Pandemic, Relapses, and How We Can Improve Online Recovery Support with Dean Buckley

Healing Conversations for Men Who Have Sex with Men

Dean Buckley is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Sex Addiction Therapist Candidate focusing on sex addiction, intimacy disorders, substance abuse, and healthy sex. Dean shares what kind of things he’s been seeing lately when it comes to his clients and navigating the pandemic. A lot of people have relapsed due to Covid and Dean explores better ways to support people in need and their recovery journey in this week’s episode.

TAKEAWAYS:

[1:05] We are unfortunately seeing a lot of relapses happening during Covid.

[2:45] What has Dean been seeing currently with people’s mental health and addiction?

[5:00] It’s very hard to separate your addiction from work life.

[6:00] One would expect alcohol rates to be less with the bars closed, but it’s not.

[7:10] What have been the differences in the east coast vs. west coast when it comes to drugs, addiction, and relapse during the pandemic?

[9:00] People are losing the in-person connection and accountability. Online meetings just don’t have the same impact.

[13:15] Dr. David has recognized that his emotional bandwidth is a lot shorter now with everything going on. Dean also agrees.

[18:05] Dean has lost a couple of people this year and there has not been enough opportunity to gather and grieve with your community.

[19:25] Reach out to somebody every day. One call saves two lives.

[22:25] Despite how awful the pandemic has been, there have been some blessings.

[24:55] What advice does Dean have for the LGBTQ community?

[27:25] Final words of wisdom with Dean on how to survive this marathon of a pandemic.

RESOURCES:

Deanreedbuckley.com

QUOTES:

• “It’s so hard to separate your addiction from work life when you’re sitting at home in front of screens, which are hugely triggering for a lot of people.”
• “There’s a lot of resistance to going online. Zoom meetings just don’t have the same impact for them.”
• “Addiction is isolation and sobriety is community. We’ve seen that in action with this great social experiment.”
• “We may not go back to the way we functioned before, so working with a therapist online is not a bad substitute.”