Sometimes it can feel as though you will never be able to go to bed.A Routine for Good SleepThere are dirty dishes in the sink or a school project that your kid didn’t tell you about until the last minute. Maybe your boss sent you an after-hours email and clearly expects a response yet tonight....Read More

Mindfulness & Your Mental HealthWe have written before about the ways in which mindfulness can support your mental health and recovery from a substance use disorder. On the surface, the practice of mindfulness seems both straightforward and simple. The goal is to be present in the current moment rather than ruminating about the past or...Read More

Both good and bad habits in addiction recovery can be powerful.Sometimes the power of a habit is good for us. Other times, the power of a habit is a problem.Take, for example, a habit like brushing your teeth in the morning and before bed. The odds are good that you don’t spend a lot of...Read More

What Is Boredom? It happens to all of us from time to time. You are simply going about your day when suddenly you find yourself feeling restless or distracted. Whatever you are doing right at that moment isn’t any fun—and worse, you can’t really think of anything else to do that would be fun. Maybe...Read More

You have decided now is the time.You are going to get the help you need for your substance use disorder.That’s great news. It is also news you are going to need to share—in greater or lesser detail—with a significant number of people. That might seem scary. Especially if you have been effectively hiding your addiction...Read More

Heading back to work after you have been away can be challenging. Think about the final day of a vacation. No matter how relaxing your time away has been, the odds are pretty good that on that last day, you are already thinking about all the emails and projects that await you when you get...Read More

You have heard the expression, “ Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” It is an idea dating back to the 1600s—and many of us simply accept it as true. We believe that if we apply our willpower, we can find a way to accomplish just about anything.It’s a nice, motivational idea.But it can also...Read More

Core PrinciplesThere are times when advice becomes so familiar that it is easy to stop hearing it. For example, if you are in recovery from a substance use disorder, you are likely familiar with the 12 Steps (or some variation on that theme) associated with Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous. You might even be overly familiar...Read More

To Languish Is to StruggleMany people are struggling right now. The public health emergency (which is, unfortunately, ongoing) has upended our lives in so many ways. And while we have dealt with all of the changes—and the changes to those changes—brought on by the pandemic, there have been plenty of other things that have added...Read More

The modern world—and social media in particular—has changed the way we think about the word “friend.” Heck, in current usage, the steadfast noun can even be used as a verb, as is: “Hey, I friended you. Why haven’t you accepted my friend request?”Friends vs AcquaintancesBut let’s face it, the vast majority of people on your...Read More