Sober Living: 7 Things to Be Grateful for This Thanksgiving
Gratitude If this is your first Thanksgiving in recovery, there's much to be grateful for. The skills you learned in St. Joseph Institute’s Pennsylvania drug and alcohol treatment center have built the foundation for a better life. Take some time [...]
What Is Urge Surfing?
Learning to cope with cravings is one of the main challenges you'll face in early recovery. Urge surfing, a concept pioneered by the late psychologist Alan Marlatt, can help. About Urge Surfing Marlatt was a leading clinical psychologist in the [...]
How Celebrate Recovery Can Help You Stay Sober
Since its inception in 1991, Celebrate Recovery has become a vital source of support for millions of men and women living with substance use disorders. The program is offered at over 35,000 locations around the world—including churches, rescue missions, recovery [...]
Paying for Addiction Treatment
Evidence-based addiction treatment helps build the foundation for a lasting recovery, but it's understandable to worry about how to afford the care you need. However, there are many options available—regardless of whether you have access to private health insurance coverage. [...]
What You Need to Know About CBT for Addiction Treatment
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a goal-oriented form of psychotherapy that focuses on solving immediate concerns and helping people with substance use disorders develop the skills they need to stay sober. It’s much less intensive than other forms of psychotherapy, [...]
Graduate Spotlight: Kris Credits SJI with Getting Him on the Path to Recovery
My name is Kris and I am an alcoholic. I started drinking on a daily basis 22 years ago. At the time, I used alcohol as a crutch to get over a difficult event in my life. What that event [...]
How Keeping a Journal Can Help You Stay Sober
Staying sober often seems like an impossible task in the first days of recovery. However, journaling is one self-care strategy that can help keep you accountable and on the right track. Understanding the Benefits of Journaling in Recovery There's no [...]
Tweaking Your Diet to Control Drug and Alcohol Cravings
Cravings Are Normal Experiencing cravings for drugs or alcohol is a normal part of the addiction recovery process. It's nothing to be ashamed of, although the experience can be uncomfortable. In most cases, cravings pass on their own within 10 [...]
Trauma and Addiction: What’s the Connection?
It's difficult to say with certainty what causes some individuals to develop a drug or alcohol addiction. Substance use disorders are chronic biologically based illnesses with complex environmental triggers. However, exposure to trauma—especially during the childhood years—is strongly linked to [...]
Alcohol and Opioids Are a Deadly Combo
Legal doesn't mean safe. Since alcohol is legal for adults over the age of 21 and opioid painkillers are legal with a prescription, people often mistakenly assume that mixing the two is no big deal. This couldn't be further from [...]
