Addiction: What's Really Going On? contains powerful true-life stories woven together to form a tapestry filled with pain, joy, defeat, and success. The entire book is molded around Deborah McCloskey's heartfelt desire for her clients to be free of drugs. Her counseling methods both endeared her as 'the counselor to get' and locked her into a decade of searching for better ways to help those she felt were stuck on the merry-go-round of a methadone system. This book should be read by teachers, hospitals employees, college students, government officials, and our general adult population whether addicted, sober, or straight.Experts Acclaim forAddiction--What's Really Going On? 'Once I started reading Addiction--What's Really Going On? I could not put it down! You can tell the passion the author has as you read it. I can also tell how she learned about methadone and the patients as she progressed in her work.' --Roxanne Baker, CMA, President National Alliance of Methadone Advocates (NAMA) 'Addiction--What's Really Going On? is gritty and gripping as you enter the lives of those who are like crabs trying to get out of a barrel. Hope comes when you realize that there are people in this world committed to unselfish service who have unconditional love for others. Thank you Deborah and Barbara for showing us your humanity and for what we can aspire to.' --Anusha Amen-Ra, CNC, CEO, Sacred Space Healing and Retreat Centers International, Inc. 'Addiction--What's Really Going On? is a truthful look into the world of Methadone Treatment with a mix of compassion and humor. It is a great read for those in the recovery field and provides insight for those who do not understand the life of addiction and recovery.' --Lori Carter-Runyon, Executive Director Hilltop Recovery Services 'I recommend this book to audiences in any helping profession, people in recovery, the families of drug addicts, and the users themselves.' --Bill Urell, MA, CAAP-II, Addictions Therapist Author,The Addiction Recovery Help Guide About the Author Barbara Sinor, PhD is a Psychospiritual Therapist working with individuals dealing with addictions, childhood abuse/incest, PTSD, and adult children of alcoholics. Barbara utilizes a holistic methodology in her counseling encompassing forms of hypnotherapy, regression therapy, Gestalt, Jungian dreamwork, and other transpersonal techniques. Dr. Sinor holds a Doctorate in Psychology; an MA from John F. Kennedy University; and a BA from Pitzer College. Psychology : Psychopathology - Addiction
We need to do more than just tell our troubles to God. God already knows. What we do need to learn to do is sit down with God and look for solutions: What actions to take, choices to make, directions to turn. In our conversation with God, we need to hear both the joyful and painful aspects of the situations in our lives. This is what I believe is ‘turning it over.’ Far from sitting and waiting for God to magically run our lives, turning it over involves turning in adifferent direction. Sometimes, that different direction is what allows us to discover and appreciate God in ways we never thought possible.
Father Leo BoothUnity Newsletter July 3, 2003
Adifferent direction, this is the message my dear friend Deborah McCloskey is clearly portraying throughout her engaging story. Deborah's untiring work to guide those in methadone treatment centers toward wise choices, developing self-esteem, and to search for new and different directions for their lives is obviously heroic.
Statistics tell us that the current need for addiction counselors, as well as rehabilitation and recovery clinics, far outweigh the current population need. In a paper prepared for the national Substance Abuse& Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) titled “Substance Abuse Treatment Workforce Environmental Scan” it is noted that:
There has been a growing recognition that the substance abuse treatment field is facing a workforce crisis. Recruitment and retention of staff have surfaced as critical problems for many agencies as finding and keeping qualified professionals has become difficult for many administrators… Workforce issues are complex and woven into many issues facing the substance abuse field in general. Stigma, under funding, lack of resources, lack of public support, and misconceptions about substance abuse treatment affect the entire system, and of course, those who are employed in the field. However, the workforce is the underpinning of the entire infrastructure.
Obviously, the need for addiction and recovery counselors is paramount to the task of guiding those addicted to drugs (including methadone) and alcohol toward thatdifferent direction which can lead to a healthy sober future. Statistics from SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use& Health (2007) show there is an estimated 22.3 million persons over the age of twelve with substance dependence or abuse. This is almost ten percent of our national population. Although about 2.4 million people received treatment at a specialty facility in 2007, millions of others addicted to drugs and/or alcohol reported they needed treatment but did not receive help for their problem. More specifically, there has been no perceived change in the use ofheroin over the last several years, 2002 to 2006.
Heroin is a chemical derived from one of nature's most beautiful flowers, the poppy. The specific poppy plant which yields opiates is thepapaver somniferous. The production of opium and heroin from these lovely flowers was deemed illegal in the United States in 1920. However, stopping the underground drug market from smuggling the substance into our nation seems impossible. Heroin comes onto our streets from many countries including the Czech Republic, Mexico, Canada, Colombia, the Orient, and Southeast Asia. It is smuggled by air, sea, land, and even the mail.
Although heroin use may not hold the highest number of abusers over other forms of addictive substances—more than 600,000 in the United States—the social and health effects of heroin on our society is overwhelming. Family structures are compromised as jails are filled with addicted parents; education is impeded while children follow their family's substance abuse behaviors; and, our criminal justice, as well as, health and social services systems are all impacted negatively. Americans can now claim that almost half of us know someone with a substance abuse problem. I echo Deborah's puzzling question of “What's really going on in our society that we cannot deliver a workable and compassionate recovery program for our addicted population?”
Some feel methadone, a synthetic opiate, to be the
