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 ...
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 …
Avoiding the Treatment Center Cycle
Rehab saves lives. There’s no disputing that. With the opioid crisis catapulting addiction into the national limelight, there has been a much-needed push for Americans to accept addiction as a …
Beware of Bait & Switch: 6 Signs of an Effective Treatment Center
Let’s get down to brass tacks: for most people, substance abuse is not a well-understood disease. Getting help feels daunting and foreign. Loved ones often find themselves at a loss ...
Set Intention: Hacking Away at Your Bad Habits
Some problems seem too abstract to fix easily, so we resort to mental shortcuts instead. Unfortunately, this bad habit of deferring difficult/work-intensive decisions (like, say, getting clean and sober) creates ...
10 Step Group: Self-Love and Self-Acceptance
Staring at your eyes in the mirror, you wonder at what point your own reflection became that of a stranger. As your palms squeeze absently against the sink, you struggle ...
Playing the Tape: 7 Tracks to Skip Relapse
Recovery is not a destination, it's a journey. A hallmark of long journeys is the toolbox that helps propel you through life's daily routines and its occasional crises. Playing the ...
Riding the Pink Cloud: How Relapse Strikes Back
At first, emerging from years (or even decades) of a drug or alcohol-induced haze is exhilarating. Reality hasn't quite settled in yet, you're feeling rejuvenated, and being reintroduced to one's ...
Reasons Why People Leave Treatment Early (And How to Prevent It)
If you’ve watched any medical shows (I’m looking at you, Grey’s Anatomy fans), you’ve probably heard the term “AMA” before. It means going against medical advice and it’s a term ...
Don’t Bottle Up: How to Mourn Losing Your Drug of Choice
You know what’s worse than having to accept change? Hearing platitudes about the necessity of accepting change. There are few things more tiresome than a condescending rando putting on their ...