recovery

Life during addiction can feel a bit like a train wreck. You’re moving along just fine, enjoying life’s splendid views, when suddenly everything goes off the rails. Addiction can wreck relationships, leave your finances in ruin, and deteriorate your health. Luckily, it’s always possible to turn things around. Addiction recovery is all about putting those…

Encouraging your kids to make the right choices in life is not something that happens overnight. Instead, it is a continuous learning process that occurs over time as your child transitions from one phase to the next. As if life weren’t difficult enough, trying to be a good person can be a lot harder with…

1999 was the first holiday season I had without my dad. In June of that year, he passed due to complications from cirrhosis. Ten years later, was the first holiday without my little brother, who overdosed in 2009. The holidays for me, and for many people, can be tough. There is a difference between being…

Addiction is a far-reaching epidemic and impacts the lives of millions of people. According to the most recent data, 19.7 million Americans battled substance abuse in 2017. Based on recurring reports in the media, that trend continues to climb, particularly because of widespread opiate abuse. Unfortunately, a substance abuse disorder impacts not only the individual…

I heard a phrase the other day. I wasn’t paying attention so I do not recall where I heard it, but the phrase struck me. The person speaking said the group of people they were referencing were “too busy surviving to dream”. For some reason, the term really resonated with me. It made me think…

Recently, I celebrated my second anniversary with depression. I know it sounds absurd. Depression isn’t some occasion to praise but trust me, it is. In this blog, I will tell you how and why. So tighten your seat belts we are going on a roller coaster ride of past and present emotions.:) Since my childhood,...

Unemployed, again. The stress has left me with depression and financial problems. After graduating with my undergraduate and graduate degrees, I spent my time unemployed. All in all, I’ve been unemployed for years at a time. I’ve had periods of job searching that have come up with absolutely nothing. I don’t blame the economy; I...

My understanding of situational anxiety is that it occurs quite literally when there is something extremely stressful happening in your life or in the world around you. And, even if you are not even focused on it, it has a way of getting into your psyche and impacting you.

Hello everyone. I hope you are dealing with the pandemic just fine. It has been almost six months, and we all have been in our houses either doing work from home or enhancing our personal skills. I have started cooking, a task which I have always disliked. Anyway, I hope and pray that everyone out…

Having family available to support me has been a blessing I’ve tried to never take for granted. Especially during these difficult times with COVID-19, I have found love and comfort in reading daily texts from my mother, talking on the phone with my sister who is a peer specialist, and occasionally enjoying safe visits with...