A Recovering Alcoholics Guide to Selecting the Best Drug and Alcohol Rehab
6 Years of Sobriety, 10 drug and alcohol rehabs… I know What to Look For When I got drunk for the first time at age 16 I had no idea that I would eventually become the go-to expert on rehabs. Did I go to school for addiction counseling studies? Kind of. I mean, that’s not […]
5 People You Need After Drug & Alcohol Rehab
This Team Will Help Enhance Your Recovery Post Drug & Alcohol Rehab Many new to recovery from addiction and new to drug & alcohol rehab think that after 30 days they will never drink or use drugs again. This is not the case. Rehab is just the start of the recovery process. Finding and maintaining […]
Quitting Smoking Significantly Reduces Risk of Alcohol Relapse
Quitting Cigarettes Helps Prevent Alcohol Relapse A new study published in Science Daily finds that alcoholics in recovery who smoke are at a greater risk for alcohol relapse than individuals in recovery who don’t smoke. Traditionally recovery has included therapy for all mind and mood altering substances, but left cigarettes out of the equation. Now […]
How To Stay Sober In A Hurricane!
In just minutes Hurricane Mathew will strike South Florida and it has the potential to be absolutely catastrophic. To make matters worse the people I love the most the addicts and alcoholics in recovery could be without power and will have no way of getting to a substance abuse recovery meeting for what could be […]
A 5 Step Guide To Picking The Right Substance Abuse Treatment Center
The 5 Things To Look For In A Substance Abuse Treatment Center When your son, daughter, husband, wife or friend says those magic words; “I need Help”, you have no time to lose. You need to get him or her into a substance abuse treatment center and you have to do it fast. The addict […]
Group Therapy – What Should I Expect?
Group Therapy If we haven’t experienced group therapy firsthand, we probably have a pretty inaccurate and dramatized conception of what to expect. We tend to base our hypotheses on what we have seen portrayed in the movies and on television – a solemn circle of disturbed sickos, sharing secrets, crying, and hugging one another with […]
‘One Day at a Time’ – And Other Helpful Cliches
If you have ever been exposed to any 12-step program of addiction recovery, you have likely had the pleasure of hearing quite a few favored clichés. Long-time members of Alcoholics Anonymous readily share classics like “one day at a time”, “it works if you work it”, and “keep coming back” – but what do all […]
Addiction Recovery – A Lifelong Journey
Many individuals who are newly exposed to the beautiful and fulfilling world of addiction recovery believe that their journey will both begin and end with inpatient treatment. However, this could not be more far from the truth, seeing as inpatient treatment is but the very beginning of the lifelong journey of addiction recovery. Addiction is […]
Believe it or Not, Playing This Old Video Game Reduces Drug Cravings
Can a Video Game Help With Drug Cravings? In an international collaboration of science, research, and video games, psychologists from Plymouth University and Queensland University of Technology have uncovered something pretty cool. Playing Tetris – yes that Tetris – three minutes a day for one week reduces cravings for drugs, alcohol, sex, food, and other […]
What’s the Most Sober City in America?
Can You Guess? Talking about sobriety apps and social sobriety seems almost redundant at this point! Lighthouse has already reported on a variety of ways people in recovery are using social media to help stay sober – what’s next? Well, the fine folks over at Recovery.org figured it out! They recently put together a great […]
A Social Worker Asked Why Gratitude Helps Alcoholics Stay Sober…What She Found is Amazing!
Active Gratitude = A Better Recovery Dr. Amy Krentzman is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Minnesota. She’s also fascinated with addiction recovery – so much so that she’s dedicated her professional life to studying it. Before Dr. Krentzman joined the University of Minnesota and was interviewed in places like BBC […]
Sober Grid – The New Social App for Sober People!
Have You Heard of Sober Grid? Well, have you? Chances are yes, as the new app has been making the rounds of newspapers, blogs, and recovery websites. Oh and did we mention Sober Grid also has an impressive 23,000 plus downloads and a perfect five star rating based in the App Store? So, what’s this […]
Can the Obsession To Drink and Drug Really Be Removed?
The Obsession to Drink and Drug An overwhelming obsession with drugs or alcohol is one of the trademarks of the disease of addiction. This obsession is hard to describe to non-addicts because it persists, and even grows, regardless of any negative consequences. Lost jobs, ruined relationships, destroyed minds and bodies – none of those things […]
How to Deal With Family Members When You’re Sober
What’s a Boundary? Great question. Most of us women with addiction issues have heard of boundaries, maybe we even know what they are, but we’re not so great about putting them into use! Boundaries are those little things we set in relationships so we don’t get walked all over. We also need them so we […]
Long-Term Sobriety: How to Stay Sober from Drugs and Alcohol
How to Stay Sober in Recovery Katie’s Story About Learning How to Stay Sober From Heroin I remember the moment I realized I didn’t want to live anymore. Everything had stopped working. I asked my psychiatrist to prescribe me something else. At this point, I was on at least eight different prescription medications. This one, […]
Shame and Addiction
Written By: Michael Herbert The Roots of Shame and Addiction Over the past several months, I’ve been exploring and presenting the topic of shame. I’m learning shame starts very early for most. Shame can begin before we have the language or intellect to understand it as a concept. As early as seven months, small children […]
Why Does Staying Angry Keep Us Locked in Addiction?
Why are Addicts Always so Angry? Anger and addiction go together like peanut butter and sardines, Christmas and menorahs, and a suit with sneakers. Okay, those are some off-the-wall comparisons, but for good reason! Anger and addiction go together…but they shouldn’t! I’ll explain exactly what I’m talking about below. First, though, here’s a bit of […]
Do You Tell Your Employer You’re in Recovery?
Jobs in Recovery For newly sober women, a job can be both a challenge and opportunity. Often times, addiction takes individuals to a place where they’re no longer employable. In some cases, they’ve never worked at all. Other times, women haven’t yet lost their jobs. Whatever someone’s individual experience may be, finding a job in early […]
SMART Recovery vs AA: Which is Better?
Written By: Fiona Stockard What is SMART Recovery? If you’re anything like me, you’ve heard of various alternatives to twelve-step fellowships and asked yourself, with intrigue, “what is SMART Recovery?” Well, you’ve come to the right place. Find the skinny on all things SMART Recovery below. What is SMART Recovery? It’s an organization offering individuals an […]
The Key to an All New Life
Old Behavior Won’t Cut It One of the most common clichés I hear in the rooms of recovery also happens to be very true. The only thing we have to change when we get sober is…everything. Sounds overwhelming, right? I know it was for me. Through my active addiction, I thought all I had to […]
The Newest Addiction Medicine is…a Blood-Pressure Pill?
This Drug Could “Erase” Memories of Addiction Remember how in the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, scientists were able to wipe out Charlie’s memories of his former girlfriend? Well, it looks like researchers are on the verge of being able to do this for memories of substance abuse. At least that’s the takeaway […]
Should I Work in Treatment if I’m Sober?
Working in Treatment as a Recovering Addict We recently reported on a New Hampshire woman who was arrested for trafficking heroin. That on its own is hardly newsworthy. There are hundreds of people each month arrested for possession and distribution of heroin. What was interesting, though, were the circumstances surrounding her arrest. See, she’s a […]
What The Hell is a Negative Contract?
Really, What Are They? Okay, so what the hell is a negative contract? If you’re anything like me, you’ve heard this term thrown around in treatment, halfway houses, and twelve-step meetings without actually knowing what it means. I’ve been sober for seven years now. It wasn’t until year two or three that I actually learned […]
Are 12-Step Meetings Safe: The Truth about the 13th Step
The 13th Step First and foremost, let me say that I don’t like writing about this. I’m a member of twelve-step recovery and have nothing but respect for all the fellowships. There are, however, some shady characters in the rooms of recovery. I’m talking, of course, about people that 13th step newcomers. At this point, […]
How to Pick the Perfect Sponsor
The Best Sponsor in the World There’s an old saying, I’m not sure where I heard it, that I love. It goes a little something like – if you don’t think your sponsor is the best in the world, you picked the wrong person. How perfect is that? I abundantly agree that, as recovering addicts […]