Addiction recovery is a process, one that for many of us takes the rest of our lives to uphold. Sobriety, or abstinence, or being “clean” are not finite destinations, single points in time and space that we reach and our problems are erased. Recovering from our addictions is not a one-time thing, where we go […]
Category: Resource Center
How Self-Hate Fuels Addiction
Many of us aren’t aware of just how pervasive and all-encompassing our self-hatred is, as well as how much it can contribute to our addictions. When we struggle with insecurity, jealousy, envy, bitterness, resentment and judgment, very often it is our self-hate that is at the root of all of that. We instinctively try to […]
Why is it So Hard to Recover Alone?
For those of us struggling with addictions who have tried to recover, we know just how hard it can be. Many of us try to face the recovery process alone. We think that because it is our issue, we should get through it on our own. We feel we’ve burdened the people who care about […]
The Joy of Recovery
When we are in the midst of our struggles with addiction, it can be really hard to see our way out to the other side. We can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve given up hope that we will be able to recover, and we’ve lost faith in ourselves. If you’re […]
How Do We Stop Sabotaging Ourselves?
Because our self-sabotage often comes from our underlying fears of inadequacy and unworthiness, stopping our self-sabotaging behaviors and patterns comes down to changing our thoughts and beliefs about ourselves. As part of our healing, we can choose to start seeing our traumatic experiences not as evidence of some kind of failing on our part, but […]
Finding Emotional Freedom
In our quest to heal from our addictions and mental and emotional health issues, perhaps our greatest goal is to find emotional freedom. What is emotional freedom, and how can we achieve it? A common misconception about emotional healing is that we are trying to replace any negative emotions we feel with positive thinking and […]
What is Self-Sabotage?
Many of us living with addictions and mental health issues share patterns of self-destructiveness that drive our actions. For many of us, this can occur as self-sabotage. What does this look like, and why do we do it? Self-sabotage can take on many forms – interrupting our healing progress, choosing unhealthy relationships and behaviors, physical […]
Seeing the Possibility in Confusion
In times of difficulty when we feel a great sense of confusion, sometimes our instinct is to see our confusion as a negative thing. We feel afraid of it. We think it is working against us. We reject it and want to run from it. Confusion can be very difficult. We can choose to see […]
What Happens When We Don’t Feel Heard and Understood?
One of our basic emotional instincts is the need to feel heard, understood and validated by the people around us. We crave safe community within which to be supported and accepted. When we don’t have this, it can greatly impact our mental and emotional health in limiting and destructive ways. Our fears can be really […]
Believing in Our Inner Power
Our addictions and mental health issues can cause us to lose faith in ourselves and to stop believing in ourselves. As we go through the difficult experiences in our lives, we often don’t believe we have the strength to get through them. We can feel hopeless and without direction. We give up on ourselves. We […]