Reviews – The Freedom Model For Addictions: Recent Episodes
The Freedom Model
This article is republished with permission from Ryan Schwantes. The original article appears here. Disclaimer: The information in this article is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your medications, treatment plan…
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This article is republished with permission from Ryan Schwantes. The original article appears here. Meta-analyses of pharmaceutical trials reveal that the specific biochemical effect of an antidepressant accounts for only a small fraction of patient improvement. The majority of the benefit comes from…
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Do you want to be a coach? Would you want to be a Certified Freedom Model Coach? If you are someone who has left AA or NA, has begun to realize that rehab is not the best answer for solving addictions, or you simply want to help people move past their destructive habits – well, then becoming part of the Freedom Model Global Movement by becoming a Freedom Model Certified Coach may be just the…
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If you’re struggling with an alcohol problem, you don’t have to go to a rehab, or meetings with strangers, and you don’t even have to swear off it forever to solve your problem. Freedom Model co-founder and addiction expert Michelle Dunbar provides helpful information on how you can quit drinking or reduce your consumption to non-problematic levels without ongoing struggle and without feeling…
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One of the most common reasons people give for their heavy substance use, PMO, or other behavioral habits is that they believe it relieves their anxiety and stress. For some, the holiday season brings on enormous anxiety and stress, and this can crank up a problematic habit. As you know from listening to our podcasts, reading our books, and watching our videos, alcohol, drugs, and pixels on a…
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Like so many of my articles in the “addiction” field, what most people think is a straightforward question isn’t actually all that straightforward when looked at from the proper angle. Can a porn addiction therapist actually help you? And if so, what do you look for in the therapy model presented? Let’s hit this straight on – the current “treatments” and various therapy models in existence for…
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Finding a rehab that is not based on the 12-Step Program and does not refer you to 12-step meetings as aftercare is like seeking a unicorn. Do you believe in unicorns? Yeah, me neither. Here are 5 questions you can ask to determine if the rehab you found that claims to be non-12-step, is in fact, still based on and tied to the 12-step program. Do you have support group meetings (AA, NA…
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This is a difficult question to answer. I know, you think the answer is a simple yes or no; it should be an easy result from your quick internet search for help. But here’s the problem. Porn addiction therapy, the name itself, is a misnomer, and so your search for help might give results that you don’t want or need. Here’s why – “Porn addiction” isn’t what you think it is. Consequently…
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Over the last decade we here at The Freedom Model have received a massive number of questions concerning sexual addiction and the role porn plays in that issue. Within this conversation is the belief that the regular engagement with porn will hijack the brain and compel compulsive porn use. As with so many confusing concepts, the truth lies in the nuances of the situation. Let’s dive into some of…
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That’s a question we get a lot here at The Freedom Model. The answer to this question requires some explanation and understanding of what’s at play with this class of challenges. “Porn or sex addiction” or PMO (porn, masturbation & orgasm) addiction as a disorder or disease of the brain is a relatively new idea (compared to the 80+ year substance use addiction disease model). While it hasn’t…
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We just released Episode 232 of The Addiction Solution Podcast, and in it, Mark and I discuss the importance of being persistent when solving substance use problems or other “addictions”. And spoiler alert; it doesn’t involve forcing yourself to be abstinent, feeling deprived, and miserable! You can watch this episode by clicking the link below: Episode 232: Solving Addiction With Persistence?
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Last week a long-time friend confided in me that she is struggling with alcohol. I have known Ann since high school, and she has always been self-confident, highly motivated, and a very high achiever. At just 60 years old, she is retiring after a lucrative 30-year career at a very prestigious company. She has every reason to be excited about her future, but is now struggling with depression and…
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Research for The Freedom Model began nearly 40 years ago in the early 1980’s. At that time the addiction disease model was spreading across the globe but was largely limited to the substance using demographic. Since then, researchers began seriously questioning the drug and alcohol disease model (and later the brain disease model), and a brave few completely debunked it and wrote about it.
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What is The New Freedom Model’s New Solution to Addiction? What is the solution to addiction? That’s a question that’s been asked for more than a century, with no clear answer – until now. The Past and Its Failed Policies and Programs We currently have more treatment, more money spent on recovery programs, and more medical resources and training on the topic of addiction than anytime in human…
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In 1989, when I began working with my research mentor, Jerry Brown, I made a promise to myself; I (we) would build a substance use model that was more effective than what was available, was accessible to anyone anywhere in the world, and would be a model that they could afford. Well, at the end of 2023 that 34 year goal was accomplished with the fulfillment of creating the entire suite of products…
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The Freedom Model Coalition What is it, and why would you want to participate? Let me start by wishing you a Happy New Year! Over the past 34 years, we have received consistent correspondence from the public asking us what they can do to help spread the word about The Freedom Model and the non-12 step, non-treatment-based method it teaches. Those asking are usually the family members or friends…
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I asked Michelle and Ryan this morning, “What should my year-end email topic be?” She said, “Do a year in review.” So we went into my office and began listing all the accomplishments of 2023 – and frankly, we were shocked! We’ve been so busy that it’s easy to get tunnel vision on each project and lose sight of the bigger picture. When we sat down and listed out the number of people helped…
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I learned how to worry when I was a young child living in a home where bad things were happening to me frequently that were completely out of my control. As a child, you are at the mercy of those around you who are older and supposed to be wiser. In much of the aggregate of my childhood, the wisdom part of that equation was missing for me and those around me. Our family was lost, rudderless…
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Whether you like it or not, as we come to the end of another year, we can’t help but assess, have I made progress? Am I ending the year in a better place than I started it, or do I have the same struggles I had last year at this time? It can be frustrating and disheartening when the answer to that last question is yes, I am still struggling with a problem I had wanted to solve. As we get older…
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You might wonder why this topic is being addressed here on The Freedom Model blog; a blog devoted to the topic of debunking addiction and recovery myths. I mean really, “what grips your soul”? The trouble with the quote above is this: if read quickly, it can seem like unwanted advice and frankly, a bit like fluffy greeting card fodder. And of course, Freedom Model students won’t put up with…
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We’ve all heard the cliché, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If you’ve spent any time at all in the addiction recovery world you’ve heard this touted as fact multiple times by people trying to convince you that you are an addict or alcoholic who clearly can’t use substances without causing massive problems in your life.
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Quote from Matthew Perry’s Memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing Actor, author, and 12-step advocate, Matthew Perry, passed away this past Saturday (October 28, 2023). While we don’t know an official cause of death yet, it is not a stretch to say that his life for the past 30 years was tragic in and of itself. You may disagree, but I’m simply taking his word for it.
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No. There you have it. The Freedom Model for Addictions is not opposed to anyone who wants to take medications for “opioid use disorder”. But with that blanket statement made, it is important to know that we are opposed to lying to the masses to make them believe that MOUD is the only way to curb opiate use. This assertion that all opiate users must use MOUD (formerly known as MAT) sounds…
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Are you a chronic relapser? Did a treatment professional or fellow AA member saddle you with this label? This idea is Nonsense, find out why!
In the US, virtually every inpatient rehab, outpatient clinic, or other form of treatment for drug use is based on the 12-step model or a strange deviation of it.
Listen to Freedom Model Chairman and Co-Founder, Mark Scheeren, as he is interviewed by Radio Host Lynn Cullen for her Radio show to discuss the Freedom Model for Addictions
In this episode of The Addiction Solution Podcast, Steven and Mark discuss the movie JUDY and give their thoughts and reactions to the movie.