We can complete the treatment programs, we can do long stints in rehab, and we can go to group for the rest of our lives, but it won’t change the truth about being an addict—once an addict, always an addict. The same goes for drinking. If you are an alcoholic today, you are an alcoholic…
Family members play a crucial role in helping a loved one with an alcohol or substance use disorder get on the road to recovery. But where do you begin? How can you really help? When do you back-off? How do you prevent enabling? What tools are effective in keeping your loved one focused and positive during…
If you are upset, what do you do to make yourself feel better? Do you phone a friend or reach for a vape pen? Do you take a walk, or do you cut? After a bad day at school, do you reach for your sketchpad or reach for a joint? The latter in each scenario…
Summer is quickly upon us, bringing with it the promise, as well as the intimidation, of spending a summer with our son in recovery. For families, summer is always a balance of excitement and worry. When our children are off from school, they are granted copious amounts of time which may or may not be…
You may have heard the term functional alcoholic or functional addict, but what do those terms really mean? To be functional means something is working correctly. It performs and or operates in the way it was intended. For a person, it means they can get up each day, complete their assigned tasks of chores, schooling,…
When a child in your household is struggling with an addiction, it’s imperative that everyone in the home is on board with their recovery plan. Think about it like a team. If everyone is working towards the same goal, you will succeed. It takes one person to break the objective, and if that person isn’t…
A common fear after finishing a treatment program stems from one question: What’s next? This question provokes fear because it reflects the unknown. Going home means we return to the place where our addiction got the best of us. And now that we are clean and sober, a legitimate fear is falling into that pattern…
Having a teen who is in recovery or still out there in the throes of their addiction, poses overwhelming stress for you as their parent. You feel hopeless and helpless that you cannot do anything to help them but participating with their support group has done wonders for them. Jealousy may even creep in a…
The fateful day has come, and your teen has used or drank after a bought of sobriety. You are probably disappointed, scared of their future, and unsure of what to do next. No one can fault you for how you are feeling although there are some solid tips for you to act upon. Get calm…
Gratitude plays a huge role in recovery. As a teen in recovery, you may not have discovered that mental state of gratitude which is so instrumental. Finding a new way of life in recovery can be scary and confusing because you are in a confined age group since the number of addicted teens who make…
