Blog
Pathways of Recovery
1 in 10 Americans — an estimated 22 million — live in recovery from substance use disorders. While it’s important to celebrate our stories of recovery, it’s equally important that…
Read MoreThe Impact of Wellness on Recovery
The Impact of Wellness on Recovery Wellness matters. It can have a profound effect on people in recovery in terms of successful recovery outcomes and overall physical health and well-being.…
Read MoreNational Recovery Month: Let’s Build A Movement
Recovery is the expectation, not the exception — Unity Recovery, a Recovery Community Organization Each year, September kicks off with National Recovery Month — a time when we see thousands…
Read MoreNon-12 Step Recovery Options
While millions of individuals may attend and recover through 12-step fellowships, like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), there is a common misconception that this is the only way to recover. But that…
Read MoreLGBTQ+ Recovery Resources
LGBTQ+ Recovery Resources According to the Recovery Research Institute, it is estimated that 30 percent of LGBTQ+ individuals face some form of addiction, compared with 9 percent of the general…
Read MoreThe recovery advocacy movement & how to get involved
The landscape of recovery has changed dramatically over the past few decades, and we have the recovery advocacy movement to thank for that. While there’s still a long way to…
Read MoreLanguage Matters in the Recovery Movement
Language matters. The words we use to describe substance use disorder, people using drugs, and people in recovery has the potential to cause a significantly detrimental impact in a number…
Read MoreMama’s in Recovery: Alannah’s Story
For Alannah, it can be difficult getting to meetings but, “being able to talk to the girls makes me feel like I’m doing something for my recovery everyday”. As a stay at home mom, Alannah is learning to tend house and says that, “there is no other job I’d rather do, I love staying home with them”.
Read MoreA Rendezvous with Hope
Original Blog Date: May 30, 2014
Through my early tenure in the addictions field, the question of readiness for treatment and recovery was thought to be a pain quotient. We then believed that people didn’t enter recovery until they had “hit bottom.” If a person did not show evidence of such pain-induced readiness, they were often refused admission to treatment. Then we recognized that the reason it took people so long to “hit bottom” was that they were protected from the painful consequences of their alcohol and other drug use by people we called “enablers.” We then set about teaching enablers to stop rescuing and protecting their beloved but addicted family members.
Read MoreIn Others’ Words
In previous blogs I have suggested that when I’m at a loss for words— doesn’t happen often— I use the words of others. I am reading a book by friend and mentor, Johnny Allem, titled Say The Second Thing—That Comes Into Your Mind. This book is a “tool box” that supports the work and joy of recovery. I know that recovery support for self and others is not a job but requires work. In describing his early days, Johnny writes about the tools of work.
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