addiction & compulsive behavior
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Posted: February 03, 2020Categories: Update from Health Journeys
Read more »It’s that time of the year, when by some estimates, more than three-quarters of us have given up on our New Year’s Resolutions. Some of the most common changes we aim to make are to quit smoking, eat better and exercise more. Other goals may involve starting (or completing) an important personal project, making more of an effort to get together with friends, and perhaps vowing to set healthier limits with people who take more from us than they give.
We set these goals for ourselves because we believe that they will make us better in some way – happier, healthier, more productive, and so forth. And yet, most of us quickly get discouraged and slip back into familiar patterns that feel easier in the short term but prevent us from getting to where we really want to go.
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Posted: May 15, 2019Categories: Update from Health Journeys
Read more »Well, we had a strong year for producing fresh audios you’ve been asking for, and revitalizing and re-engineering some marvelous Golden Oldies – first-rate, evergreen, much-loved guided meditations by masters in the field, but recorded under outdated conditions. Check it out!
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Read more »Hello Belleruth,
I have found the 12 step program to be a helpful adjunct to traditional psychotherapy. I was raised by alcoholic parents, though like many such children, for years I was consciously unaware that there was anything “wrong” with my home life. Life may have been stressful and tumultuous, but it was up to me to make it better. I accepted the unreasonable challenge of molding the world to my will, and any small / temporary successes I accrued were, of course, to my own great personal credit. There being little else to own, I really owned this aspect of myself. Unbeknownst to me I was building the resume of a survivor - a survivor that carried within her the very same misshapen ideals, the unrealistic expectations, and ultimately the sickness that ravaged the lives of my parents.
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Posted: February 05, 2019Categories: Ask Belleruth
Read more »Dear BR,
I have been using your CDs for over 15 years & swear by them. A friend of my daughter is 7 days sober. She is a phone person, so I would like to know if the MP3 is to be downloaded on to a phone or should I get her an MP3 player. Old school here, but I think she would really benefit listening to your new Dr. Leviton guided imagery.
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Posted: February 05, 2019Categories: Ask Belleruth
Read more »Belleruth,
I am put off by what you have to offer. Health Journey's full support of Alcoholics Anonymous is appalling. AA views people through a deficit-based lens. Proof for this statement exists on your website. It calls people who use substances as "skinless", "self-deluded", and "addicts". This kind of language hurts people who struggle with compulsive behavior. It violates some of the basic principles of our social work profession.
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Posted: February 05, 2019Categories: Ask Belleruth
Read more »Hello Belleruth,
My question is about this version of 12 steps from C.L. I would like to buy but the 12 Steps seem to be very fatalistic:
#1 powerless about XYZ, #2 only help through an external power-force, #6 & #7 change my situation only through an external power-force
That is what they say and what they try to believe, as I see on my sister and on Wikipedia. I would not like to reinforce this IMO disbeliefs/limitations into my head by a well-made hypno-file.
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Posted: February 01, 2019Categories: Ask Belleruth
Read more »Dear Belleruth,
I’m wondering if you have any programs that could help an alcoholic trying to achieve sobriety after 25 years of addiction. He is having a very difficult time.
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Posted: January 26, 2019Categories: Update from Health Journeys
Read more »Guided imagery got a big boost from the Recovery community and the ‘Inner Child’ movement of the ‘80s. Charles Whitfield, John Bradshaw, Melody Beattie, and Claudia Black led the way for introducing guided meditations to help people recovering from addiction, co-dependency, childhood brutality and neglect, helping listeners go within for healing and reclaiming a redeemed and transformed self.
But then, sometime in the nineties, at a NICABM Hilton Head conference, I sat in on an imagery workshop by Chuck and Patti Leviton. It presented a series of guided meditations for recovering addicts, and the imagery was designed to accompany each of the 12 steps. It blew me away.
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Read more »I'm dealing with two things I want to change, and I don't have much time to spend listening to audio programs. Can you recommend guided imagery for both, and can I work on them at the same time?
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Read more »Question:
My therapist told me that it might be better to restrict myself to guided meditation that doesn’t involve trying to visualize. I used to really enjoy doing visualizations, but now I am plagued by negative images, the opposite of what I’m after, and cannot see the positive any more. This frustrates and upsets me. What should I do?
Sarah
