September is Recovery Month Recovery Month promotes the societal benefits of prevention, treatment, and recovery for mental and substance use disorders, celebrates people in recovery, lauds the contributions of treatment and service providers, and promotes the message that recovery in all its forms is possible. Recovery Month spreads the positive message that behavioral health is essential to overall health, that prevention works, treatment is effective and people can and do recover.

 http://www.recoverymonth.gov/ 

AA Grapevine 

Top 5 Reasons Why Women Relapse

Women don't want to admit it. Their families often turn a blind eye. Yet drug and alcohol addictions that were once considered a man's problem now affect an estimated 2.7 million women.

Women have different reasons than men for using drugs and tend to become addicted faster and after using smaller amounts of drugs than their male counterparts. They also have different reasons for relapsing. Here are the top five challenges that pose a threat to women in recovery:

1. Getting into Romantic Relationships Too Soon
2. Unrecognized Love, Relationship or Sex Addiction
3. Undiagnosed Psychiatric Disorders
4. Stigma and Lack of Support
5. Inadequate Coping Skills

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21st Century Technology meets Holistic Healing

 

Eighteen months of testing and development in a South Florida addiction treatment facility culminated in an innovative, comprehensive holistic healing program. The Xtreme Serenity system was introduced to treatment providers at the Evolution of Treatment Conference in Miami in March of 2011. The program has been so well received that there are now twelve systems integrated in nine residential, outpatient and detox facilities in Florida and Arizona.

The focal point of the system is the Serenity Lounge; a vibrational platform constructed with memory foam and incorporated with an audio/visual delivery system. The system utilizes precisely choreographed music synchronized with low frequency sine tones and binaural beats. Binaural beats refers to the creation of a beating tone perceived when two tones at slightly different frequencies are presented separately via stereo headphones. This phantom tone appears as if the two tones mixed naturally out of the brain, thus encouraging access to an altered state of consciousness.

 

The combination of the music, vibrations and binaural beats produces a harmonic resonance, which in turn will induce a theta level meditative state in most people in about 15 minutes. Providers are finding this to be a very helpful crisis intervention resource that has become an extremely effective method of reducing early discharge AMA'S, and very useful as an appropriate incentive to assist in modifying behaviors. Clients are consistently ranking it as the Holistic Program they most want to participate in.

 

Incorporated in both the audio and video systems are guided imagery sessions with positive affirmations and messaging. Utilizing a tranquil state to deliver a powerful message enhances the effect of the message and the overall experience. Optional meditation bands and client workbooks are available with this same messaging for client use when not in session. These affirmation exercises are positive, stimulating, and an extremely effective means of embedding the messages of awareness and mindfulness, thereby empowering and assisting the client toward a transformational recovery.

 

Biofeedback

The system also incorporates a practical and entertaining biofeedback program, which is based on decades of scientific research on the psychophysiology of stress, emotions and interactions between the heart and brain. The program is a user friendly interface that measures heart rate variability (HRV) with a finger pulse sensor. Also available for clients are portable hand held units. Heart rate variability is simply a measurement of the time variance in the beat to beat variations of the heart rate; also known as the heart rhythm pattern. These variances are quantified as coherence. Psychophysiological coherence is the state of optimal function. Research shows that when we activate this state, our physiological systems function more efficiently, we experience greater emotional stability, and we also have increased mental clarity and improved cognitive function. Simply stated, our body and brain work better, we feel better, and we perform better.                            

                                                          

The program teaches the client certain techniques to attain a more coherent state. As the client practices deep breathing and positive emotional thoughts, they attain a more consistent heart rate pattern and higher and higher levels of coherence that are reinforced through colorful graphics and audible tones. This enhanced coherent state is commonly called being "in the zone" and creates a balanced, focused and synchronized physiological state. The client learns to make the emotional shift when certain triggers arise.

 

The heart at rest was once thought to operate much like a metronome, faithfully beating out a regular, steady rhythm. Scientists and physicians now know, however, that this is far from the case. Rather than being monotonously regular, the rhythm of a healthy heart, even under resting condition, is actually surprisingly irregular, with the time interval between consecutive heartbeats constantly changing.  

 

Scientists and physicians consider HRV to be an important indicator of health and fitness. As a marker of physiological resilience and behavioral flexibility, it reflects our ability to adapt effectively to stress and environmental demands. A simple analogy helps to illustrate this point: Just as the shifting stance of tennis player about to receive a serve may facilitate swift adaptation; in healthy individuals the heart remains similarly responsive and resilient, primed and ready to react when needed.

 

In general, emotional stress-including emotions such as anger, frustration, and anxiety- gives rise to heart rhythm patterns that appear irregular and erratic: Scientists call this an incoherent heart rhythm pattern. Physiologically, this pattern indicates that the signals produced by the two branches of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) are out of sync with each other. This can be likened to driving a car with one foot on the gas pedal (the sympathetic nervous system) and the other on the brake (the parasympathetic nervous system) at the same time-this creates a jerky ride, burns more gas, and isn't great for your car. Likewise, the incoherent patterns of physiological activity associated with stressful emotions can cause our body to operate inefficiently, deplete our energy, and produce extra wear and tear on our entire system. This is especially true if stress and negative emotions are prolonged or experienced often.                                                                                                                                      

In contrast, positive emotions send a very different signal throughout our body. When we experience uplifting emotions such as appreciation, joy, care, and love, our heart rhythm pattern becomes highly ordered. This is called a coherent heart rhythm pattern. When we are generating a coherent heart rhythm, the activity of the two branches of the ANS is synchronized and the body's systems react with increased balance and harmony. It's no wonder that positive emotions feel so good-they actually help our body's systems reach optimal performance and operate more efficiently.

 

For More Information visit www.theserenityexperience.com  

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