Welcome to the December edition of Tips and Topics. Wishing you a healthy, happy holiday season.

In SAVVY, Angela Haupt wrote about “5 phrases that drive therapists up a wall.” Clients demonstrate a variety of issues that become the work of therapy. I organized those phrases under three SAVVY tips.

In SKILLS, I wrote 20 years ago about how to develop a truly participatory treatment plan, one most likely to succeed in being followed. Exploring the “what, why, how, where and when” with a client focuses on how to develop the Treatment Contract.

In SOUL, I address issues relevant to paying a fee for therapy. It is an investment in the current process of therapy and in the future wellbeing it can bring. If you are a therapist, counselor or coach, the personal work you do sharpens your effectiveness for the good of your therapy clients.

Welcome to the November edition of Tips and Topics.

In SAVVY and SKILLS, pay attention to the services, systems, policies and staff that can advance ten recommendations from a paper “Clinical Considerations for Engagement and Retention of Nonabstinent Patients in Care” published in the latest edition of the Journal of Addiction Medicine.

In SOUL, when I looked at the speakers’ list for an upcoming conference at which I had previously presented a keynote, there was a momentary tinge of nostalgia for those speaking days. But with papers like the one in this month’s Tips and Topics, I am reassured that the younger generation has “got this.”  What I long advocated for in addiction treatment systems is in good hands.

Welcome to the October edition of Tips and Topics.

In SAVVY, Dr. Mike McGee, psychiatrist, shares thoughts on what is a good formulation and explains some of his Formulation “C’s”: Clinicians Collaboratively and Curiously Co-creating a Comprehensive, Compassionate, Coherent, Chronicle of a Client’s life and their Current and past Conditions, Concerns, Capacities, and their Conception of a better life.

In SKILLS, Mike continues with tips on what it looks like to have "Clinicians Collaboratively” work with clients; to be "Curiously Co-creating;” and how to cultivate and maintain, in the busyness of work demands, the attitudes and values to live the Formulation “C’s.”

In SOUL, Ellen Eatough, MA poses one question to help you quickly discern if someone has the emotional depth for a truly fulfilling partnership or friendship. “Pay attention not just to what they say, but how they say it. Humility combined with self-awareness is the sweet spot.” 

Welcome to the September edition of Tips and Topics.

In SAVVY, I offer antidotes to workaholism and the drive for productivity; to rampant and growing income inequality; and to political divisions and polar opposite visions for America.

In SKILLS, what does it mean to be a “mountain person” versus a “beach person”? There is value in each type. We don’t have to divide ourselves into mountain people and beach people. We need both. And if we’re lucky, we get to be both.

In SOUL, why it’s hard to give a simple heartfelt apology to those we offend. It takes a lot of trust - not trust in the person offended, but trust in yourself that you are a good person who wouldn’t intentionally be hurtful. When that trust is living in you, there is no need for defensive explanations and complaints.

 

Welcome to the August edition of Tips and Topics.

In SAVVY, Alice Walton, the world’s richest woman opened a medical school in Bentonville, Arkansas. At the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine (AWSOM), “they will get all the science and disease knowledge they need to manage the ‘sick-care’ side of things,” Walton says. But “I wanted to create a school that really gives doctors the ability to focus on how to keep their patients healthy.”

In SKILLS, the new medical students are being trained in skills not emphasized in traditional medical schools. Besides learning the SKILLS of traditional medicine, they will have nutrition-related training and opportunities to integrate high-tech tools to improve home-based care and address health care gaps.

In SOUL, changing values, beliefs and behaviors on an individual level is hard enough. But doing that at a systems level is even more difficult. Add in financial incentives to keep the current system cemented in and it almost seems like an impossible dream. Bright-eyed, enthusiastic, new medical students have their chance at “changing the world” and Alice Walton is kick-starting the process.

 

Volume 23, No. 4 July 2025

Welcome to the July edition of Tips and Topics.

In SAVVY, I share excerpts from the farewell speeches of the CEO and Clinical Director of
an agency with which I consulted since 1998. In our work together, here are some TIPS
about Supervision and Mission and Values.

In SKILLS, some TIPS on skills to provide person-centered services inspired by the farewell speeches ending my 27 years of work with the National Center for Advocacy and Recovery (NCAAR).

In SOUL, cute stories on chance meetups and what it’s like to be in the honeymoon of retirement. There will be a time when my legacy will live on in the work of people who never knew me and would rightly say, “Dr. Who???”

 

Volume 23, No. 3, June 2025

Welcome to the June edition of Tips and Topics.

In SAVVY, note the shift away from spending time with friends and family to online activity. This highlights the importance of helping patients make friends; and especially for youth, to help them strengthen family ties and in-person social connections.

In SKILLS, a digital detox can be just as difficult as a substance detox. Strategies you might want to try. It’s time to educate ourselves about managing online activity and to teach our children and youth how to “drive” on the digital highway.

In SOUL, Father’s Day raises questions about the past as we reflect on what sort of dad did I have? Questions I wished I had a chance to ask my dad. Questions you might want to ask your dad if he is still alive.

 

Volume 23, No. 2, May 2025

Welcome to the May edition of Tips and Topics.

In SAVVY, a mother of five turns her focus from taking care of others to what it takes to find balance and purpose in The Free Me Life.

In SKILLS, Tips on where to get started when your energies have been centered on taking care of others. How to shift the balance from looking outward to discovering what lies within you.

In SOUL, what is freedom when your focus is not on daily survival? How does not caring what anybody else thinks bring you freedom? Artificial Intelligence helped me spell this out.

 

 

Welcome to the April edition of Tips and Topics.

In SAVVY, starting year 23 of Tips and Topics. Five ways to make helpful science-based information available to people in ways beyond face-to-face counseling. Introducing Atlas, and online digital interventions.

In SKILLS, excerpts from “Unlocking Transformation: David Mee-Lee’s Wisdom on Behavior Change and Person-centered Care”, an interview from CASAT — The Center for the Application of Substance Abuse Technologies — a Center within the School of Public Health at the University of Nevada, Reno.

In SOUL, How would you describe your relationship with yourself today? This interview question sparked several awarenesses and existential questions like, “Can I live with myself by myself? Is there really self-love and the ability to be alone?”

Volume 22, No. 12, March 2025

Welcome to the March edition of Tips and Topics.

In SAVVY, in reviewing the manuscript for "Navigating the Methadone Maze: A Guide for Patients and Professionals," I had some concerns about the quality of counseling in Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT).

In SKILLS, even if taking a Harm Reduction approach for people suffering from Opioid Use Disorder, don’t give up on helping the client move in the right direction. Use counseling for their growth and development.

In SOUL, my granddaughter’s teenage birthday reminded me of Gail Sheehy’s 1977 book "Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life." How will my grandgirl handle each of life’s passages? Will she realize the opportunity for creative change and grow to her full potential? How many examples of age-related change will I be granted the opportunity to witness and enjoy in the sunset of my life?