SelfGrowth.comThe Self Improvement Guide

About Log InLog In Browse TopicsTopics Create Professional AccountJoin

Home/
Articles

Browse SelfGrowth articles

Loading the searchable article library…

SelfGrowth.comThe Self Improvement Guide

Explore experts, guides, articles, videos, and events by topic.

Explore

All topics Experts Guides Articles Videos

Platform

About SelfGrowth Websites Newsletters Events Become an Official Guide Contact

Compliance

Legal

Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions Cookie Policy

Your choices

Privacy Requests

Help improve SelfGrowth

Accounts

Personal account Create Professional Account Become a Contributor

SelfGrowth helps readers explore personal growth topics with clear paths into guides, experts, and related resources.

Home/
Experts/
Peggy Ferguson/
Articles

Articles by Peggy Ferguson

Browse published articles attributed to Peggy Ferguson, with full-archive search.

articles: 84

Explore

TopicsBrowse every topic ExpertsFind people ArticlesRead guidance WebsitesOpen resources EventsSee sessions VideosWatch clips

⌕

SortRecommended Most viewed Most recent Highest rated Alphabetical

Showing 51–84

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Addiction and Recovery: How to Catapult Your Recovery to the Next Level by Using A Problems Checklist to Drive Skill Developmen

Early recovery is a time of self-assessment and problem identification. You have to know what is not working in order to begin to fix it. One of the first tasks, right after learning basic craving management techniques is spending the time and energy to identify the roles that chemicals have played in the life of a newly recovering alcoholic/addict. This is especially important since the chemical has occupied so many crucial roles or functions and that removing it from a person's life leaves big, gaping holes in their behavioral repertoire.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

2,655 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

How to Overcome Seven Obstacles to New Year's Resolutions Success

I love the New Year. I feel like I am the threshold of a new year. I am glad that there is a week betwee Christmas and the New Year because it gives me a chance to recover, regroup, and rethink. Of course, I would like to think of a new year as a fresh, blank, Big Chief Tablet to write whatever I like on, but that is not really the case. Our lives are not marked off in 365 day intervals, where everything begins a new on day one. There are many things, situations, circumstances, and processes that transcend years and even decades.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

2,655 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Addiction in Ongoing Recovery: Getting Acquainted With Middle Ground

The main task of early recovery is spent in trying to interrupt the momentum of the addiction to achieve sustained abstinence. Most of one's mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual energy is spent on that goal. In ongoing, stable, sustained recovery, the recovering person is no longer struggling to maintain abstinence and is now able to use more of their energy not only cleaning up the debris from their addiction, but being able to consciously move toward being the person that they have wanted to be.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

2,582 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Why People Have Marital Affairs

Why, when most people believe in monogamous marriages, and that affairs are "wrong", are so many couples struggling to recover from infidelity? Most people do not intend to have an affair and most couples never would have believed that it would happen to them. Affairs happen in the marriages of all kinds of people. Not bad people. Not people whose marriages are "doomed". The reality is that any marriage could be vulnerable to an affair, given the right conditions. One of the first questions that the partner asks when they learn of the affair is "why?".

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

2,544 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Falling Out of Love - Should We Pack It In?

Often when a couple comes in for couple’s counseling, one of the partners is stating that s/he has fallen out of love with the other partner. Sometimes they both feel that way, but usually it is just one spouse verbalizing this. When you are feeling this way, it is common to question whether you ever “really” loved your spouse in the first place. Usually when couples present for counseling with one wanting out of the relationship, there other marital issues that are creating problems in the marriage, that the couple may not be talking about or acknowledging.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

2,496 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Your Spouse's Infidelity Revealed: Of Course You Are Angry and Scared: Part 1

Infidelity can be a component of sexual addiction or relational event(s). It is generally enshrouded in secrecy and dishonesty, with great amounts of time and effort spent to keep it hidden. Spouses find out about the infidelity or sexual addiction in a wide variety of ways. Several are ...

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

2,466 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

A Realistic Approach to Reducing Unhappiness and Preventing Divorce

While many conflicted and combative couples stay together through the holidays to not disappoint the kids or the extended family members, other couples who may have not even been thinking about divorce, begin to feel discouraged, disappointed, and disenchanted after the holidays and decide to divorce. Although there are very good reasons for divorce, personal unhappiness may not be caused by the marriage, and divorce may not be the solution. It is unlikely that your marriage is the source of all of your unhappiness.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

2,426 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Standing At The Crossroads: Trying to Quit Using Drugs

People do not easily come to the conclusion that they have an alcohol or other drug problem. The telltale signs have been there quite some time. Addiction carries with it its own camouflage devices. It can look like a lot of other illnesses from the perspective of an outsider looking in. From the perspective of an alcoholic/addict the telltale signs can be chalked up to a million other problems or causes.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

2,375 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Addiction As Disease Does Not Equal "Get Out of Jail Free"

Sometimes family members have a hard time with the idea that addiction is a disease. When this is the case, it often has to do with the issue of responsibility. Sometimes family members believe that "disease" is equated with a "get out of jail free card" or not being held responsible. This is not the case. An addict has responsibility for choosing recovery over choosing to stay in the illness.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

2,274 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

The Naked Truth About Sexual Addiction

There is nothing sexy about sex addiction. Compulsive sexual behavior is not a pastime or hobby. Sexually addicted people use all kinds of excuses and defense mechanisms to deny the truth to themselves. The naked truth about addiction is that once it is addiction, the addict is spiritually and ...

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

2,240 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Addiction and Recovery: Why Don't They Just Quit?

Family members are often stymied about how their alcoholic/addicted family member can continue to drink or use in the face of overwhelming evidence that the chemical is destroying their lives. “Why don’t they just quit?” is a question that could rightfully top the list of “FAQs by Family Members About Addiction”.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

2,150 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Are You Suffering from Someone Else's Sexual Addiction? - Part 4

Are you angry, depressed, confused, and constantly trying to figure out what your spouse is up to? If you are spinning your wheels, trying to strategize and find solutions for your spouse and your relationship before you have actually identified the problem, keep reading. Family members can suffer from the sexual addiction of spouses, and spend countless hours trying to solve the problem before they really know what they are dealing with. If you are suffering negative consequences of someone else's sexual behavior, you might be in a relationship with a sex addict.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

2,084 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Sexual Addiction: Are You a Sex Addict? Part 2

Sexual addiction is a dysfunctional pattern of compulsive sexual behavior that continues even after the addict knows that it is causing major problems in their life. The sex addicts has a compulsion to engage in the problem behavior despite the fact that it has become emotionally dissatisfying ...

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

2,079 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Everyone Loses When You Give Up on Your Marriage Without Trying to Acquire the Skills You Need To Keep It

There is the "should" that says that you should be able to solve your own problems without help. Here is the rationale: "If your relationship has enough tension and strain that help is needed, the relationship is not going to make it anyway, so why waste time and money with counseling?" The reality is that if you give up on your marriage without first trying to acquire the skills that your need to be happy in it, you lose. Everyone loses.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

2,068 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

How to Separate the Help From The Hype In Addiction Treatment

There is so much "information" on the internet about addiction and recovery and unless you already have some knowledge about addiction and recovery, all resources may appear equal to you. This is not the case. There are advertisements, articles, and blog posts about addiction recovery products and services that are pretty much equal to the latest snake oil products for losing weight without diet and exercise. If it seems too good to be true, it is. There are no magic pills, herbal supplements, or miraculous techniques that cure addiction.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

2,058 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Getting to the Other Side of Grief: Sixteen Helpful Guidelines to Help You Navigate Through Your Grief

You may be wondering if it is even possible to survive the loss of someone you love. You may be thinking that you are going crazy, or that you will never quit crying. You may think that you will never be the same and will never feel better. Grief is one of the most devastating experiences that human beings have and it is universal. Sooner or later, we all experience grief. When we experience the loss of someone that we love, we often find ourselves at a loss for what to do with ourselves, with our daily lives, and with the grief.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

2,046 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Essential Definitions for People Trying to Gain Assertiveness Skills

Although most people have some pretty clear-cut notions about what assertiveness is and isn't, assertiveness is often confused with aggression. Assertiveness is not necessarily about having your will prevail over the will of others. That is actually more descriptive of aggression. Especially when there is little regard to the rights or feelings of others. Instead, assertiveness is simply about being able to stand up for your own rights without trampling on the rights of others.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

2,017 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Don't Let Myths Keep You From Getting Sober

I keep hearing the same old myths over and over again. And I can't help but think that others hearing these myths either believe them and give up or use them for excuses to avoid taking action on getting clean and sober. One of the myths that I hear daily is that you can't get sober for someone else, that you have to want it for yourself, or your recovery efforts won't work. This statement is both true and false. The idea that you can't get sober for someone else is completely wrong. People do it every day.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

1,957 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Getting Married: Building Healthy Step-families

If your family is a "remarried family" or a "step-family" then you're in good company. The experience of building a remarried or stepfamily is a common experience, not only for recovering people, but for the general population as well. There are lots of difficulties involved in putting together a stepfamily. One of the major difficulties is in the perception that a step-family is something less than desirable. Stepfamilies can be healthy.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

1,922 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Family Dynamics of Addiction And Recovery - Deciding What to do about an Adult Child's Addiction

When an adult child with addiction problems lives with his parents, those parents are faced with hard choices. The addict believes that he is only harming himself, yet the truth is that the addiction is hurting everyone and is typically tearing the family apart. Parents and significant others of alcoholics/addicts in deciding upon a course of action must make decisions based on what they can live with. There is a huge difference between bottom lines and threats.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

1,890 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Keep Your Parents and Children Out of Your Marriage

Keep your parents and your children out of your marriage. Once they are in there, it's hard to get them out. When you are in conflict with your spouse, it is really tempting to use whoever is handy to vent to, regarding your marriage. And often the people available most available to us are our children and parents. They are typically most often in our presence, and if we don't see them throughout the day, they are often the people we speak to on the phone most often.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

1,854 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Help My Teen: Could Your Child's Problems Be Due to Addiction?

Parents often find themselves in a quandary trying to figure out how to help the adolescent whose behavior, disposition, and mood has changed for the worst. The exact nature of the problem may be eluding them. They use a trial and error problem solving method where they end up trying anything and everything to solve the problem. They try assertive discipline, enrolling their child in extracurricular activities to improve self-confidence or self-esteem, tutors, antidepressants, etc. without really knowing what they are dealing with. They are often operating under faulty suppositions.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

1,829 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Using Valentine's Day to Build Your Own Marriage Enrichment Initiative

Routine. Boring. Settled in. Comfortable. You love your spouse. You believe that she and the family are the most important people in your life. You have settled into a comfortable routine, accepting that you are loved and appreciated by your family. Your comfortable routine consists of an ongoing cycle of work, dinner, tv, bed. When you talk to this most important person in your life, your wife, you talk about replacing the roof, what the kids did that day, what you need from the store, or maybe something that happened at work that day. The conversation lasts maybe ten minutes.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

1,779 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Family Dynamics of Addiction and Recovery: How to Let Go and Regain Your Peace of Mind

What are you afraid of? Fear and anxiety are part and parcel of daily life with familial addiction. Fear is a paintbrush that colors almost all aspects of family life. Some fears are easily recognizable in an addicted family: "What if he gets arrested?" "When am I going to get the call in the ...

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

1,696 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Getting Started: "Ready, Set, Talk!"

Sometimes couples wish they felt more emotionally close to their spouses. You may feel taken for granted and might even recognize that you take your spouse for granted. One or both of you might be daydreaming about dedicating some time and energy to restoring that eroding emotional connection. You are probably both aware that marriage, like anything else we value, requires nurturing and sustained effort to maintain it. One spouse might even mention that he or she wants to set aside some time to spend together—just the two of you.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

1,534 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Addiction and Recovery - What is Detox?

"Detox" is the beginning of the process of recovery. Most people need some kind of help getting through detox. Some people need medical help or additional structure and support. The kinds of difficulties that an alcoholic or addict will have with detox depend on a number of variables, including, personal characteristics, the specific types of drug(s), combination of drugs, length of use, amount of use, and last use. Detox is the process where your body rids itself of the mood altering chemicals that you have been ingesting. When you use drugs over time, they build up in your system.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

1,521 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

How to Find The Best Marriage Counselor For Your Needs

Everyone wants "the best". When you are looking for a marriage counselor it is important to find someone who is specifically trained in marriage counseling and has the credential of "licensed" or "certified" marriage counselor". This indicates that they demonstrated some level of competence necessary to have had to passed some test(s) or other criteria of competence.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

1,521 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Two Things You Can Do Now To Reduce Your Holiday Stress

We know that once Thanksgiving is over, we will be having an increase in our stress. This yearly event, when the demands for our time, energy, money, and other resources increase exponentially, and our stress levels rises accordingly, is lovingly known as "the holidays". And each year, we just seem to accept that this time of year will be stressful and continue our holiday tradition of being stressed out during the "silly season".

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

1,507 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Marital Counseling: How to Make The Most of the Opportunities of Marriage Counseling

People seek marriage counseling because they need help or are in pain. In any given couple, there is usually one who is more interested in counseling than the other. With a list of complaints, each partner usually feels compelled to make his/her case to the counselor about their spouse being "the problem". Although initially both partners seem to have the agenda of having the counselor straighten out the other, the benefits of marital counseling can quickly guide the cooperative efforts of the partners for the benefit of the relationship.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

1,476 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Family Dynamics of Addiction and Recovery - How Can I Tell If My Partner Is Serious about Recovery?

Most spouses of alcoholics or addicts have been down this road before. Something has happened. Some crisis has gotten the attention of the alcoholic/addict and now he is motivated to get clean and sober. This time he is going to AA/NA and going to counseling. Promises made by the addict to stop the addictive behavior have gone unfulfilled in the past. Yet most of the time, when an addict is making those promises, he intends to keep them. This time is different. They mean it when they say it. That does not mean that what was stated as fact, is indeed, fact.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

1,407 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Help For the Sex Addict - Part 3

Treatment for sexual addiction can occur in an inpatient or outpatient setting. Like treatment for alcohol and other drug (AOD) addiction, treatment for sexual addiction is usually made up of individual and group counseling, education about addiction, and self-help participation. When choosing ...

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

1,378 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

The Key To Successful Recovery of Your Marriage Is Within You

The key to successfully recovering the love that has eroded is within you. The fun that you once shared together can happen again. The robust sense of "us" that colored the choices you made on a daily basis can be restored. The ability to accomplish these things is within each partner. The key to restoring marital happiness is not dependent upon what your partner is doing. It is not about how much money you have (or how much debt). It is not about how the household chores are divided (equally or not). It is not even about how much time you spend together.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

1,361 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Getting Started: "Ready, Set, Talk!"

Sometimes couples wish they felt more emotionally close to their spouses. You may feel taken for granted and might even recognize that you take your spouse for granted. One or both of you might be daydreaming about dedicating some time and energy to restoring that eroding emotional connection. You are probably both aware that marriage, like anything else we value, requires nurturing and sustained effort to maintain it. One spouse might even mention that he or she wants to set aside some time to spend together—just the two of you.

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

1,174 views

By Peggy FergusonRecently published1 topic

Commumication In Recovery: Guidelines for Setting the Stage for Effective Talks with Your Loved Ones

When you want to solve some important relationship or logistics issue, you help assist help ensure your effectiveness by appropriately setting the stage for communication. Remember these guidelines while trying to solve a problem in your relationship. 1. Think about what you want to say ...

Primary topic: Drug and Substance Abuse

Drug and Substance Abuse

1,025 views

Previous pagePage 2

Back to top ↑