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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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S

Term	Definition
Secular Recovery	Secular Recovery is a style of recovery that does not involve reliance on any religious or spiritual ideas (God or Higher Power), experiences (conversion), or religious rituals (prayer). Groups providing support for a secular style of recovery include Secular Organization for Sobriety, LifeRing Secular Recovery, and Rational Recovery.
Serial Recovery	Serial Recovery is the process through which individuals with multiple concurrent or sequential problems resolve these problems and move toward optimum level of functioning and quality of life. Serial recovery refers to the process of sequentially shedding two or more drugs or recovering from two or more different conditions. It refers to the overlapping processes involved in recovering from addiction and other physical or behavioral/emotional disorders (see Sobriety Date).
Service Committees	Service Committees are the structures within recovery mutual aid societies (e.g., A.A., N.A.) through which members support the organizational work of the societies and render help to those still suffering from addiction.
Service Work	Service Work see Acts of Service
Sharing	Sharing is the stylized form of communicating “experience, strength and hope” within many recovery mutual aid societies. It is well-described in the Handbook of Secular Recovery. “Sharing” has a very definite meaning in self-help groups...the first person talks, and everybody else listens. Then the next person talks, and everybody listens…and then the next. At no point is anybody’s “share” an answer or other direct response to anyone else’s. Each share stands entirely on its own, complete and sufficient unto itself....The “no response” rule of sharing time protects the speaker from having their statement judged, criticized, ridiculed, or otherwise attacked. This in turn promotes the fullest possible openness and honesty (Handbook of Secular Recovery, 1999, pp. 30-31) (See Crosstalk).
Sin	Sin is a designation of the state of addiction as defined by groups like Alcoholics for Christ: “We agree that drunkenness is a sin and we believe that alcoholism is a disease with spiritual origins. We rejoice that Jesus forgives us of our sins and heals us of our diseases.”
Slogans	Slogans are a shorthand method of communicating to oneself and others in recovery. They are phrases that that have come to embody certain recovery principles and prescriptions, e.g., Easy Does It, Live and Let Live, First Things First. They have become a visible symbol of American communities of recovery, widely heard in recovery dialogue and widely seen on posters and bumper stickers. They represent a form of meditative mantra (selftalk) while simultaneously serving as a kind of in-group code through which recovering people find each other when mixed with civilians.
Sober House Movement	Sober House Movement refers to the advent of recovery communes :self-run residences where people (often in early recovery) can live in a recovery-supportive living environment (see Recovery Home).
Sobriety (Clean) Date	Sobriety (Clean) Date is traditionally defined as the anniversary date of one’s last drink or episode of drug use. Such calculations are not always clear-cut. Let’s take an individual who was addicted to methamphetamine, stopped using it completely after a near-death experience at age 21, increased cannabis use for 18 months and then stopped that out of concern that it was getting to be a problem, developed an alcohol problem following a divorce at age 34, and stopped a 2-pack a day nicotine addiction at age 45. From age 22 on, they have also been episodically treated for depression. What is this individual’s sobriety/recovery date? This not atypical story reveals the way in which many recovering people phase drugs out of their lives over a period of time and manage recovery from addiction in tandem with recovery from other co-occurring problems. While the sobriety date provides a quantitative measure of the length of symptom remission for one problem, it may not reflect the complex processes involved in recovery or convey the quality of sobriety. Families in recovery often speak of recovery date rather than sobriety date, although such a date is often difficult for families to pinpoint. Some family members place their recovery date at a crisis that led to their decision to get help, a moment of breakthrough during a counseling session or an Al-Anon meeting, or a period in which they began to see and tell the truth about what was happening in their family (see Serial Recovery).
Sobriety Priority	Sobriety Priority in Secular Organization for Sobriety and LifeRing Secular Recovery, is the decision to never use alcohol/drugs again in one’s life, no matter what (Christopher, 1988, 1992; Handbook of Secular Recovery, 1999). It is analogous to what in Rational Recovery is called the “Big Plan” (Trimpey, 1989).
Sobriety Sampling	Sobriety Sampling is an experimental period of abstinence designed to test one’s capability for, and the experience of, abstinence. It is an action stage of problem resolution that stops short of, but can potentially lead to, a lifetime commitment to abstinence (Miller and Page, 1991) (see Tapering Down and Trial Moderation).
Sobriety-based Support Structure	Sobriety-based Support Structure is a social network of people who share and support recovery from alcohol and other drug problems. Such affiliation, whether religious (churches), spiritual (A.A./N.A.) or secular (W.F.S., S.O.S), offers a “program” of recovery that includes reasons and methods of altering one’s consumption of alcohol and other drugs within a larger change in one’s philosophy of living.
Solo Recovery	Solo Recovery is the initiation and maintenance of recovery from addiction without involvement in professionally-directed treatment or recovery mutual aid societies (see Natural Recovery).
Spheres (Zones, Domains) of Recovery	Spheres (Zones, Domains) of Recovery are the life arenas through which the recovery process is expressed., e.g., physical recovery, family and relational recovery, social recovery, economic recovery, etc. (Ron Coleman).
Spiritual (Spirituality)	Spiritual (Spirituality) is a heightened state of perception, awareness, performance or being that personally informs, heals, empowers, connects or liberates. For people in recovery, it is a connection with resources within and outside the self. There is a spirituality that springs from pain, a spirituality that springs from pleasure, and a spirituality that can flow from the simplicity of daily life. The power of the spiritual to draw us beyond our normal range of experience is evident in the language of non-ordinary experience: awakening, rapture, peak experience, defining moment, epiphany, rebirth, and ecstasy (see Hitting Bottom, Conversion). The spirituality of fully experiencing the subtlety and depth of the ordinary is depicted in such terms as harmony, balance, centeredness, bliss, serenity, and tranquility. All of these can be part of the multi-layered experience of addiction recovery (Abstracted from White, 1992).