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
One of the things we find ourselves trying to work out for ourselves in recovery is why we used our drugs of choice so excessively and in such dangerous amounts, risking overdose and serious harm, and putting our lives at risk. We’ve mixed different drugs in huge quantities, not knowing what the potential drug interactionsRead More
Sometimes when we’re in recovery and are having success with our sobriety, we have a tendency to want to forget about our past struggles with addiction and pretend as if they never happened. We avoid talking about our addictions, and we don’t openly self-identify as addicts. When people who know us bring up our pasts,Read More
One of the challenges we come across in our recovery is the idea of drinking responsibly, an idea that is espoused in alcohol commercials and that we can find ourselves feeling confused and tempted by. We wonder if we can learn to drink in moderation and without all the negative consequences. Many of us areRead More
When we’re still struggling with our addictions, even in the midst of our recovery, many of us have a very hard time committing to our sobriety, and for many different reasons. Some of us are afraid to do the challenging work of getting sober, of facing our emotions without anything to numb ourselves to them.Read More
In recovery, we sometimes feel as though we’re still consumed by our past mistakes and wrongdoings. We feel haunted by them. We have a hard time forgiving ourselves. We blame ourselves excessively and judge ourselves harshly. As we’re doing the work to recover, an extremely important part of our recovery is taking responsibility for theRead More
The process of making amends is an important part of our recovery work. It’s hard to heal and move forward when we haven’t made amends to the people we’ve hurt. We instinctively want to right our wrongs and seek redemption when there are things we feel guilty and ashamed about. It’s second nature to wantRead More
As we work to recover, our lack of self-acceptance can cause us to believe that we’re incapable and undeserving of recovery. We may hate and reject ourselves because we’re addicts and feel ashamed of our addictions. When we’re self-hating, we often don’t know how important it is that we learn to accept ourselves. We don’tRead More
Sometimes as we’re working to recover, there are emotions that block our healing and impede our recovery. We might not think of our emotions as being powerful enough to block our attempts at recovery, but emotions are very significant parts of our lives. They are strong forces that can direct our energy and ultimately alterRead More
One of the things that can trip us up in our recovery is wanting a quick fix, an immediate cure, an overnight resolution to a years-long problem. Our addictions have been plaguing us for much of our lives. Expecting that we’ll recover instantly and have all of our problems solved right away is unrealistic. We’reRead More