In early recovery, meeting new people is an entirely new adventure. Dating, which may have once represented drug-infused chaos, can even become a scarier tornado once you eliminate the mind-altering substance security blankets. Real feelings! Real intimacy! Real commitment! The idea is as ... Read More
Examining The Controversy Between Opioid Prescriptions in Recovery
For many people, sobriety refers to total abstinence from mood-altering substances. The premise is simple: do not use drugs or alcohol no matter what. But can or should there ever be exceptions in this seemingly black-and-white rule? In this case, how do we appropriately examine severe medical ... Read More
5 Brilliant Resolutions To Make This Year For Your Recovery
Are you the type of person who makes resolutions- without fail- year after year, only to lose steam by February 1? Or, are you the type of person who avoids such commitments altogether, fearing failure, disappointment, or simply being a timeless cliche? Research shows that over 80% of people fail ... Read More
The Holidays Are Coming: How To Celebrate Without Compromising Your Recovery
For some, the holidays evoke a sense of joy and togetherness, a time for family members to celebrate each other and enjoy coveted traditions. For many others, the holidays signify stress and tension. There’s a sense of dread and discomfort around having to spend time with all those people. ... Read More
If You’re Sober & Still Miserable, You Must Ask Yourself These 5 Questions
If getting sober is hard, then staying sober can feel like an impossible feat. Sobriety represents a complete transformation, one that requires you to reflect, shift, and change the way you interact with the world around you. While sobriety will never be a continuous episode of sunshine and ... Read More
Coping With Loss During Your Sober Journey
Death and taxes- they are the only two guarantees in this strange journey we call life. Of course, if you play your proverbial cards right, you can evade one of them. But death? That one is inevitable- it’ll happen to you and every single person you love- in a perfectly imperfect, randomized ... Read More
Naltrexone: The Good, the Bad, and Everything in Between
America is in the midst of an addiction plague, one that leaves even the medical professionals astounded and baffled. By now, we all deeply understand the perils of our current opioid epidemic, with studies showing that more than 115 people die every day from overdoses. Moreover, alcohol-related ... Read More
Healing from Trauma and Addiction at the same time is possible
In my work as a therapist, I witness gut-wrenching pain on a daily basis. I sit with clients as they unpack horrendous stories of abuse and trauma and hopelessness and despair. Ask a room full of addicts if they endorse a history of trauma, and most everyone will raise their hands. Human pain knows ... Read More
Sobriety & Friendships: Is Your Squad Helping or Hurting You?
When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends. I once worked with a client who shared that her greatest fear of sobriety was losing all her friends. She had built a squad of sorts- a team of people who, in her opinion, had her back no matter what. She lived by these ... Read More
5 Healthy Habits Worth Adopting in Sobriety
Sobriety isn’t just about the abstinence from mood-altering substances. That’s too simplistic. Sobriety embodies the evolving mind-body approach that people take to heal their well-being. In my work assisting clients throughout their sobriety stages, I have found that a few habits stand out as ... Read More