Paul Waters is the Executive Director of Inpatient Services for Midwest Detox Center in Maumee, Ohio. Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Waters has a wealth of both professional and personal experience in substance use recovery. He’s worked in the field since 1981, and has been sober since 1979. “I was strictly an alcoholic,” he said. “On…
If you are considering addiction treatment in a program like those offered by Amatus Recovery Centers, you probably have come across the term “dual diagnosis treatment.” Today, medical science has a better understanding of substance abuse disorders. There is a direct connection between substance abuse and mental health issues. Dual diagnosis treatment is a method…
We tend to take our cues about how to act from other people. It’s human to occasionally compare yourself to others. But if you find that you’re doing it frequently regarding your recovery, you might want to pivot your attention. Recovery is so unique to the individual that comparisons are futile—and ultimately detrimental. How Does…
Edward Cutcher is the Executive Director of Outpatient Services at Midwest Recovery Center in Toledo, Ohio. With more than 14 years of sobriety under his belt, Cutcher has both the book smarts and lived experience to adequately run a substance use disorder treatment center. He’s earned three degrees: an Associates in substance abuse treatment and…
This July, the singer Lily Allen commemorated a year sober with an Instagram post containing several pictures of her. In the first few, she looks happily sober; in the last, she is visibly intoxicated and seems miserable. Allen has been very open about her struggles with alcohol and drugs, even before she got sober. In…
Jonathan Moseley is the Vice President of Digital Media for Amatus Recovery Centers. Born, raised, and still living in South Florida, Jonathan began using drugs when he was 13 years old. For the next eight years, he had a difficult time putting them down. “It got really bad pretty quickly,” Jonathan said. “I managed to…
Buster Howard is a Behavioral Health Technician at Serenity House Detox Center in West Palm Beach Florida. Born and raised in Miami, Howard started drinking when he was ten years old. For the next fifteen years, his mindset was, “whatever you got, I want some.” After some legal trouble, Howard’s public defender suggested he seek treatment.…
Leah Hunt is the Case Manager at Serenity House Detox Center in Houston, Texas. Hunt grew up in a family without any history of Substance Use Disorders, in a middle-class suburban town South of Houston. However, from a very early age, she had a fascination with alcohol. “My family was reasonably stable and calm,” she…
The actor Samuel L. Jackson got his breakout role in the 1991 Spike Lee movie Jungle Fever weeks after leaving addiction treatment. He went into treatment after his wife LaTanya and then-8-year-old daughter Zoe found him passed out drunk in their kitchen, in the process of cooking cocaine. Jackson said, “I drank and used…
In recovery, you’ll probably hear the phrase “keep it simple.” This may be baffling. Life isn’t simple! Recovery isn’t simple! Addiction certainly isn’t simple! True, but the idea behind “keep it simple” is not to get too far ahead of yourself. You don’t have to overcomplicate a process that’s already overwhelming. I don’t use AA,…