With Your Family in Mind

When I got my education in addiction counseling they tried to teach me a lot of things.  Like the entire history of recovery; the origin of AA and such things that were not only uninteresting but that, even then, I suspected had absolutely no value in helping another individual.  In over eight...

Bagging or huffing has reared its ugly head again.  According to the latest statistics, most parents are in the dark regarding the popularity and dangers of inhalant use.  However, children are quickly discovering that common household products are inexpensive to obtain, easy to hide and the easiest way to get high.  According to national surveys, inhaling dangerous products is a widespread problem in the country.  It is as popular as marijuana with young people.  More than a million people used inhalants to get high just last year.  By the time a student reaches the eighth grade, the national statistics say one in five eighth graders will have used inhalants.
If you think only kids use inhalants in the grungiest neighborhoods of an inner city, think again.  Just this week three Santa Clarita Valley youth, found themselves in a hospital emergency room, the aftermath of their huffing.  The ACTION Parent & Teen Support Program 1-800-FOR-TEENs crisis line has been besieged with calls for the past several months from parents asking about huffing “what it is, why are kids doing it, and how do you stop it?”

The first time you marry for love, the second for money, and the third for companionship. – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
It may be human nature for hope to spring eternal.  A year ends – a year begins.  We optimistically name the last moments of a year “New Year’s Eve,” choosing to focus on what’s to come rather than dwell on what has been.  We adopt adages like “a door opens for every door that shuts,” and “all endings are also beginnings.”  The truth, perhaps, is in how much faith a person puts in such ideas.  Psychology tells us that perception is more influential than reality.

The length of a time a bankruptcy filing will last varies based on the Chapter that is filed and the complexity of the case.
In a Chapter 13 case, the debtor pays back a percentage of his debts over a period of time that generally lasts from three to five years, depending on how much money the debtor makes and how much debt the debtor has.  The bankruptcy forms include a Means Test that helps the debtor and his attorney determine what percentage of the debts can be repaid.  Some debts must be repaid in full.

Readers of The Magazine of Santa Clarita have sent me some great questions this year, and I hope I’ve been able to enlighten you a bit about the voiceover industry.  If you have any questions you’d like me to answer, please write to the editors and they’ll be glad to publish your question, or feel free to write to me directly.  This month, a voice actor asks about the going rate for narrating audiobooks.

Wow, another year has escaped us!  And, with a mix of emotions, we look forward to the New Year and all that it will bring.  Hoping, dreaming, fearing and planning, we plunge into a new year that God has given us.  As we plan and prepare, we need to remember to keep
God in our plans and to keep ourselves in God’s plan.
Listen to the wisdom in God’s Holy Word:

If you intend to leave your children equal shares of your estate, do not forget to consider any money or property held jointly with a child.  If you have recently added a child to a bank account, own property jointly with one of your children, or have set up a payable-on-death account with a child as the beneficiary, you might want to revise your estate documents.

Question: As my parents’ age and their health deteriorates I am faced with major decisions.  First, there were the subtle signs that mom had Alzheimer’s disease – the growing forgetfulness, placing a coffee cup in the oven, or she’d go for a walk and not know how to get back.  Dad carries the burden of care by managing things on the home front, but his health is deteriorating as well.  I work full time and worry about them while I am at work.  What can I do?
Answer: This scenario is playing out all over America.  Busy adults with their own families and careers worrying about a parent’s deteriorating health.  Figuring out what’s best for a loved one is not an easy decision.  A Geriatric Care Manager is one option.  

As we begin 2011, most of us make resolutions to live a healthier, happier new year!  It’s never too late to make changes in order to achieve a healthy life style.  And for our senior citizens, often it just takes a few small adjustments to make a big difference in their lives.  
Here are a few tips for seniors, and their families as well, that may help you achieve your goals in the new year.
• Eat snacks that are rich with nutrients.  Instead of grabbing a bag of chips, seniors should reach for fruit, like a banana to help boost potassium, or an orange to boost vitamin C and immune levels.  Nuts are also a good choice because of their omega-3, vitamin E levels and could possibly lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

“How can you suffer through one pathetic tale of woe after another?”  If I had a dollar, okay – in this economy $100, for every time I’ve been asked that question, I could take a weekend excursion to Oxnard!
Feeling sorry for therapists is like being sad for someone with season tickets to the best seats in the theater.  In my work, clients pay me to listen to their autobiographies, suspense thrillers, love stories, mysteries, dramas, and even a few comedies, fables, and fairy tales. 

A lot of people are embarrassed by bad breath, but it is a problem that can be solved.  Certain foods and beverages also can cause breath issues that is just temporary.  Halitosis (bad breath) is also caused by poor oral hygiene.  When you eat food particles get trapped between your teeth and in the tiny grooves on your tongue.  The particles grow bacteria which release a sulfur compound that causes bad breath.  Another facture is dry mouth that can be caused by certain medication and also almost all people who use tobacco have bad breath.

One of the most useful, flexible and cost-effective legal devices available is the Revocable Living Trust.  If properly drafted and funded, a Trust can enable us to avoid probate and perhaps save hundreds of thousands of dollars of Federal estate tax.  Its successful implementation depends not only on thoughtful planning and careful drafting, but also on the human factor, the people who are involved in the creation and administration of the trust.
The cast of characters identified in a typical living trust agreement include the following:

Good nutrition is beneficial at any age.  Benefits worth noting are increased mental acuteness, resistance to illness/disease, higher energy levels, a more robust immune system, faster recuperation times and better management of chronic health problems.  Now, however, proper nutrition for older adults is even more important, with research revealing that poor nutritional decisions can eventually lead to cognitive decline and dementia.
It can be hard for seniors to maintain a healthy diet, in part because of the difficulties with cooking for one or two persons, transportation difficulties, or problems standing for long periods of time to cook.  Because caloric needs change with aging and less activity, another issue is the possibility that seniors are not receiving the proper low-fat, high nutrient foods their bodies require.

A flurry of recent media reports has focused attention on emergency room visits following youth’s consumption of alcohol energy drinks – a subset of the flavored malt beverages known as alcopops.  It’s the rage among teens and college students – either purchasing energy drinks and combining them with alcohol or purchasing Alcohol Energy Drinks (AEDs) dubbed “black out in a can” by many.
Seductive, the sugary, fruit-flavored beverages mask the flavor of alcohol, and the caffeine fuels a dangerous perception of being able to “party all night” that is, drink harder and longer.  Let’s face it, energy drinks combined with alcohol or the energy drinks sold with alcohol in them certainly have a candy-coated appeal – especially with names like Four Loko, Joose, Slingshot Party Gel, Evil Eye, Soarks, Steel Reserve 211.  And the makers of these drinks target the youth market.  They are relatively cheap – less than three bucks, sold in eye-catching, youth-oriented packaging, that often looks more like a can of iced tea than a can of beer.

No driver expects to be in an accident.  Unfortunately, however, accidents do occur and it’s important for you to understand all of your auto insurance options.  One thing we always recommend to our clients is that they maintain adequate collision coverage.  If you have a loan or a lease on your car, your lender probably requires it.  The reason is simple.
If you are properly covered, your insurance company will pay for the damage to your vehicle regardless of whose fault the accident was.

Even if you have paid off your mortgage, you still have to keep on top of property taxes.  Most people who have a mortgage do not pay their property taxes directly.  Instead, a little of each mortgage payment is put into an escrow account, and the lender pays the taxes from the funds in the account. 

Working with senior clients can be very rewarding, but also very challenging.  Senior clients enter my office with many unique circumstances that affect their goals, planning, and their future.  Some situations I frequently encounter include:
• Fears of getting older, getting sicker, and losing their independence;

Addiction is being more and more accepted as a disease rather than a moral, ethical or character defect.  I prefer to categorize it as a disorder, the same way OCD, Bi-Polar and others are.  These are personality disorders, not diseases.  Addicts are a unique type of people.  Their extreme view of themselves and the world they live in, make them long for and seek for something profound to experience and something that is beyond normal human experience.  Unfortunately, mismanaged and misguided, this extreme personality trait often leads to highly destructive behaviors, such as drugs.