Everyone has, at some point or another, taken bad advice. Maybe they took their own or someone else’s, but they took advice that did not add value to their lives. A little thing called ‘optimism bias’ gives people a sense of hopefulness things will work out, even when things don’t look so good. When people…
Recovery is a long arc, a story that starts with rehab and ends when a person’s life is over. That leaves a whole lot of room in between for many nuances. There are programs and different styles of healing from addiction, but detox and rehab have high success rates for a reason. They work to…
Families can play an enormous role in supporting a loved one to seek help with addiction. When family stands alongside their loved one, they demonstrate their unconditional love for them and their ability to express hope for their journey. However, they sometimes get forgotten about in the midst of the loved one’s battle with addiction.…
Rehabilitation can be a difficult thing for people to admit they need in support of recovering from addiction. Asking for help is not easy for many people, especially those who struggle with substance abuse issues. Going to rehab can be intense because of past experiences that inform the current decision, or it is a new…
Recovery is not a destination, an end point at which you’ve arrived. There are new discoveries about yourself, the journey, the whole experience which may pop up and surprise and shock you. It is something to keep working on, whether you are new in recovery or old hat at the journey. Your mindset and attitude…
The whole idea of self reflection in recovery is focused on the idea that when we reflect on our lives with addiction at the fore, we see things differently. From this lens in recovery, we start to see where things went wrong, how our mindset shaped certain behaviors, and why we got ourselves into trouble…
Relationships can suffer in addiction. Recovery is a space where people learn how to negotiate and navigate the challenges they face. Healing relationships take a lot of work and do not happen overnight. Good boundaries is one place to start, to break away from dysfunctional family and friends that may have toxic implications for your…
There are many emotions that run through a person’s head and body while they are in rehab and recovery. Early on, one of the key components is looking at forgiveness. It is important to learn how to forgive yourself before you can really start to seek forgiveness of others. This may be one of the…
Guilt and shame go hand-in-hand. When we take time to look at them, we see how closely aligned they are in a person’s heart and mind through life experience. Shame is all about thinking the person is bad because they drink, do drugs, or behave a certain way. Unfortunately, shame can get in the way…
Recovery from mental health and addiction is almost a misnomer. The reality is people are not able to fully recover from addiction, they simply live with the reality that they can no longer use drugs or drink. Mastery over both addiction and mental health issues means recognizing the challenges of coping with triggers, cravings, and…