Dr. Barbour was 40 years old with a high school education when she got sober. Without a plan in mind, she began taking classes part-time at a community college while holding various jobs. After earning a We’re going to be breaking new ground on this week’s SEX TALK. For the first time, the focus will
One byproduct of entering recovery is the multitude of gifts that sobriety can offer us. Some of the perks are more obvious than others, such as improved health, relationships, overall satisfaction and contentment. Although life steadily improves after active addiction, there is the stark reality of the state of the life you have just awoken
In my previous post, Partner of an Addict? Getting Your Unmet Needs Met, I discussed the fact that partners of addicts are often unhappy not only because of the addictive behavior itself, but because they are not getting their needs met. In Part I, I outlined the two steps needed to remedy this shortcoming: identifying
If you attend 12-Step meetings you’re bound to hear a bunch of corny sayings like “Denial is not a river in Egypt.” You’ll either laugh or roll your eyes dismissively. Where you’re at with your recovery has a lot to do with how information gets filtered through the addict-mind, what your ears pick
“Unhurt, unstruck, or unbeaten” – these are translations of the sanskrit word for the heart chakra. If only our hearts were so pure, so unscathed by life and time as to be called “anahata”. Unfortunately, at least for me, that has not been the case. All types of love: brotherly love, love of
I have been holding Santosha (contentment) retreats for four years. This year is my fifth. Each of the topics is designed to investigate and address something that harms our contentment; preventing us of enjoying peace. This year I am presenting aspect of letting go. What is so difficult about letting go? Why do we hold
Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. Step ten is, in many ways, an ongoing version of steps four through nine. With step ten we take a quick inventory of the day or a specific situation, identify our part in any problems, and, when necessary, we self-correct and
Two crumpled receipts: 1 from Costco,1 from Ralph’s, 1 double-sided shopping list, 1 yellow post it note scribbled in blue ink: “Thanks for the loan PT,” 3 pellets of hard dog food & a tablespoonful of sand. This is what I found at the bottom my laundry basket, after I hoisted a heaping double
When you are unhappy, depressed, anxious, etc., it’s usually because you’re not getting your needs met. This is especially true when your partner or a loved one is in active addiction. Addicts focus on meeting their own needs and the needs of their addiction, and give little to others. That doesn’t mean they don’t
Twice in this past week, I have seen two social media giants; Apple and Facebook publicly admit with data, showing the severity of their concerns, as to how clearly your smartphone is making you antisocial, unhealthy and that their technology is designed to hook people using the same neural pathways as gambling and drugs.
