Topic: tools for recovery

It’s a form of rehab for the brain recovering from sick, negative thinking.

You understand, on an emotional level, that you’re not really alone, and that everyone isn’t looking down on you for being who you are.

It’s a spiritual program that addresses emotional growth alongside behavior change.

In most cases, the intrusive thoughts associated with addiction (cravings, disturbing images, etc) go away during the course of recovery.

But no matter how difficult a challenge or how great a triumph it is for us to get from there to here, life’s still going to keep throwing more problems at us.

We were using the same kind of language to talk about it: Focusing, centering, in the moment, relaxing, stress-reducing, peaceful.

The coffee is just not that tasty. Yet they were getting something out of it that was important to them.

It’s a good question to put to a newcomer, in AA/NA or in therapy: “How much work are you willing to put into this process?”

When I first got into counseling, I had this sneaky feeling that it couldn’t possibly be that simple.

At the end of each day, make a list of what went right. Focus on that rather than the things that didn’t.