Living a life of recovery and sobriety can sometimes be a daily, moment-by-moment battle. Below are some posts and articles to help you realize a successful journey of recovery.
Consider this: you are in long-term recovery for addiction and you have been progressing quite well. Suddenly, you are involved in an accident—a car wreck, a fall at work, or a sports injury—and you are in dire need of pain management. Your doctor prescribes you opiates to ease your suffering, but you and your family … Read More
Some years ago I owned a restaurant. My produce supplier and I became fast friends, hitting it off right away. Sometimes on weekends, his wife would sometimes accompany him on deliveries. They both knew I loved coffee, so one morning they came into the restaurant and brought me a thermos of fresh coffee. They warned … Read More
The short answer to this question is it depends—it depends on your response to questions like: How do you define God? What does it really mean to believe in something? Do you have to be spiritual to believe in God? What does it mean to be spiritual? How does someone become more spiritual? These are … Read More
I began drinking in my early 40s. I was a wife and a mother . . . and a complete wreck. Depression and anxiety saw me living each day in a place akin to hell. At that point in time, I sought to do anything that would give me relief from those symptoms. Drinking worked … Read More
Dear One, As you challenge yourself to stay sober, I write to you as a fellow addict. I am hoping to bring solace and a bit of comfort to your day. Of course, we do not know one another, yet we truly are kindred spirits. Our journeys are likely different in content and likely similar … Read More
Like so many things in life, the more effort you put into something, the more you get out of it. This is certainly true of group therapy. Whether you are in a 12 Step meeting or any other type of session filled with people dealing with common challenges. Ironically, the success of a “group” comes … Read More
Alcohol and drugs consume us to the exclusion of all else. Friendships become strained and broken because of our errant behavior. Professionalism at work disappears. Family ties are sacrificed for our own immediate needs. We come to the point where we have alienated the very people that we love the most. Eventually we find ourselves … Read More
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” —Reinhold Niebuhr Feeling a tad courageous and a bit wiser, I left rehab with sighs, a few tears and an awful sense of trepidation. Unlike some of the others that I … Read More
What is it like to go to rehab? What is your biggest fear about coming to rehab? What even is rehab? When asked, many of Duffy’s guests replied that their biggest fear was the unknown. What should I expect? Will I like it? And no wonder people worry. When most people think of rehab, they … Read More
I recently finished re-reading 12 Stupid Things that Mess Up Recovery by Allen Berger, a recovery classic for people in early recovery. I almost forgot what a great book it was. Allen Berger condenses twelve common pitfalls that can mess up recovery and teaches us how to avoid them with the clarity and wisdom of a man with … Read More
