The Coleman Institute Blog

As we know, parenthood is not for the faint of heart. Between raising children, a busy career, financial pressures, aging parents, changing bodies, the stresses can be overwhelming.

This is a commonly quoted phrase within the recovery world. While we understand that addiction is a disease of the brain, we also recognize that there are both behavioral causes and manifestations. This is where the concept of connection ties into addiction.

I asked my dear and accomplished friend, Leslie Eckford, to guest write a blog post on some things to consider regarding alcohol and aging. Leslie is the co-author of Aging with Care: How to Hire and Manage Caregivers at Home (Rowman and Littlefield 2018) and MindfulAging.com. You can learn more about healthy aging and care at the Mindful Aging Youtube Channel and Facebook page.

One of the most moving themes I hear from my patients has to do with how different their lives are in sobriety at the holidays.

To choose nursing or medicine as a profession comes with the reality that, at some points in your career, you will likely be covering weekends and holidays. So when my children were young, I had to take my turns doing shifts on Thanksgiving and Christmas for many years.