Category: Alumni

Being patient with our loved ones when they’re in recovery is one of our greatest challenges but also one of the most important things we can do, both for them and for ourselves. Throughout their struggles with addiction, we’ve watched them self-destruct, create turmoil everywhere they go, and wreak havoc on both their lives and […]

If you’re struggling with thoughts of suicide, PLEASE call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255).  When we’re in recovery, many of us are finally starting to gain clarity and insight on our addictions. We’re starting to see things clearly for the first time. We have a much deeper understanding of who we are and […]

As we’re working to heal ourselves and stay committed to our sobriety, there are certain emotions that can linger well into our recovery and bring us so much turmoil and conflict that we feel tempted to use our drugs of choice just to escape them. One of these painful and destructive emotions is the anger […]

If you’re struggling with thoughts of suicide, PLEASE call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255). For many of us, recovering from addiction and mental illness entails a multipronged approach, where we’re not just relying on the traditional forms of treatment of medication, therapy and professional rehabilitation but also exploring other avenues of self-healing. We […]

As we embark upon our recovery journey, there are certain things that still frighten us and make us uncertain of our ability to stay sober, even after we’ve done a great deal of work and feel confident about our sobriety. One of these things is the temptation we still feel to use our drug of […]

Many of us who identify as addicts also identify with having come from dysfunctional families. Our families were broken apart by separation, neglect, abuse and abandonment. We didn’t have healthy family dynamics, strong communication or effective conflict resolution. We grew up being traumatized by loved ones and watching others be hurt. We grew up blaming […]

One of the things we learn in recovery is that our addictions and mental health issues have caused us to create a very disconnected, disharmonious relationship with ourselves and our inner thoughts and feelings. We resist our fears. We don’t work to heal our wounds. We don’t resolve the deep relationship issues and recurring life […]

As we’re working to heal ourselves, one of the obstacles we find ourselves up against is all of the uncertainty we’re feeling around the recovery process. We’re uncertain of what the future holds. We feel uncertainty about our ability to get well. We feel uncertain about the timing of how things are going for us, […]

As the loved ones of addicts, we know all too well the disappointment of seeing them relapse after promising us they would get clean, after making the commitment to us and to themselves to be sober. We feel they’ve let us down. We had expectations that they would be true to their word, and we’re […]

When we think of relapse, we usually associate it with the act of returning to our drug use after a period of abstinence. We think of all the painful emotions associated with it, the disappointment, shame and regret. We think of falling off the wagon and picking up our drug of choice after being so […]