The recovery process is full of temptation: from sugar cravings that threaten to derail your efforts towards physical health to the monumental urges that threaten to steal your sobriety. Anyone taking on the task of recovery should be aware of these threats to the recovery process, no matter how big or small. In addition to…
A well-balanced, healthy diet is vital for good nutrition and excellent health, especially for those in early recovery. Misusing alcohol and drugs can contribute to nutritional deficiencies, so adhering to a healthy diet in recovery can be especially essential to restoring quality of life when receiving treatment and recovering from addiction. Eating foods with little…
Most people are aware that adhering to a nutritious, well-balanced diet can be vital to living a long and happy life. They understand that learning about nutrition and diet will likely be central to the work of eating disorder treatment. Still, they may not realize how essential it is to eat healthy during the process…
It’s truly a beautiful feeling when we open ourselves up to vulnerability and change, but encouraging change in addiction treatment can be more difficult. It takes courage to actively choose and approach our goals, to seek and accept help for addiction and mental health struggles. But sometimes this isn’t our journey; sometimes we’re watching our…
If any good thing has arisen from the collective trauma that we are all experiencing through the spread of COVID-19 and subsequent prevention methods, it is a spotlight on just how much we need each other especially when it comes to addiction treatment and beyond. Throughout the last six months, our ability to adapt to…
Leadership tools in recovery involve calling on your strengths to find productive ways to regulate your behavior. Some clients come to Recovery Ranch in Tennessee fully equipped with knowledge of the 12 step therapy program and years of Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous under their belt. However, to get the most out of recovery, you…
Many people mistakenly associate the word routine with an activity that is boring and repetitive. When you’re in recovery, however, the word takes on entirely different connotations. The truth is that establishing and adhering to a routine can help someone in recovery in many different ways. What are those ways? How does routine help in…
Carl is a soft-spoken screenwriter who grew up in an impoverished, alcoholic home. For most of his adult life, Carl has turned to alcohol to cope with grinding depression and a gnawing sense of not being good enough. One night after a weekend of drinking, Carl had a blackout. He awoke in his car with…
Therapists who treat addiction and co-occurring mental conditions have many weapons in their arsenal: psychotherapy, 12-step strategies, experiential exercises, education, medications and perhaps one more: Mother Nature. In a novel experiment, researchers at Stanford University in California randomly assigned 38 people to take a 90-minute walk in either a natural or urban setting, then assessed…
We’re told we need to love ourselves. We are told we need to have a healthy sense of self-esteem. But after years of addiction, rebelling against God and making havoc of our lives and relationships, it’s hard to feel anything other than a deep sense of self-hatred and shame. However, this kind of outlook doesn’t…