Addiction Recovery Southwest Florida

New Method for Achieving Sobriety in Southwest Florida

Can't get what you want?  Confused? No direction?     Keep relapsing?

Recovery is hard to do on your own. Coaching and mentoring can be a tremendous advantage and support. Major inroads have been made addiction treatment, but there are still holes in our system as far as recovery.  As a consequence, alcoholism and drug addiction recovery continues to be misunderstood for sober addicts.  They continue to believe they have a disease that they have to try to conquer on their own or to recover from in anonymity for fear after leaving a 28 day addiction treatment program. Thoughts of being damaged or disease race through their heads constantly with left alone and makes them uncomfortable in social situations whether at school, a job or with their family.

Having an addiction coach / recovery mentor can increase your ability to reduce your chances of relapse and create new positive patterns.

Check it out at http://www.drbilltollefson.com/drbilltollefson/ and http://www.makingapositivechange.com/

2013 Seminar Opinion Survey

I have been very successful in the past couple of years with developing my life coaching business and now I am ready to move forward. I am interested in teaching others the values I have discovered with life coaching, personal philosophy method and upgrading my rapid reduction technique. I would like the input of my fellow colleagues, friends, associates and clients past and present on your interests. So please, if you would click the link to fill out the attached form and lets move forward together.

Please fill out my form.

Thank you Dr. Bill

Making a Positive Change

"Gratitude is the gateway to moving forward to positive change." Dr Bill

 Positive change in your life is yours when you believe that you deserve and you are worthy of it, When you know that it is there for you. It will be present for you when you are truly authentic with yourself and your life; when your core beliefs match with your external reactions to life experiences. 

Everything that you accomplish is for one reason only. You believe that you will feel more positive about having it. But, the truth is, you must feel positive that you deserve and are worthy of what you desire before you can achieve what you want!  So, believe in yourself first and set positive steps, then put them into action and live in the moment. 

Do these steps, and your life will change for the positive. 

When said another way, when you adjust your core beliefs and putting them into action consistently you will produce positive results in yourself and your life. If you simply look around with positive eyes in the moment you will recognize that you already have much of what you desire. 

Remember, positive core beliefs are an internal vision of your future successes and what you will accomplish. When you tune into our core beliefs then we will spiral upward receiving more blessings that are positive.

Thought Addiction: Recognition is Growing in Southwest Florida

“Thanks to all and to all happy thoughts” 

I did a search on Thought Addiction and what did I see but that my blog "Post-traumatic Stress Disorder & Thought Addiction ( http://williamtollefsonvalues.blogspot.com/2011/06/posttraumatic-stress-disorder-thought.html ) was #1 on Google Search for Thought Addiction. 

In fact this morning I was also #2 for my HUB article on Thought Addiction: The Truth at http://drbilltollefson.hubpages.com/hub/Addiction_Begins_with_a_Thought as well as #6 and #8 on first page. That is huge and I am grateful to all. 

On the second Google Search page my Thought Addiction Assessment is #8 there. If you want to find out if you might have a Thought Addiction -TA, take the assessment I have created to help anyone figure it out in the comfort of your home and grade it.

 I have worked hard to get this recognized for Thought Addiction (TA) and it is starting to get the recognition it deserves. As I have always said “Every addiction starts with a thought” and “Once sober all you are left with is the thought that started addiction to a substance, emotion, behavior or even a thought.”  

Please become a Member of My Blog. If you like this, then share with others, read all the articles in this blog and make a comments about them at the end.

How do I move forward with an unprocessed trauma memory?

I have great questions that come to me from individuals seeking freedom from traumatic memories and flashbacks. They tend to have trouble moving forward due to unprocessed traumatic memory or flashbacks. The aforementioned is a question and an answer that needs to be shared, so here is my opinion. I hope it is helpful to all of the individuals who have asked this question.

“If the focus of healing is on old unprocessed memories or destructive behavior patterns, then more than likely an individual will remain stuck in the past at the expense of the present. It is my belief that the real problem is the negative core beliefs that are attached to the memories. The core beliefs are being triggered at the same time as the unprocessed memories surface. As long as negative core beliefs are allowed to remain embedded in the subconscious, the individual will continue to be stuck in past images and repeat the same behavior patterns as well as display the same emotional reactions. What a person believes about self is based on the content of the accumulated core beliefs which trap him or her in the past at the cost of their present life. When a current event occurs and something from the event triggers a past core belief, the core belief then surfaces and causes a thought, emotion or behavior.

In over two decades of directly working with abuse and trauma survivors, I witnessed survivors attempting to process past trauma with no avail. Without any new skills, they continued to be triggered and stuck repeating the same things over and over again.

Research has demonstrated that it is impossible to change recollections, erase them or achieve amnesia from unprocessed memories that have been already recorded. There is a different way. The new focus of my life coaching program helps an individual to discover his or her old negative core beliefs that have formed and that are directly affecting their thinking, emotions and behavior. Life coaching is about learning new skills to assist an individual to identify his or her hidden negative core beliefs, and shift the core beliefs which unblocks them from being barriers. The action of shifting negative core beliefs and installing new ones dramatically cut off the triggers that make the negative core beliefs surface and thus the emotional reactions and behaviors will stop. Creating a new belief system is possible. It is concentrated work, but the results are extremely positive.”

Imagination is the Power to Success

"All change stems from our imagination. Imagination is capable of turning mind energy into a vision and success."  --Dr Bill

“How do I change my life in a positive way?”

Simply use your imagination. Imagination is one of our most powerful tools available to us.  Imagination is the one thing within us, as humans, that gives us the amazing ability to "create".  Think about it.  Our imagination can truly assist us in creating something new? Everything that we been created in the world has stemmed from the seed in someone's imagination. Everyone has this ability. Our imagination contains the magnificent power to generate thoughts or concepts (those intentions we wish, or desire or expect) which can be manifested in the future. Every idea dream and every goal can be achieved by accessing our creative mind.  And, with a little effort, focus and practice, a constant flow of ideas will come to with ease.  This is the brilliance of our human brain.

In order to access our imagination we have to spend time with our self.  Find a peaceful environment, get quiet, be calm, and ask for guidance with or inspiration about a specific desire or idea.  Focus on the desire or idea and say it aloud, then remain quiet and calm...and notice the flow of thoughts that come to mind.  Listen and hear the answers.  Write them all down. Do not discount or rationalize any thoughts that come to mind. Then, rest in the faith that our imagination generates additional ideas and solutions. Know that imagination possesses all the energy needed to continue generating more ideas and solutions on the way to accomplishing success in our lives. Believe, have faith and harvest the rewards. The more we practice the easier success will come and our imagination will open to its abundance.

For more ideas, visit Dr Bill's website
http://www.drbilltollefson.com/creativity.html

Thought Addiction

The importance of the concept of having an addiction to a thought has been increasing. Simply, thought addiction is when a thought or set of thoughts get stuck in your head and those thoughts begin to create a loop. As the thoughts loop, the person becomes more and more focused on them and less able to defocus from them. As the power of the thoughts increase, the person feels as though he or she has lost control. Once out of control, the thought ends up consuming his or her energy and depletes the ability to perform successfully. At that point the thought takes over his or her mental life and becomes addicting. Once a thought is no longer controllable the person acts out in different ways to turn it off. Some people use methods such as medicating it, fighting it or use a substance to avoid it. Many people with this condition state “I can’t get this thought out of my head and it is driving me crazy”. What is so important to take away from the concept of addiction to a thought is not a mental disorder or a lack of self control problem. Thought addiction is a skill deficiency.

Generally these types of thoughts are core beliefs from his or her past or negative statements expressed from someone else. They are triggered by a present event and mentally surface unconsciously into the mind. The most common example of this type of thought is “I am not good enough”. Cognitive therapists have long know and proven that a thought precedes an emotion and a behavior. But what is also true is that “every addiction begins and ends with a thought”. A few forms of thoughts which can result in chronic looping are:

·        body image thoughts

·        depressive thoughts

·         doubt

·         fear

·         worry

·         negative thoughts

·         obsessive thoughts

·         lack of worth thoughts

·        superstitious thoughts

·         suicidal ideation

·         weight thoughts

So it is important to understand that the way to stop an addiction to a thought or unceasing looping is through gaining and practicing mental skills. We have the power to command and reset or thoughts. We just need to acquire the proper skills and have a willingness to consistently practice the skills to effect positive change.

 Need Dr Bill’s Coaching Help?

I help people work on life challenges such as personal growth, emotional wellbeing, addiction recovery and relationships. Write to him and describe your situation: TollefsonEnterprises@gmail.com

Dr Bill Tollefson is a certified master life and holistic addiction recovery coach, speaker, radio personality and author and author of Separated From the Light. Visit him at drbilltollefson.com

Other Articles on Subject:

http://drbilltollefson.hubpages.com/hub/unhealthythoughts

http://drbilltollefson.hubpages.com/hub/Addiction_Begins_with_a_Thought

http://drbilltollefson.hubpages.com/hub/Unblocking_Addictive_Thought_Patterns

Thoughts, Thoughts and More Thoughts

I have been working a lot on how thoughts are interact with addictions and ran across a very interesting statistic that expanded my mind on the power and magnitude of thoughts. A few years back the National Science Foundation estimated that a person produces nearly 50,000 thoughts a day. Isn't that incredible. I feel that this is a very important statistic to know. It helps us to understand the influence and power that our thoughts have on us. It can determine how we envision the direction of our lives and our emotional reactions. We improve our lives if we just become more mindful of the content of our thoughts.

I feel that if is very important that we discover what the content of our thoughts are because it affects our health - mentally, physically and spiritually. Here are some questions to think about. If the majority of our thoughts, over 25, 000 a day are negative, then how would that affect our reaction to the events we encounter daily? Conversely, if the majority of our thoughts were positive then what would be our reactions be?

Begin to become very mindful of the content of your thoughts. It will make all the difference in your life.

Read more and gain a skillful tip on how to empower yourself by shifting your thoughts. http://drbilltollefson.hubpages.com/hub/ThoughtscanempowerourLives 

Also discover more on the power of thoughts and their relationship with addictions.  http://drbilltollefson.hubpages.com/hub/Addiction_Begins_with_a_Thought

Dissertation Coach in Ft Myers, Florida

Feeling stuck in attempting to complete your Ph.D. dissertation?

I have been honored to coach some Ph.D. candidates toward their intention to complete their dissertations. These candidates reside in Florida as well as all over the country. The journey through the dissertation phase of a Ph.D. can be very rocky and frustrating. There are a lot of individuals who get stuck in this portion of the journey and some give up and remain ABD (all but dissertation). In my coaching practice I offer a customized dissertation action plan for Ph.D. candidates to assist them through this process. Choosing and dealing with their topic direction, dissertation committee, and being consistent with researching and writing.

I offer support and guidance coaching through the whole process to help candidates reach their goals of completion. I wish I had this availability to such a coach when I went through writing my dissertation and dealing with my committee. Attempting to do the process alone can be very scary.

To gain more information of this unique Dissertation Coaching Service contact me at TollefsonEnterprises@gmail.com or my website http://www.drbilltollefson.com/

Dr Bill Life Coach: D.I.D. Life Coaching vGroup

Dr Bill Life Coach: D.I.D. Life Coaching vGroup

Core Beliefs: The Hidden Barrier to Success

I have worked with, studied and helped others with discovering their barriers to the success they would like to achieve. I would like to impart an example of how the formation and process of core beliefs happens.


My expertise has been on memory and how it affects how one thinks, acts and feels. I have discovered that during the time the brain is recording a life event a core belief forms that develops a belief about the person simultaneously. So with every event that is record there is a corresponding core belief forms and over time the core belief roots its self to the memory and sits in the shadow of the memory. Now flash to the present, when you are experiencing a life event the association triggers a past rooted core belief and it is the rooted core belief that determines how the person will react, think or feel unknown to the person. 


For example to help you understand: I am in elementary school and I am waiting for my grade for a test I studied hard for and I thought I did well on. My teacher comes to my desk, drops my test on the desk and I see that I got a D on the test (that is the memory). My teacher looks at me and says “I do not think that you can pass my course because you are not smart enough, so the core belief that forms is “I am not good enough (the #1 core belief for majority of people) or I am not smart enough or I cannot perform as well as others”. Flash to the present and I am at my job, I produce a report and a co-worker looks at me and says, “why did you not go to college, you are so smart” (the trigger). The memory of elementary school does not surface, but unknown to me the rooted core belief surfaces in my mind and out of my mouth I say “I am not smart enough”. To make a long story short rooted core beliefs from the past rule how a person functions in the present. The coaching I do, I guide individuals to examine their rooted core belief s, examine how the belief can be a barrier to their success and then assist them to shift their rooted beliefs to positive and open them to reach their maximum potential in their life today. Shifting core beliefs is possible, powerful and can be a reality. 

Addiction: What Does It Take

Wanting to beat an addiction takes more than just a wish, whether it is a substance, behavior emotion or thought. Essential to being successful, one has to develop an active action plan, sever of old habits and complete a shift in mindset. Also commitment and practice to a personal daily holistic recovery program, whatever form it takes, is required in order to beat an addiction. Just attending a recovery program and not working it is not enough. Dedication and consistent practice of a holistic recovery program is the key success. No athletic ever won a gold medal without practicing their sport every day, whether they felt like it or not. Part-time practice accomplishes nothing. One does not have to be perfect at the program to be successful, one just have to do it. Daily practice will increase one’s skill level and help create a discipline. In conclusion, cessation of an addiction is achieved by changing habitual addiction patterns, full allegiance to a holistic recovery program and daily follow through. 

Thought Addiction

“Addictions come in all kinds of different forms, but all start with a thought”

What is a thought addiction?

Thought addiction is real. It can consume and devastate someone’s life. Can there be an addiction to a thought? By definition yes it can. The definition of thought addiction is the development of a habitual pattern to one thought or set of thoughts. Thought addiction is the returning to a thought that does not serve the individual and has damaging results that depletes every system of the body. An addiction to a thought produces a rapid and intense change in mood and causes a painful withdrawal when there is an attempt to stop.

To learn more about thought addiction by cut and pasting these two links:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Addiction_Begins_with_a_Thought

http://hubpages.com/hub/Unblocking_Addictive_Thought_Patterns

Use Habit Patterning to your Advantage

The good news is that the more you practice a new behavior, a thought or emotion, the more it will become a habit.  For better or worse researchers found that it takes as short as 30 days to condition you and form an automatic habit. 

Unfortunately, patterning happens with negative behavior, thought or emotion as well as positive. So if you overly focus on one thing repetitively then it embeds itself deeply and becomes your reality.

Use this research to your advantage. You can change a behavior, thought or emotion into a success pattern by consciously practicing positive either for 30 days.  This new pattern in turn will motivate you to achieve your goals. Positive patterning will create benefits of increased organization and productivity, fewer crises, more life balance and mental peace.  Focusing on where are headed is more important than where you have been or how fast you are accomplishing things. And remember that your strongest tool for success is creative visualization. Imagine in your mind how you will be, think and feel in the future.

Five Tips for Creating a Success Patterning

1. Visualize your new behavior, thought or emotion early in the morning, with your morning cup of coffee or tea for 30 days straight.

2. Train yourself to be consistent and perform your new pattern training as it is your job.

3. Do not work on too objectives at once. Work on one behavior, thought or emotion at a time.

4. Do not procrastinate.  Slow down & focus on the changes you want to make. Visualize yourself changing them.

5. Balance your life with rest, healthy nutrition and exercise.

Here is another piece of advice.

Experience everyday as though you have a blank canvas in front of you and paint on the canvas new behaviors, thoughts and emotions you want to express through “creating in the moment”. Do not attempt to fix the past or project into the future.

Remember the healthier you think you are the healthier you are.

Our Words Make Us Who We Are

“Our words have the power to shape who we are”

It is a fact that we are what we speak. Our words have extreme power in the formation of our identity. Words determine how we view ourselves, how we compare ourselves to others and the world and how we react or do not react to any situation.

We need to be very mindful of the content of our words about ourselves. I have learned that “the words that come out of our mouths go directly into our ears unfiltered”. So the brain registers the words, and it says “if that is how you want it then it will be so”.  The brain will make it true and cloud the real truth. Understand that the human brain is a non-judgmental and non-emotional organ, and believes what we say about ourselves, is the truth. So speaking words like stupid, ugly, no good or worthless often, even though not true, will become part of our “true” identity.

We need to take stock in the words we utter, because they make come back to haunt us, even if we were just kidding or attempting not to be conceited. The words that we use to describe ourselves could deform our identity for years to come. Be ever vigilant. Speak positive self words and begin a formation of a positive identity. 

Results on Rooted Core Belief Survey

I wanted to share the results of the survey I conducted on Facebook. The question was “When doubt surfaces in you due to problems or stress in your life, what you think first?” I wanted to know the first thought that surfaced when a person was faced with stressful or overwhelming life events. I wanted to compare it to other surveys and what I was noticing in people I have been coaching. I though this knowledge was very important to increase understanding of why some people experience barriers when attempting to be successful in their life.

The people who participated had three choices: 1. “I am not good enough”; 2. “I do not deserve to___” or “I do not measure up”. The results were very interesting. The number one rooted core belief reported by the individuals who participated was “I am not good enough”. This rooted core belief was found to be the #1 in many other surveys and the number one reported by people I coach. This rooted core belief reflected the person’s self-perceive weaknesses or the skills they think they are lacking. The second most common was “I do not measure up to ____”. This one reflects that under stress people tend to compare themselves with others. The last reported was “I do not deserve to ____”. This rooted core belief tends to reflect the issue of permission or the right to heal old wounds, be rewarded or succeed. 

The good news is that all three can be shifted and no longer be a barrier to personal growth or success.

"Musing" to Shift DID Systems

One of my passions is to deeply understand the world of DID systems. Not only do I believe that the formation of DID is a normal response to an overwhelming life event, but also DID is a powerful defensive process against repetitive abuse and trauma.
For decades this "alternative world" was painted in negative light. For 14 years, I have been looking to develop a method to help individuals with DID systems to have a more cohesive life without crisis, chaos, separateness and constant episodes of terror. I think I have found a positive method from the life coaching I have been doing with DID clients. That method is "musing". Muses have been a huge inspiration for poets, writers and artists dating back to pre- Greek and Roman times. In reference to DID systems, musing is facilitating a massive shifting of the system's mindset from protective compartmentalization to collective inspiration.  Through musing, a system (or as one of my clients called her system her "troops") stops focusing on possible threats and turns all energy toward being the inspirational and creative energy for the whole. Under this new mindset everyday is a blank canvas on which the muses create a new painting. Life then becomes art and not something to avoid.
This method has been embraced by many systems and I have witnessed quick mindset shifts and dramatic results. No matter where you are on the continuum, healing is possible. To participate and gain the benefits of this exciting method, go to http://bit.ly/fG76X3  Learn more by reading my HUB Article http://bit.ly/ieSXYD

Mistakes Enrich the Soul

Many people are very frightened and apprehensive to make a mistake. They become so afraid that they isolate from life, so it is not possible to make a mistake. The more afraid we are to make a mistake, the less willing we are to risk, the more we are restricted and stuck. Therefore our Soul becomes deprived of the nutriments needed to thrive.

Therefore don't let past life mistakes determine your future. We all make mistakes. Without mistakes we cannot learn and transform. No one is perfect.  So we cannot allow them to define who we are.

RRT 2.0 Is Universal: Helps Everyone

Last Monday I had the privilege to be the feature professional speaker on Michele Rosenthal's Professional Perspectives Teleseminar series about RRT and RRT 2.0. I felt it was a very enlightening discussion on PTSD, the cause of flashbacks, memory function, the brain, and how one can heal through RRT. Healing is possible. No one needs to be afraid to face their memories.

If interested in hearing the Teleseminar then copy this link and paste in your browser:

http://db.tt/V9FlCNQ

 Or click on it and it will open on your media player.

Depression: Barrier to Success

A lot of people have trouble with depression at some point in their life. There are many different types of depression. There is depression due to grief, loss of a loved one, withdrawal and situational. I had been taught that situational depression was "anger turned inward". My question had been "angry at what?" I was never given an answer. I also did not feel that that answer "anger turned inward" was not a complete sentence or idea. Something was missing. After 60 years of life I finally was able to answer the question. Here is the complete description for situational depression; "Life depression is anger turned inward, due to his or her judgment of how they performed or did not perform in a life event". I hope that answers your question on depression. If you want more information go to http://hubpages.com/hub/Depression-It-maight-Just-Be-a-Performance-Issue  and read more on the subject.