Today I was fortunate enough to attend the annual Recovery Happens event in Sacramento. Recovery Happens is a rally/information fair held in celebration of recovery on the west steps of the State Capitol building in Sacramento, California with speakers, information booths, singers, food, 12-Step Meetings, and fellowship, etc.

This year we had over 6,000 people rally at the California State Capitol to show the world the recovery face of addiction. Recovery Happens is a wellness fair, rally and concert to kick-off National Recovery Month and California Recovery Month.

Information was also available about prevention and treatment of substance use disorders as well as recovery programs. This annual event is designed to raise awareness about the benefits of recovery and to promote a healthy lifestyle. This is the first year the ROCKSTAR SUPERSTAR PROJECT performed at the event.

See my video below to see the energy and enthusiasm at this event. It was quite noisy so I almost had to yell in order to make sure you can hear me.

Lately I’ve been hearing and seeing more and more that “old-school” addiction treatment programs are opposing ANY medication assisted interventions and use the “Don’t Take Nothing No Matter What” attitude that on one hand can be a valuable asset while also for some people be a major obstacle for ongoing recovery. I want to encourage you about the importance of all of us needing to get the word out.  Some people need to be on appropriate medication assistance to give them a fighting chance of obtaining recovery.

I am NOT an advocate of medication maintenance; whether it be methadone or Suboxone; but I do believe some people need to be on a transitional plan.  While on this transitional plan they also need to be doing other things for their recovery such as cognitive behavioral therapy/counseling as well as psychosocial support.  If we really believe addiction is a disease (a neurobiologic brain disease) we should start treating people with this disease like patients; not like criminals.

What can you do to make a difference here? Post your comments here and please watch my video below for more on this topic.

If medication abuse is a problem you can also learn about the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System at our website www.addiction-free.com. If you or someone you love is living with chronic pain and seems to be suffering; please consider my book Freedom from Suffering: A Journey of Hope. This book was written for people living with chronic pain who are ready to learn and then put into practice seven strategic steps that will help them better manage their chronic pain condition, improve their quality of life, end suffering, and achieve their cherished goals. To purchase my Freedom from Suffering book please Click Here.

To read the latest issue of Chronic Pain Solutions Newsletter please click here. If you want to sign up for the newsletter, please click here and input your name and email address. You will then receive an autoresponse email that you need to reply to in order to finalize enrollment.

Today I want to talk about what I do when I catch myself mismanaging my chronic pain. Today I developed a migraine and didn’t practice what I teach so well. I waited too long to take action was the first mistake.

Then when I did take care of myself and then managed the symptoms I felt a lot better but was still feeling very irritated and agitated and took it out on my wife–and it was her birthday. Once I noticed I was doing it I stopped and practiced my favorite pain management tool - Avoidance by Distractions. What I mean by that instead of focusing on my pain and irritation I focused on having fun and helping my Ellen celebrate her birthday.

I discuss this and many other effective tools to obtain freedom from suffering and more effective chronic pain management in my book Freedom from Suffering: A Journey of Hope. For more information or to purchase my book please click here.

Please see my video below.

You can learn about the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System at our website www.addiction-free.com. If you or someone you love is living with chronic pain and seems to be suffering; please consider my book Freedom from Suffering: A Journey of Hope. This book was written for people living with chronic pain who are ready to learn and then put into practice seven strategic steps that will help them better manage their chronic pain condition, improve their quality of life, end suffering, and achieve their cherished goals. To purchase my Freedom from Suffering book please Click Here.

To read the latest issue of Chronic Pain Solutions Newsletter please click here. If you want to sign up for the newsletter, please click here and input your name and email address. You will then receive an autoresponse email that you need to reply to in order to finalize enrollment.