Taking a Holistic Approach to Addiction Recovery
When struggling with any illness, including addiction, we are inclined to focus on the most pressing symptom rather than the illness as a whole because that is what is most distressing to us. Understandably, we tend to deal with the most urgent symptom because it is what we find most difficult to live with. Because […]
When a Loved One Won’t Get Help
Watching a loved one struggle with addiction can be emotionally arduous, to say the least. Their refusal to get help can be painful for us. We want nothing more than to see them happy and well. We’ll do whatever we can to help them. Sometimes, we do things that we think are helping in the […]
Why Willpower Isn’t Enough
For those of us struggling with addiction, we might have gone countless years trying to get sober. Very often, we’re undertaking the daunting challenge of sobriety on our own, without any help or support. Our goal is to will ourselves sober or clean. We try to force ourselves to give up our drug of choice. […]
Why Making Amends Is Important in Recovery
One of the many important steps in 12-Step programs for addiction recovery is the process of making amends. Beyond simply apologizing for a mistake we’ve made or wrong we’ve committed, making amends shows our commitment to being honest, developing understanding, taking accountability, and implementing change. Whether or not the person we’re making amends to is […]
The Importance of Asking for Help
Our recovery journey teaches us many important life lessons, lessons we need not only to recover from addiction but also to find lasting happiness and unconditional inner peace. Among the life lessons of recovery is the importance of asking for help. Many of us have been conditioned to believe that asking for help is a […]
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 […]
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 […]
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! […]