When we’re struggling with addiction, we can be so consumed by the challenges of our everyday lives, the logistics of just making it through the day, the tough issues, circumstances and relationships we find ourselves struggling with, that we don’t make time for our spiritual development. We neglect the health of our spirits in muchRead More
When we are embroiled in our addictions and consumed by our mental illnesses, self-love can feel impossible to achieve. It can feel like that elusive quality we often hear about, and we know how important it is, but we feel unable to experience it for ourselves. We feel self-love is reserved for those among usRead More
Many of us feel that our work dominates our lives, and we struggle to find a balance between our work and our family obligations. We feel as though we never get to see our loved ones. We feel like we’re always on the go, and we have little to no time for self-care, relaxation, enjoymentRead More
When struggling with mental illness, our triggers are the things we’re most sensitive to, the things that bring out the most intense emotional reactions, and the things that cause us the most pain. When a trigger hits us, we feel overcome with an onslaught of difficult emotions – sadness, fear, panic, anger, bitterness. We reactRead More
When living with addiction, many of us have a tendency to place more importance on our romantic relationships than on our own well-being, and we often will prioritize them over our own recovery. It can be nearly impossible to focus on ourselves and to do what we need to do in order to get betterRead More
Ordinarily we tend to think of our flaws and imperfections as things we should be ashamed of, as deficiencies in our character, as evidence of our unworthiness and inadequacy. We see them as moral failings, as reasons to hate ourselves. We reject the parts of ourselves that we think aren’t good enough. We become self-deprecating,Read More
As we work to understand more about our addictions, we come to realize that there are certain factors in our lives that have been contributing to our mental health issues and to the development of our addictions. Our financial stability, or lack thereof, can play a major role in how unhappy we feel on aRead More
If you’re struggling with thoughts of suicide, PLEASE call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255). When living with addiction and mental illness, a common and very painful occurrence for many of us are the traumatic breakdowns we experience. We break down mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. We feel as though we can no longerRead More
Our mental health issues, which include our addictions, can cause us to feel as though we have no control over our own minds, our choices and our actions, and our lives as a whole. This can be a terrifying and debilitating feeling. We feel powerless, hopeless, defeated and weak. We feel as though we haveRead More
Recovering from addiction is a transformational process that invites us to challenge the many thoughts, emotions and behaviors that are hurting us and driving us towards our addictive patterns. When we are filled with pain we haven’t healed from, when we’re consumed by issues we haven’t resolved, we’re far more likely to turn to addictiveRead More