I never imagined that God would use my theatre degree to save my life. Since I received my acting and directing training before Method Acting got its current bad reputation, I was trained in what’s called Stanislavski’s Method, which involves a number of exercises an...
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Three “Catholic” Myths About Self-care (and How to Debunk Them)
Nov 1, 2022 | Addiction, Compulsive Eating Behaviors, Other Addictions | 0 Comments
Everybody in any kind of recovery knows how cunning and patient those old thought patterns are, just waiting to sneak back up on us in the middle of a stressful day. So it really wasn’t any surprise to me when, on one of those recent stressful days, I was passing by...
Stuck or Still? How a Food Addict Can Tell the Difference
Oct 19, 2022 | Compulsive Eating Behaviors, Getting Sober, God, Other Addictions, Prayer & Scripture Reflections | 0 Comments
Even before entering into recovery for my food addiction, I had heard a slogan that kind of, sort of made sense…but didn’t really. Don’t just do something. Sit there. I knew at least intellectually that it meant, “Stop trying so hard. Stop being a perfectionist. Let...
Ways to Avoid Playing the Victim and Blaming Others
Dec 8, 2020 | Addiction, Help from the Saints, Other Addictions, Saints—On Earth & in Heaven | 0 Comments
We all do it. The blame game. We tend to blame others for our faults. We start when we are quite young, blaming a sibling or even the dog for the broken lamp. This is so common that almost everyone can recall either blaming someone else or being the one getting blamed...
A Reflection on Attachment, Addiction, Psychology, and Spiritual Formation: Part Four
Sep 29, 2020 | Alcohol & Drug Addiction, Other Addictions, Psychology & Therapy, The Twelve Steps | 1 Comment
Attachment, as we have seen in previous articles (Part One, Part Two, and Part Three), is central to addiction, recovery, and spiritual growth. But what do St. Ignatius and St. John of the Cross mean by “attachments”? And how does that tie to our recovery from...
A Reflection on Attachment, Addiction, Psychology, and Spiritual Formation: Part Three
Feb 25, 2020 | Alcohol & Drug Addiction, Other Addictions, Psychology & Therapy, The Twelve Steps | 4 Comments
Attachment, as we have seen in previous articles (Part One and Part Two), is central to addiction, recovery, and spiritual growth. But what is it? Where does it come from? How does it get so compromised that we turn to substance abuse and other compulsive behaviors to...
A Reflection on Attachment, Addiction, Psychology, and Spiritual Formation: Part Two
Jan 14, 2020 | Alcohol & Drug Addiction, Other Addictions, Prayer & Scripture Reflections, Psychology & Therapy, The Twelve Steps | 3 Comments
In my last article, I talked about “attachment” as a common thread among addiction, psychology, and spirituality. Attachment in all of these areas is about relationships, whether spiritual (God and the human being), psychological (mother and child), or...
A Reflection on Attachment, Addiction, Psychology, and Spiritual Formation: Part One
Dec 10, 2019 | Alcohol & Drug Addiction, Other Addictions, Psychology & Therapy, The Twelve Steps | 2 Comments
I’ve confronted addiction from several directions in my life: as a therapist treating people in recovery, as a codependent in an alcoholic family, and as a Catholic man trying to discern God’s will and action in the midst of the fear, rage, and despair that addiction...
The Hidden Addiction
Nov 5, 2019 | Alcohol & Drug Addiction, Other Addictions, The Sacraments, The Twelve Steps | 6 Comments
I’m an addict. But you can’t tell by looking at me. I don’t have needle marks and I don’t smell of alcohol. I’m not a compulsive gambler or a shopper, either. I’m a food addict. And I hide it well. Most of my family members and work associates are unaware of my...
A Step Three Reflection: Giving God Unfettered Access to Our Lives
Aug 13, 2019 | Other Addictions, Prayer & Scripture Reflections, The Twelve Steps | 5 Comments
Step Three: Made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to God. My 12-step experience has been in overeaters anonymous (OA). But it was in an area beyond food where the depth of my third step came into sharper focus for me: personal finance. I was on a walk...