Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols
On Christmas Eve we have a Chapel service of “Lessons and Carols” to celebrate in word and song the events from the Bible that lead up to Christmas. Every day during Advent we practice singing a Christmas carol to prepare [...]
The Long Road
The Long Road Recovery requires hard work and tough choices. To truly recover from addiction is a process, one that requires deeper and more lasting changes than simply acknowledging the errors of a life controlled by alcohol or drugs. The [...]
Recommended Reading: Comfort Food
Recommended Reading: Comfort Food: No One Brings Dinner When Your Daughter is an Addict By Larry M. Lake, Slate, November 8, 2013 Do you have a son or daughter who struggles with addiction? Do you feel free to talk about [...]
Searching for Shortcuts: When Addiction Treatment Fails
It is part of our culture, our daily practices, perhaps even our DNA: the desire to do things faster, easier, and with minimal sacrifice. Let’s face it. We want shortcuts. While finding a quicker route to the grocery store can help [...]
Beating the Odds on Relapse
You will have dozens of questions when you start to talk about relapse, and the answers are often confusing or contradictory. Is the success rate for recovery 10 percent? 25 percent? 50 percent? 75 percent? Can an alcoholic or addict [...]
Winning is Everything
In addiction recovery, “almost” is never good enough. No issue in addiction treatment is of greater importance than the prevention of relapse. Sobriety is never an optional goal. It is the “finish line” that justifies the time, expense, and constant [...]
The Chicken or the Egg?
If only life was a true reflection of the fairy tales our mothers read to us as small children. There was a problem, with courage and determination it was overcome, and everyone could then live happily ever after. The illusion [...]
Relapse: Why Addiction Treatment Often Falls Short
Addiction treatment can be discouraging. As a healthcare professional you can invest huge amounts of energy and passion into helping someone enter into recovery, only to see them fall back into the old patterns of using. The addict or alcoholic [...]
The Power of “Real”
Some would call it human nature, but perhaps it is more accurately described as a human weakness. I’m referring to our common desire to sugar-coat the truth, making things appear better than they are. People in recovery know what I [...]
“People in Recovery Are the Best!”
I will never forget the little speech that Sara gave at St. Joseph Institute during an evening discussion on relapse prevention. With strong emotions, she argued that the best people she knew were in recovery. The group chucked when she [...]
