Our addictions and mental health issues often develop from the relationship we’ve created with our fears. We resist our fears and avoid them, giving them more power over us and allowing them to overtake us. Our fears thrive on our avoidance and our reluctance to face them. This foundation of internal resistance and avoidance enablesRead More
The losses we experience, and the accompanying grief, can be such a huge blow to us that we suffer in extreme ways, with both our mental health and our addictions taking a turn for the worse. We struggle with depression, anxiety disorders, panic attacks, insomnia and eating disorders. We often increase our drug use andRead More
The addiction recovery process can be an arduous one to say the least, full of ups and downs, unexpected challenges, and obstacles we don’t feel equipped to handle. One of the best ways we can help ourselves prepare for recovery is to plan ahead in order to prevent ourselves from relapsing. We don’t want toRead More
For many of us living with addiction, the solution to our recovery lies in seeking professional treatment so that we can benefit from the guidance, experience and expertise available to us there. We often know that we need rehab, we know it can help us, but we’re resistant to it. We’re hesitant to take theRead More
Sometimes what can impede our healing the most are the relationships we form with our pain. Rather than a relationship based on acceptance, healing and forward progress, we often form strong attachments to our pain that make us hold onto our painful thoughts and feelings so tightly and keep them so close to us thatRead More
One of the beliefs we cling to when living with addiction and mental illness is the belief that we deserve to suffer, that we don’t deserve happiness and peace, that we deserve to lives of pain and struggle. We develop emotional patterns, thought patterns and behavioral patterns around these very toxic, very destructive limiting beliefs.Read More
One of the most harmful mental and emotional patterns we find ourselves perpetuating is repeatedly giving into our fears. We allow our minds, our hearts and our lives to be driven and consumed by our fears. We act on our fears and make choices based on them. Our mental health issues often develop because ofRead More
When working to recover, we often still have many habits that are toxic and destructive, and that impede our chances for a successful recovery. We very often aren’t aware of these habits. Consciously we want to get better and we’re actively working towards recovery, but subconsciously we’re still being fueled by certain beliefs and fearsRead More
Sometimes we look back at our life stories, and in particular our experiences with addiction, and feel nothing but shame, disappointment and regret. We feel bitter and resentful that we had to experience so much pain. We hate ourselves, our lives and our stories. We’re angry with ourselves and our addictions. We’re angry with theRead More
When we are in pain as adults living with addiction and mental illness, the source of our pain is often the unmet needs of our wounded inner child. The ways in which we were impacted as children, the traumas we endured and the losses we sustained don’t disappear as we get older. The ramifications ofRead More