Tips to Keep You Sane While in Recovery Concrete actions for a better recovery are a welcome change from the spiritual axioms we often hear without quite knowing what to do with them. It’s not that these “sober proverbs” aren’t thought provoking, but profound ideas swimming around in the head can only do so much. […]

Friendship in sobriety is dramatically different from friendship as we once knew it. Before getting sober, friends were partners in crime – people to be sneaky with. Being a good friend meant keeping each others secrets – no matter what they were. In sobriety friendship is something completely different. Sober friends are partners in recovery. […]

Talk therapy can be extremely productive, and is an essential part of recovery. However, it can be difficult to access certain topics in a conversational therapy session, because some of our deepest issues are buried in the subconscious mind. Less structured forms of therapy which allow some play to occur have a good chance of […]

It breaks my heart when I hear a newcomer to sobriety open up and speak her truth in an AA meeting, only to be chased down and scolded post-meeting because she mentioned the word “drugs,” or referred to herself as an “addict” instead of an “alcoholic.” Ok, we do have separate programs for alcohol and […]

With Tiger Woods in the media spotlight, the debate has sprung up yet again. Is overindulgence in vices like sex, drugs and alcohol a symptom of an authentic illness, or is it just plain poor decision-making? When an individual has an addiction to something that doesn’t sound like fun, for example self-mutilation or vomiting, people […]

Many times when an addict or alcoholic comes crawling back to the rooms of AA and NA after deciding to try drinking or using one more time, she is welcomed back and told, “It’s okay – relapse is a part of recovery.” For some people, this may be true. For others, relapse is a part […]

You may have heard it from a sponsor, a friend, or staff member at treatment: Don’t date in your first year of sobriety. I know, it sounds unfair. What else are you supposed to do for distraction? Well, that’s exactly the point. Nothing. Dating is an incredibly easy way to stop thinking about yourself and […]

Dual-diagnosis is a term used to denote individuals who suffer from drug addiction or alcoholism as well as another mental disorder (often bipolar disorder, PTSD, or eating disorders). Considering the fact that addicts tend to be people who use and drink to self-medicate for pre-existing problems, it’s not surprising to learn that dual-diagnosis is incredibly […]

Though the recent death of Corey Haim may not have been a drug overdose (the toxicology report has yet to be released), there has been a lot of speculation that drugs were involved. This could simply be because of the actor’s well-known struggle with drug and alcohol addiction, but it has been confirmed that illegal […]

A recent RCT study of 353 women that were assigned to either 12 sessions of trauma-focused or health education group treatment showed that PTSD severity reductions were more likely associated with substance use improvement, whereas minimal reduction in PTSD was found with substance use reduction. These findings have important implications because of the high rate […]