When discussing what is helpful to our teens, it is important to remember the role of parenting. Parents begin teaching their children from the day they are born. As an infant, a child is shown love, attention, affection, and other basic emotions. During the ensuing years, a child learns right from wrong, boundaries and consequences. When your child is hurt, …

Although the Serenity Prayer is well known in recovery circles across the globe, it is still somewhat unknown to most. However, awareness of the Serenity Prayer is undoubtedly growing because it has been mentioned in many TV programs, documentaries and films. The Serenity Prayer was written back in 1932 by an American Theologian called Reinhold Niebuhr. The Prayer was later …

The Key to Relapse Prevention Is Handling Triggers and Warning Signs Most addicts, especially those in recovery, would agree that addiction is a lifelong battle. Making the choice to get sober can be difficult and, to be totally honest, it doesn’t exactly get easier from there. One common misconception about addiction recovery is that once a person completes treatment or …

In many ways, recovery is similar to addiction as both concern the formation of habits. Whilst addiction is invariably caused by the formation of bad habits, recovery is sustained by the formation of good habits. Bad habits that support an addiction are formed over many years. Likewise, good habits that support your recovery are also reinforced over many years. For your recovery …

If you are a recovery veteran, then you will likely understand that you must actively work on your recovery in order to retain it. If you do not work on your recovery, relapse becomes much more likely. ‘Working on your recovery’ may seem like a rather ambiguous phrase, and in this blog article, we aim to give you actionable advice …

Living with an addiction means much more than just being addicted to a substance. The vast majority of addicted people also live with extremely unbearable thoughts and feelings, as well as the guilt of past behavior. Often, these distressing emotions fuel a person to return to the substance. This brings something else to the equation: feelings of guilt, shame, self-blame, and even self-hatred. That is a huge amount …

Although social stigmas can mask their prevalence, chronic mental illness and substance abuse issues affect millions of Americans. According to the Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 43.6 million American adults were reported to have had some type of mental illness in a recent survey, and approximately 20 million adults struggled with substance abuse in the past year. Within …

There’s a problem many people who struggle with drugs and alcohol repeatedly run into when they’re trying to quit that despite the often-disastrous consequences of abuse and addiction, using substances can often be an effective way to temporarily feel better and respond to life’s stressors. Many with substance use disorders don’t necessarily even enjoy the effects of their chosen substance all that much …

It may be peaceful. There may be less traffic. However, getting adequate health care can be quite a challenge in rural America — particularly when addiction treatment and rehabilitation services are needed. Trying to get help for substance abuse or mental illness is a very different experience in these communities than it is in urban America. Here, we’ll examine why …

How Can I Encourage My Loved One to Get Help? Getting admitted to rehab is a scary reality for most people. Many shudder at the thought of being away from their family and making such a huge change in their life. Change is scary no matter what, especially the life changing decision to get clean. Communicating to your loved one …