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
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
If you’re struggling with thoughts of suicide, PLEASE call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255). As human beings, we are hard-wired to be connected to one another, to give and receive love, to be supportive of one another, and to work together. We are conditioned in various ways to strive for independence and self-reliance,Read More
Many of us considering addiction recovery treatment programs can feel as though we don’t know where to start. Should we go for inpatient treatment, partial hospitalization, or outpatient? For those of us who complete inpatient treatment, we also have the option to continue on with our recovery program and receive outpatient treatment as well. HowRead More
Our stories with addiction are often riddled with denial, avoidance, emotional suppression, silence, and secrecy – the many coping mechanisms we develop to keep ourselves from having to face our addictions and do the work to get better. We refuse to see ourselves as addicts and our problems as being caused by addiction. We refuseRead More
For many of us struggling with addiction, our denial is so persistent and so deep that we refuse to look at ourselves honestly. We keep the truth of our addictions hidden from the outside world, and just as importantly from ourselves. We don’t want to self-identify as addicts because we’ve internalized all of the culturalRead More
If you’re struggling with thoughts of suicide, PLEASE call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255). When we remove an addictive substance from our system, we can experience intense symptoms related to the withdrawal process. They can vary from person to person and can depend on the kind of substance involved, and how long we’veRead More
If you’re struggling with thoughts of suicide, PLEASE call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255). It can be deeply troubling, not to mention overwhelming and confusing, to know how to help a loved one struggling with addiction. We want to help but aren’t sure how. We know we’re not supposed to enable their addictiveRead More
Many of us recovering from addiction find ourselves needing to complete treatment more than once, and we often find that there is some stigma involved in this. We’re looked down upon if we relapse. We’re frustrated with ourselves if we don’t recover quickly enough. We become increasingly impatient with ourselves when we feel we’ve letRead More