosed with cancer that had spread to several areas, and she died 4 months later.  I was able to spend time with her and be a good son to her, without any other agenda.  She passed with the knowledge that I was on the good red road.

I have also been able to repair and develop very close relationships with my children, becoming a grandfather for the first time in August, 2009.  With 2 more grandchildren on the way.

What’s it like now?  Many of my wildest dreams have become a reality.  I was hired by the same detox center as a counselor, and I actively pursued my license as a substance abuse professional.  I’ve had the pleasure of working with a wide range of populations, ranging from children to the correctional facility.

And that dream job?  A few years into my recovery, I received a call from the owner of the company.  He asked if I was interested in working some of the local tours.  Was I!  Now every spring, when the show is in the northeast, I work it whenever I can.

I’ve settled down here in Rhode Island and have had the pleasure of working in a profession that I love.  I also get to make music and spread the message of recovery and hope.

In 2006, I took over the Rhode Island Community for Addiction Recovery (RICARES) and ran it until 2008, when I felt the circle was complete.  That’s when I went to work for the Providence Center.  A position was created to embrace the importance of Recovery Services, and that’s what I do.  And I am loving it.

Parts of this dream have included being awarded the R.I. Counselor of the Year Award in 2003.  In 2006, I received the Jefferson Award for service in the NE Community, which was followed up with a profile in the December 2006 Yankee Magazine, titled “Angels Among Us.”

In 2009, I was chosen as the Rhode Island delegate to represent our state at the National Rally for Recovery, and I was asked to speak at the National Press Club, along with a representative from Georgia, Gil Kerlikowske (President Obama’s Drug Czar), the Director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the President of A&E, on my personal recovery story.

This past year, I have been given the privilege of writing a monthly column on recovery for “Street Sight”, the newspaper dealing with issues of homelessness.

Our band, “The Recovery All Stars” has had nearly 100 members over the years, and continues to be a strong therapeutic tool for many.  We are the official band of R.I. Recovery month, and are now the House Band for the late night comedy show on local NBC, “Rhode Bytes.”

Recovery is possible, treatment works… and life is good!

My name is Nick Zaller and I am the Project Lead for the Rhode Island Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap (CATG) Initiative.

CATG is a coalition of over 40 member organizations dedicated to raising awareness about the addiction treatment gap in our state.  The addiction treatment gap is the difference between the number of Rhode Islanders suffering from addiction and the number who actually receive the substance use treatment that they need.

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