RecoveryMind Training: A Neuroscientific Approach to Treating Addiction

by Paul H. Earley

Overview

An innovative guide for professionals that establishes an extraordinary approach to understanding the dynamics of addiction and the recovery process. RecoveryMind Training (RMT) includes state-of-the-art information on neuroscience and behavioral techniques. RMT challenges readers to see addiction from a different perspective and introduces a structured treatment model that will put order to the chaos typically found with addiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781942094333
Publisher:	Central Recovery Press, LLC
Publication date:	03/07/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Paul H. Earley, MD, FASAM has been an addiction medicine physician for thirty years. He treats all types of addictive disorders and specializes in the assessment and treatment of healthcare professionals. As a therapist, he works with patients already in recovery, providing long-term therapy for those who suffer from this disease. His professional expertise extends to advocacy for professionals before agencies and licensing boards.

Dr. Earley is a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and has been on the board of ASAM for over fourteen years in several capacities and is currently a director-at-large. He has been the Medical Director of two nationally acclaimed addiction programs specializing in the care of addicted healthcare professionals. Currently, he is the Medical Director of the Georgia Professionals Health Program, Inc. and a principal with Earley Consultancy, LLC, a training and consulting firm. He also trains therapists about the neurobiological basis of addiction and psychotherapy. In his travels, he has provided training in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Switzerland.

Table of Contents

Foreword xv

Introduction xix

Definitions xxiv

Section 1 1

Chapter 1 RecoveryMind Training: A Path of Change 3

The Seven Elements of RecoveryMind Training 3

What Is AddictBrain? What Is RecoveryMind? 5

Deeper into the Principles of RecoveryMind Training 6

The RecoveryMind Model 10

Chapter 2 Clarifications and Limitations 13

A Few More Definitions 14

Addicting Chemical or Drug 14

Behavioral Addiction 14

Disease 15

Patients or Clients? 15

Clarifications 16

Addiction Is a Chronic and Primary Disease 16

Addiction Is Not Simply a Problem with Chemicals 18

Addiction Is Not Simply a Bad Case of Substance Abuse 20

Aren't Those with Addiction Getting Better when They Learn to Control Their Use? 23

Is It Important to Know the Cause of All This Destructive Drug Use? 26

Addiction Occurs in a Social Context 28

The Illness Does Not Stop when the Using Stops 28

Addiction Decisions Are Not Constrained by Legal Definitions 29

Addiction Models and RecoveryMind Training 30

Addiction and Other Psychiatric Illnesses 31

What about Spirituality? 33

RecoveryMind Training Is Not for Everyone 33

RecoveryMind Training May Be Contraindicated in Patients with Severe Psychiatric Disorders 35

Chapter 3 The History and Neuroscience of Addiction 39

Addiction Models Have Changed Over Time 40

Is Addiction a Problem with Bad Feelings or Bad Wiring? 40

Biological Theory 41

Prohibition 41

Confusing Physiological Dependence with Addiction 43

An Increased Number of Drugs 45

Brain Research Reconsiders Addiction 46

Self-Medication Theory 46

The Neuroscience of Addiction 49

How Complicated Is My Brain Anyway? 50

Addiction Is a Maladaptive Learned Response 50

If the Brain Is So Elegant It Must Be Coordinated, Right? 55

Finding the Biological Center of Addiction 56

More than One Biological Theory 61

Chapter 4 What Is AddictBrain? 69

Origins of the AddictBrain Model 71

AddictBrain Is Not Simply Drug Toxicity 74

AddictBrain Uses a Four-Pronged Attack 78

AddictBrain Hijacks Our Instincts 78

AddictBrain Redirects Motivation to Ensure Its Survival 78

AddictBrain Establishes Stereotypical Responses for Continued Use 79

AddictBrain Rearranges Reality to Prevent Detection 79

More AddictBrain Dirty Tricks 82

Urgency and Impulsiveness 82

Relapse Is Inevitable 83

You Get the Opposite of What You Desire, but You Do Not Realize It 84

Loss of Self 85

Shameful Not Sick 85

Going Silent 86

Loss of Values 86

AddictBrain and the Theories of Self-Medication 87

AddictBrain and Personality 89

In Summary 91

Chapter 5 Neuroscience and AddictBrain 93

How to Use the Information in This Chapter 95

The Triune Brain 95

The Reptilian Brain 98

The Limbic Area 99

The Neocortex 100

What Does the Triune Brain Concept Teach Us about AddictBrain? 102

Our Faulty Memory System 105

Faulty Memory and AddictBrain 108

Consciousness 110

The History of Consciousness 110

What Is Consciousness? 112

Our Conscious Mind Is Not a Unity 127

Much of Our Decision Process Is Unconscious 129

Gazzaniga's Interpreter 131

Consciousness and AddictBrain 137

Chapter 6 Deeper into AddictBrain 145

AddictBrain Component One: Shifting Drug Experience and Drug Wanting 148

Shifting Drug Experiences: Opponent Process Theory 150

Drug Wanting: The Incentive Salience Theory 150

AddictBrain Component Two: Attention and Prioritizing 155

AddictBrain Component Three: Learning and Memory 159

Addiction and Learning 159

Addiction and Memory 163

AddictBrain Component Four: Cloaking 164

Summary 166

Section 2 171

Chapter 7 An Overview of RecoveryMind Training 173

What Is Recovery? 175

Standardized Treatment 177

The Qualities of RecoveryMind Training 178

RecoveryMind and Twelve-Step Treatment Models 179

A Chronic Disease 181

RecoveryMind Nomenclature 184

Recovery Skills 185

Domains 186

Worksheets 186

Types of Group Therapy 186

Progress Assessment 189

Where Are All These Worksheets and Forms? 189

Treatment Flow 189

Chapter 8 Domains and Techniques 199

Domains 199

Domain A Containment 201

Domain B Recovery Basics 202

Domain C Emotional Awareness and Resilience 203

Domain D Healthy Internal Narrative 205

Domain E Connectedness and Spirituality 206

Domain F Relapse Prevention Skills 206

RecoveryMind Training Techniques 207

Clarity of Language 207

Language and the Perception Reality 209

Procedural Learning 209

Role-playing and Experiential Therapy 213

Chapter 9 Domain A: Addiction Containment 219

Overview 219

Is Containment a Form of Contingency Contracting? 221

Implementing Addiction Containment 223

Patient Responses 228

Addiction Containment: Types and Details 230

Physical Containment 230

Social Containment 232

Contractual Containment 235

Drug Screening Is Contractual Containment 237

Biological Containment 242

Patient Dynamics and Containment Types 247

Putting It All Together 249

Containment in Organized Treatment 251

Containment in the Outpatient Practice 252

When Should Containment Be Modified? 255

When Does Containment End? 257

Recovery Skills for Domain A 258

Chapter 10 Domain B: Recovery Basics 265

Course of Treatment 266

Are Twelve-Step Programs Effective? 268

How RMT Encourages Twelve-Step Programs 272

The Five Segments of Domain B 277

Segment 1 Addiction Awareness 277

Segment 2 Using Support Groups 280

Segment 3 Recovery Literature as an Agent of Change 284

Segment 4 Mindfulness Meditation 289

Segment 5 Recovery Reflection 293

Recovery Skills for Domain B 305

Segment 1 Addiction Awareness 306

Segment 2 Using Support Groups 306

Segment 3 Learning from Recovery Literature 307

Segment 4 Meditation 307

Segment 5 Recovery Reflection 308

Chapter 11 Domain C: Emotional Awareness and Resilience 313

AddictBrain and Emotions 314

Addiction and Other Mental Health Problems 316

The Science of Emotion 320

The Four Segments of Domain C 325

Segment 1 Emotional Self-Awareness 326

Segment 2 Identifying Emotions Correctly in Others 330

Segment 3 Development of Emotional Resilience 333

Segment 4 Understands

How AddictBrain Uses Emotions 337

The Recovery Skills in Domain C 344

Segment 1 Emotional Self-Awareness 345

Segment 2 Identifying Emotions Correctly in Others 345

Segment 3 Development of Emotional Resilience 345

Segment 4 Understands How AddictBrain Uses Emotions 346

Chapter 12 Domain D: Internal Narrative and Self-Concept 349

Language and Addiction 350

Pathological Euphemisms 351

A Deeper Appreciation of "Denial" 353

The Denial Rating Scale 358

Internal Narrative and Life Story 358

Recovery Skills for Domain D 365

Chapter 13 Domain E: Connectedness and Spirituality 369

Connectedness 369

Attachment Theory 371

Recovery Skills Related to Interpersonal Connection 375

Recovery Skills Related to a Healthy Connection to a Group 380

Spirituality 387

Continued Work on the Steps: Steps Two and Three 389

Additional Spirituality Skills 390

Recovery Skills for Domain E 397

Chapter 14 Domain F: Relapse Prevention 403

Definitions 404

Identifying and Managing Triggers 407

Identifying and Managing Cravings 409

Individual Management 412

Gathering External Support 415

Identifying and Managing High-Risk Situations 417

Process Oriented Relapse Prevention 422

Interventions to Prevent Relapse 426

Putting It All Together 429

Recovery Skills for Domain F 432

Appendix Examples of Worksheets and Forms 437

Editorial Reviews

“In his book, RecoveryMind Training, Dr. Paul Earley has created an immensely powerful, integrative, holistic, and coherent approach to addiction treatment and ongoing recovery. This creative and comprehensive book has been much needed in our field and will be of great benefit to addicted patients and the staff who treat them.” - Daniel H. Angres, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Addiction Services, RiverMend Health and Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine

“In the early twenty-first century’s opioid epidemic, this new book synthesizes a modern, integrated solution. With clear, articulate prose, the doctor’s doctor, Paul Earley, MD, teaches healthcare professionals a refined, comprehensive approach, eschewing the formulaic and ideological. He convincingly posits addiction as an alien drive system, not the individual’s essence, thereby helping to ameliorate shame and facilitate a new, self-protective identity narrative. Earley then pragmatically converges neuroimaging, behavioral psychology, pharmacotherapy, and the Twelve Steps. His patient-centered, holistic approach details how to individualize care with the right tools at the right time. With concrete assignments and skills practice, Earley helps providers help patients repair their AddictBrain, and replenish the human organism, including its soul, with self-acceptance, self-efficacy, love, and spiritual contentment – all through RecoveryMind Training. - David R. Gastfriend MD DFASAM, Scientific Advisor, Treatment Research Institute Co-founder, DynamiCare Health and the 2012 recipient of the American Society of Addiction Medicine McGovern Award for contributions to addiction treatment and society

“RecoveryMind Training (RMT) is based upon the principles of neuroscience and neurology, but implements practical techniques to modify and even change brain behavior pathways. This evidence-based textbook can also be used as a clinical manual helping clinicians understand the complexities of addiction treatment and recovery. Paul has done an outstanding job in refining RMT, making it more treatment-friendly and focused on long-term outcomes. When so many addiction specialists concentrate on detoxification and short-term results, Dr. Earley reminds everyone that treatment and recovery both require hard work and commitment to remedy AddictBrain and the disease of addiction.” - Mark S. Gold, M.D., DFASAM, DLFAPA, Chairman, Scientific Advisory Boards, RiverMend Health (Atlanta, Georgia)

“Addictive disease has long been misunderstood and stigmatized. With recent findings demonstrating significant value from pharmacotherapy in some cases, other forms of therapy with great efficacy have been ignored by many. Dr. Earley brings decades of experience with thousands of patients suffering from addictive disease to his text, weaving a science-based underpinning into the need for a complete biopsychosocial and spiritual model of treatment. The resulting book will serve patients and clinicians equally well.” - Stuart Gitlow, MD, MPH, MBA, DFAPA, DFASAM, Executive Director, Annenberg Physician Training Program in Addictive Disease and Immediate Past President, American Society of Addiction Medicine

“With his presentation of RecoveryMind Training, Paul Earley draws on his vast knowledge and experience with addiction and the neurosciences to present a tour de force in addiction treatment. This book manages to accomplish the delicate task of being elegant, simple, comprehensive, and practical without being formulaic or mechanical. In this book, he provides the reader with a straightforward explanation, free of jargon, on how addiction changes the brain neurobiologically and how his model of treatment, RecoveryMind Training, reverses this process. A must-read for anyone who works with this population.” - Philip J. Flores, PhD, ABPP, CGP, FAGPA, Author of Addiction as an Attachment Disorder

From the Publisher