Exploring the Disease Concept of Addiction
Addiction and substance use disorders (SUDs) were, for many years, widely misunderstood, and the people struggling with them were unfairly judged. Because of widespread misunderstanding and misinformation, those living with addiction were considered to be choosing their drug of choice. The cultural outlook was that they were morally corrupt, weak, and devoid of willpower. Many […]
Consciously Choosing Our Surroundings in Recovery
When living with addiction, we can find ourselves surrounded by countless different relationships, places, and triggers that hinder our efforts to get sober. Once we commit to our recovery, we discover that our surroundings have had a significant impact on our ability to get well. Our patterns of choosing our surroundings, whether those patterns were […]
Examining Our Life Patterns
As we embark upon the work needed to recover from our addictions, one of the things we’ll need to do to heal is examine our life patterns. For many of us, our lives have been filled with chaos and confusion due to our addictions. We haven’t had clarity in many different areas of our lives […]
Mindset Shifts for Recovering From Addiction
When healing from a mental health issue as challenging as addiction, a large part of our recovery entails creating mindset shifts that support our healing. Adopting a mindset of self-empowerment can encourage and motivate us as we work to heal. Very often, without even realizing it, we’ve developed limiting beliefs that inform how we think […]
Learning to Move Forward Following Relapse
Relapse is one of the more common, but also one of the most painful, things we experience when struggling with addiction. We might have spent years continuously relapsing, feeling determined but unable to stay sober for very long. For so long, we’ve felt powerless, out of control, and hopeless. Others of us will have successfully […]
How Isolation Can Exacerbate Addiction
When struggling with addiction and with the depression that often accompanies our addiction, many of us tend to fall into patterns of self-isolation. We experience several different emotions, many of which can exacerbate addiction and contribute to our ongoing self-destructive and self-isolating tendencies. When we find ourselves isolating for prolonged periods, this self-isolation can have […]
Do I Have an Addiction?
Many of us will find ourselves, throughout our addiction journeys, experiencing a chapter of that journey where we question whether or not we even have an addiction. For many of us, the confusion and overwhelm we feel can be the result of years of denial. We may have convinced ourselves that we don’t have a […]
Let Spring Be Your Season of Healing
Spring is a special time of year when plant life is blooming, the weather is getting warmer, and we start to venture outside again. For many of us, spring can be a season of healing. A chapter of new beginnings is upon us. We begin to open our hearts to the world again in springtime! […]
Exposure and Response Prevention at Athens Area Commencement Center
Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is a therapy designed to help us confront, and therefore come to terms with, our most difficult thoughts and emotions. ERP was originally designed specifically for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and the obsessive thoughts and compulsions that come with it. It has come to be used to help treat addiction, anxiety, […]
Maintaining Structure and Accountability With Our Aftercare Group
Successful recovery goes well beyond achieving our main goal of sobriety. Lasting recovery takes the initial success of sobriety and builds upon it with structure and accountability. At treatment facilities like Athens Area Commencement Center, you’ll receive support to not only get well but also stay well over the long term. Having the structure and […]