Many of us have been conditioned to think that in order to be strong and competent, we must be totally independent. We think that we should never ask anyone for anything, and that we should be able to do everything on our own. We assume we’re weak if we need help. These thought patterns are […]
Category: Recovery
Why Willpower Alone Isn’t Enough
There is a common misconception about addiction that if we just apply our willpower we’ll be able to stop our addictions in their tracks and keep them from overtaking our lives. People assume that addicts are weak, lazy, cowardly, and simply not trying hard enough to get better. The truth is, willpower alone isn’t enough […]
Preparing Ourselves for Recovery
Addiction recovery involves some of the most challenging work we’ll ever do in our lives. We’re taking on the tremendous task of confronting our deeply rooted pain, facing our fears, and transforming lifelong patterns. We’re facing ourselves, finally, without distracting ourselves or self-medicating. We’re allowing ourselves to feel our pain without filters, without anything to […]
The Harm in Being Pessimistic
One of the toxic thought patterns many of us find ourselves perpetuating is a thought addiction to pessimism, a negative outlook that causes us to feel dread rather than positive anticipation, anxiety rather than excitement. We have a pervasive focus on what might go wrong as opposed to what could go right. We think in […]
Reasons Why We Consider Suicide
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, PLEASE call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255). For some of us, suicide feels like the only way out, the only solution to our deep, relentless inner pain. We feel it’s the only way to relieve the sadness, shame and fear we’re […]
How Addiction Makes Us Feel
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, PLEASE call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Those of us who struggle with addiction have grown accustomed to feeling certain intense emotions. How does addiction make us feel? Our experiences with addiction are different for each of us, and we will […]
Self-Worth and Self-Respect
Rebuilding our sense of self-worth and learning self-respect are hugely important in healing ourselves mentally and emotionally as we’re working to recover. Very often throughout our struggles with addiction and mental illness, we developed patterns of disrespecting ourselves and devaluing our worth. When we’re ready to recover, healing our sense of self and growing in […]
Reconnecting as Part of Our Recovery
In order to heal ourselves as we’re recovering from addiction and mental illness, we want to repair the disconnectedness we feel in our lives that has greatly contributed to our addictive patterns. We want to reconnect with our inner selves, our internal guidance systems and our intuition. We want to reconnect with our sense of […]
Learning to Value Ourselves
One of the most important ways we heal ourselves in recovery is by learning to value ourselves. Very often, throughout our struggles with addiction and mental illness, we do the exact opposite. We devalue, demean and degrade ourselves. We engage in behaviors that are self-harming, destructive and even dangerous. We choose friends and partners that […]
What Unhealed Fear Can Do to Us
Our fears have a way of overtaking our lives, bringing us all kinds of inner turmoil and emotional distress. Many of our fears are unconscious, and we aren’t aware of just how powerful they can be and what kind of impact they can have on our lives. We tend to want to avoid thinking about […]