What’s the difference between opiate dependency and addiction. Some say none. I say, there is a big difference! Having spent the better part of last year with chronic back and pelvic pain I have been on and off and on and off opiates. Only to be back on again. This time while I await surgery

This thing about not being perfect can be a soothing balm to a perfectionist such as myself when I get things blown out of proportion. Mostly my recovery is about “progress not perfection… but I sensed so much frustration around this concept when I first came into recovery. I call myself a perfectionist in recovery,

To say that 2019 is off to an incredible start would be an understatement. More on that later. To say that the close of 2018 was a dizzying swing between fear and faith would also be an understatement. As I shared, I lost my job in the beginning of November. And that month, or the

“Love your addiction, love yourself.” When I first read these words, they stunned me. It was a complete paradigm shift. Away from guilt and shame and pain, and towards love and forgiveness and well-being. These words were the sub-heading in one of my favorite recovery books, 30 Day Sobriety Solution, part of Day 4: The Forgiveness Solution

  Plenty of things have been said about the road to recovery. It takes time,  patience and healing etc. etc. In truth, it can be like climbing Everest backwards and then starting from the bottom again. It’s hard, and like all things in life, it’s a journey. There are ways to make this road a little bit

  If you are in recovery from alcohol and substance abuse, then one area that could fast become a priority, is rebuilding healthy, glowing skin. Alcohol and drugs can dehydrate skin and interfere with the natural process of collagen formation. They can cause skin to become dull, lose its firmness, and develop wrinkles and lines. Your scalp and

  Can you imagine saying you are not culturally competent during a job interview? Probably wouldn’t go too well from that point forward. But I am not culturally competent. That was hard for me to finally understand. I wanted to be competent. I still do. It finally dawned on me that it wasn’t possible. Many

When you can’t find the words to express how you’re feeling, expressing yourself through a craft has been shown to be highly effective. Over 66% of patients in one study even reported that using art as therapy was associated with significant positive changes in mental health symptoms. While addiction treatment takes shape in many different forms, there

I don’t follow a 12-step program. I’ve been to AA meetings, several in fact, and I have received some benefit from going to them. But AA never resonated with me, for many reasons, and maybe I’ll lay those out in anther post…. But one thing has been swirling around in my mind lately… this idea