As a woman in long-term recovery and a regular contributor to The Phoenix Spirit, I have written about my experience finding sobriety, struggling with and addressing cross-addiction, and being a part of a 12-step program. What I have not yet shared is that I am a trauma survivor, and how addressing my trauma has been …
As we live through these very challenging times, I can’t imagine anyone arguing about the need for developing resilience. This is especially true for those of us in recovery from addictions, whatever be our addiction or addictions. In this article, I’d like to suggest four practices that I have found helpful in developing resilience. The …
Anger is probably the most poorly handled emotion in our society. From time to time we all experience this very powerful feeling. Some of the common causes of anger include frustration, hurt, annoyance, disappointment, harassment and threats. It is helpful to realize that anger can be our friend or foe, depending on how we express …
On July 25, it will be two years since I’ve kissed an old, old boyfriend. He is a modern man, with a hyphenated last name. His first name is Johnny and his last name is Walker-Red. I chose my sponsor because she was beautiful, poised, brilliant, a mother (a prerequisite as I have three children)and, …
I am a big sports fan. I like to play sports, although I don’t do that as often as I used to, and I follow all of the major sports. I talk sports at work, and listen to sports talk radio and sports center on T.V. just about daily. I think that I am aware …
It was the last day of a graduate class I was teaching on the Spirituality of the Twelve Steps. I asked the class what was most striking to them from the lectures and conversations we’d had. As though she had been given the question earlier, a woman immediately shot her hand up. “I learned again and …
When we think of recovery programs for substance use disorders or addictive behaviors, many of us automatically think of the Twelve Steps. No surprise, since millions of people throughout the world embrace this philosophy that sprung up in the 1930s when the first Twelve Step group, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), was founded. Today there are Twelve …
