I’d address you by name but you have so many so I’ll just call you booze. When I first met you, you made me feel loved, secure and at peace. You lent me your strength. Your charm rubbed off on me. I felt like a better man when I embraced you. You had me from

Hello fellow travelers and welcome to the next installment of my review of Rosemary O’Connor’s book dealing with multiple issues facing moms in recovery, with a focus on taking care of both yourself and your children. This week my reading partner and I tackled two chapters. The first focused on the Love Relationship in recovery,

In hindsight I can take a deep breath and be grateful that I lived through the times of intense hyperactivity and anxiety – moving as fast as a locomotive. Learning to be still and quiet was not part of my nature. Feelings of calmness and being at peace were only ideas in theory. Unless I

My friend JayJo had a four-question acid test she used to make decisions: Will it make me Smarter? Richer? Healthier? Or Sexier? If it didn’t pass the muster it was a “NO.” Saying “No” is a skill that can be acquired if it isn’t already deep in your DNA. As a recovering people pleaser, I’ve

It seems that the reading my friend and I are doing appears to cover two topics and amazingly, the topics develop to having something in common. At first glance, I was not sure how that would work out this week. The concept of finding intimacy and the recognition of being a Drama Mama didn’t seem

Sometimes people think sex addiction is a males-only issue. However, that is not the case. Women are just as susceptible as men to the escapist neurochemical rush created by compulsive sexual fantasies and behaviors. Unfortunately, female sex addicts are much less likely to self-identify as being sexually addicted and to seek treatment for the disorder.

“I just went out and had some fun.” That’s what Simone Biles said after winning the Gold Medal. Her refrain has been repeated by winning athletes for as long as I can remember watching the Olympics. “Fun.” What a concept. Clearly an Olympian’s journey to Gold is not about FUN everyday. In fact, Olympians endure grueling

  In this next essay on Rosemary O’Connor’s wonderful book about being a mother in recovery, we tackle two very thorny subjects….dating and money. Let’s start with dating. I can’t count how many times I have heard a woman tell her story at a meeting, and at some point in the lead, she says “And

  Grant that I may not so much seek To be consoled as to console, To be understood as to understand, To be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive;  It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;  It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal

  I want the public to treat addiction as a disease, and to see all of those afflicted as their brother, or sister, or neighbor. And then I thought, “How does the public see an addict.” “When I was in active addiction, why did people on the streets scoff at me?” So I put all