Many people tend to confuse the process of alcohol addiction treatment and how it works. A lot of confusion has to do with misinformation. As a result, many individuals don’t attempt to try these programs or get the type of care that may help them. Those who do try this approach, however, often find that they can receive great results in their battle with alcohol abuse.

12-Step Program

People have the tendency to compare this method to other practices that involve alcoholism. One example of this, for instance, entails a 12-step program, which is a process that’s well known. At the same time, not everyone finds this type of process appealing for a variety of different reasons. One of those reasons is due to some of the religious beliefs that the 12-step program is known to focus on.

Some Resistance

Because people have different types of beliefs when it comes to religion, it’s often the case where not everyone is interested in the 12-step method. Due to this, many try to work on the problem themselves, which may not always have a favorable outcome. Treatment centers often appeal to individuals who don’t want to be in religiously influenced program, but rather one that helps them on a psychological level.

Psychological Methods

Instead of focusing strongly on religion or relying on a higher power, many centers use psychological methods to help clients. Many professionals within the field believe that addiction is a cognitive behavior. Due to this, most focus on cognitive behavioral therapy or similar practices.

Cognitive Therapy

Cognitive therapy focuses on the individual, investigating their feelings about life, themselves in general and any philosophies they might have. Being able to do so can allow people to isolate their beliefs or potential irrational thinking. Many therapists believe that such beliefs and irrational thinking can sometimes lead to addiction problems. Many individuals find that being able to discuss and assess their problems or views can help them cope with life more easily.

Support And Independence

Many 12-steps programs also tend to focus their treatment on those with codependency when it comes to others and mentors have been very helpful in this regard. Although this can be a wonderful support system in some cases, it doesn’t always allow individuals to be able to work with their own problems independently. Not being able to do so can potentially prevent them from being able to stand on their own two feet.

Self Examination

Centers and programs that focus on this type of treatment help individuals gain the tools that they’ll need to survive in the real world. The residential treatment center also help people to assess their lives, habits and behaviors so they can work toward self-improvement. Either way, people are generally given a safe, distraction-free environment so they are able to get where they need to be on a mental note, rather than a spiritual one.

When people analyze advisors, they usually focus on traits that successful advisors share. But are there traits that are shared by underperforming advisors as well? The answer is yes. If you’re mismanaging your practice, the odds are that you’re deficient in at least one of four closely linked areas. Taking corrective action in your weak area(s) can help position you and your business for future success.

Here are the top traits that I see among underachieving advisors:

Lack of a business plan: Whether you’re a single practitioner or part of a team, planning is a crucial component to your business success. The key is to match your resources with your growth expectations. The metrics used are typically desired assets under management and revenue. Where do you want your business to be in one year, or in three years? When combined with your desired minimum account size, you can determine the number of clients that your business should have. Armed with the information, you can analyze if your resources – both human and financial – are a match for your goals. Once resources and goals are in sync, you can begin to address the question of how you get there. Make sure that everyone in your organization understands the goals and how success will be measured.

Lack of a distinct value proposition: Why is someone going to do business with you? What value do you add that they can not get somewhere else? What is unique about you or your services? These are the types of questions successful advisors ask themselves. You notice that I didn’t mention the word “product.” That’s because the product is the commodity; the advisor is the differentiating point. Creating a unique value proposition is part of the process of developing your brand identity. A good brand is one in which every time a client sees something from you, they know it’s from you, and they are reminded of the unique value that you add.

Poor client service: Multiple surveys find that client service – even more than investment performance – will dictate whether clients stay with you or not. Part of the planning process for all successful advisors is devising a client service strategy that accomplishes two primary goals: provide the client a unique, enjoyable and profitable experience, and offer the service in an efficient manner. Good client service begins by asking clients what they want and how they want their services delivered (for example, in-person, telephone and/or e-mail). Challenge your staff to create your own unique client experience and make it part of your brand.

Being reactive instead of proactive: Finally, it’s the old saying that if the client has to ask, it’s too late. Successful advisors anticipate client questions and concerns, especially during volatile times. Call clients before they call you and make them feel like true partners in the relationship. Conduct client surveys as a good way to get feedback. Embrace social media to the extent allowed by your firm so that you can push out ideas to your clients on an on-going basis.

Advisor Intelligence

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The iPhone App Review : iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad App Reviews

There are many jobs that involve employees working outside exposed to the elements. This means that they are exposed to all sorts of weather conditions. This includes rain. There are some jobs that cannot stop just because rain happens; in those situations it’s very important to have proper rain gear. There are many companies out here who offer proper types of commercial reflective rain gear. It is very important to wear the proper gear because during heavy rain an individual can become saturated which can lead to sickness. Most jobs that require workers to be outside during rain storms are hourly jobs and do not offer sick time.

Rain Gear

Rain gear should incorporate water proof materials and high breathability. No one wants to be caught in a warm rain but still be soaked because they are sweating inside the gear. Some occupations like a firefighter would also require a fire resistant material.In some cases rain gear is required or employees do not have to work in the rain.

Hazardous Conditions

Roadside workers need to have added protection from the weather and oncoming traffic. It is very important that their rain gear feature high visibility aspects so that oncoming motorists are aware of their presence. Rain gear for roadside crews will often feature reflective strips as well as bright fluorescent colors alert motorists. These features will allow for maximum protection for the worker on the roadside crew.

Rain Jackets

A rain jacket is meant to keep the upper part of the body dry when it is raining or the person is expecting to be in continuous contact with water. Rain jackets can be lightweight or lined if the climate is cold. Cold climates are one thing but being stuck in the cold and soaking wet is miserable if not dangerous.

Rain Bibs and Pants

In addition to jackets there are also rain bibs and rain pants, these are meant to keep the lower body dry during wet conditions. These bibs and pants come in a variety of styles and can either be lightweight or lined to accommodate weather conditions. The bibs normally have suspenders that aid in keeping them up, this also ensures maximum protection from heavy rains and water conditions. The bibs are the idea choice when considering those who work in varying positions.

Rain Ponchos

There are also rain ponchos, these are ideal in case someone comes in contact with rain but will not be working in it for a long period of time. Delivery personnel and some government workers spend most of their time in vehicles, but occasionally will be exposed to all weather conditions. In these instances a rain poncho would be best suited to protect them from rain and wet conditions. Ponchos are made from light weight materials and are easily stowed. Ponchos also feature varying colors and can be highly visible when needed in hazardous conditions.

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The iPhone App Review : iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad App Reviews

In a recent interview with a British poker magazine, Canadian poker pro Daniel Negreanu appeared to fan several of the hottest flames in poker. Once the article appeared, however, Negreanu claimed that there were several instances where he was “misquoted” by the author.

The interview with Poker Player UK, written by Alun Bowden and entitled “What’s Wrong With You?” for its January issue, covered a wide range of subjects including the current state of the poker world, improving his online game and the ongoing Full Tilt Poker debacle. True to his nature, Negreanu didn’t pull any punches as, in the first few paragraphs, Bowden states that Negreanu believes that the game of poker is in “big trouble.”

In discussing the current state of the game, Negreanu is quoted as saying, “I think we’re heading in the wrong direction. The WSOP was much more serious and boring this year. It was much more fun with guys in chicken suits being jerks.”

“When poker became popular you had people like Devilfish, Sammy Farha, Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey,” Negreanu continues. “Today the story is: ‘I dropped out of college and I grinded 20 tables to build my bankroll.’ The story isn’t sexy…they don’t want to hear, ‘Well, he’s raising UTG+1 and polarizing his range with a 31BB effective stack.’”

Daniel allegedly addresses how to fix the current state of the game during the interview, stating, “Televised poker needs to address it. If you want to create the best show you need to create poker personalities. Audiences like Phil Laak and Antonio (Esfandiari)? Then okay you invite them. Daniel Cates? Okay you’re a great player, but nobody gives a s**t. You may be a better player, but who cares?”

Poker Player UK also touches on the subject of Full Tilt Poker, where Negreanu unleashed a few more barbs. Bowden asks the Team PokerStars Pro member his impressions of the ongoing saga and Negreanu doesn’t hold back, stating, “They were running the company like buffoons.” When asked if he had been in touch with any of the former Full Tilt pros, including his good friend Phil Ivey, Negreanu allegedly responds, “I’ve spoken to all of them. They are embarrassed and have disdain for their leaders. They trusted Howard (Lederer)…I didn’t. I don’t trust that family. It’s a family of scoundrels.”

When pressed by Bowdon as to his impressions of Lederer, Negreanu is quoted as saying, “I don’t think he’s evil, but he’s arrogant. He talks to people like they are stupid. I don’t think he set out to defraud people, it’s just negligence, arrogance and incompetence.”

Finally, Negreanu discusses the improvements in his online game, giving credit to his improvement through his usage of poker software and strategy discussions with other players. Perhaps most interesting during this discussion, however, was when Bowden asked Negreanu about his deal with PokerStars.

“If I hadn’t signed with PokerStars I would be a much better player today,” Negreanu reportedly said. “I would be infinitely better. It sounds really bad, and I really enjoy working for PokerStars, but look at the paths me and Ivey took. We were on a similar level and he just played poker non-stop and I started doing a lot more media work. It’s no coincidence that he became the best player in the world and I fell off the map a little. I still think I am one of the best, but I need to work a lot harder on my game.”

Naturally, Negreanu’s alleged statements during the interview were like chum in the water for sharks when it comes to the message boards. Negreanu seemed to have started it himself when he Tweeted on Wednesday, “Just read my article in Poker Player mag and it set a new record for the number of misquotes. Pretty impressive! They twisted everything.”

On the Two Plus Two message boards, the discussion escalated between not only the posters on the site but also Negreanu and Bowden. “Let’s nip this one in the bud,” poster ‘InsidePoker’ (apparently Bowden) wrote yesterday. “There is nothing in that article that is misquoted. It’s all on an audio file if he has any specific points he would like to address.” In the thread, Bowden also apparently releases the audio file after several requests by posters.

Negreanu and Bowden discuss their issues through the 2+2 thread and reach a form of détente, with Negreanu contributing an article to the online arm of PPUK where he clarifies the interview, while the discussion continues to rage on the message board.

Poker News Daily

Day Two at the European Poker Tour stop in Deauville, France, has come to a close with one of the brighter emerging stars in the poker world, Martins Adeniya, seizing the lead at the end of play on Thursday.

After two Day Ones, the field numbered 889 players, of which 546 came back on Thursday afternoon for the continuation of the event. Leading the pack at the Casino Barriere was Day 1B chip leader Amir Salhani, who had amassed 191,100 chips in his starting day. Following him on the leaderboard was Toufik Ouirini, Day 1A chip leader Kristijonas Andrulis and Philippe Ma, but only Andrulis would be around by the time play ended on Thursday.

Adeniya would seize the lead of the EPT Deauville about two hours into play on Day Two and it came at the expense of Ma. After making a bet in late position, Adeniya saw Ma up the action to 6200, which Adeniya called. After an A-9-4 flop, Ma led out with a 10K bet and Adeniya simply made the call. The same happened on the King turn but, on the five river, Ma moved his remaining chips to the center of the felt. Facing a decision for his tournament life, Adeniya made the call and turned up an A-J for top pair. Ma was bluffing the entire time, showing only 7-4 for bottom pair, and the chip swing rocketed Adeniya into the chip lead with more than 237K in chips.

While this was going on, several of the notable names in the tournament poker world were falling by the wayside. WSOP floor host Kara Scott, Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso, Scotty Nguyen, Praz Bansi, Kevin MacPhee, Arnaud Mattern and EPT Season Seven Player of the Year Fernando Brito all headed out of the Casino Barriere with nothing to show for their efforts, but other top names were able to earn their way to Day Three play.

Looking to complete the mythical poker “Triple Crown,” James “Flushy” Dempsey was able to end the day with 274,600 (good enough for 25th place) after starting with only around 50K to start Thursday’s action. Ludovic Lacay was also active, garnering over 377K in chips to end the day in fourth place, and former World Poker Tour champion Chris Karagulleyan put his name in the hat as a contender by finishing with 360,700 (seventh).

Also of note among the remaining players is the continued success of Team PokerStars Pro Italy’s Luca Pagano, who is looking to continue to extend his record of cashes on the EPT. He is the only PokerStars pro left in the field and, if he is able to outlast fifty people from the 178 remaining players on Friday, Pagano will earn his twentieth lifetime cash on the EPT. Pagano is set well for this pursuit, holding slightly more than 174K in chips.

The day truly belonged to Adeniya, however, as he seemed to dominate pretty much any table he was at. Adeniya was able to push many opponents around as his stack grew, using the late stages of the evening’s play to expand his stack as players looked to survive the Day Two action. By the time that the final cards flew for the night, Adeniya was able to claim the chip lead with his 512,200 in chips:

1. Martins Adeniya, 512,200
2. Brahim Oubella, 452,000
3. Artem Litvinov, 397,100
4. Ludovic Lacay, 377,300
5. Jason Hallee, 375,900
6. Julien Ehrhardt, 363,300
7. Chris Karagulleyan, 360,700
8. Andre Vieira Andrade, 345,000
9. Fehmi Cherif, 338,400
10. Samphane Phomveha, 334,800

The money bubble will burst tomorrow, with the minimum payday of €7500 going to the 128th place finisher. The remaining players are all looking for the big payday, however, as first place will take down €875,000 from the €4.6 million prize pool. The latest champion on the EPT will be determined on Monday night and the final two days of the EPT Deauville will be streamed on the internet via PokerStars.tv.

Poker News Daily

According to reports from the Los Angeles Times, ESPN poker commentator Norman Chad – whose sense of humor is well known to the poker community – was chastised by a California Superior Court judge for using that sense of humor over Twitter.

In an article written by the Times’ Kimi Yoshino, Chad was called in for jury duty in January and was selected as a juror in a residential burglary case. As the case was litigated, court officials informed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Laura Foland Priver, who was the judge for that particular case, that Chad had been Tweeting during the proceedings. Judge Priver took the action of filing contempt of court charges against Chad and dismissed him from the case as a result of his Tweets.

The hearing on those contempt charges brought Chad and his attorney back to the courtroom on Wednesday, where Judge Priver blasted Chad and his attorney. “He made a mockery of our system,” Judge Priver stated during the hearing to Chad’s attorney. “I’m disturbed by this behavior. Once the information is out there, it’s out there forever. The public who sees these Tweets is going to think this behavior is OK.”

For his part, Chad stated when he was dismissed from the burglary hearing that he had not communicated with other jurors hearing the case or Tweeted any information about the trial. This is important because, under California law, communicating during a case is a misdemeanor offense. The court instructions state to all potential jurors that they cannot discuss a case or use an electronic device to e-mail, get on the internet or Tweet.

After receiving the profuse apologies of Chad and his attorney, Judge Priver decided to let him off with a warning, but city attorneys have the option to reinstate charges if they see fit.

While waiting to be selected for a case, Chad allegedly Tweeted while waiting in the jury room, “No tweeting allowed in the courtroom, so I’ll be sending messages-in-a-bottle via the Los Angeles River.” He would later in the day allegedly Tweet, “I was selected for the jury. I asked the judge if we could go straight to jury deliberations but was denied, plus gagged and bound.”

Some of the Tweets Chad allegedly sent might have had something to do with the case, according to Yoshino. “Judge has instructed us not to discuss case, so I can’t go into too many particulars,” Chad allegedly Tweeted. “However, I can tell you this about the case: It involves a retired midwife, a monkey grinder, an (allegedly) stolen microwave and a lawn sprinkler.”

In another few Tweets, Chad allegedly details how he is able to continue to reach out to his internet fans. “To allow me to live-tweet during the trial, I am hiding my iPhone in my left sock (where Bill Belichick keeps his red challenge flag),” one such Tweet attributed to Chad says. In another, Norm says, “Judge has copped a real attitude – every time she speaks, she acts like everyone in the jury box has to stop WHATEVER WE’RE DOING to listen.”

In some of the other alleged Tweets, it simply seems as though Norman is being, for lack of a better term, Norman. “During lunch break, I could’ve sworn I saw defendant getting into a white Bronco with Gloria Allred,” one such alleged Chad Tweet stated. In another, Norman goes for a little bit of levity in Tweeting, “Ran into judge at Panda Express – due to court rules, I couldn’t tell her she was making a mistake ordering the orange chicken.”

Although Chad might be able to dodge the contempt charges, his situation is a good lesson for those of us who might have to perform the civic duty of jury duty…always take the court’s instructions seriously!

Poker News Daily

Blackjack is a popular game amongst many gaming fans. It is also a great game for those that wish to win big!

Most online casinos offer the game of blackjack, some variations may differ slightly but most offer a similar style of play.

If you have never played the game of blackjack before but wish to get into it, it is a wise idea to try one of the many free games available. Most casinos offer free games, which can be played quite simply for fun. Online casino bonuses can also be used to participate in play.

Once the user has brushed up on his or her skills, they can then think about playing for a real cash pay out!

It is wise to shop around for your perfect casino prior to signing up. Some casinos may offer better bonuses than others, whilst some may offer a better choice of games.

The casino you choose will usually depend on what you want from a casino. It is therefore wise to think about this prior to registering at the first one you come across.

Playing blackjack online is a great option for those that just don’t have the time to venture out to there nearest land-based casino. Online casinos allow users to play at a time that is convenient to them as appose to at a set time.

Many online casinos also offer a great online casino bonus. This certainly makes the player’s money stretch a little further.

New players can also use this welcome bonus to practice prior to placing their own money down for a bet.

Bonuses can be either used to play for fun or if you are lucky, to win real money!

Many online gaming sites will also offer free strategies and tips, which in turn will reveal tips on how to win big!

How 2 Win At Blackjack

Welcome pokerbandits, today we talk about a new event proposed by Pokerstars is theTCOOP us keep you company for the entire week.

The event is divided into various tournaments including the outstanding tournament with 6Max € 3.50 fee for a guaranteed prize of 15 000 euros, are certainly not peanuts. If you do not win this event, you can always claim to have spent only € 3.50 to participate. Theorganizers were expecting 5 000 inscriptions were surprised to see 10,084 registered players.

A record so as to double the prize money that has come at an altitude of 30 000 euros, which is handed out for 1350 winners. At the final table of the first event of this tournamenthas reached a deal, all players who have come to the final table opted for the subdivisionof the prize pool according to the stacks.

Below we present the ranking of the top 6 finalists:

• tilt-dav - € 1,984 (deal)
• johnnycash503 - € 2,386 (deal)
• temprenu - € 1,294 (deal)
• enriboss1 - € 2,375 (deal)
• Cinevibrido - € 2,813 (deal)
• SuperBrena83 - € 1,511 (deal)

The week has just begun, there are still many more tournaments that await the more experienced poker players. We just have to wait, surely we will see some good.

Online Poker Blog