Relationships and RecoveryWhen we think about important steps to take to support recovery, we often think about making amends to people we have hurt as a result of a substance use disorder. That process is one of the 12 Steps, but even if you aren’t participating in a program like Alcoholics Anonymous, you may still...Read More

Winter WeatherThe winter months can be challenging for everyone, especially when weather conditions force us to spend more time indoors, and everything from driving to work to getting the kids bundled up to catch the school bus can feel more difficult. Add the significant stress of the holiday season to those feelings of cabin fever...Read More

Spirituality and the HolidaysDecember brings holidays connected with various religions to the fore, making it a time during which many people are thinking about spiritual matters of all kinds. The holiday season is also a fine time to consider what role spirituality might play in your recovery story.Before we go too far down that path,...Read More

The holiday is called Thanksgiving.Seems straightforward enough. It is a day for giving thanks for all of the blessings in our lives.But for many people, the holiday hardly brings up feelings of thankfulness. Our gratitude can get blocked out by the stress of family gatherings, a huge meal to prepare and clean up, and a...Read More

Narratives Do you have some favorite stories about your life that you like to tell? Maybe you like to relive a moment of athletic triumph from high school. Perhaps you like to recount the time you met a celebrity in an elevator and got to talk to her for 12 floors. Or maybe you love...Read More

Think about a brand new computer. It comes from the factory set up to accomplish certain tasks. The user can adjust how the machine approaches those tasks (and even change the tasks themselves) by changing something about the computer. You could, for example, add new software—the programs of instructions that allow computers to provide everything...Read More

Forging a PathImagine that you are standing on one side of an enormous field. You need to get all the way across to reach your destination—and later, you will need to return to where you are now. There are no sidewalks in sight. So you just start walking across.Now imagine that you walk across this...Read More

Nutrition’s Role in Overall HealthGood nutritional choices are seldom a priority for someone wrestling with a substance abuse disorder such as opioid or alcohol addiction. But once the journey toward lasting sobriety has begun, nutrition can play a key role in helping to limit the risk of relapse and in reversing some of the damage...Read More

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”So says Romeo as he considers Juliet—the woman he loves whose family is in constant conflict with his own—in Shakespeare’s play about star-crossed lovers. The young doomed lover is suggesting that it isn’t words or names that define...Read More

Sound AdviceFlight attendants always give passengers an important piece of advice when sharing emergency procedures: make sure you are wearing your own oxygen mask before you try to help others.After all, you’ll be no help to anyone if you collapse from a lack of oxygen, right?The same thing is true when you’re in recovery: Take...Read More