Articles and Blog Posts

  • Addiction Recovery:   Discussions geared toward providing Christian counselors with insights into ways to better assist addicted and codependent individuals
  • Nonprofit Management: Articles dealing with best practices and useful principles for those with administrative responsibilities at social service-oriented not-for-profit organizations, especially those working with the homeless and the addicted.
  • Program Development: These articles are focused particularly on providing helpful information for people who oversee programs and manage counselors and other direct care workers. The focus is mostly on providing effective services to the homeless and addicted.

 

Welcome to Liimatta.us

Over forty years ago, I began leading residential recovery programs and working with individuals facing severe substance use disorders, homelessness, and spiritual brokenness. Many of the articles preserved here were written over thirty years ago—a period when I was actively training leaders of faith-based residential recovery programs, mentoring future counselors, and consulting with ministry leaders whose organizations provided direct care to individuals struggling with these same issues.

​While clinical language and institutional standards have evolved, I chose to archive and maintain these original writings on Liimatta.us because the core mechanics of human healing do not change. The foundational principles I advocated then—bridging a distinctly Christian worldview with time-tested clinical practices—remain entirely congruent with today’s best models of addiction treatment and recovery support.

​Why These Classic Writings Remain Relevant Today

  • ​Integration of Christian Faith and Clinical Care At the heart of these writings is the understanding that addiction is a deeply spiritual crisis as well as a bio-psycho-social disease. Rather than treating faith and clinical science as opposing forces, these articles demonstrate how biblical principles—grace, redemption, forgiveness, and moral inventory—provide the spiritual foundation needed for deep emotional and physical healing.
  • ​The Practical Utility of the 12-Step Model Long before 12-Step facilitation was formally classified as an evidence-based practice, these pieces detailed how Alcoholics Anonymous’s 12 Steps serve as a powerful blueprint for personal transformation. Rooted in the early historic Christian movements that inspired AA, the steps guide individuals through admitting powerlessness, surrendering self-will to a Higher Power, conducting an honest moral inventory, making amends, and helping others.
  • ​Alignment with Modern ASAM Criteria These early articles emphasized that effective recovery could never be a single rigid script. The original focus on assessing emotional stability, physical health, readiness to change, spiritual status, and environmental risk aligns directly with the multidimensional assessment framework of the modern ASAM Criteria.
  • ​Trauma-Informed Care & SAMHSA Principles Decades before “trauma-informed care” became a standard industry baseline, these pieces called for physical and emotional safety, clear boundaries, and peer support. Addressing the trauma, fear, and survival mechanisms of those coming off the streets reflects SAMHSA’s core principles of trauma sensitivity.
  • ​Gorski’s Relapse Prevention Principles Articles addressing warning signs and long-term sobriety map directly onto Terence Gorski’s Relapse Prevention Counseling model. Framing a slip as a signal to re-examine unresolved denial, stress, or spiritual isolation helps individuals learn from crisis rather than abandon hope.
  • ​Overcoming Toxic Shame and Dysfunctional Family Patterns Drawing from John Bradshaw’s work on family systems and toxic shame, these writings expose how shame convinces individuals they are fundamentally flawed. By breaking the classic family rules of “don’t trust, don’t feel, don’t talk,” individuals learn to receive God’s grace, step into honest community, and rebuild genuine self-worth.

​A Bridge Between Faith, Experience, and Practice

​These archived writings serve as both a personal record and a practical toolkit. They reflect a lifelong commitment to meeting people at their lowest point with grace, accountability, spiritual hope, and sound clinical methodology—principles as vital today as when they were first set down.

These resources offer a practical bridge between clinical rigor, faith-integrated care, and evidence-based practice. Whether you are a program director, clinician, or recovery leader, I hope these archives serve as a useful toolkit for your work.

Most of the articles in this collection were written  from 1992 to 2007 for a bi-monthly column in Rescue magazine, the journal of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (now known as Citygate Network).