Being in recovery—whether from trauma, addiction, or illness—makes us vulnerable. There’s nothing wrong with that. We have been wounded, we have been mistreated (by self
Are you doomed to a relapse once you leave the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous? No. You are not. Trust me on this—I know of many
As someone who mostly eschews labels, I am more and more perplexed by our ability to slap those things onto others and ourselves so eagerly—well
One of the most puzzling aspects of my recovery has been the contradiction that is 12 Step fellowship and recovery. It was a place where
Welcome, again, to that special time of the year of getting bombarded with ads showing the wonders of drinking and getting merry. When are we
I’ve realized that one of the components of keeping me sober for so long has been fear—in later years, the fear of leaving the rooms
I bet there’s not one person in the world who would answer the above question with: “A person struggling with addiction!” Yet there are so
I don’t want my adoption to define me. In the past, when I was first learning about my history, I became fascinated with where I
I don’t believe in stagnation. I like change, but especially the kind of change that allows us to grow and move forward. I think the
In the over-exaggerated world of movies and television, helping someone with addiction can look really heroic and ever-absorbing. I recall scenes of people setting up
One of the bleakest aspects of early recovery was the feeling of guilt and shame over the damage I’d done to my loved ones. Once
I’ve been immersed in the world of recovery for many years and I’ve come to the realization that this is my life passion. In addition,
In the beginning it has never occurred to me that my substance use was akin to checking out of life. I thought I was just
I offer the following as part of National Adoption Month 2019. I’ve written about secrets before, but it’s an important topic to remind myself and
I try to keep my writing as upbeat as I can, but I also cannot dismiss the reality of someone living in active substance use
Sometimes with addiction, you need all the help you can get. Actually, you always need all the help you can get – especially in early
One of the hardest aspects of addiction is that it doesn’t just affect the person having it. I’ve talked about families of people with substance
For me, one of the aspects of healthy recovery is learning about who I am and staying rigorously honest with myself about my reality. This
