How to Plan a Sober Thanksgiving
By
Admin
Oct 25, 2020
Thanksgiving can be a difficult time for those in recovery, as many holidays can be. During these times, each person in recovery will have to deconstruct their expectations of the holidays and begin to establish new practices and traditions that can help support their continued sobriety. However, planning for Thanksgiving can take a lot of work in order to ensure that someone is minimizing their chances of stressors and establishing a set of coping strategies and contingency plans in order to remain safe through the holiday. While someone may feel as if their use of an addictive substance or behavior may be intricately linked to Thanksgiving, it is never too late to change traditions or create new plans that can help support ongoing sobriety while still enjoying the holiday.
Establishing a New Identity
By
Admin
Oct 23, 2020
Going through the recovery process is a transformative experience. While each person can learn and implement their own, unique skills into their lives to address the various stressors that they may face on a daily basis, recovery also means unlearning a fair number of practices and habits. Overall, it means letting go of the person that someone was, at least in some capacity, in order to pursue a better future for one’s self and their own goals in life. Recovery, and the transformations therein, are intended to give someone the tools they need to begin to establish their new identities in their newfound sobriety, or overall freedom from stressful work-life imbalances or mental illness. However, simply establishing a new identity is a complicated topic, and there are a number of ways that someone can begin to grasp at the idea of forming their new identities or even beginning to establish their unique identities for the first time.
How Can I Prepare for Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) in Recovery?
By
Admin
Oct 22, 2020
Seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D.) can be a hurdle for anyone and can introduce even more complications into one’s recovery journey. The effects of seasonal affective disorder can cause someone to feel more isolated in their daily lives and can add to feelings of depression that coincide with the dwindling daylight. This lack of light can take its toll on everyone, but it can be especially dangerous for someone in recovery who may already be experiencing feelings of anxiety and depression on a daily basis. Accentuating these feelings can cause someone to compromise their own recovery process, or begin to feel overwhelmed by depression brought about through the winter months. However, there are ways that someone can prepare for the inevitable loss of sunlight in order to help them better cope with the effects during their recovery journey.
Thinking About Children After Maintaining Sobriety
By
Admin
Oct 21, 2020
Even as someone begins to implement their recovery coping strategies into their daily lives, and have achieved and maintained their sobriety through a transformational sobriety program, there are still many goals that someone may want to accomplish for themselves. There can be a number of personal and professional goals that someone seeks to achieve in their sobriety as they continue on their new paths towards their future. One of these personal goals could be a desire to start a family. However, this kind of goal needs to be thought about carefully, regardless of one’s history with addiction. For those who have been through a program for recovery from addiction, there may be additional considerations that must be addressed before someone can fully commit to such a huge life goal. Considering starting a family as someone in recovery is certainly possible, but there are dangers that each person must consider before making this kind of commitment.
Animal-Assisted Therapy and a Symbol of Pride
By
Admin
Oct 19, 2020
The idea of recovery can mean a lot of different things, depending on what someone is recovering from and how much it has affected their personal and professional lives. However, the idea of recovery as a forward-looking, transformational process is always at the heart of any recovery program. Even as someone is continuing their recovery on their own or attending intensive outpatient therapy, this transformational, forward-looking mentality can be aided by the use of a companion animal through the recovery process. Not only can spending time with an animal be very beneficial to one’s mental health, but they can also help someone continue to challenge their own responsibilities and life skills each step of the way in their own journey. Providing something that can unconditionally show affection, as well as instill values of responsibility and a continuous sense of pride, can help someone continue to transform their living style and own self-esteem and self-image.
You Have More Agency Than You Realize
By
Admin
Oct 18, 2020
Whether someone is in recovery from an addiction to drugs or alcohol, dealing with their own mental health disorders, or overall suffering from the daily stresses of maintaining a healthy work-life balance, the idea of agency and control can often feel out of reach. However, despite the overwhelming feelings that are prevalent throughout recovery, there are always certain aspects of someone’s life that each person always has control over. Identifying the elements of a given scenario that someone can control and building upon them can help each person understand and extend their agency over their lives, responses to stimuli, and ultimately, their path to the future.
What Can I Do to Stay Active During Covid-19?
By
Admin
Oct 17, 2020
With quarantines and coronavirus still taking their toll on many personal outlets that someone may have, as well as the dropping temperatures that come with the autumn season, maintaining an active, physical lifestyle is increasingly difficult. However, the need for each person to stay active during this time is still important, and so finding ways that each person can combat these elements and continue to engage in physical activity is paramount. While gyms may be closed and outside activities still being difficult to access, there are ways that each person can continue to stay active within their own homes, ranging from personal exercise routines to using technology to one’s advantage to stay physically healthy.
Finding Resources When Leaving Sober Living
By
Admin
Oct 16, 2020
The transition out of a sober living facility to living on one’s own or with family in the “real world” can induce a lot of anxiety as someone prepares for all of the changes that this transition entails. However, that doesn’t mean that someone is left without resources to help with the transition, either in the form of their own alumni program or various strategies they can implement themselves into their daily lives. Even as an alumnus, it is important to continuously adjust one’s coping strategies and life skills in order to continue developing their own sense of self and maintain the success of their sobriety. Making preparations for living in the “real world” ahead of time can help make the transition easier, and there are a number of other resources that someone can implement into their lives through the process.
Taking Hold of Your Own Recovery Model
By
Admin
Oct 15, 2020
Each person has their own idea of recovery and what it may look like for them. For some, images of people sitting in a circle talking about their difficulties with addiction come to mind. For others, they may picture a more medical setting, or sitting one-on-one with a professional to talk about their childhood. However, the idea of recovery is something that is actually very fluid and doesn’t adhere to just one definition. Recovery can mean many different things to many different people. Because recovery doesn’t have an inherent definition of what can or cannot be therapeutic, it is possible for someone to begin to mold their own recovery model and personalize their own experiences and healing. Taking hold of one’s own recovery model involves not just finding a way in which someone can begin to introduce new and healthier dimensions into their lives, it also becomes a simultaneous exercise in one’s own agency. Recovery is designed not just to help someone confront their vulnerabilities with addiction or mental health disorders, but also to empower each person to pursue their own identities in their personal journey towards self-actualization.
How Does Eating a Good Meal Affect Your Mindset in Recovery?
By
Admin
Oct 14, 2020
Good nutrition can make a huge impact on the recovery process. There are a number of benefits that each person can gain from maintaining both a balanced meal, as well as maintaining a steady meal schedule in order to avoid snacking. However, there are even more benefits that someone can gain from making their own healthy meals in recovery. Working to balance one’s nutrition in recovery can be reflective of the progress that someone has made in their recovery journey as a whole. Learning the benefits of simply eating a healthy meal as well as what other impacts it can have on recovery can help each person maintain a positive and healthy outlook on recovery while also helping their bodies and minds be more receptive to the positive effects of a strong recovery program.