Sam Slishman's Page

Over lunch a couple years ago William and I decided that a university vibe would be nice in a recovery program. We thought the idea of electives rather than mandates would be a good way to empower residents to choose their best recovery options.. since different horses, different courses. Fitness, fellowship, education, and service seemed a well rounded group of electives and they've become the "4 pillars" of our program. After a couple years of evolution, it appears that people kinda like them.… Continue

If you've seen Spinal Tap and History of the World, you know where I'm going.

Sometimes people ask me if I 'believe in' the 12 steps, and whether EPC is a 12 step based program. Personally, I have trouble with any numerical self help guides.. "4 easy steps to become a millionaire".. "7 steps to a happier marriage".. "50 ways to leave your lover", because I can usually see redundancies or a few extra steps. My world's just way too grey.

I'm typing this not to pick a fight, but in response to qu… Continue

The short answer is because it's far from nailed down yet. There's plenty of dogma on the topic and certainly progress has been made understanding the addictions topic. But sometimes if feels like just as many opinions exist as there are experts in the field.

Here's a round-about reason why I like it. Let's talk about pilots, teachers and doctors. Each of these professions used to be cool. Once upon a time pilots lifted you up at some airstrip and plopped you down hundreds of miles away in a fr… Continue

Periodically I think about chips. Not potato chips or casino chips or micro chips. Just the coin shaped ones people carry around when they reach certain recovery milestones... as in "I just got my 90 day sober chip."

Being a normy I'm sticking my neck way out on this one. But my job is to stir the pot. So here goes.

What's the deal on these things? And where's my 37 year sober chip? What's in the addict's psyche that such things matter? In kindergarden, gold stars were the manipulators. Gold m… Continue

After 2 weeks driving all over New Mexico, experiencing what a close friend calls windshield time, I've covered a variety of useless topics in my mind. I haven't typed a lot on EPU with refinance and other monkeys on my back lately. But thought I'd give it a go before life in Abq catches up with me again.

Through college, med school and residency I was pretty focused on survival and passing tests. Spent roughly zero time volunteering, voted when convenient, read few newspapers, couldn't name th… Continue