"Aversive Prevention"

I was recently asked for the treatment protocol for “Hangovers”. I guess during the holiday season people need to know how to combat this ancient malady. It has been many years, decades in fact that I have considered returning to drunkeness. The cure for the hangover was clear very early on in my recovery, abstinence.

However, when the thought emerged to drink hee is what I would do; I would drive to the ATM take out as much cash as I could from the machine, write a check for more, and then return to my home. I would crumble all of my money and toss it into the toilet and flush! Then I would gorge my self with the food I hated the most usually fish sticks till I would vomit all over myself. Defecate and urinate in my pants, lay on the bathroom floor with the heat at the highest levels possible after slamming my head on the floor to replicate the wonderful feeling of solace I would have the morning after...

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

Dan :)

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/tlrpa

Death of a Drama Queen, Jo Latino

I asked Jo to send me this Blog for all to read. It is a bit long so I have it linked to our main Blog. Hope you enjoy!

Dan :)

This month it seems everyone close to me has been going through life changing situations. Nearly everyone I communicate with these days seems to be facing recurring situations. When I say recurring situations I mean that feeling of "Ok”. I have been here before and I need to respond differently this time. Something about this challenge I am facing NEEDS to change and HAS to change…but how do I get there?” During these recent conversations I have thought over and over again about the "Serenity Prayer” I decided to include another part of my book in this blog because it speaks to acceptance. This portion is taken from the last part of my book “Death of a Drama Queen” The first part of my book deals with how I recognized and unraveled the drama in my life. The second part of my book I share the many ways I began to live a new a more productive life by choosing to respond differently. I realized I could not rewrite history but I had the power to edit the script:) “IT’S IN THE BOX” After the first of the year 2007 I was invited to speak to a group of women who were in a recovery center. When invited to speak to any group I make it a practice NOT to ask too much specific information about the group. I really rely on my intuition to inspire me with the exact topic or information the group might need. If I know too much about the group then my logical thinking gets in the way of inspiration. When preparing for the group I was inspired to write out the “Serenity Prayer” because I know from attending Alanon meetings the prayer is a foundational piece for people in recovery. I then felt inspired to break down the prayer into 3 parts as follows: 1. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change 2. The courage to change the things I can change 3. The wisdom to know the difference Click and Read More

My Purpose

The first word that we internalize in life is “NO”. Throughout our developmental years we learn to be objective. Challenge what we see, hear, are taught, told, and anything in between. What that eventually does is close our minds to the possibilities. We have all been told about the difference between a pessimist and an optimist; the pessimist sees the glass as half empty and the optimist sees it half full.

In reality most of us are raised to think the worst. We say things like, “When it comes to me, if it could go wrong it will go wrong!” For me that was the case up until 1998. In 1998 I took a look at my life and challenged the negative self-talk. I had been listening to two audio sets one by Tony Robbins and the other by Earl Nightingale.

I began to look back at the accomplishments in my life. Here was a kid that was thrown out of high school in March of his senior year that went on to not only go to college but to attain a Masters Degree from a prestigious New York City University! The results did not match the talk within. From the outside people would see an accomplished success story, from zero to hero! But the thoughts between my two ears said otherwise.

Over the past ten years the self-talk has changed from negative to positive. Occasionally a relapse in to negative thinking brings some worry. But the tools I have developed over the years quickly extinguish that doubt. I have learned not to worry, worry only brings fear and fear paralyzes me.

It is this experience that has helped me to refine my purpose. At first glance from the outside in one may think that my purpose is to assist people that struggle with addiction to recover. If that is what you think you are only partially correct. It is a deeper commitment to help people in all phases of recovery to adapt an attitude of gratitude. To be conscious of the way they think. The intention is to assist recovered people to develop into positive mental thinkers.

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.recoveryforum.ning.com

Are You a Survivor or a Thriver?

When it comes to your recovery what is it that you focus on? Simply not drinking and drugging or is there more? Most people that are in recovery entered the process due to the pain that using drugs or alcohol attracted to their lives. But once the cork is put back into the jug what is it that keeps the pain away or the pleasure within?

Tony Robbins says we are all motivated by two forces. We are either running from pain or towards pleasure. Often folks in recovery change due to pain, in other words they get pushed into it. Either way once you settle in to a new life without alcohol or drugs it is necessary to stay focused on what you want.

The Law of Attraction is a spiritual law that says what ever it is we focus on we will attract to us. That law does not discriminate between alcoholic/addicts and non-users! It is a law for everyone. Whether you think it is true or not! Therefore it is absolutely essential to guard our thoughts. Of course trying to censor everything that goes into our head is impossible. However, some simple adjustments can make a world of difference in our happiness.

There are two ways to live a recovered life. As a Survivor or a Thriver. A Survivor lives life by taking what life dishes out. Survivors blame their situations on circumstances things that happen to them. Survivors focus on just getting by. They “try” to get well. They blame outside sources, people, and situations for their challenges.

Thrivers are focused on living life to the fullest. Thrivers do not believe in circumstances, they make their circumstances. They look for the opportunity in the challenge. They focus on “Gratitude”. They have an “Attitude of Gratitude”. Thrivers focus on the outcome and not the challenge. Thrivers focus on their strengths and get better at what they want and enjoy.

Here are some examples:

A Survivor says, “I do not want to drink or drug” a Thriver says, “I am living a happy, clean and sober life!” A Survivor says, “I don’t want to be angry”, a Thriver, says, “I am happy joyous and free!”
A Survivor says, “If I can just get through this”, a Thriver asks, “Where does the opportunity loom in this cloud?”

It is simple to change your focus. Start with a 30-day test. For 30 days focus on the positive. Take some time to write out a gratitude list. Jot down a list of 15 people, places or things that you are grateful for. Every day add one more item to your list. Wear a rubber band on your wrist or pick up a nice clean stone from you travels for your pocket. Throughout the day when you put your hand in your pocket or notice your rubber band remind yourself that you are Happy, Joyous and Free!

At the end of 30-days if you like what you are becoming do it again. Rome was not built in a day. Yet being happy and positive is a choice. Start reading self-improvement books like “The Success Principles” by Jack Canfield. Listen to audio books or sets on self-improvement like “The Strangest Secret” by Earl Nightingale, “Awaken the Giant Within” by Tony Robbins. Watch self-improvement videos like “The Secret”, “The Opus”, and “You Can Heal Your Life” there are plenty to choose from.

Begin to change the way you think for the better. Stay away from dull, disillusioned crybabies. Anyone can complain and point out what is wrong with the world. There is enough of that going around. Stay away from the news. Limit your TV consumption at least for now. Focus on the positive and your life will become better than your wildest dreams!

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.recoveryforum.ning.com

More Sad News

I am sad today again. A week or so ago I told you about a gentleman that disappeared to Atlantic City. Today I received the following emails. We had a referral about a month ago for a young lady struggling with opiate addiction. We did all we could on our end. When she chose to continue in her addiction and not come to our center we referred her to a recovered addict for help.

Life is but a flicker. Death awaits us all, it is a fact. For the alcoholic/addict there are three deaths; the walking slow death of addiction, dying tragically due to addiction and of course the death that we all will one day encounter. Personally, I chose dying with dignity with no regrets.

Unfortunately what you will read is sad. If you know someone struggling, tell them you love them and tell them there is hope. There is a better way.

Much Love,

Dan :(



Dan,
I just opened my mail and this is what I woke up to this morning:

"Hey, I'm not sure if you know this or not..... :( oooo boy!

You know that girl Lindsay you were talking to about a month ago. You asked me to talk to her. Well I'm really sad to say that she od'ed (Overdosed) and died last week. I can't believe it. I don't know much about it, but i do know she died due to heroin.

Jp"

I talked to Lindsay for hours one night then passed her to another addict
who lived close to her. This disease is so insidious and cruel. It takes the lives of people with
such good hearts. It takes people away from us who make the world a brighter, better place to live.

Addiction smothers and kills people who have so much potential for love
and giving to others, so sad. I've been helping addicts for a long time and I still feel the loss when one falls on the front line of our battle against a common enemy.

The only thing worse than being wrong is being right.

Liam


The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.recoveryforum.ning.com

"The Promise" by Sandy Brewer

This is a wonderful piece written by my friend Sandy Brewer, author of "Pursuit of Light" a must read. Please enjoy and Happy Holidays.... Dan :)

THE PROMISE
By Sandy Brewer


There is something universal and transcendent about Christmas, an underlying harmonic that draws people together, sparking the potential for uplifting the human spirit. It’s not limited to a religious point of view. It’s broader than that and mystically amorphous – this possibility, this feeling, that all is well in spite of what might be going on. It’s an emotion that can be triggered by the colors of the season, the lights, the music – even the pathos – spreading from the ice skaters in Rockefeller Center to the pristine wilderness of western Canada to the beaches of Tahiti. Peace on earth, good will toward men. Women, too.

For me, it’s always been the music...

So, not surprisingly, last December I found myself seated front and center in the McCallum Theater in Palm Desert, listening to it’s annual musical presentation, “Colors of Christmas.” Love Peabo Bryson! Later in the program Deniece Williams took the stage. Strobe lights danced colorfully all around her as she began her solo. “Oh Holy Night.” Her rendition was stirring.

Unexpectedly, awesomely, I was drawn into the landscape of my life…

~~~~~~~~~

It was a long time ago, over half a century to be exact, when I sang “Oh Holy Night” for the last time in the Christmas Eve service as a member of the children’s choir of my church. I was in the eighth grade, and when I graduated in the spring, the powers that be were going to kick me and all my aging classmates out. Too big for the choir robes, I guess.

But for one last time, this was my moment. I walked solemnly down the side aisles of the darkened church with the other members of the choir, penlights held waist high shining up at the towering cathedral ceiling, as we marched around the back of the church and up the broad center aisle, forming a two-by-two processional making our way up to the altar. The organ blared with a strange sonorous triumph, as only an organ can do, and the packed congregation belted out “Joy to the World.” Garbed in long, sleeveless black robes covered with white, cherubic tops, we quietly shuffled ourselves into the form of a cross on the elevated altar. It was a big church, a big altar, and with penlights aglow we made quite a fine religious symbol, if I do say so myself.

The congregation completed their song. Miss Miller, baton in hand, stepped out to the center of the aisle, faced us kids, and with a mighty down-stroke of her right hand, we began my favorite Christmas carol of all time. “Oh, Holy Night.”

To the world of the fifties, I was just another kid singing her heart out at a Christmas Eve pageant on a blustery winter evening in the toddling town of Chicago. To my school I was an “A” student and president of my class. And in what I came to know as my “away from home world,” these were all true things. But there was a darker, sinister, totally secret world in which I was also forced to live. In my “at home world” I co-existed in the brutal underbelly of humanity with a sadistic, rapist father and a venomous, all controlling mother. Not that they looked that way to others. My father was a deacon of the church, and my mother, well, in truth, she was always a little crazy. Wall-papered kitchen, fluffy curtains, and pillbox hats notwithstanding, when the doors to my house closed every night, I was entrapped in a life-threatening, hidden world, dangerous and terrifying, like the catacombs of the sewers.

It was traumatic and cruel beyond words, but I survived as a child by being able to compartmentalize into my separate worlds. Yet sometimes these “compartments” came much too close to each other, and on rare occasions, like the Christmas Eve of my thirteenth year, they almost collided. As I stood at the altar, chiming in with gusto on the alto harmony of “Oh, Holy Night,” I quietly hallucinated. Right there, in that darkened church, in front of God and everybody. Although, at the time I didn’t know that was what was happening to me. I would sing a few bars and then suddenly I would be somewhere else. A few more bars, and, once again, this altered reality – a reality in which I had just given birth to a son. In a flash, I popped back to the altar, still singing.

Fall on your knees
Oh hear the angels’ voices
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.

Less than six weeks later, denial could no longer hold the physical forces within my body at bay, and I gave birth to a little boy, my father’s son. He died in my arms a short time later…

~~~~~~~~~~

I sat there in the darkened theater listening to Deniece, witnessing the dancing strobes, and watching from within a panorama of my life. There was no sorrow or regret, the healing had happened for me years before. Yet, except for when I wrote my memoir, PURSUIT OF LIGHT: An Extraordinary Journey, it was so rare for me to reference my current life with any part of my past. Yesterday had become like a past life – irrelevant compared to today.

And that’s when it struck me. It had been exactly fifty years (minus twelve days) since I had last sung that carol in the choir. In those fifty years I had gone through hell, and then rose above it to find the depth of my own being. Fifty years, during which I had journeyed from a child whose parents had literally tried to kill her to a woman who became a successful therapist, speaker, author, and advocate. A woman who is known for her laughter and passion for life. I looked at my husband, the man of my dreams seated on my left, and thought about my three adult children and outrageous grandchildren. I was filled with wonder! Fifty years ago I didn’t think I’d live to be eighteen, then I didn’t think I would live to be thirty. Yet here I was, a happy, prospering, fulfilled woman. I was stunned by the wonder of it! How a child, in the midst of horror, found a way to hold on to a spark of light of what she might be and keep that spark alive. How children and adults all over the world today in the direst of circumstances manage to breathe life into the possibility of themselves and a better tomorrow. The magnificence, the dominance, the power of the human spirit! My heart was filled with awe of what my journey had been and what possibilities still lay in front of me. Awe for others and what their journeys have been. What a privilege to have a life, and to be a part of a life force that will not quit, that perseveres for the promise of all that we can be both individually and as a collective.

It’s winter once again. Even in California you can tell. No snow, but there’s a chill in the air. Another Christmas rolls around. If this season finds you in difficult times, may you know grace greater than your pain, and love greater than your sorrow. For whatever our personal challenges are, the greatest aspect of our truest nature as human beings is love.

Peace on earth, good will to all of us whether we are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, or like me, none of the above. Peace on earth and good will in our hearts for all that we might be or might choose to become, no matter where we have been or what we have experienced.



Sandy Brewer is author of Pursuit of Light, An Extraordinary Journey, a rave triumph of the human spirit. An authentic, true-life page turner, horrific and inspirational, brilliant and compelling, filled with practical teachings of empowerment and compassion. Beautifully blending wisdom, humor and pathos, it profoundly demonstrates an uplifting pathway out of darkness into light.

www.PursuitOfLight.com
e-mail SandyBrewer@PursuitOfLight.com


USA BOOK NEWS selected Pursuit of Light as the winner
of the General Biography category for
THE NATIONAL BEST BOOKS 2008 AWARDS

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.recoveryforum.ning.com

Recovery Services for Middle Income Families

When we made the decision to develop a Retreat and Recovery Center in Panama it was with the middle-income market in mind. This market is the segment of our population that seems to take the hit. Their income does not afford them the freedom to make choices based upon merit. Their choices are often made by what they can or cannot afford!

Yet their purchasing power is massive. Take a look at Wal-Mart, a store that sells everything to the middle-income market.

1. At Wal-Mart, Americans spend $36,000,000 every hour of every day.

2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!

3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) than Target sells all year.

4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target + Sears + Costco + K-Mart combined.

5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people and is the largest private employer.

6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the World.

7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger & Safeway combined, and keep in mind they did this in only 15 years.

8. During this same period, 31 Supermarket chains sought bankruptcy (including Winn-Dixie).

9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.

10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super-Centers; this is 1,000 more than 5 years ago.

11. This year, 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at a Wal-Mart store. (Earth's population is approximately 6.5 billion.)

12. 90% of all Americans live within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart

The erosion of the middle-class is a recipe for disaster. The United States may be in a recession certainly caution is on everyone’s mind. Fear persists fear of losing a job, a home, sending a child to college, simply paying the bills is a burden!

The wealthy have the ability to pay any price tag for recovery services the poor and lower-middle-income folks are often qualified for government programs or subsidies. But middle-income families are left with few options. If a family has medical insurance most recovery facilities require the individual to come out of pocket and then file an insurance claim. When addiction strikes a teen or young adult, families have turned to home equity lines of credit, credit cards, or they drain their 401k’s in an attempt to save a child!

It is for this reason The Last Resort Panama offers affordable retreat and recovery services. If you want help we are here to serve your needs.

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.recoveryforum.ning.com

Starting the Day Right!

There are three basic rules of success, Rule number one, Always Be Positive. Rule number Two, Always Be Positive. Rule number Three, Always Be Positive.

Many folks hear statements like these and turn a deaf ear. They conjure up images of some pretentious geek playing Mr. Happy! If that is what you think then please stop and reconsider. Positive-ity is a state of mind that a majority of us need to consciously work on. We are conditioned to think negative. Many people have an alternative term to justify negativity. They call it constructive thinking. They say you must challenge all thought, suggestion and theory with critical thinking!

What a load of bad B.S. (“Belief System”, Dan Ohler)! Obviously we all must “Stop, Look and Listen” for the train when we cross the railroad. However, we must be cautious about sending down the crossing warning signal prematurely.

So what does one do to acquire a positive mental attitude? An attitude of gratitude that is not sickening and pretentious. First start the day off in a positive tone. Personally, my day starts with “The Strangest Secret” by Earl Nightingale. I have my CD alarm set for 7 AM daily with the full version set to play. I listen to the CD for a full hour it plays nearly two full times through. Here are some additional suggestions many I use, add as many as you can you are not limited to one:

1) Up lifting positive music.
2) Prayer with praise and thanksgiving.
3) Daily meditation or spiritual book.
4) If you live with your life partner a hug and a kiss and an uplifting comment to them.
5) If you have children a hug and a kiss and an encouraging word.
6) Yes to life! I hit the shower to; I’m alive I’m awake and I feel great!
7) A good healthy breakfast.
8) An expectation of a positive and productive day.
9) A moment of reflection for everything I am grateful for receiving and accepting.

Expect a positive outcome and you will achieve positive results. Focus on the negative or constructive thought process, well as they say, “Suffer Well”!

Peace,

Dan ☺

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.recoveryforum.ning.com

HOW to Recover

How does someone recover? The self-help approach starts with the premise of H.O.W. Honesty, Open mindedness, and Willingness. What exactly does that mean?

Honesty is required. To become actively involved in your recovery you must be honest. Starting with being honest with your-self. You are not seeking recovery from addiction (other than a food addiction) because you drink too many ice-cream sodas! What does honesty mean? Taking an inventory of your actions, beliefs, contradictions, and the reality of your addiction or dependency. If you are honest with your self you can begin to overcome your addiction. If you doubt your addiction or you minimize the challenge you have with the use of substances you are wasting your time. My suggestion, suffer well!

Open mindedness is keeping an open mind to explore all suggestions. Think of a suggestion as a skydiver would the suggestion of pull the rip chord on the count of ten after you have jumped from the plane! Does that mean you will like the suggestion? No it is going against the grain of what you are familiar with. Fear creeps in and you begin to feel you cannot accept the suggestion.

There is a difference between not accepting the suggestion and truly working through the suggestion and recognizing that it is not a good fit. To often I encounter folks that will not attempt anything outside of their comfort zone. Typically, I shake my head and think, “why did they ask”? If their way was working why am I happy, joyous and free living a clean and sober lifestyle and they are not?

Willingness is accepting the suggestion and actually attempting to implement it. Recognize that there are no rules simply suggestions that are based on proven ideals and strategies. Finding the strategies that assist you in attaining a joyous recovery is the ideal.

The beginning of attaining your ideal is changing your attitude. Developing an attitude of gratitude. Getting started requires a willingness to look at the glass half full. Folks in early recovery often focus on the negative. This is natural; first it begins at our infancy stage. One of the first words we hear as children is “No”. For most of us we are being corrected three times as much as we are being encouraged. So negativity is prevalent and expected. The second factor is if we focus on what others are doing or saying we take the focus off ourselves. Remember most of your responses that follow “But” are defense mechanisms to shut down your H.O.W.

That is why focusing on your strengths as opposed to what is wrong with you is preferred. It is the start of converting from a negative thinker to a positive thinker. If your goal is to attain happiness then implement the H.O.W. challenge. To start begin by developing a Positive Mental Attitude. To develop a Positive Mental Attitude you begin by focusing on the positives in your life. Write a gratitude list, listen to positive people, do not watch the broadcast news, stay away from the television unless it is the learning channel, sports, or nature and wilderness shows (Stay away from the conspiracy theory shows, they tend to be negative). Negativity will keep you held down in many areas of life. This is especially true in the social aspect of life. In fact not many people like to be around a negative person.

If you doubt this premise you are not ready to change. You are smarter than all of the most highly successful and happy people that have ever walked the face of this earth. Continue to blame others and walk around miserable! Suffer well!

If you want the happiness and freedom that happy and free people have, do what they do! Anything less is a waste of your time.

Humbly,

Dan ☺

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.recoveryforum.ning.com

A Sad Story

If you know me personally you know that my life has been filled with ups and downs. With positives and negatives. I have done some amazing things and some that I am not so proud of. I have learned that the majority of people have good intentions, yet we are judged by the results of our actions. Folks judge us based upon their reality, their point of view. Alcoholism and Substance Abuse is an insidious challenge to face. People that are caught in the grasp of addiction fight the inner conflict of intentions versus outcome.

Recently we had a referral from the wife of a successful businessman in the States. When I spoke with the gentleman he was concerned with his use of alcohol and cocaine. He believed he was ruining his life because once he started he could not start. His internal conflict was a battle of “Am I an addict”? He believed that because he was so successful he could not be an addict. He was also concerned about the $5,750 tuition investment. We spoke for 15 minutes and he agreed to come to The Last Resort Panama. But first he would need to clear his schedule to attend the center.

A week later I received a call from him, he was in Atlantic City on a binge. His wife was disappointed and he would now commit to attend the center. We agreed on a date and a game plan to begin the process. I did not hear from him again. On Wednesday the day before Thanksgiving in the US, I received a distressful call from his wife. Her husband was missing again, now for a few days.

On Friday she telephoned me again. She said he was home and agitated. He went back to Atlantic City for 5 days. He spent nearly $50,000 on drugs, alcohol and gambling. The families Thanksgiving was horrible and she was leaving.

This may sound like an expanded or overstatement of the facts. It is not. Maybe someone you know has had similar experiences but it was $5,000 not $50,000. Maybe it was $500. The point is that it is an extreme challenge. As we approach the Holiday Season more and more of these stories will emerge. In fact this was not the only situation we had with similar features, we experienced one that was nearly exact only on the West Coast! If you have a loved one that needs help give us a call now. Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes! What price tag does peace of mind have?

Please take a moment to watch our Holiday YouTube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpit-FT048k or below.

Thank you and have a wonderful & happy holiday season,

Dan ☺

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.recoveryforum.ning.com

The Most Important Introduction For Your Life!

I need to let you know about something amazing that happened to me after I took a TeleClass

Dr. Philip Agrios’ TeleClass – “Discover Your Silent Partner and It’s Antidote to overcome anything in under 4 minutes!” was absolutely amazing. I never took a TeleClass like this before
He claimed that in under four minutes he would be able to find the exact part of me that has created all of my past pain and suffering, my barriers that was stopping me from
being successful in certain areas in my life and anything else that caused a delay
in achieving my goals.

I had to find out this for myself and took the TeleClass since it had a one year guarantee. I had to see this for myself.

Guess what? After he asked us three short questions, he did just that!

Not only did I find that exact part of me, in which he calls The Silent Partner™, he gave me the Antidote specific for me to overcome the challenges that I was facing. And it was a step by step process that was so simple.

He told us that within three days if we followed the Antidote and used it with any major
challenges or problems that we were currently experiencing or with a new stressful
situation, we would be amazed what would happen.

So I did - and just like he said, I was amazed. It happened in less than three days. Then I had an hour consultation with him and was so blown away how he was able to correlate my past with my present situations and what I needed to do. THE ANSWER WAS POWERFUL!

This is what I gained in such a short amount of time insight into why I have ended up in the same old same old place again!!! You know what I mean! But, more importantly is that I am aware of how to change it. In fact, the following day I had a family challenge and I knew right then and there what I needed to do next. Please do not take this lightly.
Furthermore I have made it mandatory for our guests at The Last Resort Panama to take his TeleClass because I can see how quickly he can get to the root of their problem. By finding your Silent Partner™ and together with our system, you will skyrocket yourself to achieve your hopes and dreams.
As always, I do not make any money off any endorsements because I want you to know that I am recommending this because it works not because it is lining my pockets.
I highly recommend you visit www.SilentPartenrTeleClass.com and experience it yourself.
As he says, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. In my experience, he is absolutely correct.
He will explain how you will be able to discover your Silent Partner™ and its Antidote in
under 4 minutes. I usually don't recommend too many things but this I felt compelled to share with you.

Register now at www.SilentPartnerTeleClass.com.

Dr Agrios guarantees that this will allow you to overcome anything in your life and
now - I saw that for myself.

This work is life-changing.

So go to www.SilentPartnerTeleClass.com. He gives you a free audio gift when you visit.
Share this link with your friends

You will thank me for it.

Warmest Regards,
Dan Callahan ☺

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.recoveryforum.ning.com

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is a day that the United States celebrates Thanksgiving. For me as a child it was one of my favorite holidays ranking only second to Christmas. I loved the smell of cooking turkey! To this day I love to pig out on all the stuff that I now keep clear of! Apple pie, ice cream, stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes, cream corn, broccoli with cheese sauce, cranberry sauce…

Recently I was thinking back to my childhood before my addiction took hold of me. I could remember the happy stuff like Thanksgiving. My grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins would come to visit and the party would be on. Kids were kids and the adults were adults! I was on the phone with Diana Nightingale a while back and we were talking about the fact that Earl was raised in a low-income family. But the unique thing she said was that he was happy. She said kids do not know that they are from low income. When they play they are happy! Earl was happy but he wanted more. Wanting more does not equate to unhappiness!

For me that was a grand lesson. It helped me to reframe the way I thought about my life. What a gift that short conversation was. I am truly grateful today for my life, past and present. I have made some terrible mistakes. Yet I am grateful that I have the ability to look at them and evaluate them and utilize the experiences to change my course.

Today I want to express my gratitude to my family. My four children: Sean, Kristin, Liam and Seamus. They are my world, in the tough and bleakest of times in my life they have kept me fighting! I am proud of them all and I am grateful for their love. Thank You Guys!

I Spent 18 years with Laura. Our paths took us separate directions. However, I will never stop loving her. She is a great mother and friend; she is extremely family centered and a gift. I am grateful for the years we spent together. Thank You Laura!

I recently wrote a Blog about parents, my parents. They gave me the gift of helping others. I am in human service today because of their commitment to others. Thank You Mom and Pop!

I have two sisters and a brother. They too followed that direction. The oldest of my sisters is Peggy. Peggy and her husband John retired to South Carolina a few years ago. But Peggy was in the Ladies auxiliary of the Volunteer Fire Department for 20 years or so. Tracy is the younger and she is still serving our country in the United States Air Force. She has given over 23 years of dedicated service to our country. My brother George is the baby; he is more than 20 years in the Fire Department as well. I am grateful for their commitment to community and country. Thank You Peggy, Tracy and George!

I have more aunts and uncles then you could ever imagine. My dad’s sister has been my closest ally since I was born, Aunt Maureen! Everyone should have one! Thank You everyone and yes Aunt Maureen!

Here at The Last Resort Panama we will celebrate Thanksgiving with our guests, workers, and the self help groups in our community. People that are clean and sober for decades with their spouses. I want to take this opportunity to say Thank You for taking the time to read this and enjoy the holiday.

THANK YOU!

Dan ☺

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving

As we close in on the USA Celebration of Thanksgiving lets quickly put to rest the incredible now killer, “Tomorrow”. Make it a point to create an attitude of gratitude Now! I am reading “The Success Principles” by Jack Canfield with Janet Switzer. Which reminds me of Jack and his colleague Mark Victor Hansen the authors of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Mark and Jack have a no negativity policy in their office. The creation of an attitude of gratitude begins by eliminating negativity. Take some time now to count your blessings, do not wait till Tomorrow.

Today I want to begin by thanking, Father William Banyasz, we call him Padre! Padre is a retired Orthodox Priest. Padre has been our advocate since day one. I always rely on his insights and his willingness to help. Whether he is researching issues for us or offering some of his vast insights Padre is always an advocate and friend. Thank You Padre!

Once in a while I must edit a Blog I post. What you do not know is that I am editing it because my point was not made clear enough. How do I know that? Within minutes of a posting I get a critique from Sue. Sue is a regular contributor to CNN.com. I appreciate the fact the she reads all of our Blogs and is quick to call for clarity. Thank You Sue!

Rick, Ryan and Sean went to school together. They have built a great friendship with one another. They are my partners in this venture. Without each one of their contributions The Last Resort Panama would not exist. Rick is the go to guy for our website presence. We are on page one of Google.com because of his leadership, willingness and diligence to learn the intricacies of Search Engine Optimization. Because of that diligence they now have their own web Business at www.HighRankingSEO.net Thank You Rick!

Ryan we call Bob the Builder! Ryan handles anything that needs a hammer! Ryan is quick to hit the computer as well and handles most of our e-mail blasts to update the progress of our center. Thank You Ryan! PS I cannot mention Ryan without thanking his girlfriend Laura. Laura works at the Casino from 7:30 PM to 2:30 AM as an entertainer. She attends University to become an Engineer her first class begins at 7 AM. Laura will assist us at the drop of a hat in between all of that without mentioning her rehearsals during the week at 2:30 PM. Thank You Laura!

Sean handles all of our day-to-day computer needs and anything else I ask. He has never once complained. He does a lot of the tedious things that I do not have time for. He is the designer of our Logo’s and assists Rick with the Html stuff! Thank You Sean!

There are so man people out there that has shown their love and caring to us at The Last Resort Panama. It is difficult to name them all. But to everyone that has played the smallest of parts in our growth and development, our social network friends at www.Jasonsnetwork.com www.selfimprovement.com www.RecoveryForum.ning.com www.MySpace.com/thelastresortpa www.Facebook.com/thelastresortpa to all of you a loud and proud Thank You!

Tomorrow!

Dan ☺

Saying Thank You

Defined in Dictionary.com “Thanks” to express gratitude, appreciation, or acknowledgment to: She thanked them for their hospitality. Saying Thank You is ingrained in us at an early age. It is the simplest thing to say and it impacts people in wondrous ways. Everyone enjoys being appreciated. Take some time this week to say “Thank You” to everyone you meet along the way.

Today’s Blog is a great big Thank You to people that have been in my life for many years and people that are new to my world.

Lets start with Bruce Brown, my son calls him B=MC2. Bruce is the guy that directed us to handle our own SEO and web site development and updates. He spent hours with Rick and Ryan teaching and coaching them utilizing “White Hat” tactics to get our site up in the search engine rankings. Today a measly few months later The Last Resort Panama sits above all other rehabs under the keywords “Drug and Alcohol Rehab”. It is a pleasure to be friends with Bruce, Sharon and their children. Thank You Bruce!

A quick Thank You goes out to Bruce number one for his assistance in the early stages and for the introduction to B=MC2. Thank You Bruce!

To some new friends and colleagues. First are Dennis and Lina the newlyweds. Dennis and Lina believed in our project right from the start. Without their gracious investment in our cause none of this could have occurred. Thank You Dennis and Lina!

Carol Adler has been nothing short of spectacular as a friend and advisor. I think Carol lives on her computer. I send an email within minutes I have an answer. Carol is the CEO of the publishing company Dandelion Books. You can look her up at www.dandelion-books.com Thank You Carol!

Petyamarina Corby “Pett” is a person with a cause and is on a mission to make an impact in this world. Her commitment to global change is staggering. Pett is one of those people that you can ask for assistance and know that she is happy to lend a hand. Visit her at http://teensparents.ning.com Thank You Pett!

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Diana Nightingale. Her late husband Earl is the founder of bringing self-improvement to the “Spoken Word” arena. His recording of “The Strangest Secret” is the starting point of what has become a multi billion-dollar industry. Diana has carried the message with grace and elegance and has made her mark o the industry as well. In fact she has recently released a wonderful boxed set of “The Nightingale Library”. You can find Diana and the set at www.EarlNightingale.com Thank You Diana!

Donna Classi is my friend for over 10 years. Donna is one of those people that speak her mind when her gut tells her to. Donna knew before I did that my retirement from human service was premature. If it were not for her persistence and willingness to share that belief with me there would be no Recovery Center today. Thank You Donna!

There are three people that have taught me how to operate or build a team. Diane Johnson’s leadership and supervision taught me how to treat everyone fairly but not the same. Her approach is second to none. Ellen taught me how to be an effective administrator in human service and how to stay true to the cause and be effective in the world of bureaucracy. Paul helped me to develop the right priorities in business. A telephone and the willingness to use it is priority number one, two and three. When in doubt do not panic, grind it out. Thank You Diane, Ellen and Paul!

Till Tomorrow,

Dan ☺

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.recoveryforum.ning.com

Thanksgiving & Gratitude

As we approach Thanksgiving in The United States it is a great reminder for us to focus on what and whom we are grateful for. An attitude of gratitude is key to living a happy, joyous and free life. For those of us in the recovery community it is imperative to count our blessings.

On behalf of The Last Resort Panama I would like to take the next few days to say Thank You to all of our contributors, guests and folks that have assisted us and supported us on our journey to bring affordable treatment to North Americans and Ex-Pats.

Each day I will point out some of the players that have made The Last Resort Panama, The number one drug and alcohol rehab in the “America’s”. They are not listed in order of importance or impact, simply in groups that relate to one another. When I believe it is appropriate I will use full names and in some instances I will not.

Lets start today saying thank you to our support staff. Diana Bedoya in my opinion they broke the mold when she was born. Her work ethic is second to none. I have not heard her complain one time in fact quite the opposite. She is an advocate of “El Secreto” and reminds you when your mindset deviates from such! Diana makes everyone feel at home at The Last Resort Panama as the staffing supervisor. Thank you Diana!

Molly Maria is our newest housekeeper. Molly is a joyful and hard working individual. She is conscientious and always happy. Molly is a joy and we are all grateful for her effort. Thank you Molly!

Yeison “Jason” is an extremely reliable and energetic gentleman & housekeeper. Jason works long hours and is thorough in his work. Thank you Yeison!

Vivienne our Spanish tutor, computer teacher and assistant facilitator. It is apparent that Vivienne loves her work at The Last Resort Panama. Vivienne is outgoing and enthusiastic at all times. Thank you Vivienne!

Frank a retired Drug and Alcoholism Counselor from California with 24 years in the field of addictions treatment is our 12-step facilitator. Frank is a professional among professionals. His knowledge of the Steps and his ability to frame it for the beginner is truly appreciated. Thank you Frank!

Jack is one of my favorite people in this world. Jack is the most insightful people that I know. He teaches our guests from his 48 years of recovery. When I think of Wisdom, Jack comes to mind. Thank you Jack!

Rick “Lobstah” is a man of integrity and enthusiasm. Rick is a promoter of our cause and outspoken about it. Thank you Rick!

Liam Magnuson of Stardust Interventions can be called on at any time of the day or night. He is an advocate of The Last Resort Panama. His belief in our cause and system is helpful to say the least. Thank you Liam!

Kelli Ann a new facilitator expected to arrive in March is a breath of positivety. Kelli is a huge addition to the team. Thank you Kelli!

Christene was with us for a brief period. Yet her presence was appreciated and her insights were helpful. Thank you Christene!

Again grateful for all of these folks is an absolute understatement. Thank you!

Dan ☺

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.recoveryforum.ning.com

Thank you

I received a note from a colleague this afternoon. It seemed a bit distressed. The subject stated, “Failing economy has devastated drug and alcohol rehab admissions”. My first thought was “what should I do about this?” But then I realized that our admissions are exactly what our goals and business plan projected. In fact, I have been a bit stressed about space issues. I have single room requests and not enough singles available for the requests.

The letter went on to say that the potential recession in the United States was taking its toll on drug and alcohol rehab programs. I thought to myself, well that makes sense, what are we going to do? Maybe we should cancel our two new facilitators just in case. As quickly as that thought came it went. Why, because we are planning for the post holiday remorse and the snow-bird syndrome to flood the system as it does every year. Our reservations and waiting list is at near capacity and our expansion plans are being forced to implementation sooner rather than later!

Why is this occurring you may ask? Our center employs an attitude and expectation of expansion. We continue to implement strategies that attract growth. We focus on what we want, the guests we serve, and fulfilling the desires and objectives for recovery in the lives of those challenged with addiction. It is the same success principles we teach in our core curriculum. Imagine if we taught folks how to live a happy, joyous, prosperous, clean and sober life and then did not live it ourselves?

What a way to start a thank you letter! The purpose of this blog is an open “THANK YOU” to all the guests we have assisted and all of the input and diligent work that our staff and management team has put in to becoming the number one drug and alcohol rehab in “The America’s”.

Thank you,

Dan ☺

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/tlrpa

Am I an Alcoholic/Addict?

What is an Alcoholic? Am I an Alcoholic - Addict?

The question of whether I am an “Addict” seems to be a simple question that anyone with any degree of self-awareness should be able to answer alone. Alcohol typically is the one drug that most folks that are asking these questions do not want to alleviate from their lives. Yet when a person is having serious challenges in their life and alcohol or other substances are involved it may be best for the individual to take a new direction and abstain from the use of alcohol and/or substances.

Life is meant to be enjoyed and not to be endured. Most of us have had a terrible experience with a particular food. For me it was fish sticks. They smelled so good and tasted awesome smothered in ketchup and tartar sauce! The challenge was they did not stay down! I remember the vomiting episode throughout the night. That was over 40 years ago. I have not had a fish stick since! Yet I had similar and quite a bit more harsh experiences with alcohol and drugs. That did not stop me though.

Take some time and answer these questions:

1) Do you know or have you ever thought that alcohol or other substances are or could be a problem for you? Yes or No

2) Are you prone to borderline or uncontrollable anger? Yes or No

3) Is anyone in your family an alcoholic or do you think they have a problem? Yes or No

4) Do you have any challenges in your life that may be attributed to partying too much, drinking, drugging or related to drinking and drugging? Yes or No

5) Has anyone ever told you that they think you may have a problem or that you do have a problem? Yes or No

6) Has anyone ever suggested you stop drinking and/or drugging? Yes or No

7) Are you reading these questions to see if you have a problem? Yes or No


Before we get to the results realize this one thing. If you are questioning alcohol or drugs as a potential issue in your life you probably do not need to answer these questions, you already know the answer. Why mess with your future so that you can drink or drug? There are so many avenues to take that you can achieve greater benefit and pleasure then alcohol could ever offer.

If you have answered any of these questions with a yes, you should seriously consider abstinence. There is a better way of life you deserve to live up to your potential.

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/tlrpa

Happiness

When you get to the bottom of all of your desires what you will find underneath it all is a desire to be happy. I have heard many of our self-growth leaders proclaim, ok simply be happy! The answer to all of your challenges! If you are like most people I can hear you think, “If it were just that easy!”

If you want to be truly happy, you must first find out what makes you happy. Is it love? Acceptance? Things? Spirituality? Peace of mind? Vocation? Giving? Accepting? Once you have identified what makes you happy your roadblocks must be discovered. What are roadblocks? Quite simply any person, place or thing, that holds you back from achieving your desire.

How do you overcome roadblocks? First identify the roadblock. Second unlock the deadbolt that ties the block to your desired outcome. Finally accentuate the positive. Sounds easy, unfortunately most of us do not have the discipline to stay focused on the issues. Life gets in the way! Making the time, developing the game plan, and then sticking to the game plan is essential.

Why do you think athletes have coaches? Or, Why do students have advisors or guidance counselors? First is to assist them in developing a game plan, a training method or study design. More importantly however, it is to help hold them accountable and to motivate them when necessary.

Help is here in fact it is only an E-mail away. With a proven track record of more than 20 years, the mentoring program personally designed by myself will help you unlock your true desires, find peace, sustainable happiness and hold you accountable on a daily basis.

You may be thinking, “What does this have to do with addiction?” “I thought The Last Resort Panama is a recovery center?” Well it only has everything to do about it! Recovery is about living life, a happy life. If you are involved in a 12-step fellowship sure you can use a sponsor, and I encourage that. However, this is a program that is designed to assist you in your personal pursuit of happiness and fulfillment.

Why wait? You have read the books, gone to seminars and meetings, listened to the audios, gone to church, you know all of the suggestions! Yet something is missing. Now is the time, this is the place to plant your flag get off your rear anatomy and make it happen. Do not sit and watch your life pass you by not another day! E-mail me at Daniel@theLastResortPa.com

Thank you and enjoy the day, cause Life Is Goooooood!

Dan ☺


P.S. I know that commitment is stressful both in time and money. Send me off an e-mail, I am offering for the first time a pay as you go option. $100 per session which includes one week of email and chat access. Of course you can save money by paying in advance but that is your choice! Act Now and Stay happy…

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/tlrpa

Parents:

When it comes to parents of folks in recovery a pattern of blame emerges. Through the years I have heard many versions of how to treat this challenge. Recently I heard a friend share about his dad. He said that he now thinks about his own father’s upbringing. He believes his father gave what he received or more appropriately in his case what he did not receive.

I remember in rehab I began to hear a bunch of terms I had never heard in my life. I began to hear of this emerging phenomenon called “Adult Children of Alcoholics”. I heard men and women share about co-dependency and abuse. It seemed that everyone had a reason for their pain and it all pointed back to mom and dad!

One day during my aftercare group someone shared about being abused by their father. Therefore the topic was set. When it was my turn to share I said, well I was never abused by my parents in my life. A bit of silence set in the group. The counselor said, really? I remember my reply, “no never”. My dad would beat the heck out of me, but only for a damn good reason. Heck if you stole the family car and used it for demolition derby with several of the neighbors parked cars don’t you think you would deserve a good beating?

That was the beginning of my victim stage. That probably lasted a good ten years. I began to believe that I was abused. Now do not get me wrong, my father was an angry guy, and he would let you have it when you got out of line and he vent that anger in a physical manner. However, never to the point of broken bones, scars, etc… My dad said some pretty cruel things to me out of his frustration. But the one thing I knew was that he and my mom loved me.

So what happened after 10 years of subscribing to the victim role? Quite frankly an incident with my dad sparked it off. My dad said something to me that was inappropriate and hurtful. I let him know in no uncertain terms that I would not accept him talking to me that way again. I also let him know I would not speak to him again if he chose to do it again. I took control of my own emotional needs.

That event enabled me to critically challenge my embedded beliefs of abuse. I began to realize that I am not a victim, because victims in life are victimized. I would have none of that. Of course I realize that folks do get abused. However as an adult we all have a choice on what we will do with that trauma. We can accept and continue to attract more of it to our lives or we can move on. We can focus on what we want and what we need in our lives today and the future. No I do not condone any abuse against anyone. No I do not believe minimizing abuse is a viable method of reducing the pain of trauma. I am simply suggesting an approach of empowerment and hope!

I have thought back about who I am and how I have become the person I have become. My parents played a substantial role in that progression. I received strong spiritual beliefs from my mother. She also showed me how to give of yourself and how to work hard at everything you do.

My mom was a seamstress I remember her sewing ballet outfits into the wee hours of the morning for my sisters and the rest of their dance school to help people save money. If you have a daughter in dance school you know the expense of these costumes and the alterations. But my mom would do it even though she would work a job and then come home with little sleep for weeks before these recitals.

My dad earned a terrible wage at his job. But he was always on the go he would cater parties, paint, tend bar, janitor work and volunteer for the fire department. He was always the first guy to come to your aid if you needed help. He is a grouchy old fellow but he would give you the shirt off his back. I learned the value of hard work, persistence, giving, caring and pushing others to be the best they can be.

Punishment is necessary in parenting, but never out of anger or rage. I know that today, my parents did not. That is not abuse simply poor parenting skills. To live in the past hurts you and your recovery. Life is way too good to be stuck in the past. Remember, Life is meant to be enjoyed and not endured…

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/tlrpa www.recoveryforum.ning.com

Join Global Awareness Campaign: "The Connection Between Unplanned Pregnancy and Global Warming" and Invite Your Friends to Join Too

This is from my friend and colleague Pett Corby:

Dear Ladies and Gents,

I have no doubt that women are those who are going to sort out our world... with the help of men!

Too many wars left devastation and poverty behind. The last (Iraq war) was about domination over the petrol reserves in the country. We´re scares at this fuel, but clearly cannot keep on fighting over it. It´s time to give our planet a break and start using alternative fuel for all our needs. Fossil fuel is no longer an option. It helped develop our world, but it´s given us Global Warming too.

Not many people put Global Warming next to Unplanned Pregnancy (UP), but there´s a link. The simplest way I can explain it is that there are too many of us consuming much of our planet’s energy resources pretty fast. We have many children because we don´t know how to have less and UP is viewed as inevitable by many young people. This problem belongs to developed and under developed countries: the United States has the highest rate of UP in the developed world after 48 years of using contraceptive drug. UK is no.1 in Europe. India, however, is adding a child every two seconds, the equivalent of one Australia every year, putting China on second place in contribution to global overpopulation.

In Jan´08 I started campaigning against our UK Health Minister´s decision to introduce contraceptive drugs for FREE to under -16 years old, still developing children. www.myspace.com/pettcorby My movement quickly received the support of musicians who are contributing music to the cause. People endorsing my efforts are coming from all walks of life including politicians. I created a band called Virtual Gigs that´ll tour the world, spreading the word for the next 10 years. www.myspace.com/virtualgigs

My mission is to empower women with the ability to successfully avoid UP without drugs thus avoiding both their and abortion´s side effects; helping children stay at school and preventing us from being locked in relationships we don´t really want; ultimately stop contributing to the overwhelming number of global population.

With this I want to invite you to:

* Become part of my Global Awareness Campaign and help me spread the word. Let´s make people aware that it´s easy to avoid UP the natural ways... Looking at today's economy we cannot afford to carry on making children that may start life in poverty. Join me at http://teensparents.ning.com/

* INVITE AT LEST ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS TO JOIN TOO.

I look forward to working with you toward making our world a better place.

Pett Corby,

Author, How to Avoid Unplanned Pregnancy Every Time You Have Sex WITHOUT Using Contraceptive Drugs

Your link again: http://teensparents.ning.com/

Good Kid Gone Bad, or Never Good To Go Bad? Dan Callahan, LMSW

I was born in 1960 into a blue-collar lower income family on Long Island twenty-five miles from New York City. My family had a strong sense of giving to the community. My dad is a volunteer fireman and has been for over fifty years.

Somehow I always seemed to find the trouble. My mom always said I was a good kid, but my dad well that was another story. He would say “good kid? He was never good to go bad!” I guess that was the struggle that I had to fight alone. At the age of 16 I was arrested for shoplifting. This began a string of criminal activity that became the beginning of the end.

In January 1978 a few months prior to my 18th birthday I was arrested for assault. The Vietnam War was fresh in every ones memory and recruitment into the Armed Forces was low. So as a bargaining chip in court I offered to join the Army. Maybe I could restore my status as a good kid!

In reality wherever you go, well there you are. It did not take long when my drinking and drugging picked up where I had left off. In fact I lasted a full 19 months and a couple more arrests before it was suggested I pack it in and head back home. I was unfit for Military service they said!

That was February 1980 by March 1980; armed robbery had become my source of income. I would head out after the dinner rush hour and stick-up fast food establishments. During my second heist, I was apprehended. The idea that I needed to get help with my alcohol and drug challenges began to emerge. In all honesty, something inside of me believed I was good. I wanted help however I was primarily motivated to stay out of jail.

I was arraigned on robbery 2 a class B felony. At the time it carried an 8-1/3 to 25 years prison term. Due to the fact that a handgun was involved the shortest sentence I could receive was a one-year sentence. After all was said and done a plea bargain agreement would have me sentenced to one year in County jail or a State sentence of 1 to 3 years in State prison. The sentence would be determined based upon my pre-sentence probation report.

The chips were down and now it was time to show whether I was a good kid or a bad kid. I was instructed to stay away from the fellows I had been arrested with and I was prohibited from drinking alcohol or using any illegal substances. So as any reasonably minded young man would do, I attended the probation hearing with my friend that had been arrested with me. We each drank an 8-pack of Budweiser minis and held up a seafood establishment with a shotgun on the way to the appointment.

A week before my sentencing hearing I was arrested again for several armed robberies. I figured my dad was right, never good to go bad! Now I sat in jail facing 175 years in prison. To anyone else in these circumstances fear may be an appropriate feeling yet for me it was relief. I was stopped, jail would do for me what I could not do myself.

Fortunately, after all was said and done I received a 7 year and 9 year sentence that would run concurrently. If all went well I could be released in 3 years. I mustered up the courage to embrace the good kid. I started by getting my GED, I began to attend church, I attended the self-help 12-step groups, I received counseling, vocational courses and anything that would help me to become what I knew I was.

Then I was afforded the opportunity to attend evening college courses in the prison. I honestly did not believe that I was smart enough. However, a friend encouraged me to try. Try I did. I started getting “A’s” and enjoying the experience. When it was time for my parole hearing I was released on parole due to my efforts.

In reality it took me 8 years to truly accept that I could no longer drink alcohol like others could. But I did eventually surrender to that fact and began a journey that has lead to a Masters Degree from Fordham University.

My Journey has led me to build an extensive human service background. I have been significantly involved in recovery based human service, alcoholism and substance abuse services, forensic services, case management with individuals recovering from mental health issues and recovery based program development. I played a significant role in the growth and development of Hands Across Long Island, Inc. the largest and most prominent consumer run mental health agency in the United States. I was contracted to co-author a NYS training manual and program for mental health and correctional service professionals working with parolees with “serious and persistent mental illness”.

Through the years I have been fortunate enough to be supervised and mentored professionally by some extremely gifted folks. I was offered flexibility and latitude to attempt methods of engagement and recovery services that were regarded as outside the box of traditional treatment. It has been through that flexibility and experiences that the Last Resort Panama has been created for the facilitation of positive self directed recovery from alcoholism and drug addictions.

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/tlrpa

Carol Adler, Writer, Publisher, Certified Hypnotist...

Yesterday I mentioned that I would be sharing info from two people that I respect and admire. I used the term credibility. When I think of Carol that is the term that comes to mind. She has a long list of successes to her career. When it comes to professionalism Carol stands above the rest of the field. Her insights are right on target.

In 1988, I was living with a friend of mine on Long Island in a Town that most folks know of, Amityville! Early on a Saturday evening I had just returned from a self-help meeting. My friends phone began to ring, typically I would not answer it. But, for some reason I picked up the phone. It was a young lady that I knew from the meetings. She sounded frantic. She was on the verge of tears. I remember after she calmed a bit she said, Dan, I don’t know if you know this or not but I am in O.A. Over Eaters Anonymous.

She then said, “Dan, I am at the Diner”! Visions of a fellow alcoholic sitting in a bar with a beer and a shot in front of her flashed before my eyes! I said, don’t do anything I will be right there. She began to laugh and said, “no, Dan it is not an emergency. I need to eat my vegetable and I just do not want to, I really just needed to tell someone and could not reach my sponsor”!

Enjoy the message:

It is a well-known fact that both anorexia and bulimia are on the rise in societies that measure success and sexiness by physical body proportions.

Both as a publisher/professional writer and certified hypnotherapist actively participating in Arizona’s Professional Hypnosis organization, I’ve collected a number of stories about eating addictions and disorders that will one day be compiled into a book.

I’m also encouraging others to send me their own stories about creating and recovering from that downward spiral of feeling (not good enough, ignored, rejected, unattractive, etc.).

Self-discovery and recovery are twin souls

A young woman (Katie) from a rural Midwestern community, married (Chris) shortly after she graduated from college. The marriage required forfeiting of a scholarship to one of the finest art institutes in the world.

Immediately Katie was thrust into a “Palm Beach” social life that required designer gowns and a heavily booked schedule of events with people who had little understanding or appreciation for art.

Katie was bored by small talk and privately resented foolish comments about art and artists that often flew her way either accidentally or sometimes on purpose. Her new husband had been one of the most eligible bachelors in the Social Register. “Why had he chosen a dairy queen?” wondered jealous females-in-waiting.

Chris had chosen Katie because he was fascinated by her freshness and sparkle; they’d met at a friend’s summer cottage and the romance had blossomed into a marriage proposal. Although he didn’t know much about art, Chris loved her passion for painting and understood passion; he had his own passion for sailing.

Katie married Chris because he had promised her he would open an art gallery for her in Palm Beach and find buyers and patrons, get other museum and gallery shows for her, etc.

Deep down, this “free ride to fame” made Katie feel guilty. Did she really love Chris or his money and social position?

They were so busy with social life in New York and Palm Beach… and then there were business trips, long holiday weekends and cruises… One of these days, children might start coming along; family required obligations. Katie did not want to be an absentee mother.

According to the doctor’s charts, Katie’s weight was normal for a person with her bone structure. Society women fashioned their bodies after runway models, since those were the gowns and other outfits they would most likely purchase for the next Palm Beach Event.

Katie’s mirror declared she was obese. As soon as the parties began and Katie sized herself up against her new debutante “girlfriends,” she started to believe she had a weight problem. Many of these girls were twigs compared to her. Several had modeled designer clothing in fashionable magazines that took advantage of the double dip of Society & Fashion to increase their sales.

Katie told herself she didn’t qualify. She was a country bumpkin; they were right. The anorexia and bulimia syndrome started gradually and soon became a habit. Katie would seem to eat normally like everyone else, but in the privacy of her home, when no one was looking…

Ask and it will be given

Chris had an older sister, Tamar, who had always danced to a different drummer. Tamar had chosen to become a hypnotherapist and soon she had a thriving Manhattan practice. Although Tamar knew better than to talk publicly about mind-body breakthroughs with chronic and acute illnesses, she had in fact, helped many of her clients heal themselves and their lives... and get off the meds. In her practice she also dealt with anorexia and bulimia, substance abuse, pain management, weight management and relationship issues.

Tamar loved Katie; they became true sisters as soon as they met. Tamar perceived that although her brother really did adore Katie, he was clueless about what really made his wife happy.

When Katie started to look too thin and she started to pass up almost all food at social events, Tamar, home for the holidays, picked up the signals. Then Katie, already frail and afraid to eat during pregnancy, miscarried. Tamar invited Katie to visit her for a weekend.

Counseling accompanied by hypnotherapy with Katie’s permission brought forth Katie’s feelings of insecurity, anger and resentment. The two also discussed Katie’s goals and her passion for painting—how the marriage had been obstructing this basic need for self-expression.

The marriage did not survive, although Tamar and Katie’s friendship did. Today, Katie is an award-winning artist, happily married with two children—and she is also a health and fitness enthusiast.

If you are a therapist, please send me your breakthrough recovery stories. Or perhaps you would like to work with me to develop your own book. These stories are so important and I’m here to help you—help us--get the message out that we don’t have to be sick or experience feelings of lack, loneliness, despair… you know the list!

Author's Bio

Carol Adler, MFA is the SelfGrowth.com official guide to publishing.

Carol's first ghost-written book listing her name as co-editor, Why Am I Still Addicted? A Holistic Approach to Recovery, was endorsed by Deepak Chopra, M.D., and published by McGraw-Hill. Other publications include three novels, four books of poetry, and well over 200 poems in literary journals. She has ghostwritten over 40 non-fiction and fiction works for a number of professionals in the education, health care and human potential industries.

Carol is President of Dandelion Books, LLC of Tempe, Arizona; a full service publishing company. She is also President and CEO of Dandelion Enterprises, Inc., Write to Publish for Profit and President of the International Arts & Media Foundation, a non-profit subsidiary of Dandelion Enterprises, Inc.

Her business experience includes co-ownership of a Palm Beach, FL public relations company and executive management positions in two U.S. rejuvenation and mind/body wellness corporations, for which she founded publishing divisions.

Carol has served as editor of several poetry and literary magazines. Her career experience includes extensive teaching of college-level creative and business writing, and conducting of writing workshops in prisons, libraries, elementary, junior and high schools, and senior citizen centers.

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/tlrpa

Dr. Joe Rubino, Self Esteem Expert...

Today and tomorrow I am sharing info from two people that I respect and admire. They both are on top of their games. They know their business and they are professional, courteous, and prompt. These are traits that are rare these days. I have never met either one of these folks face to face. Yet I do not hesitate to recommend them to you. That is confidence in them!

I made a decision when I began to Blog. I committed to myself that I would not Blog on any product or service unless I personally utilized that service. If for some reason I felt the info was important to share in a timely fashion that I would share the info with a disclaimer that I have not utilized the service yet. I also committed to refuse any compensation for the service. In fact, when we have been approached to act as an affiliate we have simply requested that any compensation that would be paid to us would be given to charity.

I tell you this because it lends to the credibility of our recommendations that we make. Today’s message is from Dr. Joe Rubino. I met Joe on SelfGrowth.com. I subscribed to his Newsletter and Self Esteem Course. I have found that his newsletter is one of the best. It is simple and easy to read and follow. He does not send a bunch of useless junk my way. Often folks in recovery think that they are different from the rest of the world. Read Joe’s work and you will realize that we are no different from any one else. Joe’s work is not exclusive to the recovering individual, yet it rings home many of the same exercises and techniques we teach.

Joe has graciously accepted an invitation to offer a one-hour tele-web-seminar for the Recovery Center at an unbelievable rate for us. If you would like to join us on October 1, 2008 at 10 AM please send me an e-mail and I will give you the details. There is no expense to you, however, The Last Resort Panama is purchasing Joe’s program for each of our rehab guests in addition to the seminar rate. If you choose to receive the program it is $37. This is not a sales seminar it is content based. The Last Resort Panama does not receive any compensation for this event.

Enjoy the message:

This is Joe Rubino and I'm writing today to focus your awareness on the source of your actions. As human beings, we operate daily reflecting a wide range of emotions with a multitude of motivations fueling our behaviors. All too often, we react emotionally to what others say or do. If our reactions are preceded by the emotions of fear, anger, or sadness, we forfeit our ability to act with personal power and effectiveness in lieu of a knee-jerk response. This reaction is all too often sourced in fear and low self-esteem.

We may focus on what's wrong with us and our lives or fear being controlled, hurt, or taken advantage of. We may overlook the many things we have in our lives for which we should rightly be grateful. When we doubt our ability to thrive and access the abundance we see all around us in the world, we react instead from the concern of scarcity and the expectation of failure, hurt, and disappointment. We may see ourselves in competition for the world's resources and the love and attention of others rather than realizing that there is more than enough of all that is good to go around. We forget that we manifest what we expect rather than needing to compete for limited resources.

Whenever we forget that we are magnificent beings and that there is plenty of wealth, happiness, fun, and fulfillment to go around, we might feel the need to protect ourselves from what we perceive to be a dangerous world. We likewise tend to forget that others operate from the same lacking self-confidence, scarcity of gratitude, and deficient self-love that we often do. So, whenever two or more individuals see themselves as not good enough to tap into the world's abundance and get all their needs met from a physical, social, mental, and emotional perspective, conflicts are likely to arise. The result is broken relationships, strained communication, emotional pain, struggle, and suffering. All of these are needless and optional for those who realize their ability to detach from the struggle and master their emotional response.

When we stop to realize that everyone else suffers from the same self-doubt and fear of being dominated and cheated out of getting their fair share of love, fun, money, possessions, and security, we can break the vicious cycle of endless competition and continual striving for domination. We can realize that cooperation and communication is more effective in producing harmony than competition and a focus on self-interest based on fear. We can intentionally choose to trust that others are doing the best they know how to do based upon how they see the world. We can assume that they act from good intentions, even when we fear the opposite.
We can hold them as worthy, competent, loving, good natured and capable of creating win-win relationships rather than fearing them as hateful, ill meaning, incompetent, unworthy, selfish opponents.

When we decide to champion others by looking for the best in them and interact with them out of an attitude of gratitude for their gifts, strengths, and positive qualities, in such as manner that they are clear that we hold them as intrinsically good and worthy of our love and respect, we provide for them a new and exciting opportunity for them to show up for us in this manner. Our decision to hold others as great (because they really are when we strip away their anger, fears, and insecurities) allows them the freedom to rise to our expectations. By operating from love and gratitude for the wisdom and empathy we develop as a result of our interactions with others, we see their mistakes as temporary indiscretions producing valuable lessons from which to learn and grow rather than reflections of a fundamentally defective being.

The key to bringing out the best in others is non-attachment. When we realize that we have total control over our response to any situation, and we give up our right to be invalidated by others or control them, we will possess a newfound freedom that allows us to exit the drama of conflict in favor of understanding, compassion, and love. Decide now to be grateful for the challenges you will encounter in your life and business. See the problems that arise as opportunities for your personal development. Look for these challenges as you go about your day, be grateful when you encounter them, and seek out the gifts awaiting your discovery.

Exercise for Expanding Gratitude and Shifting Your Reactive Nature

1. List all the things you have decided to be grateful for in your life and business.
2. In your daily journal, record each time you fail to express gratitude for a challenging situation.
3. Catch yourself reacting emotionally to what someone says or does and shift your perception in that moment to appreciate the learning experience at hand.
4. In your daily life and business, who are you not holding as magnificent?
5. How can you champion their excellence and express gratitude for the opportunity to grow in love and wisdom that they are gifting you instead of reacting with anger, sadness, or fear?
6. Who are you seeking to control or avoid being controlled by?
Will you take on the practice of non-attachment in your relationship with them by creating space for them to be who they are? Do this for 30 days and record in your journal how your interactions with them evolve. Make note of something that you can be grateful for in each situation.

Dr. Joe Rubino is a life-changing life optimization and business coach and the best-selling author of TheSelfEsteemBook.com and 11 other transformational books available worldwide in 19 languages.
To receive a complimentary audio program entitled "7 Steps to
Soaring Self-Esteem" and a free 1-year membership in The Success
Achievers' Club ($129 value), visit
http://www.TheSelfEsteemSystem.com/1
For more information on his books, audios, and coaching program, visit
http://www.CenterForPersonalReinvention.com or email him at DrJoeRubino@CenterForPersonalReinvention.com


The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/tlrpa

Drug and Alcohol Rehab, The Place to be....If you need to be....

In life we are meant to discover, in fact the reason for Rehab is not what most folks think. It is "Discovery"! Any reasonably minded individual would gather all of the facts before making any major life altering decision. Therefore, how can an individual make a prudent choice of whether they want recovery/life or what they currently live without first discovering what recovery/life is first? This is not a ticket to continue on a path of self-destruction. It is quite the opposite it is an invitation to explore what recovery can truly be.

Often the individual that is considering rehab sees it as a last resort. They have succumbed to family, friends or an employer/business partner’s pressure to get help. Personally they can’t fathom living a life of recovery. Why? Because they have no idea what to expect with a life free of “partying”. It is like losing their best friend. They believe there is nothing that life has to offer to replace the temporary joy they receive from using.

At 16 years of age I remember my mother attempting to get me to take “The Pledge” an Irish method of getting someone to stop drinking alcohol. I remember looking my mother in the eye and saying “Are you kidding me? What would life be without drinking?” If you are in recovery or know of someone that needs help you have probably heard some variation of this statement a thousand times or more! It is all we know and comprehend. It is as necessary to us as oxygen is to others. It is how we think.

Therefore, making a short-term commitment to gather all of the facts together to make a prudent decision is a much more rational approach. It is simply committing 90 days out of your life span that is probably a good 80 to 90 years. Ninety days out of ninety years? Not much to ask.

Come take the risk and explore what your real options are. Find out what it really means to enjoy life. On September 12, 2008 my good friend Jack completed 48 years free of any mind-altering substances. Have lunch with Jack or simply meet him once and you will know what it means to enjoy life and not endure it. As a matter of fact, that is Jack’s mantra “Life is meant to be enjoyed and not endured”.

Life is good. Give it the chance that you truly deserve.

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/tlrpa

Free "Meet the Experts" page at www.TheLastResortPa.com

The Last Resort Panama has a new feature on our web site, www.TheLastResortPa.com. It is our way of saying thank you for your support and encouragement in this venture. We are hosting a “Meet The Experts” page. At no expense to you ever, you can list your profile, credentials, contact information and a description of your product and service. We simply ask you to reciprocate with a link to our website as well, the code is emailed to you after you register.

It is extremely easy to add your information. Simply go to www.TheLastResortPa.com and under the “Professionals” Tab on the top right menu bar, click “List of Professionals”. The process will take only a couple of minutes. If you have difficulty just email Rick@TheLastResortPa.com. You can add your logo as well!

Again, thank you. We appreciate the work you do and look forward to mutually supporting one another for many years to come.

Together we can make a difference in our world, apart we are a misguided ship in a storm!

Thank You,

Dan Callahan, LMSW
Founder and Director

Drug and Alcohol Rehab Services

F.E.A.R.-Yes, Or F.E.A.R.-Less By Ken Donaldson

As creative as I truly feel at times, I am keenly aware that there are no original thoughts that come from within. It certainly feels original, however I realize that I am the sum total of what I have read and experienced. With that in mind sometimes an article comes along that I truly feel says it better then I think it!

This is one of those articles. For lack of a better term this is "Old School" self improvement. I learned very early on that I was a reactor! I needed to learn how to implement "I" over "E", intellect over emotion. In fact I had little signs posted around my apartment that said I/E, to remind me. This is taken from SelfGrowth.com which in my opinion has some of the most profound and professional self improvement experts in the field. Enjoy,

F.E.A.R.-Yes, Or F.E.A.R.-Less
By Ken Donaldson

What do you fear, and how real are your fears? The most common fears I see and hear from clients (and others!!) include the fear of rejection, the fear of failure, the fear of change and - believe it or not - the fear of success. As real as these fears may seem, most of them are only imaginary (not real) and totally made-up (fantasy). I like to refer to these made-up scenarios as stories. Part of our humanness includes an amazing ability to make up stories and assumptions, and then to believe them and fabricate some F.E.A.R.: Fictitious Events Appearing Real.

Your mind, as wonderful as it is, has great difficulty in discerning between what’s real and what’s made up or imagined as a story. Your mind tends to perceive all your fantasies and imaginings as being real.

The primary functions of your mind are protection and survival.

Because of this, if your mind perceives a threat, it activates the fight or flight mechanism which prepares your body to go into battle or to flee. When you then feel the rush of the adrenaline flow through your body (triggered by the activation of this fight or flight mechanism), this just validates your perceived “story”: There must indeed be some threat. Often you end up pumped up and keyed up for no true reason because the threat was not real after all. This reaction—adrenaline and the fight or flight mechanism—also takes a huge toll on your body and your health. Prolonged exposure to excessive ongoing adrenaline releases will eventually tear down your immune system.

Plus, whether or not you are aware of it, you will tend to believe your stories to be true. It then becomes easy to build one false story upon another. From there, you risk constructing an entire fear-based belief system and way of life—a life that’s very limiting and restrictive and founded on a couple of made-up rear-based stories.

But there is hope and another choice...F.E.A.R.: Face Everything And Rejoice.

When you face your fears and confront them rather than letting your assumptions run wild in your mind, you’ll find much of what you used to fear was not nearly as threatening as you once believed it was. You can begin to dispel the stories and assumptions, and you’ll get freedom from all this old fear. The primary difference is this model of Face Everything and Rejoice emanates from a place of conscious and empowered choice. It is the realization that your initial reaction may not be reality based.

This is a conscious model of responding instead of unconsciously and blindly reacting. Sometimes, moving from the destructive, limiting, unconscious and highly reactive F.E.A.R. to the hopeful, conscious and more responsive F.E.A.R, and separating false fear from fact, is as simple as asking yourself two simple questions:

"Is it true?" and "Where’s the evidence?"

When you begin to really look at, examine, and evaluate situations, you’ll often find your initial reaction may have been more intense, emotionally-based and irrational (a story) than actual reality.

Three other great questions to ask yourself when you start to feel fear are, “And then what?”, “What is the worst that could happen?” and “Can I handle that?” Ask and answer these questions and you’ll allow yourself to see these preconceived threats more clearly, which allows you to create a more grounded response. This response will flow consciously from making a choice, which is always more empowering, rather than from some old, out-dated unconscious conditioning.

When you respond this way, you’ll discover you can, and will, act in a much more adaptable manner. In other words, you’ll handle these situations by overriding the fight or flight mode, and create the intention for yourself that everything will be okay.

There is one affirming phrase I’d like to recommend to you above all the others:

I can handle this!

When you’re able to say this to yourself as a self-intervention (even if you don’t fully believe it), your mind starts to accept it. Remember, your mind may perceive some things as real whether or not they are. So, just as your mind accepts the negative, false fear-based stories it makes up as “real”, it will also tend to believe, even before you actually feel it to be true, the self-reassurance and confidence you instill merely because you think it and say it to yourself.

You might as well use this dynamic to your benefit and to your advantage. Once you’ve begun to formulate a different and more positive response, you may finally fully realize there is no threat at all.

You have a choice: The old F.E.A.R. or the new F.E.A.R. I know which one you desire and deserve, and I support you in creating a life of freedom through conscious responsiveness and self-intervention.

It is time you choose to rejoice!

Author's Bio

Ken Donaldson has been offering counseling, coaching, and educational programs since 1987. His programs are focused on empowering people to have more successful lives, businesses and relationships. Claim your FREE Relationship Success Special Report at www.marryufirst.com. Ken is the author of Marry YourSelf First! Saying "I DO" to a Life of Passion, Power and Purpose.

The Last Resort Panama, Drug and Alcohol Rehab www.Thelastresortpa.com www.facebook.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/thelastresortpa www.myspace.com/tlrpa www.recoveryforum.ning.com