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READ THESE PERSONAL TESTIMONIES FROM DR. BUTKINS' CLIENTS

"Dr. Butkins played an integral part in my recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction. He provided me with knowledge about the disease of addiction and taught me how to overcome the triggers that would lead me to go out and use or drink. Dr. Butkins is a very knowledgeable, respectable, and professional counselor. He truly cares for his clients and you can tell from the minute you first meet him that he is a man who has genuine concern for the addict and is willing to do what it takes to help you. I am forever grateful to Dr. Butkins for teaching and giving me the tools necessary to maintain my recovery from alcohol and substance abuse." John - Orlando, FL January 2009

“I met Dr. Butkins when I went to a counseling session with my alcoholic husband about 2.5 years ago. He is a highly skilled professional and is very knowledgeable on the disease of alcoholism and its affect upon the families of alcoholics. When we met, I was sick with worry and fear, angry, and unhappy. Living each day in fear of what awful thing would happen next, both my mental and physical health were beginning to suffer. When my husband went off to a rehabilitation center, I continued to see Dr. Butkins. As he challenged my thinking and attitudes and encouraged me to recognize and deal with my feelings, my mind began to open and allow me to look at life situations and the disease of alcoholism in ways that would never have occurred to me on my own. He sent me to Al-Anon where I found other people affected by a loved one’s alcoholism that were working the 12 Steps and willing to help me in my recovery. Today, there is less worry and fear in my life and more serenity. I know that Dr. Butkins’ skill, wisdom, and compassion guided me to this better way of living. I will be forever grateful.” Karen, Lake Mary, Florida

"Dr. Pete probably saved my life 7 months ago when I came to him in October, 2005. He has a great talent in evaluating problems and making you aware of them. He has helped me turn my life around and helped me see things about myself that I have been able to work on; he also helped me help others. It is the best money I have spent in many years. Thank you for being there for me." Richard A. March, 2006

"Dr. Butkins has been treating me since I was in middle school; later on at 19, (he helped me again) I had to see someone I felt comfortable with. He talks to me like a friend, not a doctor. I choose him over any other (counselor) because I look forward to seeing him; he’s just like one of my own friends. He’s very real, but not in your face;he doesn’t sugarcoat, but he’s very understanding and kind. He will help you make progress through anything and leave you feeling better than when you came in."
Jerry K. April 2006

"Dr. Butkins is the best thing that ever happened to me. I would have been dead a long time ago if it were not for him. I drank way too much and wanted to die. He has brought me through a lot; because of him I can handle anything and I love myself today." Janie D. April, 2006

"Dr. Peter Butkins has provided much needed support and direction during emotional turmoil in my life."
Ken H. - Longwood, FL April, 2006

"Dr. Butkins is an amazing guy. He has helped me so very much. When I first came to him I was ready to give up on life. With his help and guidance I pulled myself up. I’m now accepting a full paid scholarship to Stetson. Dr. Butkins saved my life. Thanks for everything." Ann A. - Orlando, FL April, 2006

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Glossary

Glossary of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse/Addiction Terms

There are 225 entries in this glossary.

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C

Term	Definition
Centering Rituals	Centering Rituals are regular, alone-time activities that help keep one recovery-focused. Praying, meditating, reading pro-recovery literature, journaling, setting daily goals and taking an end-of-day inventory, and carrying/wearing sacred objects/symbols are common centering rituals of people in recovery. Other such rituals within the history of recovery include fasting, sweating, seclusion, aerobic exercise (running, swimming), chanting, singing, dancing, artistic expression, and pilgrimages to sacred places.
Character Defects	Character Defects (Shortcomings; Wrongs)within Twelve Step recovery, are those “emotional deformities” that have harmed alcoholics and those close to them. These liabilities include pride, greed, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth (the “Seven Deadly Sins”). They include obsessions (“instincts gone astray”) with sex, power, money, and recognition, and also self-centeredness, selfpity, intolerance, jealousy, and resentment. The A.A. program suggests that if identified and disclosed via the Forth (“Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves”); Fifth (“Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs”); Sixth (“Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character”); and Seventh (“Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings”) Steps, these “ghosts of yesterday” could be replaced by a “healing tranquility” (Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, 1981, pp. 42-62).
Character Reconstruction	Character Reconstruction is the process of bringing one’s personal character into congruence with the aspirational values imbedded within recovery frameworks, whether these be Twelve Step groups, secular support structures, religious organizations or cultural revitalization movements. Character reconstruction underscores that full recovery from severe alcohol and other drug problems entails more than the removal of alcohol and other drugs from an otherwise unchanged life. It entails instead the transformation of the whole person— creating a character and a lifestyle in which alcohol and other drugs have no place.
Chips	Chips (Medallions) are symbols/icons carried or worn on the clothing as a strength-bestowing amulet that reaffirms one’s recovery identity and serves as a token of membership (and tenure) in a larger community of recovery. Chips, ribbons and pins originated within the 19th century recovery mutual aid societies, e.g., the Blue Ribbon Reform Club, the Keeley Leagues.
Choice	Choice (versus coercion) refers to the role of volition and human will in addiction recovery. As treatment has taken on a coercive nature in past decades, the admonition that “recovery is a choice” is a reaffirmation that while treatment can be coerced, the state of recovery is a doorway that can only be entered through one’s own act of choice. It is in exercising this ultimate power of choice that one moves from the self-conscious and oft-uncomfortable state of not using to the state of being free to not use.
Chronic Diseases	Chronic Diseases are disorders that cannot be cured with existing medical technologies and whose symptoms wax and wane over an extended period of time. These disorders often spring from multiple, interacting etiological roots; vary in their onset from sudden to gradual; and are highly variable in their course (pattern and severity) and outcome. The prolonged course of these disorders places a sustained strain on the adaptational resources of the individual and his or her family and friends. Chronic addictive disorders call for a process of sustained recovery management (see Disease Concept).
Circles of Recovery	Circles of Recovery are places where people from many recovery traditions can come together for sharing and healing. Recovery circles, which began in Native American communities in the eighteenth century, continue in those communities today (Coyhis, 1999).
Co-Dependency	Codependency is a condition that results in a dysfunctional relationship between the codependent and other people. A codependent is addicted to helping someone. They need to be needed. This addiction is sometimes so strong, the codependent will cause the other person to continue to be needy. This behavior is called enabling. The enabler will purposefully overlook someone abusing a child, will call in sick for someone suffering from addiction, will put roadblocks to prevent their child from becoming independent, or even keep a sick family member from getting the treatment that would make them well. These are behaviors common to codependents. A codependent often suffers from a 'Messiah Complex' where he sees problems with everyone and sees himself as the only person who can help. Here is where I need to work...trying to be 'Mr. Fixit' for everyone...even those who don't feel they need anything fixed. A codependent counselor (common) will never think your sessions are done. In fact, they often create issues that weren't there just so they can continue to feel they're an important, no, essential part of your life.
Cocoon	is a metaphor for the personal transformation process. It portrays a stage of recovery marked by the need to draw into oneself—to move into a period of isolation and metamorphosis. It is often within this metaphoric cocoon that the business of identity and character reconstruction occurs. It is informative that some of the most powerful transformation experiences in the history of recovery occurred within such isolation. Jerry McAuley’s conversion in Sing Sing Prison (White, 1998), Bill Wilson’s “Hot Flash” in Charles Towns Hospital (Kurtz, 1979), the transformation of “Detroit Red” into Malcolm X in a jail cell (Malcolm X with Haley, 1964) all offer vivid testimony to the power of this cocoon phenomenon. The death-rebirth experiences of the Native Americans who led prophetic, abstinence-based cultural revitalization movements also reflect this cocoon-like process of personal transformation and recovery (Coyhis and White, in press).
Cognitive Reappraisal	Cognitive Reappraisal is and an assessment of the pros and cons of continued alcohol and other drug use and the pros and cons of ceasing such use. This reappraisal grows out of a conscious recognition of both pain and possibilities. Such reappraisal is a common precursor to the initiation of recovery.
Commitment	Commitment is a (usually public)declaration of one’s recovery goal. Such declarations, whether in the nineteenth century ritual of “signing the pledge” or through one’s self-introduction at a mutual aid meeting, mark a shift from the contemplation and preparation stages of change to the action (willing to go to any lengths) stage of change (Prochaska, et al., 1992) (see Developmental Models of Recovery). Commitment can also take the form of religious pledges. Muslims with a history of excessive drinking who decide to quit drinking often do so by performing ablution (cleansing of the body) and, with their hand on the Holy Qur’an, pledging, “By Allah the Great and His Book, I will never touch kmamr (alcohol) again” (Badri, 1976).
Community versus Clinical Populations	Community versus Clinical Populations distinguishes the recovery prospects and processes of those with AOD problems in community studies from those with AOD problems who seek mutual aid and professionally-directed treatment services. Compared to the general community, those seeking help from mutual aid societies and treatment agencies present with greater problem severity, greater physical and psychiatric co-morbidity, and fewer family and social supports (Dawson, 1996; Ross, et al., 1999). These differences underscore the problem in attempting to transfer recovery research findings across these two quite different populations.
Complete Recovery	Complete Recovery is a phrase used by Dr. Michael Picucci (2002) to describe an “advanced state” of recovery marked by global health, a heightened capacity for intimacy, serenity and selfacceptance.
Confession	Confession is acknowledging in the presence of another human being one’s transgressions, imperfections, personal failings and misdeeds. Some people believe that a Higher Power is present in such events. Confession in its various forms has been an element of nearly every framework of addiction recovery. Brumbaugh (1994) has pointed out an important distinction between the acknowledgement of such transgressions within religious and non-religious frameworks of recovery. In the former, the person receiving the confession is “not vested with the power of absolution;” “atonement is not a function of forgiveness (by another person) but lies in the process of disclosure itself.”
Continuity of Contact	Continuity of Contact is a phrase used to underscore the importance of sustained, consistent support over the course of recovery. Such support can come from living within a community of shared experience and hope. The phrase also refers to the reliable and enduring relationship between the recovery coach (recovery support specialist) and the individual being provided recovery management services. Such sustained continuity is in marked contrast to the transience of relationships experienced by those who have moved through multiple levels of care or undergone multiple treatment relationships (see Recovery Support Services).