Finding Your Family in Recovery

family in recovery

Family plays an integral role throughout many aspects of each individual’s life. However, the idea of a “family” can mean many things, with each individual having their own understanding of the word. Finding one’s supportive and empathetic family throughout the recovery process can be crucial in establishing effective support systems and creating an atmosphere of […]

Trust and Trauma in Recovery

trust and trauma

Trauma impacts an individual in many unique ways, any of which can make it difficult to cope with daily events. Those suffering from traumatic experiences can find their thoughts invaded by unwanted and harrowing images, and even a good night’s sleep can feel like a distant impossibility. However, before an individual can begin to tackle […]

Allowing Yourself Time to Rest

time to rest

After enduring hardship, one of the most core components of trauma or recovery is rest. To allow yourself the time to heal from everyday mishaps to tragedy, sleeping makes all the difference in the world. During sleep, your brain processes your experiences, and sleep is vital to your ability to process as you recover. You […]

How Emotional Landscaping Can Help You

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If you could picture your emotion as a landscape, what would you draw? Where would you be? If you could place yourself in the image, where would you place yourself? Mapping out your feelings can be a helpful exercise to sit with discomfort and embrace the message your emotion is trying to send. This is an […]

The Relationship Between Therapist and Client

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The relationship between the therapist and the client is a working relationship that depends on how the client wants to direct conversations. In this relationship, there are varying degrees of transference and countertransference. The relationship evolves over time, and in a healthy, working relationship, the client will disclose some of the most intimate aspects of […]

Understanding Different Types of Attachment Styles

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In childhood, we form different attachment styles in our relationships with people. There are three categories of attachment styles under Child Developmental Psychologist John Bowlby. These include secure attachment, avoidant attachment, and resistant attachment (also known as an anxious or ambivalent attachment). Most people are securely attached, and a small minority of people are resistantly […]

Relish in Your Accomplishments

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Never be afraid to pat yourself on the back. With having lived the amount of life that you have, you have garnered a lot of cumulative knowledge. You apply that knowledge to assist your lived experience best. To effectively relish in your accomplishments, you can remember the people who assisted you, give yourself the credit […]

April is Alcohol Awareness Month

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April is Alcohol Awareness Month — a time to take stock in accomplishments with sobriety and acknowledge those still struggling with substance use disorder. Started in the late 1980s by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, this month pays respect to everyone struggling with the effects of alcohol and its aftermath. Drinking alcohol is […]

What is Solution-Focused Therapy?

solution based therapy

Solution-focused therapy is an evidence-based practice to assist people of all age ranges in dealing with a wide variety of complex challenges. To date, there are over 150 randomized controlled trials supporting the benefits of this practice. It is often a brief intervention to help manage complex situations in a short time frame. This technique focuses on […]

The Healing Power of Exploring the Outdoors

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Have you ever felt stressed and then decided to take a walk outside to calm down? Did it work? Most likely, you returned to the setting you came from in a better headspace. Many reasons explain the healing power of exploring the outdoors. Some of these include a breath of fresh air, the color green, […]