emotions

Thoughts

May 16, 2018 // by Aton Center

Our thoughts are powerful. So powerful, that an entire style of therapy has been centered around how we identify and manage our thoughts. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an evidenced based treatment for substance dependence, and AToN’s curriculum is centered on this treatment. Our residents learn how to identify their “automatic thoughts” which in turn influence their emotions.

Our private rehab residents not only learn how to identify these thoughts, but they also learn how to modify them into rational thoughts, which in turn can stabilize emotional distress. These techniques, once learned, must be continually utilized for maximum effect.

If you are interested in learning how to utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help you with relapse prevention and mood stabilization, AToN’s private rehab in San diego may be a good fit for you. Don’t hesitate to call AToN when you are ready to make the next step.

Cassandra Cannon, Ph.D.
Clinical Director
AToN Center, Private Rehab in San Diego 888-535-1516

What is All This Talk About Empathy?

April 25, 2018 // by Aton Center

Many clinicians and treatment programs are talking about empathy these days. So what’s so important about this? I see a few values to empathy. First, it fuels connection with others. Connection increases a person’s sense of well-being and belonging. If you are going to community meetings and focusing on how you are different from others, it will be a lot harder to have success than if you are focusing on having empathy for others. And having empathy will allow you to notice your similarities rather than you differences.

Not only that, but empathy is the antidote for lasting hurt and anger. When anger builds, and when it is fueled by a sense of hurt or betrayal, it can become like a time-bomb that makes people very vulnerable to relapse or other destructive behaviors. I am sure I am missing many other benefits of empathy, but the huge benefit that I see is it just feels better than not having it. Feeling empathy allows people to get out of themselves, out of their own heads and into a world where people are connected.

No one person stands alone. Everything that each of us do affects others, and vice versa. Truly experiencing this means letting go of irritation and anger, letting go of judgment, and easing any sense of loneliness or “other”-ness, to realize that you are human just like everyone else.

Kirsten Helgager PsyD
Psychologist
AToN Center 888-535-1516

Poem About A Healthy Balanced Trinity

April 16, 2018 // by Aton Center

Who’s this “we” that will rescue me

From beneath this deep dark sea

Not God nor Buddha will help me be

To bring me back to sanity

No, God or Buddha please let me be

I need more time beneath the sea

To find my way to restore me

A healthy, balanced, trinity.

Chris McDuffie, MA CADCII
Chemical Dependency Counselor
AToN Center 888-535.1516

Published from The Fix.

Emotional Sobriety In Recovery

February 3, 2018 // by Aton Center

The struggle of daily life can seem insurmountable when people are unable to handle their emotions. A shortage of emotional maturity can make satisfaction a hard commodity to come by. This also makes it more likely that maladaptive coping skills such as substance misuse will be utilized to cope with the discomfort. Relying on drugs and alcohol to cope with negative emotions halts emotional growth and development.

This is why there is a focus in early recovery on continued emotional development, or emotional sobriety. A failure to develop this emotional sobriety makes it difficult for an individual to rebuild coping skills outside of drugs and alcohol. Unpleasant emotions are a part of life, so learning healthy coping skills is paramount to continued recovery from addiction.

The ability to manage feelings positively is a hallmark of emotional sobriety. An emotionally sober person is no longer held captive by negative emotions. They are able to ‘feel their feelings’ and maintain a sense of serenity at the same time without the urge to escape into substance misuse.

A key to emotional sobriety is learning to keep acceptance high and expectations low of the people, places and things that come into an individual’s life. When an expectation is not met, it leaves the door open for resentment and other negative emotions. Acceptance means living in the reality of a situation or problem and making a choice to find the best solution or response. There is a great deal of empowerment and peace in choosing to come from a place of acceptance.

One of the foundations at the AToN Center is ‘Manage Emotions’ which fosters the development of emotional sobriety in a multitude of ways. There are recovery studies on Codependency, The Role of Values, Building Sober Support, Entitlement, Frustration Tolerance and Honesty in Recovery. We also offer psychology groups that help build emotional sobriety such as Core Beliefs, Rationalizations for Use, Empathy, CBT on Emotions and Self-Esteem.

The development of emotional sobriety is a process that takes time and patience. But the pay off is a newfound sense of serenity and confidence in the ability to manage uncomfortable emotions without the use of drugs and alcohol to escape.

AToN Center 888-535-1516

The “Should” Statement

January 31, 2018 // by Aton Center

The “Should” statement. One of my duties at the AToN Center is to teach our residents to connect their thinking to their emotions and behaviors. One dysfunctional thought pattern that often arises is the “should” statement. Examples of this include “I should be sober by now, I shouldn’t have had that drink, people should treat me with more respect.” Other examples include the words “have to, ought to, must, supposed to.”

Though at the initial glance these may appear as benevolent statements of one’s values, when you take a closer look, these statements often represent hyper critical mandates and unrealistic expectations.

The “should” will often make you feel guilt, shame and that mistakes are worthy of harsh punishment. A comment like “I should be sober by now” could make you feel so negatively about your drinking that you might ironically continue to drink to cope with the guilt. Defeating the “should” means on one side taking ownership for mistakes by saying “right now I’m drinking and using and I don’t feel good about that…” and also allowing for the possibility that things can get better “…and I can to do something about it today.”

It will be uncomfortable owning up unhealthy choices, but if this can be accepted with out shame or guilt, you will have the opportunity to make a healthier choice. Instead of living in “I should really get some help,” practice “I’m going to pick up the phone and call someone right now.”

All the Best,
Dr. Chad K. Cox PsyD
AToN Center 888-535-1516

Drugs and Emotions in Sustaining Sobriety

November 6, 2017 // by Aton Center

Emotional Regulation is a key factor in sustaining sobriety. Recently, at the AToN Center, I have been working with a patient whose difficulties in keeping his feelings into some kind of manageable state lead to relapse after relapse. He discussed how when he would have a problem with a co-worker that he would feel overwhelmed, flooded, wouldn’t know what to do and would turn to alcohol.

At other times, he would just stuff the emotions, openly try to just tell himself to “shut up” and would again need to turn to the alcohol to numb out. The work is to find the balance. It’s like keeping a teeter totter balanced right in the middle. Validate your emotions, know that they are there for a reason and, I stress the word, AND, know that the reason for them is not always that logical. In this way he has started to learn to have his feelings but that they did not have the last word. He does.

Chad K. Cox, PsyD
AToN Center
888-535-1516

Isolation and Addiction

September 17, 2017 // by Aton Center

Isolation and loneliness have an overwhelming effect on drug addiction and alcoholism causing people to feel sad hopeless and abandoned.

When we are actively using drugs to cope with depression, anxiety and stressful situations, we are doing so to avoid our feelings and reality. As the disease of addiction progresses, we lose friends and damage relationship which just causes us to isolate even more. We also isolate to hide our drug use and to avoid judgment and confrontation from others.

The trouble with isolating ourselves when we are using drugs and drinking is we start to believe the lies that our addiction is telling us. Our addiction can carry a lot of stigma and shame. It may cause others to worry uncontrollably about us so we isolate more in the hopes that if we aren’t being seen then people will worry less.

Emotional isolation occurs when an individual avoids meaningful conversation and withholds their feelings.

Physical isolation is when a person removes themselves from the presence of other people. As the individual isolates more and more and the addiction progresses, changes in the brain start to occur causing them to become more consumed by their substance of abuse and prioritizing their drugs over everything else.

Rat Park

In 1978, Canadian psychologist Bruce K. Alexander conducted an experiment with the help of the Simon Fraser University called “Rat Park.”

One of the goals of Alexander’s experiment was to show that drugs alone do not cause addiction but that a person’s living environment can add to it. Alexander constructed” Rat Park” with food, wheels and balls to play with, plenty of space to move around in, and 16-20 rats of both sexes to mingling with. In this experiment, the social rats had the choice to drink fluids from one of two dispensers. One of the containers had just water in it and the other container had a morphine solution in it. The rats in “Rat Park” consistently resisted the morphine water over the plain water.

Alexander also conducted another experiment where the rats were isolated and starved for hours, and then hooked up to various intravenous needles implanted into their jugular veins. The rats would consistently press a lever to inject themselves with large doses of heroin, amphetamine and cocaine. What was interesting was the rats that were caged up for 57 days chose plain water over the other drugs when moved to “Rat Park” and voluntarily going through withdrawal.

Today, psychologists and substance abuse expert acknowledge the fact that drugs and alcohol addiction is mental as well as physical. Humans do not have to be physically isolated to become addicted to a substance. Emotional isolation can produce the same affects.

These experiments led treatment experts to advocate the need for a comprehensive recovery program that addresses the mental and emotional needs of recovering addicts, not just their physical needs.

For the best chance at beating addiction you need an environmental change, a holistic approach to address a person’s mental, social and spiritual needs as well as medical and physical care.

Johnina Noar, CADC-II
AToN Center 888-535-1516

Anger in Recovery

September 11, 2017 // by Aton Center

Anger is a call to action. Anger can be the entry level emotion to other underlying emotional states. No emotion is either good or bad though many interpret Anger as a “negative” emotion. Anger can serve a purpose however over the long run the bright, hot heat of anger may not be sustainable.

Early in recovery anger can be directed towards other people who have hurt you, let you down or took advantage of you. The anger’s initial purpose may be to have you separate yourself from these people and experiences. That being said having this separation may not necessarily lead to healing. The cliche of having a “chip on your shoulder” may encourage you to push away and rebel against those other people.

Be mindful that in getting away from something you may not yet have discovered what direction you want to head in. Healing the emotions underlying anger are more likely to help you find your purpose and meaning. You an be angry at people that have hurt you but this is not the same as finding new people who will offer comfort and care.

Let anger serve its purpose but once it has run its course find other energies to help guide you.

Chad K. Cox PsyD
AToN Center 888-535-1516

Low Frustration Tolerance

August 2, 2017 // by Aton Center

Low frustration tolerance is a belief that one is incapable or unwarranted in managing feelings or situations that are uncomfortable or difficult. This type of thinking can actually increase the level of actual discomfort. It is important to realize that mild or temporary discomforts are a part of normal life. Discomfort can be a useful feeling, reminding us that something is not right and motivate us to make a change.

Part of the recovery process is strengthening our ability to experience uncomfortable emotions. Here are some useful strategies for building frustration tolerance:

• Understand that we can only change ourselves

• Realize and accept that discomfort will occur

• Practice forms of mindfulness that reduce extreme reactions and internal resistance

• Delay gratification and “reactivity” when possible

• Utilize cognitive strategies including CBT, re-framing, thought stopping, and affirmations which enhance self-efficacy

• Examine common thinking errors

• Eliminate absolutes and demands such as; must, should, and have to

• Practice urge surfing techniques for emotions

• Increase your locus of control by reminding yourself you are not a victim, and you can willfully choose how to respond

Kristin Colton CATC II

Chemical Dependency Counselor
AToN Center 888-535-1516

Manage Emotions In Recovery

July 5, 2017 // by Aton Center

One of the foundations of recovery as taught at AToN Center is the importance of managing emotions. This seems to be a stumbling block that can be overcome when we have realistic expectations regarding emotional health. One of the biggest misconceptions about emotions is that one should be happy “all the time.” This can set us up for failure when we have this expectation. In fact, much of the time the average person experiences neutral emotions a large portion of the time.

I encourage our residents to be appreciative of the joyful moments – and when the sorrowful periods of life come your way, to employ some basic emotion management strategies.

First – remind yourself that uncomfortable emotions are temporary. They will not last forever.
Second – do not try to hide from your emotions, rather sit with them and experience them.
Next – practice healthy self care strategies such as appropriate nutrition, exercise and sleep.
Finally – be patient with yourself and congratulate yourself for getting through uncomfortable feelings without sabotaging your recovery!

Dr. Cassandra Cannon
Clinical Director
Licensed Psychologist
AToN Center 888-535-1516

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