--- title: Blog | alcohol abuse (2) description: alcohol abuse | The Next Step | Weekly Wisdom on Addiction, Recovery, Families, and Everything In-Between (2) --- [![The retreat](https://blog.theretreat.org/hs-fs/file-2373138307-png/TheRetreat-Jan2015_Theme/img/logo.png?width=271&name=logo.png "The retreat")](https://www.theretreat.org/) ON-LINE [Meeting Resources](https://www.myrecovery.org/online-meetings/) EMAIL US [info@theretreat.org](mailto:info@theretreat.org) CALL US [866-928-3434](tel:8669283434) [![ The Retreat ](https://blog.theretreat.org/hs-fs/file-2373138307-png/TheRetreat-Jan2015_Theme/img/logo.png.png?width=460&name=logo.png.png " The Retreat ")](https://www.theretreat.org/) - [About](http://www.theretreat.org/about) - [History](http://www.theretreat.org/about/history) - [Staff](http://www.theretreat.org/staff-and-leadership-team) - [Board of Directors](http://www.theretreat.org/about/board-of-directors) - [FAQs](http://www.theretreat.org/about/faqs) - [Testimonials](http://www.theretreat.org/about/testimonials) - 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These well-meaning columns have suggestions on how to change our moods and move away from sadness. However, I have a theory that having feelings that match reality is mental health, not mental illness. [Read More \[fa icon="long-arrow-right"\]](https://blog.theretreat.org/its-ok-to-be-sad-at-christmas-if-we-have-something-to-be-sad-about) [![](https://blog.theretreat.org/hubfs/aaron-mello-142044.jpg)](https://blog.theretreat.org/proof-of-attendance-at-meetings) ## [Proof of Attendance at Meetings](https://blog.theretreat.org/proof-of-attendance-at-meetings) \[fa icon="calendar'\] Sep 13, 2018 10:10:06 AM / by [Maj Donovan](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/maj-donovan) posted in [Alcoholics Anonymous](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/alcoholics-anonymous), [AA meetings](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/aa-meetings), [alcohol abuse](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/alcohol-abuse), [Recovery Program](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/recovery-program), [Support Group](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/support-group) [\[fa icon="comment"\] 1 Comment](https://blog.theretreat.org/proof-of-attendance-at-meetings#comments-listing) There is a question that comes up repeatedly around the rooms of the program - what about these people the courts are sending here? What should we do with them? [Read More \[fa icon="long-arrow-right"\]](https://blog.theretreat.org/proof-of-attendance-at-meetings) [![](https://blog.theretreat.org/hubfs/argument-bench-breakup-984949.jpg)](https://blog.theretreat.org/detachment-with-respect) ## [Detachment with Respect](https://blog.theretreat.org/detachment-with-respect) \[fa icon="calendar'\] Aug 17, 2018 12:06:56 PM / by [Sherry Gaugler-Stewart](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/sherry-gaugler-stewart) posted in [family recovery](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/family-recovery), [alcoholism](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/alcoholism), [Recovery](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/recovery), [alcohol abuse](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/alcohol-abuse), [Family Sober Support](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/family-sober-support) [\[fa icon="comment"\] 2 Comments](https://blog.theretreat.org/detachment-with-respect#comments-listing) Slamming doors. Broken dishes. Arguments that the neighbors could hear clearly. Tears. Unkind words. And, conversely the resonant sound of hostile silence. The disease of alcoholism had wedged itself into the middle of our marriage. [Read More \[fa icon="long-arrow-right"\]](https://blog.theretreat.org/detachment-with-respect) [![](https://blog.theretreat.org/hubfs/matthew-henry-130381-unsplash.jpg)](https://blog.theretreat.org/could-we-have-a-moment-of-silence-) ## [“Could We Have A Moment of Silence….”](https://blog.theretreat.org/could-we-have-a-moment-of-silence-) \[fa icon="calendar'\] Jun 27, 2018 10:26:24 AM / by [John MacDougall](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/john-macdougall) posted in [Alcoholics Anonymous](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/alcoholics-anonymous), [AA meetings](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/aa-meetings), [alcohol abuse](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/alcohol-abuse), [Recovery Program](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/recovery-program), [Drugs Adiction](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/drugs-adiction) [\[fa icon="comment"\] 1 Comment](https://blog.theretreat.org/could-we-have-a-moment-of-silence-#comments-listing)   At many [AA meetings](https://www.theretreat.org/alumni-friends/calendar), somewhere in the program, a person asks “Could we have a moment of silence for the alcoholic who still suffers?” We are briefly quiet, perhaps thinking of someone we know whose suffering is all too clear to us. I also think of those whose suffering is over because they lost their lives in a struggle with alcohol or drugs. [Read More \[fa icon="long-arrow-right"\]](https://blog.theretreat.org/could-we-have-a-moment-of-silence-) [![](https://blog.theretreat.org/hubfs/images/Climb-Rock.jpg)](https://blog.theretreat.org/having-the-courage-to-be-weak) ## [Having the Courage to be Weak.](https://blog.theretreat.org/having-the-courage-to-be-weak) \[fa icon="calendar'\] Mar 29, 2017 9:00:00 AM / by [Maj Donovan](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/maj-donovan) posted in [Alcoholics Anonymous](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/alcoholics-anonymous), [AA meetings](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/aa-meetings), [alcohol abuse](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/alcohol-abuse), [Recovery Program](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/recovery-program), [Chemical Dependency](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/chemical-dependency) [\[fa icon="comment"\] 0 Comments](https://blog.theretreat.org/having-the-courage-to-be-weak#comments-listing) I deployed to Tallil, Iraq in January of 2007.   When my transport plane landed, I got worried.  Would I hold up under combat conditions?  Would I remember my training or, would I wither in the face of fire?  I deplaned and stood on the tarmac to get my bearings and there a few hundred meters from my location I saw a church steeple.  I thought to myself “*before I do anything else, I’m going to go into that church and just say a quick prayer of gratitude to God for getting me safely to Iraq.*”    [Read More \[fa icon="long-arrow-right"\]](https://blog.theretreat.org/having-the-courage-to-be-weak) [![](https://blog.theretreat.org/hubfs/images/pexels-photo-26135.jpg)](https://blog.theretreat.org/a-part-of) ## [A Part Of](https://blog.theretreat.org/a-part-of) \[fa icon="calendar'\] Aug 16, 2016 9:31:21 AM / by [Jake Lewis](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/jake-lewis) posted in [Alcoholics Anonymous](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/alcoholics-anonymous), [AA meetings](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/aa-meetings), [Sober Housing](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/sober-housing), [alcohol abuse](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/alcohol-abuse), [Recovery Program](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/recovery-program) [\[fa icon="comment"\] 0 Comments](https://blog.theretreat.org/a-part-of#comments-listing) Growing up, I wanted people to like me. **I considered it a personal challenge to win people over**. And I wanted to feel connected to those people. I was intrigued by spirituality, and how it might make me feel connected, so I would “meditate.”  But really I was just getting high, contemplating not my place in the vast continuum, but rather how a fish might have a swordfight with a bee. [Read More \[fa icon="long-arrow-right"\]](https://blog.theretreat.org/a-part-of) [![](https://blog.theretreat.org/hs-fs/file-2404072288-jpg/images/banner-tall.jpg)](https://blog.theretreat.org/april-is-alcohol-awareness-month) ## [April is Alcohol Awareness Month!](https://blog.theretreat.org/april-is-alcohol-awareness-month) \[fa icon="calendar'\] Apr 12, 2016 12:29:16 PM / by [Staff Blog](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/staff-blog) posted in [Alcoholics Anonymous](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/alcoholics-anonymous), [alcoholism](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/alcoholism), [Recovery](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/recovery), [alcohol abuse](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/alcohol-abuse), [Alcohol & Health](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/alcohol-health) [\[fa icon="comment"\] 0 Comments](https://blog.theretreat.org/april-is-alcohol-awareness-month#comments-listing) The National Council of Alcohol and Drug Dependence founded Alcohol Awareness Month in 1987 in an effort to reduce the stigma widely associated with [alcoholism](https://blog.theretreat.org/helping-loved-ones-by-understanding-alcohol-addiction) by spreading information about alcohol, alcoholism, and recovery.  Each year, numerous groups around the country work to **break down barriers to treatment and [recovery](https://www.theretreat.org/)** to make the option of seeking help more readily available to those who suffer from this disease. [Read More \[fa icon="long-arrow-right"\]](https://blog.theretreat.org/april-is-alcohol-awareness-month) [![](https://blog.theretreat.org/hubfs/images/ChildAloneOnBeach.jpeg)](https://blog.theretreat.org/the-acting-out-child-bad-attention-is-better-than-no-attention) ## [The Acting Out Child – Bad Attention is Better than No Attention](https://blog.theretreat.org/the-acting-out-child-bad-attention-is-better-than-no-attention) \[fa icon="calendar'\] Mar 15, 2016 11:00:48 AM / by [Mark Korman](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/mark-korman) posted in [family recovery](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/family-recovery), [alcohol abuse](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/alcohol-abuse), [Family Sober Support](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/family-sober-support), [Recovery Program](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/recovery-program), [Chemical Dependency](https://blog.theretreat.org/topic/chemical-dependency) [\[fa icon="comment"\] 0 Comments](https://blog.theretreat.org/the-acting-out-child-bad-attention-is-better-than-no-attention#comments-listing) All children living in homes where addiction is present experience some sort of impact. Some of their reactions are predictable, while **some dynamic behavior combinations are completely unique and organic to each child**. These reactions are defenses and are all situationally established to create a sense of safety or relief. Claudia Black, Ph.D. and national expert on [the Family Disease of Addiction](https://blog.theretreat.org/work-together-as-a-family-to-help-an-alcoholic-loved-one), has researched the patterns of reactions that children experience. She identifies one of these childhood roles as “The Scapegoat”. 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(1)](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/lisa-d) - [Stephen Crane (1)](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/stephen-crane) - [Paddy O (1)](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/paddy-o) - [Connie Lawrence (1)](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/connie-lawrence) - [Bob Bernu (1)](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/bob-bernu) - [Lisa Speedling (1)](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/lisa-speedling) - [Kevin J (1)](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/kevin-j) - [Jake L (1)](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/jake-l) - [Women in Recovery (1)](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/women-in-recovery) - [Judge Shaun Floerke (1)](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/judge-shaun-floerke) - [Peter H (1)](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/peter-h) - [Deb Wuebker (1)](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/deb-wuebker) - [Jay R. (1)](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/jay-r) - [Cecil B (1)](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/cecil-b) - [Lisa G. (1)](https://blog.theretreat.org/author/lisa-g) see all ### Recent Posts ### OUR MISSION Our mission is to improve the quality of life for individuals, families and communities affected by alcohol and drug dependency by providing affordable, effective educational services grounded in the Twelve Step principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. 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