Recently, I hit another milestone in my life. My 4-year old daughter told us that she wanted to run away because we didn’t love her and were mean to her. The precipitating event for her decision was the fact that her mother would not let her eat chocolate before bedtime. The nerve of that woman, how could a mother be so cruel!

I sat down on the couch with my daughter and helped her decide what she would need to pack; some food in case she got hungry, some warm clothes in case it got cold, some toys in case she got bored – but only a couple of her favorites because she couldn’t carry too many, and of course an umbrella in case it rained. Wow, lots of stuff! After our discussion, she decided she didn’t want to run away anymore and could suffer some chocolate deprivation.

I refer to this as a milestone in my life because I have used this example with many client parents we have had in treatment but had never experienced it firsthand. I have told many parents whose children call them to report, “the treatment center is locking them in the closet and beating them with sticks,” that situation is not unlike the little kid who wants to run away. If you let them go they get down the street and look at the great big world, it won’t be long before they hightail it home.

It is not unlike that with some of our clients; they are confronted with their pain and told that they are going to have to relinquish their coping skills and deal with it in unfamiliar ways. The whole experience is extremely painful. Their first instinct is to run but it is a well known fact that most addicts do not have the ability to sustain their addiction without some support, therefore we encourage family and friends to withdrawal any support other than supporting treatment and recovery.

I have had many clients prematurely leave our facilities, but once they found that no one would support/enable them, they quickly returned and began a meaningful treatment experience – not unlike the little kid who runs away from home.

I am somewhat making light of this but the analogy is a basic reaction. I know that absolutely nothing rivals the anguish and pain family members go through when they have to cut a loved one off in order to save the addict’s life…especially parents. It is completely against every paternal instinct and inclination. It is however, always necessary.

I am reminded of a story I once read about a missionary who was in a remote location in India and had a son born there with a clubfoot. This condition could easily have been corrected with surgery; however, there was no hospital for miles. One of the missionary doctors explained that everyday this man would have to turn and hold his son’s foot for 20 minutes. This was very painful for the little boy. The missionary spoke of how painful it was to cause such pain for his son. He spoke of how his son would scream, cry and yell, “I hate you,” while he turned the boy’s foot and how those words broke his heart. Then he spoke of the joy he felt when some years later he watched his son run across the soccer field.

The fact is, it is very easy to focus all of our attention on the addict and neglect the pain that their loved ones are suffering. We are constantly asking parents and significant others to practice behaviors that are completely unnatural to them. I don’t know what I would have done had my daughter got up and walked out the door or if I would have had the wherewithal to stand back and allow her to fully experience the consequences of that action; would I be able to sit on my hands until she decided to come back; honestly, I doubt it. I just want to say that we at TSN try to be aware of the family’s needs while we are taking care of their loved ones but I believe today I have a better understanding of what we are asking of them and I know I will be more empathetic. It is not that what we are asking them to do is wrong – it truly is the best thing they can do. That does not make it easy and we need to have patience with them. I also know that without stories like the young girl’s in the article below, I don’t think I could go on in this business. I am including it because I believe it may give some parent out there hope. This young girl came in kicking and screaming and wanted to leave after a week.

By Ann DeMatteo, Assistant Metro Editor
NORTH HAVEN

For the first time in four years, Barbara Hoffman is clean. 



A drug user since 14, the 18-year-old is living in a halfway house in Florida after 60 days of treatment. “All my energy is back. My head is a lot clearer. I don’t need to lie, cheat or steal from my parents,” said the teenager, who estimates she stole money and goods from her parents worth $20,000 from the time she started drinking and using marijuana, cocaine, Ecstasy and prescription painkillers like OxyContin and Xanax.


Her parents, Adam and Joanne Hoffman of North Haven, knew their daughter smoked pot, but were shocked to learn she was addicted to prescription drugs. Now that she’s in rehabilitation, they’re coming forward because they don’t want another family to suffer their pain.
Their world blew apart when they learned a week before Barbara Hoffman was to leave for college in September that she was on a downward spiral, addicted to OxyContin.
“I want to save another parent, another kid, from going through what our family has gone through,” Joanne Hoffman said. “Drugs should not be a secret. That’s how they thrive.”

Prescription pill addiction became an issue in North Haven about a year ago, when more than a dozen people were arrested for numerous burglaries, some dating back to 2006. Police said the burglaries appeared to be connected to the abuse of prescription drugs by some of the young people arrested.



In North Haven in 2008, there were seven arrests involving illegal possession of OxyContin and 26 heroin arrests, according to Capt. James Merrithew, who runs the detective division. In 2009, police made 16 heroin arrests and 19 arrests for pills. Authorities said most users graduate from pills to heroin because it’s cheaper.

Police believe the addictions force users to take advantage of any opportunity to commit burglaries or larcenies.

The town’s Substance Abuse Prevention Council recently created and mailed a brochure to residents about the dangers of prescription painkillers. The town also plans to apply for a $125,000 federal grant that would help the town fight the problem, said Director of Community Services and Recreation Gerardo Sorkin.



The council will continue to educate the community, and this spring hopes to have a program so residents can get rid of their unused prescription drugs. Talks also are planned for the schools.

“We’re very concerned that kids don’t understand how serious addiction to prescription drugs can be,” said Superintendent of Schools Sara-Jane R. Querfeld, a council member. “We’re not seeing any evidence of it at the high school but that doesn’t mean they’re not doing it.”

FROM A GOOD HOME

North Haven parents have been reaching out to Parents 4 a Change, a Southington organization run by Mary Marcuccio, a woman credited with saving the lives of numerous young people, including Barbara Hoffman.

“It’s sad, but the good thing is families are getting help,” said a North Haven mother whose daughter is no longer addicted to OxyContin. She and her daughter continue to be active with Parents 4 a Change.

Parents 4 a Change instructs parents to create an unfriendly environment for their children if they suspect drug use. Parents need to know their children’s friends and need to know where their money is going. Parents in the group said their kids have taken money from their bank accounts or have stolen items from their homes to buy drugs.



The mother said the parents involved in Parents 4 a Change are caring people who were close to their children and made extraordinary efforts to help them once an addiction became known.

Take the Hoffmans, for example. Married for 25 years, Adam Hoffman owns Godfrey-Hoffman Associates, an engineering and surveying firm. Joanne Hoffman is a nutritionist who runs her business in her husband’s building on Broadway. Joanne Hoffman was a room mother when her daughter was in elementary school. She belonged to the PTA, she was a Girl Scout leader, and Adam Hoffman never missed a soccer game.

“I never thought my kid would be involved” with drugs, said Joanne Hoffman.

“The Hoffmans are a good example of parents who are willing to educate themselves and take productive steps to help their child,” said Marcuccio, whose monthly meetings at Derynoski Middle School in Southington now draw 80 people. “Parents are coming out of the closet.”



Barbara Hoffman, 18, graduated from North Haven High School in June. She earned almost straight A’s, took Advanced Placement psychology, was a CAPT scholar, a varsity soccer player for four years and was in the Latin Club. She was planning to major in business.

But a week before she was to leave for Bryant University in Rhode Island, her parents found out she had an OxyContin problem. They had been aware, previously, that she smoked pot, and asked her to stop.

Barbara Hoffman said that starting at 14, she smoked pot about five times a day, every day. It wasn’t that hard to get. Drinking was more of a weekend thing, when friends would steal liquor from their parents’ homes or liquor stores would sell to underage youths.



Barbara Hoffman said her parents didn’t know what she was doing, but some kids had parents who didn’t care that they drank.

When she was 16, she started to experiment with other drugs, OxyContin being the first. She was addicted immediately. Drug-addiction experts and many medical studies, including at Yale University, have linked addiction to genetics. In other words, some people may be genetically hard-wired to become addicts.

“We were just bored. We thought it would be fun. We thought it would be a good idea,” she said of the people she used to hang out with. She tried cocaine a couple of times and didn’t like it, but she liked Ecstasy. When her friends stopped doing it, she continued. When her parents saw the pills, she convinced them they didn’t belong to her.

“I’m a good talker,” she said.



Her parents forbade her to smoke pot, and they started testing her for drugs. So, she stopped smoking and picked up OxyContin, which the tests didn’t pick up.

“During this time, I was breaking up with my boyfriend of three years. I started doing Oxys every day,” going from a few 40-milligram pills to 10 80-milligram pills a day.

She had a job so she had her own money.

“I stole from my parents a lot. … I pawned all my gold, my parents’ gold. At the time I didn’t think it was a big deal because it seemed like everyone was doing it. Now I feel terrible. They worked hard for that stuff and I just took it and sold it like it was mine. I can’t even go by a pawn shop any more,” she said.

INTERVENTION

The moment of truth was Aug. 27, 2009.

“We confronted her with it. … Her new boyfriend, from Hamden, was the dealer,” Adam Hoffman said.

“It was right out of a movie. She acted like a caged animal and said she wasn’t an addict. It was horrifying,” Joanne Hoffman said.

During the confrontation, they had Marcuccio on the phone and she told them what to say.

“Without Mary, the kid would be dead,” Adam Hoffman said.

She was taken to the Stonington Institute, but ran away three times and came back home, saying she could get clean on her own. She then received outpatient services at the University of Connecticut Medical Center and received a shot of Naltrexone, an opiate blocker. She was going to Narcotics Anonymous meetings.

Barbara Hoffman said she hit rock bottom on the night of Oct. 30, when she totaled her car on Interstate 91 after snorting crushed Xanax pills. She was arrested.



Her parents gave her an ultimatum: out-of-state rehab or be kicked out of the house.

On Nov. 3, she was flown to Treatment Solutions of South Florida on the recommendation of Parents 4 a Change.

“She can probably never live in North Haven again because of the sights, sounds and smells. Everyone she knows does anything from drink to use heroin. She can’t handle it,” Joanne Hoffman said.

Adam and Joanne Hoffman attended three “intensive days” of instruction about pharmacology, drug addiction and its causes through the Treatment Solutions Network. They’ll have to attend Nar-Anon, which helps parents of addicts.

They believe that their daughter took drugs to feel better.

“She tried it and had no reason to stop. It made her feel good,” Joanne Hoffman said.

Michael Blackburn from Treatment Solutions Network says there’s a need for what his group does.



Barbara Hoffman had 60 days of inpatient treatment before being transferred to the halfway house, where she lives with five other young women. “She’s doing well,” Blackburn said.

“This rehab is like no other. They call you on your (expletive). It was good, honest. It’s the first time I’ve been to rehab where I actually want to be clean,” she said.

Being in an area in which a recovering addict is unfamiliar helps because the person doesn’t have access to dealers. It challenges the person to get well on his or her own. “The program teaches life and living skills,” Blackburn said.

“She’s seeking a job with the support of Treatment Solutions,” Joanne Hoffman said. “She’ll start college in the fall, knock on wood.”


If you are in love with someone who is struggling with an addiction we have many resources listed on our website www.treatmentsolutionsnetwork.com/families

Jim Bevell
CEO Treatment Solutions Network
561 577-3174
jimb@tsnemail.com

As we all sit back and watch the various layers of the U.S. war effort unfold, it is hard enough for us to conceptually grasp the level of loss and violent despair unfolding each minute for our troops in the middle east. Even for family members of soldiers, who risk their lives daily, they may have a different perspective on the madness, but nothing can or will ever compare to the horror each individual soldier experiences.

The reason I bring this up is to shed a little light on a situation we are all facing that is certain to explode like a hidden IED, tripped by an unsuspecting soldier. Four letters we’ve all heard before but you better be ready for since they are about to change the world we live in…PTSD. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a bomb being constructed in the middle east as you read this and will be triggered to explode gradually over the next 20 years. Believe me, if you think I’m being dramatic, watch the approaching explosion and think back to this post if you survive it.

Visit http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/fslist-ptsd-overview.asp for a peek at what we will all be faced with but when you’re reading this, remember that only recently has the the U.S. Military’s powers-that-be begun to recognize the the fact that PTSD exists…that is pathetic and unacceptable. While it is wonderful that it is finally being given credibility, the resources set aside for treatment is a pittance compared to what will be needed. Ironically, each returning veteran will have a ticking PTSD IED inside each one of them that can ‘go off’ at any second. Whether an acute PTSD reaction occurs on the street, at work, at school, at church or at home, you can bet your ass that if WE ALL aren’t equipped with a basic understanding of how to deal with it, we will be suffering as a society for generations to come.

Sadly, PTSD cannot be treated like other behavioral disorders and daily we hear reports of treatment facilities failing patients and their families on a daily basis by attempting to treat PTSD along with other behaviorally impaired patients…THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE!!!! These individuals and their families need specialized treatments with professionals specifically trained to deal with PTSD. Do the math, with the numbers of returning veterans, we are in for a shit-storm if we don’t get a handle on this thing and the government has its hands full.

That is why I’ve assembled a team at TSN, who has created a program called HEROES WELCOME. I will share more about the specifics in the next few weeks but in essence, we are assembling the best PTSD experts and centers on the planet and offering treatment for both the victim and their family. As a society and a field, we have a unique opportunity to learn from the past (Viet Nam) and truly help diffuse a generational bomb. This is not a bullshit sticker on a bumper, this is a way for us all to actually support our troops and save our own society.

This is the seed and you are all aware that TSN is growing a solution so don’t pretend you haven’t been informed. If you are interested in learning more or have something to offer, contact Jed Wallace for details since he will be coordinating the effort on my behalf. I encourage you to do some serious research and soul searching – be a part of HEROES WELCOME and do your part to support the veterans that have given their lives, limbs and personalities to protect our freedom…now it is our turn!

Treatment Solutions Network would like to take this opportunity to announce that effective immediately, Park Bench Group Counseling is no longer a part of our network. We wish the Park Bench staff the best of luck with all of their future endeavors.

As you know, all those within the Treatment Solutions Network have come to expect nothing but the finest care available and we continually work to exceed those expectations by evolving as a network and fighting to stay a step ahead of addiction. We maintain our forward momentum by offering a list of services that are unparalleled by other treatment providers and continue to raise the bar in our industry. Just a few of the reasons that the Treatment Solutions Network operates above industry standards:

• Our unique relationships allow us to offer faster admissions, privacy guarantees and payment options not found elsewhere.

• We have our own standards of success. To be part of our network facilities must rise above industry standards. All facilities accepted within our network must offer the highest levels of care available and offer a minimum 30 day treatment program.

• We provide a client advocate who will be in constant contact with the person in treatment and act as a liaison between the family, the facility and the client, if desired. Our case managers and client advocates have experience working with insurance companies and with arranging payment options for those who are uninsured.

• Rapid Response. Our unique approach allows our clients to be presented with a treatment plan quickly by answering a few questions. Once a decision on a facility is made, reservations and travel arrangements are made by us within a matter of hours. Saving additional stress and delay in a time when you or your family member needs immediate action.

Treatment Solutions Network was built with the knowledge that as long as our team works with those we view as the finest, most credible facilities and experts in the field of addiction and recovery, we will be in a position to provide our network with the absolute finest care available. That said, it is important for us to advise all clients in our network that any future cases referred directly to Park Bench Group Counseling will not be eligible to receive the same extensive services they have become accustomed to receiving when working with Treatment Solutions Network in the past. Furthermore, from this point forward, any cases referred directly to Park Bench Group Counseling will no longer be the responsibility of Treatment Solutions Network. To ensure that you are dealing with Treatment Solutions Network please call 866 537-6237 or visit us on the web http://www.treatmentsolutionsnetwork.com

Please feel free to contact me directly with any questions and again, any and all decisions are made by Treatment Solutions with the goal of protecting the best interest of our network, our patients and our vision for a world where there are far more solutions than addictions.

Jim Bevell
CEO Treatment Solutions Network
561 577-3174
jimb@tsnemail.com

I wanted to take a little detour this week and revisit the Bevell Blast. The subject this week isn’t what you might expect but something that needs to be addressed…in my humble opinion. My focus this week is sadly directed towards someone I have known for a long time and have considered a friend and business associate. Hopefully he will hear this and do the right thing.

As many of my readers will remember, a few weeks back I wrote about an opportunity for those of us in the recovery community to do something completely selfless and purchase the alcoholicsanonymous.com url and donate it to AA as a token of our appreciation for the role they have played in the reconstruction of many of our lives. I will admit that it initially was a bit pricey but after a little negotiation, we were getting to an acceptable number. However as we made contact with AA World Service to first get their permission and to make sure that we were operating within the traditions, we were told that while they were grateful for the sentiment they felt that it would not be appropriate. So we left it at that and hoped that no one would try to obtain this site and use it for personal gain.

Unfortunately my faith in mankind was naïve. This is particularly disturbing to me because the individual who was attempting to sell the url professed to be a friend of Bill W., as well as the person who owns the company who bought it. So this is my Bevell Blast to you Peter Harrigan owner of Palm Partners Treatment Center.
Beyond the nice gesture, the reason for returning the url to the proper individuals was not only the right thing to do, but also a way to ensure that something as powerful and important as AA isn’t used as a misleading marketing tool for some treatment center looking to fill beds. There are countless unscrupulous entities in our community and this business is cut-throat in some circles. That said, competition is one thing but deception is something completely different. I can only hope that you did not get this idea because you are on my email list. I thought you would have learned from the Watersheds experience – with this same kind of issue.

If you visit the url right now, you will find an “unofficial” AA website, which it is. It also happens to be a site devoted to driving business to a treatment center in Florida. Sure, there is some basic AA information cut and pasted from elsewhere but what really troubles me is the fact that this site is designed to harvest unsuspecting referrals for financial gain. Again, even if there were other options for treatment or some assortment of resources, that would be more understandable; however, the hotline number and all requests for help go directly to one facility and that is not right.

We built Treatment Solutions in an effort to find the best possible treatment for the individual…that doesn’t come from one center, it comes from relationships we have with countless centers around the country. People are going to alcoholicsanonymous.com because they are desperate and with desperation comes vulnerability. We would never use AA or NA or any other 12 step fellowship as a front to promote our business. It is incomprehensible to us that you would even think that this is ok. So Peter I am putting you on Bevell blast and I hope that you will rethink your approach. The only way you can make this right is to donate the site to AA or if they cannot accept because of the traditions then you need to simply point it to AA.org and leave it be.

For now, we can hope for the best, but the truth will manifest and if there is an ounce of deception, we are going to open a whole new category for the Bevell Blast and the repercussions will not be pretty. I am sure that I am the least of your worries however; I am sure AA World Service has sufficient legal representation and this would appear to be a blatant case of Trademark infringement.

Let me know what you are going to do Peter – you know how to reach me.

Jim Bevell
CEO Treatment Solutions Network
561 577-3174
jimb@tsnemail.com

Wow, I never thought I’d see the day when America’s golden boy Tiger Woods would go zero to bottom overnight. I’m still reeling from this one and just when I think I’ve got a handle on the story, out pops some new porn star from Portland that not only says she too had sex with Tiger, but she also had unprotected sex with Tiger…wow!

This country was practically built on scandal and shame so this is nothing new to the masses; however, this is Tiger Woods for God’s sake, I was still coming to grips with the fact that the guy was having sex. They say people reveal themselves in their opposites, which can only mean that we are dealing with one sick cub. Is it wrong that I actually find him more interesting?

Ok, before the hate mail starts pouring in, let me explain what I mean. I am not saying I condone what he did or respect his choices, but we are dealing with a MASSIVE ADDICTION that has personified Tiger Woods and I am interested in watching him now more than ever. I am certainly impressed when a human being can put a ball in a cup with one swing from 300 yards out, but I am absolutely captivated when I have the privilege of watching a human being face and embrace the truth for the first time.

Addiction is so powerful that even those we perceive to be superheroes behave the same way when faced with the truth…they lie! Tiger is about to bounce off the bottom at any second but as it stands, I get the sense he is still a pitching-wedge away from the absolute truth. I watch this process daily and it isn’t pretty when it happens behind closed
doors but to see it unfold on the global stage is downright brutal. Everyone is in pain watching the truth emerge – especially his family and that is horrific; however, I will say that as this plays out and if Tiger has any self respect, he will find the humility he needs, connect with his higher power and come completely clean.

He is one of us and that means that if he gets into a program of recovery and takes the necessary steps, the man we will meet on the other side will not only be the greatest golfer of our time, but he will also be a man capable of looking into a mirror and loving the reflection. That in itself will overshadow the golfer and let the sun shine brightly on the great man, father and husband he has become by getting honest.

Good luck to the entire Woods family. We are here if you need us.

Jim Bevell

As much as I love putting people on blast, sometimes (who am I kidding, all the time) you come across a piece of information that is so disturbing and so ubiquitous that it is impossible to direct your frustration at just one individual. Believe me, I’d love to identify one culprit for the following fact but like most staggering facts associated with addiction, we need to dig deep to find the origin of the problem.

With that said, this week I found myself blown away by something other than how disturbing this whole healthcare reform is being handled. I was thinking about how this presidential, healthcare dog and pony show is such a disaster and how so many educated people out there are actually buying tickets to watch as the poodle jumps over the horse that I found myself scrambling to read something that would divert my attention. I grabbed the first thing I could get my hands on, which happened to be a piece written about correctional (what a misnomer) facilities and recidivism.

I know, not exactly the best ‘feel good’ material but anything is better than watching the healthcare shuffle! Regardless, one of the first things I read was discussing substance abuse in the prison systems and more importantly, the fact that as most of us in the addiction field know, the best way to limit recidivism (and save millions in taxpayer dollars) is to provide inmates with quality addiction treatment programs inside prisons and of equal importance, have continuation programs ready for them upon release. Then I read something that blew my mind, earlier this year, researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse estimated that about half of the 7.1 million Americans now locked up or on probation have some sort of addiction. But only one in five of those addicts receives effective treatment. That figure is beyond disturbing from the human standpoint, and painful from the taxpayer perspective.

“For every dollar that you spend on treatment of substance abuse in the criminal justice system, it saves society on average four dollars,” NIDA director Nora Volkow told Scientific American in January. Her review of the scientific literature showed that rehab programs behind bars are good at keeping prisoners from returning to drugs once they’re back on the streets. As an example, Volkow cited a prison program that treated heroin addicts with methadone. Addicts who received that treatment were seven times more likely than their unrehabbed peers to stay off heroin after their release, and three times more likely not to commit another offense.

Consider this, this year, hundreds of thousands of inmates have languished on the waiting list for their respective correctional facility’s in-house addiction-treatment program. They actually want help and know the answer but are not being afforded the opportunity, while taxpayer dollars are being squandered on things that infuriate me. Matters are darker for an addict outside of jail, on probation. It can take 4 – 20 weeks to get into a county probation department’s residential treatment program. In 20 weeks, an addict on the streets can find a lot of substances to abuse, a lot of crimes to commit, a lot of trouble to get into. Whether he ends up in the county emergency room or back in jail, the taxpayer will pick up the tab. Heroine addicts are dope sick in a matter of hours and for those of you who have never seen or experienced dope sickness, it would make your grandmother at least consider strong-armed robbery. Now ask someone who knows nothing but the streets to wait 20 weeks…good luck with that!

Listen, it isn’t just a way to keep things moving in the right direction, save lives and make the world a safer place, but it is also a whole lot cheaper to provide the troubled with treatment. We need to correct the corrections or this cycle will continue to get steeper. Think about all of this and share your thoughts with me…something needs to happen now!

I am never surprised when modern science (aka Big Pharma) throws its hat into the addiction ring. Why wouldn’t the Billion dollar Pharmaceutical industry want to capitalize on the weakness of addicts and those who enable them? It wouldn’t be the first time.

I felt compelled to write about this topic after I read a headline a few days ago that literally made me laugh out loud. It simply read “Cocaine Vaccine Created”. Wow, what a dangerous headline to put out there into the media zeitgeist when there is nothing more deadly to addicts than just the notion that their addiction can be cured by a simple vaccine.

Now in fairness, I’m sure that the journalist who wrote this and the scientists working on the vaccine are thrilled by how sensational this news will be to all those individuals out there who are constantly looking for “the easier, softer way”; however, I can assure you that aside from the test subjects, the individuals writing these headlines and giving the injections are not addicts.

This is why we are in such bad shape people. Although the scientists involved probably make a reference to the need for some cursory psycho-social follow-up, they are leading with headlines that might as well read “Miracle Cure”. Addicts and their enablers want the easiest way out of the ditch and I can say for a fact that all of them stop reading after they read the words “Cocaine” and “Vaccine” in the same sentence.

For those of you not in the field of addiction or still drowning in denial, addicts will read that headline, increase their use based on an easy cure, if they don’t overdose they will find a prescription for it and ultimately abuse the vaccine…welcome to addiction 101. Again, we find ourselves struggling to undue what the most brilliant scientific minds have done. Let me be crystal clear, there is a place for the science, but the message sent through the media needs to be treated like a vile filled with the ebola virus. If big pharma and the media would like to know how to deliver their news in a way that won’t be damaging, call me directly and my team and I will walk you through the process. Until then, you are not part of the solution.

We are talking about a devastating disease that feeds on virtually everyone and got more powerful the moment headlines like “Cocaine Vaccine Created” went to print. The disease is not in your head, it is your head! The addicted brain will not only take a headline like that and turn it into a perfectly good reason to abuse your family, sell the minivan and head to the hood for crack, but it will also devour this so called vaccine by adapting and actually changing its chemistry to work around this temporary pharmaceutical barrier.

Case and point…In initial trials, the experimental vaccine showed strong results – at least initially. But, as the medical news syndicate “HealthDay” reports, it lost its effectiveness after a few months. Thirty-eight percent of the study’s participants developed enough antibodies to curb their cocaine use, until their disease and their brain got on the same page. Think about it, while this vaccine made a dent in their cocaine use by binding to certain brain receptors and blocked the euphoria, it only took 2 months for their brain to eliminate the vaccine…amazing!

I could go on forever with this topic and spinoff into tangents about Anabuse and Suboxone but that’s just the point, we’ve seen this before. The point is this, it is careless for the media and those behind the science to haphazardly release information like this to the public. The vocabulary used to describe the science must change or people will continue to suffer. The word vaccine makes people think of how they got a shot and Polio became obsolete. Well I’ve got news for you, Polio is Spring Break next to addiction and unless people are properly and responsibly informed, these scientific miracles will continue to fail.

There is a way to do this properly and it involves new language, new messaging and a whole new presentation. Until that happens, these miracle cures will continue to fall short. The model is bio-psycho-social and the “vaccine” must be presented as a combination of all three. We better start working together to fight this disease as a united front or the journey will always be one step forward and two steps back.

-Jim Bevell

CEO TSN

561 577-3174

jimb@tsnemail.com

I thought I’d take a quick breather from health care reform this week to refocus the attention on the reason I am so passionate about the topic in the first place…addiction. Listen, I know all of us have grown somewhat desensitized to the horror stories and cautionary tales that plague the headlines each day with regard to addiction; however, those of you who know me realize by now that I’m not afraid to shake things up when it comes to speaking my mind and now is one of those times. There are too many talkers out there and not enough walkers when it comes to pretty much everything, especially addiction. It has been this way for far too long and frankly, it is one of the biggest reasons our country is in such a precarious addiction predicament.

This week I am introducing a new regular segment to our humble little blogosphere here at Treatment Solutions, and that will be called the “Bevell Blast”. It is simple really, whenever anyone in the public eye comes out and publicly states that they have experienced a drug or alcohol ’setback’ and vows to give back to the community as a result, I will immediately extend a hand to them and provide them with some ways in which they can take action. If they choose to ignore my invitation to walk the walk, and do not offer any proof of how they are supporting their “vow” to give back, they will instantly be put on “Bevell Blast”. Trust me, they will wish they weren’t. I will simply use my humble public forum to illuminate the individual’s hollow promises and lack of follow thru. Keep in mind, all they need to do is their part by giving back some of what they learned from their own experience and they will be immediately removed from the “Bevell Blast” and praised publicly for being part of the solution.

I want to be clear – I am not interested in doing anything but providing a little push wherever needed. I will be the first to admit that from experience, addicts are strong starters and lousy finishers so consider the “Bevell Blast” a good-faith insurance policy. Sadly, the court of law will let celebrities and public figures skate by on empty promises; however, there is a new sheriff in town and my domain is the court of public opinion…and this courtroom is never out of session. Just to reiterate, unless you have made a public statement that you are going to ‘give back’, you are safe. My team and I have grown tired of empty promises and through our network have designed some very simple ways for high profile individuals to give back, so there is no room for excuses.

Our very first subject is an individual that has impressed me as an athlete, an actor and a man over the years. Sadly, due to a pretty common set of circumstances. he found himself in a battle with addiction at the hand of prescription medication. He has battled with addiction in the past and is now in a position to save lives. In fact, he has been quoted as saying…

“I felt that in spite of the fact I am supposedly a big tough guy, I couldn’t beat prescription drugs on my own. I’ve worked hard to get off of them and really hope other people will realize they need to seek professional help, rather than ignoring the problem or trying to get off of the prescriptions on their own.

“This has been a challenging time for me personally, and I really appreciate the outpouring of love and support from my fans, friends and family. I am looking forward to getting back to teaching and working.”

That is a beautiful statement and I am here to help him follow thru. If you aren’t familiar with the story, that individual is Burt Reynolds and the details can be found here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/dailydish/detail?blogid=7&entry_id=47925

Burt, I am extending an open invitation to you – please contact us and let’s discuss how we can work together to make an impact on this terrible disease and save some lives. I look forward to hearing from you and truly hope you never find yourself on “Bevell Blast”. You are too special a human being to go out like that.

Jim Bevell

CEO TSN

561 577-3174

jimb@tsnemail.com

I just spent the weekend in Cape Cod, at the Symposium for addictive disorders. I had the honor of being invited to participate in a small focus group hosted by the event organizers, C4.

The primary objectives for our discussions were the exploration of outcome-based treatment and to develop outcome studies to help guide interventions in our respective programs. During the discussions, I was reminded of my thoughts just after the Parity Act was passed last year. I believe that while it is a good thing that this industry is being recognized as a legitimate professional field under the medicine and healthcare umbrella, it is also a call for us to grow up as professionals.

The whole concept of alcoholism/addiction being considered as a legitimate disease has come a long way thanks to the work of Dr. Benjamin Rush in the early 20^th century. His early and beleaguered progress paved the way for the AMA to declare alcoholism/addiction a disease in the 1950’s, its inclusion in the DSM, and currently a place where Congress has mandated that insurance companies must treat this disease as any other medical illness; how far we have come.

Likewise, treatment has come a long way from Bill Wilson’s first experience in the sanatorium, Dr. Silkworth’s early work with members of AA, Therapeutic Communities, the Minnesota Model, and ultimately what we currently have today, which is an amalgam of all the above. Most statistics currently show the success rate of current treatment interventions at about 30%. I could write for hours about statistics and as we all know, most studies are flawed at best. That said, my thoughts are this while strolling around the conference and seeing all of the centers with all of their marketing, it seems like it is all focused on aesthetics and amenities. With all of the spring break-like slogans, we have this view, we are on this beach, we have a pool, or we have tennis courts, my question is this – if you went to a conference for hospitals, would you see the same kind of messaging? In other words, they build their programs on what medical interventions they are using and the research that backs up the efficacy of using these interventions, not what the view from your bed will be.

So, as we continue to fight for fair treatment of this disease and parity to be considered as any other illness, we need to grow up as an industry. We need to start building evidence-based treatment centers, regardless of whether they are on the beach, in the mountains, have a pool. It has been said that substance abuse success rates are lower than those of pancreatic cancer, if we were trying to leverage the insurance companies to pay for chemotherapy regimens that were bringing in those types of results, we would be laughed at. It is time to grow up for all of us.

That’s what we are doing at TSN. This is why we work very hard to get longer lengths of stay for our clients. The entire body of research that has been done on this disease indicates that the longer a person stays engaged in treatment, the better the chances for a successful outcome. We are also working hard to ensure that clients stay engaged in some level of care for at least the first year. We fight for inter-provider communication since the research says that this type of engagement and communication brings about better results. We are very grateful for organizations like C4, who are promoting thought and communication among us, while encouraging us to grow up professionally.

At TSN we know we have a long way to go even though we consider ourselves to be on the cutting edge. This knowledge has motivated us to develop more research-based projects and join other organizations to push forward and get better outcomes by using better interventions, while eliminating interventions, which are not productive. I pray that as an organization we never fall in love with our ideas so deeply that we refuse to allow the evidence to determine our direction.

Jim Bevell

CEO TSN

561 577-3174

jimb@tsnemail.com

The healthcare debate has now officially escalated from finger pointing to finger biting. For those of you who haven’t heard, I am referring to the case in Thousand Oaks CA, where a 65 year-old man had his pinky bitten off at a rally for healthcare reform. I am sure Ted Kennedy is rolling over in his grave already. For all of his early troubles and personal struggles, Ted remained a constant voice of reason in the Senate and a strong proponent for fair healthcare reform. I am afraid that with Ted Kennedy’s passing, any remaining shreds of Senatorial common sense may have left the building as well. This thing is getting ugly, quickly, as most things do when they are overly politicized. Being in recovery I know a little something about extremes. I have learned from experience that it is not good to be extreme about anything. Middle of the road is always the safest bet.

It’s really no different with politics, too far left you’re a communist and too far right you’re a fascist.  So, to both extremes I say shame on you. Shame on the right for using this delicate issue to push your sour grapes and bitter perspectives; after all, we can’t thank you enough for giving us George W and Dick Cheney. And shame on the left for not being able to take a solid stand on any issue since JFK was in office. Now, both sides are taking an issue that is critical to everyone and turning it into a finger-biting sideshow.

Mitt Romney is certainly not a left wing liberal but he was able to get a pretty decent healthcare reform bill passed in Massachusetts. Maybe it’s due to the fact that he was operating in the state where the Kennedy family’s footprints are all over politics? I have to say, of everything I have seen thus far in the healthcare debate, Massachusetts’ Chapter 58 makes the most sense. Keep it simple stupid! The law basically defines the uninsured, makes provisions for them to qualify for state sponsored insurance and leaves the existing insured alone.

In other words, if you have insurance, stay with what you have. If you don’t have insurance, let’s figure out a way to get you some. If you choose not to have insurance we are going to apply tax penalties so we can provide you with healthcare when you need it dumbass.

I like the way they set the qualification for those within 100% of the Federal Poverty level. And just for you rabid right-wingers, Massachusetts recently amended it to exclude illegal immigrants, which I think is fair – we need to take care of our own first. So come on people let’s get a fair and balanced health care bill passed so we can move onto some more important business.

Maybe next we should try and get a Michael Jackson Monument built on ground zero. We can pay for it with money from the reinvestment act and put up a sign saying so. Then we can pat ourselves on the back, hold hands (at least those of us who have our fingers left) and sing We Are the World.

Teddy, I think you got out of here just in time!

Jim Bevell

CEO TSN

561 577-3174

jimb@tsnemail.com