I believe in an intentional gratitude practice. There is science behind it. Since dropping down to “just” one job setting (my business for self/private practice), I have been working on developing a more consistent a.m. and p.m. routine which includes a gratitude practice. I am a certified Appreciative Living Leader; a way of structuring a spiritual and personal development practice...[ read more ]
"Age of First Use?" What the Hell Does THAT Mean? Go to any intake or assessment for drug and alcohol use**, and one of the questions you’ll be asked is “What was your age of first use?” The question might seem trivial. Because it’s when your use got problematic that is the concern, right? Yes. Right. And no. The age...[ read more ]
Why You Can’t Think Your Way Into Not Drinking I’ve observed a tendency in my clients that they believe because they have achieved so much, they "should" be able to address their substance use disorder themselves. My clients are mostly high functioning persons with an alcohol use disorder** or substance use disorder**, people who are over-using alcohol, drinking too much,...[ read more ]
A Happy and Sober Holiday Season 2020 Version Last year I wrote a series of posts that I called “Your Definitive Guide to a Happy Sober Holiday Season.” It accurately described many of the challenges persons in recovery** can face during the holiday season. Click here for the blog post on an accurate assessment of recovery status. Click here for...[ read more ]
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 ]
Your Definitive Guide to a Happy, Sober Holiday Season - People, Places, and Traditions “The Holidays” Those 2 words create feelings, emotions, and begin a series of automatic responses in people. For some, “the Holidays” creates feelings of fun, festive, family celebration. They remember and anticipate laughter, Aunt Jen’s sugar cookies, Dad’s turkey, and watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade...[ read more ]
The Science of Woo: Service and Volunteerism The Greek philosopher Aristotle summarized that the essence of life is “To serve others and do good.” It’s Memorial Day in the United States, and I thought that would be a good day to publish the next in my series “The Science of Woo: Service and Volunteerism. You can find the beginning of...[ 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 ]
One Small Happiness: The Power to Change the Things You Can It’s the end of Spring Break. I’ve spent the day refreshing my home. And reflecting – mostly reflecting that my Spring Break wasn’t as productive as I had planned. Many of you reading know that I have a job role as an Administrator/School Counselor at a small private school...[ read more ]
