May 12th, 2019
Recovery means learning to experience the full landscape of feelings and emotions that life so magnificently provides us. Our addictions, however, represent a misguided and often desperate attempt to . . .
May 5th, 2019
Addictions arise for many specific reasons, but fundamentally as an avoidance reaction to various forms of underlying fear. Our addictions act as a promise, a promise that if we can only . . .
April 28th, 2019
For better or for worse—and usually a mix of the two—our families, in concert with our genetic coding, establish our emotional default mode. Family refers to the group or groups of people who guided us through. . .
April 21st, 2019
At the root of addictive pursuits lies the endeavor to create a reliably pleasant experience of life—a certainty that we can rely on. The reality of life, however, revolves around the fact that there are no comfortable guarantees. . .
April 14th, 2019
The process of recovering from our addictions is not so much about learning to live without them as it is about identifying what it is they provided us and learning how to provide these things to ourselves sustainably. Our addictions don’t form themselves. . .
April 7th, 2019
Today’s quotation is yet another reminder that addiction recovery is so much more than simple abstinence. Our addictions do, indeed, represent a longing, but it isn’t ultimately a longing for the substances or behaviors. . .
March 31st, 2019
One of the many ways in which addiction can be viewed is as an attempt to satisfy the self. The ‘self,’ in this case, refers to the part of the human psyche that is incessantly desirous. . .
March 24th, 2019
Today’s quotation is not a given. The part of the human psyche that its author refers to is not always accessible to everyone. For the person mired within addictive patterns, for instance, there have usually developed layers of emotional protection. . .
March 17th, 2019
Recovery does not require perfection. Remember that this thing we call ‘recovery’ is ultimately a learning process and, by definition, the process of learning necessarily means we will fall along the way . . .
March 10th, 2019
Addictions seek to solve a problem. Though the particulars may differ from person to person, the existence of addiction signals an attempt to satisfy unmet emotional needs. Addictions arise as a way of trying . . .