The Addiction Inoculation in My Office turns 100
I’m here in my office on a bit of a speaking gig hiatus, looking out on a snowless forest and hoping for a glimpse of our neighborhood fox family. It’s been a strange winter but a bright spot has been the overwhelming, heartfelt response to my ongoing video series, The Addiction Inoculation in My Office.
A few months ago, a friend suggested that people might be too nervous or self-conscious to go out and attend one of my live speaking events about preventing substance use in kids, and might be more amenable to learning about it privately, via video segments. I promised my friend I’d try, I’d produce thirty episodes, and see how it goes.
Next week, the 100th episode of The Addiction Inoculation in My Office will go live, and I have you to thank. I receive messages every single day from viewers and I’m so grateful you encouraged me to keep going. These videos are a massive time suck, but I have come to love the process and I’ve learned so much.
The series is available on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, my YouTube channel, and LinkedIn. To make life even easier, here’s a guide to all the episodes I’ve uploaded so far. [Edited and updated as of 2/1/2023)
How the addictive substances adolescents crave can be the most damaging to the brain
Good news! Substance use is down overall and how we keep it going in that direction
Scary risk factors and why we have to be able to face and talk about them
ACE scores and what that means for risk for substance use disorder
Why do ACEs affect risk of substance use disorder? Toxic stress.
Protective factor: knowing (and being honest about) your family history
[How] should we keep alcohol in the house if we have kids, part II
Self-efficacy: make failures specific and successes as general as possible
Elaborating on making failure specific and success as general as possible
Protective factor: allies and specific people you can look to for help
Maximizing the protective efficacy of health care providers for our kids
False pretense: that romantic myth of raising European moderate drinkers
False pretense: “Kids are going to drink, so why not do it at home, where they are safe?”
How mindfulness promotes cognitive integration and reduces risk of substance use
Why my 2 kids had 2 very different sets of rules around alcohol
What’s authoritative parenting and why does it work so well for substance use prevention?
What’s authoritative parenting and why does it work so well for substance use prevention part II
Family culture as a foundation for family behaviors around substance use
Are certain personality types more susceptible to substance use/disorder?
Viewer question: Is it ever OK to drink/use in front of your kids?
Viewer question: How do the Laheys handle having alcohol at home?
Chapter 7: We Have to Talk About It. Starting the conversation
10 questions I asked my kids during our Hot Ones game in order to know them better
Making kids feel heard and supported so they will talk to us about hard things
Kids know when we are listening with an agenda, let’s really listen so they will keep talking
Hot take: substance use prevention starts before kindergarten
How do I teach my kids not to use drugs/alcohol if I use(d) drugs/alcohol?
What does substance use prevention look like for kids in pre-k and kindergarten?
The specifics of pre-k and kindergarten substance use prevention
Turning expectations around healthy behaviors into practices that stick
Should you shield your kid from family members with active substance use disorder?
Using stories and humor to start conversations with little kids about hard things
Why substance use prevention conversations can get easier as kids get older.
Okay, but HOW do I shield my child from a family member with active substance use disorder?
How do I explain Uncle Ted’s smoking or Aunt Petunia’s drinking to my kid?
Why booze companies work so hard to gain kids’ brand loyalty at an early age.
Kids HATE being manipulated, so use that to teach them about how advertising works.
Using hypothetical “what if” scenarios to have no harm no foul conversations about substances.
Nope, giving kids sips does not protect them from substance use disorder.
Oh, you want proof that sipping as a kid increases risk for substance use disorder?
Factors that mitigate risk of early initiation of substance use.
Time to bust the problematic myth of “those moderate European drinkers”
The specifics of who drinks the most and the least in Europe.
How public health initiatives are changing to align with the science of alcohol and the human body.
High school: the most recent numbers on how many kids use drugs and alcohol.
High school and opioid misuse: who is using them and how often?
The changing role of friendship and its role in substance use risk.
Okay, but WHY are kids more likely to drink/drug if their friends drink/drug?
For those of you freaking out, friendship can work the other way, too.
It’s not just about peer pressure, but peer presence (and binge drinking mice!)
How can be we help kids make healthy decisions about friendships?
We parent in collaboration with the parents of our kids’ friends.
How do we help our kids strengthen their own sense of identity?
Is there a book I can hand my kids about all of this? Yes, there is.
Face-saving ways to turn down drugs and alcohol, by kids for kids (1)
Face-saving ways to turn down drugs and alcohol, by kids for kids (2)
Face-saving ways to turn down drugs and alcohol, by kids for kids (3)
Face-saving ways to turn down drugs and alcohol, by kids for kids (4)
What do I do if my (friend, kid, spouse) is struggling with substances? (1)
What do I do if my (friend, kid, spouse) is struggling with substances? (2)
What do I do if my (friend, kid, spouse) is struggling with substances? (3)
What do I do if my (friend, kid, spouse) is struggling with substances? (4)
What do I do if my (friend, kid, spouse) is struggling with substances? (5)
What do I do if my (friend, kid, spouse) is struggling with substances? (6)
What are the most effective school-based substance use prevention programs?
What is social-emotional learning (SEL) and why do some people want it banned?
What does effective substance use prevention programs look like in pre-k/k?
What do effective elementary school substance use prevention programs look like?
What do effective middle school substance use prevention programs look like?
What do effective high school substance use prevention programs look like?
Why do we overestimate who drinks and how much, especially in college?
If perceptions of drinking shapes reality, how do we establish a reality based on truth?
The heaviest binge drinkers consume 72% of the alcohol consumed on campuses.
Now that we have done the HOW, let’s talk about WHAT to tell your college kid about drinking
Again, thank you so much for being willing to learn about the hard stuff. Research shows prevention works, so let’s get started!