By David Palmer On the face of it, Ashleigh Smith, a single mom and newly recovering meth addict with, at best, a fragile grip on sobriety was an unlikely role model, but on March 12, 2005, she proved herself worthy by helping to bring multiple killer, Brian Nichols, to justice. On that day, Nichols took Smith hostage in her own home, but in seven harrowing hours with help from Saddleback church Pastor Rick Warren’s best selling book, “The Purpose Driven Life” she persuaded him to let her … [Read more...]
For the alcoholic in your life, how about an intervention?
By David Palmer Interventions are a valuable tool in helping alcoholics and other drug addicts get well. And they come in various sizes and shapes. In my own case, a psychiatrist I was seeing in Denver about my acute anxiety realized after a couple of sessions that I was an alcoholic and directed me to my nearest Alcoholics Anonymous meeting forthwith. He knew that our talks would come to nothing if I did not deal with the alcohol issue first, and he “intervened”. I went to my first AA … [Read more...]
A salute to Marine Bob G. on Memorial Day
Bob G. served with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam for sixteen months and for many years has been treated for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) stemming from his combat service during the late sixties. During the thirty-two years after his service, overcome by his fears, anger, and addictions, he lost his family and went to prison three times—once for murder. He also attempted suicide ten times. At one point, he was given a year to live because of his numerous afflictions. When you hear … [Read more...]
