Liver Damage from Alcohol Abuse

Excessive drinking creates havoc in the brain and the body, particularly the liver. It is important to understand the function of the liver, how it is impacted by alcohol abuse and available treatments for these conditions including fatty liver disease, cirrhosis (scarring), and hepatitis. Role of the Liver The liver is a vital organ in

How Your Honesty Affects Your Addiction Recovery

Addiction recovery and rehab is all about breaking old destructive habits and establishing new patterns and codes of conduct that allow you to stay clean and sober. When you live life as an addict, you erect structures around yourself that support your addiction and substance abuse. One of the more common structures is deceiving yourself

Goal Setting in Addiction Recovery

Marathon runners predict their finishing times and set their running pace to meet those times Companies write detailed business plans that include two- and five-year sales projection and then set up operations to achieve those sales goals. These and other long-term endeavors typically start with goals and work toward meeting those goals. Your addiction recovery

The Great Outdoors As An Addiction Recovery Tool

During a 2003 interview on 60 Minutes, NFL Hall-of-Famer, Lawrence “L.T.” Taylor talked about his drug and alcohol abuse problems and about how he used golf to help in his recover from those problems. L.T.’s life both during and after his NFL career has not been without controversy, but his discussion in 2003 about getting

Moving Forward Through Overcoming Your Fears

Early in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, the character Lucio tries to convince Isabella, a shy woman, to move forward with a plan by arguing that “[o]ur doubts are traitors/and make us lose the good we oft might win/by fearing to attempt.” We can take this as proof that, even in Shakespeare’s time, people were reluctant

Three Steps to Relapse

After recovering from a serious drug addiction, the last thing you want to do is consider going through that ordeal again. Once you’re done, you want to be done with that forever, right? Unfortunately, the nature of addiction is complex and frustrating and you will have to fight off temptations and relapse triggers for some

How to Choose a Treatment Plan that’s Right for You

Each of us are different and, when it comes to treating addiction, everyone has a unique set of needs and circumstances that must be taken into account when deciding on a treatment plan.  Addiction is a dependency the brain has formed on a particular substance or behavior. For things like opiate addiction, which is a

Keep Calm and Kick the Habit

The popular Internet and T-Shirt meme has a catchy and shareable nature to it; Keep Calm and…  The phrase is usually followed up with some activity but the central idea of this viral idea is that only when you take a breath and calm your agitated nerves can you truly enjoy what you’re doing, whatever

You’re Responsible for Your Own Happiness

We hear in recovery counseling a lot about people who turn to substance use in a search for joy or pleasure in an otherwise miserable or unhappy life. As understandable and universal as the desire for happiness is to all of us, it’s well understood that the fleeting rush afforded by drugs and alcohol are

3 Reasons Your Friend Isn’t Ready to Quit

There are numerous examples of people who were unwilling to get help for their addiction and, for one reason or another, forced into sobriety.  These stories are surprisingly positive, as the majority of these cases have experienced long term success in recovery. The fact is, the very nature of addiction is that you do not