Changemaker Disclaimer

Our intent in offering this information is that the information will be used to benefit others. Always be aware that persons seeking information about themselves or others may need professional guidance. In fact, we have experienced the terrible toll of living with depression and/or substance abuse. We completely believe in and are grateful for psychiatrists.

Only psychiatrists and/or medical doctors can prescribe medication for mental health. Psychologists sometimes will tell a patient that the patient doesn’t need medication without being honest with the patient and revealing that they can’t prescribe medication. So it is patient be aware! Of course, many psychologists will refer their patients/clients/customers to the medical profession for medication. If a beneficial relationship between psychologist and client exists, the client can still be referred to medical doctor for medication only.

Changemaker believes that the patient has to be very self-educated about these problems. With the education, the patient/client/customer can then choose his/her medical team. Remember the doctors work for the patient.

When you hire your professional, always receive a free consultation to see how you feel with this professional. At this first meeting, ask the professional for a diagnosis as you would expect from any other medical professional.

Also ask for the plan for recovery; such as, how many sessions may be needed and how much this will cost. If you unable to get any clear direction, be aware that the treatment will probably be long and costly if the professional has no clear direction. Be sure to read our post entitled: “How to Know if You Need Therapy”.

The Changemaker Difference

Addiction treatment by the medical model means that an addict is “sick” and that someone else knows how to get that addict “well”. In reality, each person has a part of themselves that is perfect and was given to them at birth.

The basic problem with the medical model of addiction recovery is that the medical field calls someone “well” by sending them to take classes about symptoms and this determines the level of “help” that the “well” person will be able to give.

The reality of any emotional/mental help is that the healer can’t help beyond his/her level of recovery. We are all wounded healers but growth only happens after surrender to the need for recovery.

What other field of medicine focuses mainly or only on the symptoms? I mean, where is the cure? Certainly a label can help by identifying what information is needed to lead to a cure. But how does telling someone that they are in denial help that person to understand that their thinking is faulty?

Denial is not about lying but about someone not knowing the truth. Isn’t it more helpful to say that an addict is someone using a learned pattern of behavior to deal with uncomfortable feelings? If there are problems because of the addiction, then the learned pattern has to be given up and a new pattern of behavior has to be chosen for the energy used to be a positive for the addict.

In other words, some of the main issues in addiction treatment are maturity issues. The age at which a person started drinking, using, eating, buying, being overpowering to others, using sex, etc. is the emotional age he/she still is. If he/she started at age 15, which is pretty normal, then he/she is age 14 emotionally.

So recovery is generally about growing up. Another main issue of why people are addictive is to continue to live life in their head or in their imagination. No one knows reality–we only have a perception of reality.

As the hero in 10 Million Ways to Die says, “I never knew that I lived in a world that I hadn’t created..” That is why the addict experiences such anger at having to give up the addiction. The addict believes that his/her using only affects him/her and is no one else’ business. In reality, the addiction is affecting everyone in the addict’s life.
In the self-discovery model of group healing, everyone in the group is a student. The sharing of power in relationships defines the health of the relationship. No hierarchy is needed when people enter groups to help each other. The leadership of the group can be shared by all on a rotation basis.
The group members in the self-discovery group must agree to follow guidelines that the group chooses. The main goal of the group should be short-term with the idea of splitting up to form new groups. Some people may choose to recycle–repeat the same group–before branching out to their own group. After 2-3 times recycling, the other group members may help with the formation of new group to a group member who needs more support.

The Mental Health Institute claims 20% of the population suffers from mental illness. These people generally can benefit from mental health counseling. In America, with all our wealth, many of these poor souls wander our streets as the homeless. They have no medical insurance so mental health care is a sometime thing. Since most of the population isn’t mentally ill, education groups can be a great source of comfort and growth for those not needing therapy.