COVID 19, A New Normal and Being Tired “I’m so tired. Is that normal?” If you’ve ever been in therapy with me, you probably know I avoid the term “normal” in my clinical practice. I don’t find it helpful as most of the topics people ask the “normal” question about are highly contextual and in a range. Examples include...[ read more ]
Grief I forgot an assignment last month. Now, that might not seem like a big deal, but I am in in a Doctorate program; I have participated in a LOT of academics. I have 3 degrees and several certifications; I have done an s-ton of assignments, and never forgotten one until last month. Why? Grief. Did you know forgetfulness is...[ read more ]
Your Definitive Guide To a Happy Sober Holiday Season - Tools And Tips Welcome to the Tools and Techniques Entry. So far, you’ve reviewed your current status of recovery in general, and you’ve assessed your upcoming holiday specifically. Today we’ll build a list of tools and techniques that can help you curate a holiday season that you enjoy free of...[ read more ]
Your Definitive Guide to a Happy and Sober Holiday Season - Accurate Status Assessment It’s common for newly sober persons to be concerned about “The Holidays.” Totally understandable. The holidays bring together many of the elements known to challenge sobriety or a recovery program: family, celebrations, cultural expectation of partying with alcohol, time demands, official and unofficial parties, money and...[ read more ]
7 Reasons You Should Start a Gratitude Practice Today November is known in the Recovery Community as “Gratitude Month.” Go to a 12-Step Meeting in the month of November, and the selected topic is even more likely to be “gratitude.” (In case you are not aware, gratitude is a common meeting topic the other 11 months, too.) Meeting attendees are...[ read more ]
The Science of Woo: Contemplative Movement This is the next in my series “The Science of Woo: How the practices of spiritual disciplines, positive psychology, and other “out there” ideas are backed by science.” You can read earlier posts in the series below: I covered forgiveness. Here you can read about the science of gratitude. And you can LMAO yourself...[ read more ]
The Science of Woo: Laughter Before I went to sleep last night, I laughed so hard tears were rolling down my cheeks. When I woke up this morning, my sides hurt. The same thing happened yesterday. This is a special and delightful weekend for the Recovery Therapist. My daughter graduated from college yesterday. That is, of course, one of my...[ read more ]
The Science of Woo: Forgiveness Today – Easter – is a perfect day to feature Forgiveness in my series on the topic of “The Science of Woo.” There are ideas that transcend one religion and are found in all religions, and the idea of Forgiveness is one of those ideas. I am never surprised when those ideas are found by...[ read more ]
The Science of Woo: How the practices of spiritual disciplines, positive psychology, and other “out there” ideas are backed by science I am introducing my series on “The Science of Woo: How the practices of spiritual disciplines, positive psychology, and other “out there” ideas are backed by science.” One of the struggles I have as a treatment provider to persons...[ read more ]
Triggers: The Science Did you know?: The Recovery Therapist is in long term recovery For me that means that I have been clean and sober for 27 years. (33 as of the re-write) I want to share a scenario from 27 years ago. I had long since left the pattern of drinking in bars. I gave up recreational drugs and...[ read more ]
