Amongst those who do escape the perils of addiction, other demons remain. Rarely have I met a person in recovery from Substance Use Disorder (SUD) who did not have a great deal of repressed trauma, a wealth of unresolved grief and loss, and underlying mental illness.
When Things Are FUBAR
There’s a meme to the effect of, “I remind myself that my survival rate of bad days is 100%.” I’ve gotten through the last three hours by saying to myself, “Just do what you can. Just do the next right thing.” This is me officially starting my day over. I’m not going to agonize. I’m not even going to stress. I’m going to practice acceptance while mindful of what my friends in AA say, “You don’t have to like something to accept it.”
Recovery & Traumatic Memories Surfacing
It used to surprise me how many of the trauma survivors I serve enjoy horror movies. It took me a long time to get it. Unlike the imagery in your head, you can make the movie stop anytime you want.
Beyond Relapse Prevention: Trauma Recovery
Amongst those who do escape the perils of addiction, other demons remain. Rarely have I met a person in recovery from Substance Use Disorder (SUD) who did not have a great deal of repressed trauma, a wealth of unresolved grief and loss, and underlying mental illness.
Self-diagnosing your mental health, and other BAD ideas
We have a longing to understand ourselves and a tendency to judge ourselves unfairly. Let’s hod off on labels and work on developing health and identity!
Stop Sabotaging Love!
Childhood abuse and neglect, adolescent and young adult trauma, it all adds up in layers like sediment that can’t be permeated.
The 3 Types of Depression & How to Cope
Most of us have a limited ability to recognize depression in ourselves and others. The more we’re connecting with kindred spirits, the better our coping and friendships.
The 6 Most Common Lies We Tell Ourselves
Self-deception is part and parcel to addictive thinking. As we grow in our recovery, let’s move toward rigorous honesty with sef and avoid these pitfalls.
Addiction & Mental Health, which comes first?
Addiction and mental health go hand in hand, but which one should be addressed first?
Addiction Looks Like Mental Illness
One of the biggest failures of dual diagnosis treatment is that we often label those active in addiction or early in recovery with mental health conditions that they don’t have. One of the benefits of “old school” treatment was the recognition that an accurate baseline is unattainable prior to significant