No one is arguing the fact that addiction is complicated. If it were easy none of us would be here looking for help. As a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor working with substance abuse patients and their families for nearly a decade - I've made it my life's mission to help those struggling with addiction and equally as importantly, supporting the family who love them. Often times, family members really just want to understand the world that their loved one is living in. It's irrational, illogical, harmful and hurtful. Frankly, it doesn't make any sense and those who try to understand it end up hurting their heads.  
Unfortunately, even the person struggling with an addiction usually doesn't have a lot of insight or understanding to offer, especially if they haven't been working with a counselor or participating in a program for an extended period of time.
While each family's story is unique they all have striking similarities. 
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Understanding this cognitive distortion is usually fairly simple to comprehend. 
We all know someone that is rigid in their thinking. 
It's their way or the highway. 
If you don't know someone like that - it may be that you are that someone. 
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Pet therapy is a trending topic these days.
What started out as emotional support dogs has grown to encompass 
a whole array of animals. 
For the strangest support animals you can think of check out this article by Mariel Loveland
"10 Weirdest Emotional Support Animals that People have Actually Owned"
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Catastrophizing is a common thought distortion. 
Catastrophizing simply means thinking irrationally about the worst possible outcome of an action or event. It can also involve making a very big deal out of something minor. 
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For example: You overslept this morning.
Your automatic thought is "The whole day is ruined! My boss is going to write me up. I'm definitely going to lose my job. I might as well not even go into work today."
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Which is a common indication of catastrophizing. If you catch yourself going from zero to ten, take a step back and question if you may be making a bigger deal than what is warranted. 

​Catastrophizing, like all other thinking errors, tends to ignore a lot of the facts. 
But that's why they're an error. And like any other error, they can be corrected. 
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are tricky little misconceptions that our brains lead us to believe are 100% true. At times our thinking errors may be rooted in some truth, but more often they are an ounce of reality and a pound of fallacy.
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A traumatic experience is defined as an event, or series of events, which cause a lot of stress. Traumatic events are marked by a sense of horror, helplessness, serious injury, or the threat of serious injury or death.

Good Morning and welcome friends!
Today we are talking about what we value and how we truly show that we care about what we say is important to us. 
Simply put - do our actions match our words. 

As we have for the past couple of weeks we will start with an ice breaker and then get into an activity. While this post is created as a resource for counselors, it is also perfect for anyone that wants to try these ice breakers with family or utilize these activities individually for their own self-development. Today's activity is even appropriate to do with your kids! Tailor it to your own needs. 
I love getting children's perspective on what is important and this is a fun, crafty way to pick their brain!