Recovering from addiction is an experience that often includes intense emotion. We all know the highs and lows of drug use, the inner turmoil, the moments of anxiety, and panic. In these moments, we can find ourselves feeling overwhelmed. We don’t know how to cope with our intense emotional responses and thought patterns during theseRead More
Once in recovery, it’s easy to assume that our many issues and challenges will be resolved. We expect treatment programs to magically heal us as soon as we enroll. We’re impatient to feel normal again and reintegrate back into our lives. The truth is, we can continue to be impacted by many of the sameRead More
When in recovery, we can sometimes find ourselves feeling uninspired and unfulfilled. Sometimes this is the case because we have been working so hard on our recovery programs and focusing on the work we have to do to maintain our sobriety. In that context, our other interests get neglected. Sometimes it’s because our addictions haveRead More
When we struggle with addictions and other self-destructive patterns, our emotions can become quite problematic. We experience intense fluctuations in our moods. In the span of an hour, we can go from feeling incredible to feeling like the world is caving in on us. It can be hard to go with the flow and acceptRead More
As we’re working to recover, we need to understand the wounds that are at the root of our addictions. These wounds fuel our deep unhappiness and cause the many challenges we experience in our lives. Sometimes we tend to focus most on our problematic addictive symptoms without understanding the underlying causes. We focus on theRead More
When we’re beginning our recovery journey, or finding ourselves in need of additional support along the way, it can help us overcome our fears of the recovery process to know more about the benefits of treatment. Professional residential treatment facilities are addiction recovery and rehabilitation centers that support our mission to get sober, stay soberRead More
When we’re struggling with addiction and mental illness but are afraid to begin the recovery process, it is often because we’re avoiding professional help. We’re avoiding finding a therapist or going to rehab. We have some deeply rooted fears around both recovery and professional support that are keeping us from taking these important steps toRead More
Sometimes as we’re undertaking our recovery process, we can feel totally overwhelmed by our relationships and the many issues related to them. Our family members, friends, and partners are often immersed in our struggles with our addiction because they care about us, have been supporting us and want to be there for us. Similarly, we’reRead More
For many of us living with addiction, one of the elements of our recovery is examining how the dynamics and experiences of our families have contributed to our addictions. We might feel inclined to avoid looking at our families altogether. We might not want to address how we’ve been impacted by them. We might haveRead More
When we haven’t yet learned healthy techniques to navigate our difficult emotions, we tend to fall into unhealthy emotional patterns of trying to escape our pain and numb ourselves from it. We use our drugs of choice, our addictive substances, and behaviors, to self-medicate from the emotions we’re having a hard time facing. Very oftenRead More