When we think of the holidays, many of us picture parties and special events full of drinking. It’s hard for us to think of celebration or fun without drugs and alcohol. When we are in recovery, getting through the holidays successfully, and actually enjoying them, means creating new associations and finding new sources of enjoyment.…
Our patterns of self-sabotage and self-destructiveness are often caused by our fears, our internal feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, self-rejection and self-blame. We hold ourselves back and keep ourselves small because we feel that’s all we deserve. We haven’t yet actualized our potential or seen the value of our worth. To stop our cycles of self-sabotage,…
Many of us are taught at a young age that certain parts of us, certain behaviors and certain feelings are acceptable, and others aren’t. We grow up learning to reject these “unacceptable” things – the things that we feel ashamed of, the parts of us we haven’t come to terms with yet, the feelings that…
One of the most popular and effective approaches to addiction recovery is the Twelve Step program, originally created as the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous that is now used by multiple addiction programs around the world. It can be hugely helpful to follow the guidance of the steps, and one of the most powerful ones…
As we move through our recovery, there are various processes we have to go through in order to feel totally healed. Even if we’re able to abstain from our addictive substances and behaviors for a time, we don’t feel fully recovered if we still feel like they hold power over us. One of the first…
Being unable to forgive ourselves is often a symptom of our shame and our fear of inadequacy. We feel our mistakes, wrongdoings and shortcomings are unforgivable. We feel inadequate and undeserving of love, understanding, kindness and forgiveness. We feel unworthy. We carry our shame with us for years of our lives, often for things that…
Moving through addiction forces us to look deep within ourselves, to the truth of who we are. It requires that we take time to be alone with our thoughts without the numbing, distracting and self-medicating of addiction. We’re no longer zoned out, escaping and avoiding our pain. We’re forced to face our deepest fears and…
Being a sponsor to someone in Alcoholic Anonymous is about helping someone new to A.A. who needs guidance and encouragement to get them through the program. If you have been in sobriety for more than a year and feel confident that you can impart your wisdom to someone else, you are ready to become a…
Addiction is so destructive that it can totally transform our lives, sometimes in devastating ways. It changes our relationships, ending some of them altogether. It completely changes our relationship with ourselves, our self-perception, and how we deal with ourselves. When we’re coming out on the other side of addiction, it’s natural to want to recreate…
Many of us living with addiction have been struggling for many years, sometimes for most of our lives. We know how exhausting, overwhelming and draining addiction can be. It depletes us of our energy and hope. It’s debilitating. Often when we make the decision to get help, we’re in a place of total frustration. We…