Addiction Recovery

Relapse after long term sobriety: embarrassment is normal but shame and embarrassment can kill you if they keep you from getting the help you need. Learn what to do after relapse, no matter how many years of sobriety you have behind you.

• Recovery: Give Back with These Volunteer Ideas
• The Quotes and Wisdom of Al Anon
• When Your Loved Ones Keep Relapsing

Getting into a daily exercise habit reduces your odds of addiction relapse – so what’s stopping you? Here are the 7 most common exercise excuses – all refuted!

• Distract Yourself! 20 Things to Try before Relapse
• Listen to Your Body and Beat Stress
• Depression - Lifestyle Changes
• A Better Lifestyle For Better Mental Health
• Quitting Marijuana: Learn Coping Skills to Improve Your Odds

In early recovery, we're easily left with a sense of loss when we romanticize euphoric experiences we had with our drug of choice (and overlook the costs). Are you looking through the wrong end of the telescope?

• Learning to Manage and Overcome Fears
• In Recovery? Eat Well to Reverse Past Damage
• Alcohol: Move Past Next-Day Shame and Guilt
• How Wellness Sheets Protect Your Mental Health
• Get Active! Lifestyle Changes Against Depression

During early recovery we often find ourselves raw. But you can't heal what you can't feel. There are no quick fixes. Learn how to let it go.

• Hoarding Self Test
• Anxiety Statistics
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• Stress Management
• Physical Signs of Chronic Stress

After a few months, it’s easy to hit a recovery wall and start to feel bored and dissatisfied with your new clean and sober lifestyle. This dissatisfaction will pass, but until it does, you can lower your risk of relapse by taking some time to plan islands of excitement to look forward to.

• Addiction Treatment: Re-Learning How to Say NO
• Part 1: Understanding The 12 Steps of AA
• Therapy in Rehab: What You Need to Learn
• Need Treatment? Find Evidence Based Therapies!
• Learning to Deal with Selective Memories

Exploring ideas for life-change, where domestic abuse complicates addiction recovery and addiction makes it harder to break free from abuse.

• Substance Abuse and Family Violence
• For Teens: What to Do when a Friend Self-Harms
• Did you suffer abuse as a child?

Why consider long-term addiction recovery over the standard 30 day rehab? Learn about successful recovery options and how to increase your treatment duration.

• Issues of Confidentiality During Rehab Treatment
• Intervention Tip #3 – Treatment Planning
• What is Adventure Therapy?

For the next 10 seconds, try not to think of a pink elephant…Impossible, right?! The fact is, the more you try to suppress an impulse to use drugs or alcohol the more fixated your mind becomes on that very impulse, and this is bad news for anyone serious about maintaining their sobriety. Fortunately, you don’t have to drink or use and you don’t have to fight or suppress your cravings, all you have to do is surf over them and they’ll disappear – using a proven mindfulness technique known as urge surfing.

• 4 Steps to Beating Sex or Internet Addiction
• Relapse Prevention Medications
• MAT Tapering: Avoiding Common Problems

There are many pathways to recovery. If the 12 steps don’t feel right, consider SMART Recovery meetings. SMART Recovery is a free, science-based community self-help group.

• Alcohol Addiction Treatment - 6 Routes to Recovery

When caring for the kids means seeking help for addiction: Overwhelmed by the competing demands of daily life, single parents are at a higher risk for substance abuse and addiction.

• Long-Term Effects of Growing Up with Addicted Parents
• How to Help Kids Recover From Living with Addiction
• How Addiction in the Family Affects Children
• Support the Grandkids - Don't Enable the Parents
• Addiction Counseling - How It Helps You Build Recovery

New Year's can be a time for reflection, but for those in addiction recovery, it can also be a minefield. About taking stock, as this year comes to an end.

The holidays are a universally stressful time of year. For those of us in recovery, unique challenges demand our care and attention.

• 5 Ways to Beat Holiday Stress

It’s hard to avoid the craziness of the holiday season. Take this self test and see if your Christmas habits put you at risk of relapse.

• Need Couples Counseling? Test Your Relationship
• Sex Addiction Self Test
• Binge Eating Disorder - Self Test
• Teen Marijuana Addiction Self Test
• Ativan (Lorazepam) Addiction Self-Test

Developing a support system in early recovery can be overwhelming. Choosing a sponsor is an important choice that gives stability. Here's what to look out for.

• Part 2: Understanding The 12 Steps of AA
• Prayers In "12 Steps" Drug Treatment
• Drug & Alcohol Rehab Programs
• Gamblers Anonymous
• The 12 Steps of Overeaters Anonymous

Learn how to see 'the steps' as opportunities. After relapse, making the most of them hinges on our attitude and on our willingness to change.