As we’re working to recover from our addictions, many of us discover that one of our greatest triggers to relapsing is being bored, feeling fulfilled, and not having enough to occupy our time in useful ways. We don’t have healthy ways to express ourselves creatively. We don’t have outlets to help us stay productive andRead More
Sometimes as we’re undergoing the recovery process and learning how to heal ourselves, we still feel burdened by feelings of shame, embarrassment and disappointment that we’ve carried with us throughout our lives. These feelings are so strong that we become inclined to keep our experiences to ourselves. We’re hesitant to share our stories with otherRead More
Sometimes when we’re in the midst of our recovery, being in our original surroundings can detract from our healing. We’re surrounded by sights and sounds we associate with our addictions. We’re constantly being reminded of our unhealthy relationships, toxic habits and drugs of choice. It can help us immeasurably to have a change of scene,Read More
For those of us struggling with mental health problems and addictions, one of our greatest challenges lies in figuring out how to manage our difficult emotions. We don’t have a healthy relationship to our feelings, and we haven’t learned healthy tools to help ourselves cope with them and navigate the many challenges they can createRead More
Lack of Self-Appreciation is Self-Sabotage As we know, our struggles with addiction and mental illness can cause us to feel really down on ourselves, low, depressed and insecure. We feel self-hating, and we struggle to accept ourselves as we are. We begin to see firsthand that the success of our recovery depends on how weRead More
As we’re working to heal from addiction and mental illness, one thing we want to make sure we’re confronting is how self-critical we are. Many of us live with an inner critic that is constantly putting us down and making us feel as though we’re inadequate and unworthy. Our natural responses to our inner criticRead More
The Emotional Purpose of Our Drugs of Choice As recovering addicts, an important part of our recovery involves examining our relationships to our drugs of choice. As we’re learning more about ourselves and our addictions, we want to examine why we’ve been using our drugs of choice in the ways that we have, what purposesRead More
Many of us can relate to feeling as though we’re living with an inner critic that is constantly assessing and criticizing everything we do, think and feel, from our important life choices to mundane everyday decisions, from our mistakes and wrongdoings to our usual slip-ups and bad habits. We see everything around us with aRead More
Our Strong Attachments Many of us struggling with addictions and mental health issues have a relationship to our emotions that is based on strong attachments to them. We feel strongly attached to our pain and our trauma. We feel defined by our emotions, and we self-identify with them. We hold our fear close to us,Read More
A major part of our recovery work involves making changes to our relationships, particularly the ones that have been challenging or unhealthy for us. We have to examine which relationships are supportive of our recovery and which are contributing to our addictive patterns and mental health issues. Our relationship assessment will ultimately prompt us toRead More