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...
Recently, I was having dinner with a friend who was describing a close friend’s sudden collapse of character, which included behaviors and activities that weren’t congruent with this person’s normal character. As a layman, I can’t diagnose the situation but it...
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...
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...
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...
I first came to learn about trauma through my first 12-step group. Many of the guys who had done intensive therapy would talk about it from time to time. Certainly, I had heard about PTSD, but my underdeveloped understanding of trauma led me to believe that only...
Some time ago, my life brought me to a point of humility, which made me realize I needed help. Through the help of my home 12-step group and therapist, I sought out an inpatient rehab facility. My 35 days in Tennessee not only provided me with the healing that I...
When I started recovery, the stories that people told me about both their addictions and the families they came from fascinated me. As a man named “Dan” once said, “My family put the fun in dys-FUN-ction.” Over and over again at 12-step meetings, I have heard people...
Michael Murphy, Ed.D., writes as a Catholic psychologist with more than three decades of experience combining clinical psychology and the Catholic faith. He writes regularly for CIR on topics related to addiction recovery, mental health, and Catholicism. As we witness...