Essential to Long Term Success Looking over old blogs, I noticed that I’ve mentioned sober support networks in quite a few of them (Dealing with Relapse and the Benefits of a Routine in Early Recovery are two recent entries that spring to mind.) However, I also realized that I’ve never written an entire blog on…
Maladaptive Behaviors If you’ve spent any time at all reading these blogs, you know that I love to work out. It’s been an essential component of my recovery ever since I decided to get sober and I preach its virtues whenever I can. However, it’s very easy to start using the gym maladaptively. For those…
A New Form of Salt Water Therapy At Ocean Recovery, we like to work our namesake into the various services we offer. And why wouldn’t we? As I wrote in the blog on salt water therapy back in March, simply being by the ocean both engages your senses and promotes a relaxed, meditative state. Furthermore,…
Relapse: A Deadly Teacher Relapse is one of the hardest things to talk about in recovery, especially in a conversation between someone who has some time and an individual in early recovery. On the one hand, you want to let a newcomer know that relapses happen. They are by no means uncommon. Furthermore, relapses can…
Fundamental to the Mission of Ocean Recovery We’ve touched on this subject briefly in a dual diagnosis blog from a few months back as well as the drunkorexia post more recently. However, this week I’d like to get into it a little more deeply. This concern is both close to my heart and fundamental to…
Take It to Heart “Keep an attitude of gratitude.” “You can’t be grateful and angry at the same time.” “Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” I’m sure every one of you reading this has heard at least one of these clichés no less than a hundred times. I’m also sure that a good number…
Getting to the Bottom of Things One of the most difficult conditions, or more accurately, complex of conditions, for mental health professionals to treat is a dual diagnosis. For those who don’t know, dual diagnosis is a pair of co-occurring conditions. This is usually some type of addiction along with a mental health disorder. For…
Home (and Sober) for the Holidays You came out to California to get sober. You developed a rapport with your therapists and put their suggestions into action. You built a solid fellowship in recovery with clients in process groups and folks at meetings. Everything had been going swimmingly until the calendar turned and you realized…
The symptoms that accompany oxycodone abuse are extreme. In fact, thousands of people die each year from abusing prescription pain pills, including this substance. With that said, people need to know about some shocking oxycodone addiction symptoms. Spotting these symptoms in loved ones is a sign that they need professional help. What Is Oxycodone? Oxycodone…
Long Term Effects of Alcohol on the Brain During a night out with friends, most people don’t put much thought into the long term effects of alcohol on the brain. However, regular alcohol abuse can have significant impacts on the way your brain functions. What Happens During a Single Night of Drinking Alcohol is a…