Psychotherapy is a key element of addiction treatment and recovery. At its core, a substance use disorder is the result of some kind of pain, often from trauma, abuse, neglect, or a mental health issue. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than half of people with substance use disorders also have co-occurringRead More
How we handle our emotions are the result of the emotional conditioning we’ve been programmed with, from our families, from our culture, and from the messages we absorb from all around us. Many of our emotional responses are based on this emotional programming that we’ve adopted over the years. Our emotional patterns are often subconscious,Read More
An important part of our recovery is our commitment to the goals we set – our goals to get sober and stay sober over time, to change our unhealthy habits and develop new ones, to repair our broken relationships, and to heal our mental and emotional health issues. Our goals can be positive sources ofRead More
Sometimes preventing relapse feels like the hardest work we’ll ever do in our lives. We’re consumed with fear of all the horrible consequences that will befall us if we relapse, many of which we’ve already experienced, so we’re all too familiar with the pain and hardship relapse can bring with it. On top of that,Read More
Throughout the course of our struggles with addiction and mental illness, we find ourselves up against all kinds of obstacles. We have difficult life circumstances to contend with. We have intense emotional issues that can feel as though they’re taking over our lives. We can feel as though the challenges we’re dealing with are comingRead More
As we discussed in our previous alumni blog, the lessons we learn about our ability to be loved by others and by ourselves often come from trauma. Part of our process in trauma treatment is discovering the source, or sources, of our suffering. First, Discover Where You Learned Not To Love Yourself For some ofRead More
The shame and stigma of trauma is incredibly strong, so strong, in fact, that too often the idea of fitting into the stereotype of that person who has to go to treatment in order to deal with the past stops people from seeking the healing they deserve. Healing from trauma is very much a need,Read More
Everyone has beliefs. Often, the word belief is given a spiritual or religious connotation. We can have beliefs and belief systems that are spiritual and religious. A belief can be defined as “an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists”. Looking at this definition of belief, we can begin to understand thatRead More
Being anxious is being human. Everyone has anxiety because anxiety is naturally built into the human brain. The fight or flight response system is part of the way humans have evolved to survive. When anxiety becomes a mental health issue in the form of an anxiety disorder, the brain gets stuck in survival mode. EverythingRead More
The human brain is a fragile muscle. Swishing around in liquid, made of soft tissue, the brain is easily affected both physically and psychologically. Sometimes, physical damage can cause psychological damage. Traumatic brain injury causes the precious brain to essential slam up against the wall of the skull. Like any other part of the bodyRead More