Remember the days before the opiate epidemic, when the world was drug-free and no one had addiction problems? Of course not. Substance abuse has been ruining lives since humans first ...
Is Kratom Safe for People in Recovery?
If you’re tied into the recovery community, you’ve probably heard of a relatively new substance that can supposedly keep relapse at bay. Kratom, a tropical evergreen tree in the coffee ...
Leaving Against Clinical Advice (ACA) in Rehab
Our culture has a fixation with individualism. Although “pulling yourself up by the bootstraps” may seem like a brave and noble idea in theory, it seems less enticing when it …
Harm Reduction: Does It Work?
If you’ve spent any prolonged amount of time in the recovery community, you’ve probably arrived here with a bias either for or against harm reduction. Maybe you vehemently fight against …
If Demi Lovato Can Admit to Relapse, So Can You
Singing the blues is a time-honored artistic tradition. Blues singers often approach the task with a cryptic veil that allows them to channel the idea of sadness or guilt without ...
Backslide vs. Relapse: Is There a Difference?
Recovery presents joy and challenge in competing measures. This battle to regain control of one’s life does not have one linear path. Rather, it’s a series of twisting, convoluted choices ...
Why Do Addicts End Up in Hotels?
We’re all familiar with the trope. After days or weeks on a bender, an addict will find themselves holed up in a hotel with bottles, spoons, and whatever else strewn …
Prepping Your Social Life for Relapse Prevention
Rehab teaches some pretty great therapeutic tools for recovery. It helps address deep issues like coping mechanisms and crisis planning. But the logistics of preventing relapse in the Information Age ...
Is it Okay to Smoke Weed in Recovery?
Thanks to Prop 64 that passed in 2016, it’s now legal to buy and use pot in California (federal law is another story). The Adult Use of Marijuana Act continues …
5 Reasons Alcoholics Choose Self-Sabotage
“Choice” presents a tricky concept for alcoholics. If alcoholism is a disease (as it’s recognized in the DSM V), can people who suffer be held accountable for their actions? Absolutely! ...