Overcoming Addictions – The Power of our Hometowns and Local Neighborhoods

by David Palmer When World War II began in 1941, my father gave up his high paying public relations job on New York’s Madison Avenue, bought the local newspaper, the Summit Herald, in our home town of Summit, N.J. and went to work. He was forty, had a wife and kids, and was therefore exempt from […]

“Most Alcoholics Are Better at Denial Than Counselors are at Counseling” and 8 Other Reasons Recovery from Alcoholism is HARD

Joe McQuany & Theodosia Cooper | Serenity Park | One Day at a Time | David Palmer

  “People try to attack the protective barrier of ‘denial’ and get the alcoholic to admit he is an alcoholic,’ the late Joe McQuany once observed. “The jury is still out on how effective this can be,” he continued, “in most cases this is a waste of time as most alcoholics are better at denial […]

Recovery Central offers 20 meetings a week

By David Palmer Shortly before noon on a sunlit day in May, men and women began gathering at the “Recovery in the Daylight” Narcotics Anonymous (NA) 12-Step meeting at Recovery Central, a new Little Rock facility mainly for NA meetings. More about the “Recovery in the Daylight” meeting in a minute. First, some background on […]

Vietnam war vet overcomes opiate addiction, Pioneers local Cocaine Anonymous meetings

By David Palmer Cocaine addicts are a special breed. That’s what Norith Ellison says. And he should know. Ellison, 60, is a recovering cocaine addict who has been clean and sober for 21 years and started the state’s first Cocaine Anonymous (CA) meeting in Little Rock in 1989. Widely known and respected in the community […]

Managing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: 12-Step programs and Vet Centers will help

“On March 4, 2007, combat veteran Chris Dana, put a .22 against his head, muffled it with a comforter and ended his life as quietly as a book drops. He had PTSD and didn’t get the help he needed.” These deeply affecting words were written by Eric Newhouse, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, in his […]

Alcoholism and Addiction Cure

A Holistic Approach to Total Recovery How to heal the underlying causes How to end relapse How to end suffering By Chris Prentiss Power Press, $15.95 Chris Prentiss, who operates a pricey treatment center in Malibu called Passages, has been running numerous spots on TV urging people to buy his book, The Alcoholism and Addiction […]

A conversation with Bobby Ward, clinical supervisor at UAMS

By David Palmer I’ve known Bobby Ward for most of his 20 years of sobriety and have been entertained and enlightened at recovery meetings over the years by his story, which he delivers with self-deprecating humor illuminated by a megawatt smile. So it was with great anticipation that I drove over to the UAMS Psychiatric […]

Nurses in Recovery

Nurses in recovery. A new book on prescription drug abuse From Unbecoming a Nurse to Overcoming Addiction By Paula Davies Scimeca, RN, MS Sea Meca, Inc. $19.95 “One day after having been up all night getting high,” a registered nurse writes in her testimony in Paula Scimeca’s book, From Unbecoming a Nurse to Overcoming Addiction, […]

For homeless veterans The Drop-In Day Treatment Center offers a step up

“We put homeless veterans first.” That’s the welcoming slogan of Little Rock’s Drop-in Day Treatment Center on Second Street. Estella Morris, a diminutive manager with an easy smile and a quiet authority, presides over the Center which offers meals, shelter, medical care and a leg up in the world to those veterans willing to play […]

After struggle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Ex-Combat Marine dedicates life to helping others

Ex-Marine and Vietnam War Veteran Bob G. is the unofficial face of Recovery Central, a new Little Rock facility for 12-Step meetings, mainly Narcotics Anonymous. An alcoholic and former methamphetamine addict, Bob sponsors more people than he can count. And he does it by the book (See The Narcotics Anonymous Step Working Guides and Working […]