Addiction Recovery

Confidentiality is a pillar of addiction counseling. It’s practiced at all levels, and it follows a tradition deeply rooted in the Alcoholics Anonymous fellowship. When AA meetings began 90 years ago, outsiders unfamiliar with the fellowship focused on its name and logo, weaving urban legends about it being a secret society. In reality, the “Anonymous” aspect of AA isn’t a matter of obscurity. It refers

In the late 2000s, the American cable television network A&E presented two perspectives of recovery coaches, one realistic and the other fictional. The success of Intervention, an acclaimed reality series currently in its 25th season, prompted A&E executives to order production of The Cleaner, a drama series featuring Hollywood star Benjamin Pratt playing the role of a heroic recovery coach in Los Angeles. From 2008

The 2025 Oscar for Best Animated Feature was awarded to Flow, a silent movie about a black cat surviving in an apocalyptic world, but many critics thought it should have gone to Memoir of a Snail, an Australian stop-motion film with underlying themes of addiction. Director Adam Elliot drew inspiration for his whimsical feature from the real-life experiences endured by friends and family members, many

Many alcoholics and drug addicts treat themselves and recover on their own. Studies conducted by Yale University and McLean Hospital, home of the largest neuroscience research center, estimate almost 70 percent of individuals who fall into substance abuse patterns abandon them before they become severe. Others need professional help to recover. In some cases, they only enter recovery after an intervention. When you have a

One of the most compelling addiction memoirs published in recent times is Quitter, by Erica C. Barnett, a Seattle-based journalist whose recovery from severe alcoholism caused her to relapse many times over seven years. The book is filled with long and painful passages about Barnett’s struggle to stop drinking after more than two decades. Nonetheless, her frank self-assessment of “hitting rock bottom” too late in

In Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs, meetings are often adjourned with motivational sayings or chants encouraging members to return. One of the most popular AA closings goes along the lines of “Remember, it only works if you work it, so keep coming back because you’re worth it!” This positive expression emphasizes two important aspects of addiction recovery. Hearing “You’re worth it” from others who

Sobriety is a multidimensional approach to life. There are self-help and spiritual dimensions, and then there’s the highly practical concept of avoiding falling into relapse. When looking at ideal journeys to recovery, the practical dimension comes before self-help and spirituality. You must get on the wagon and learn how to stay on it before pursuing other dimensions of sobriety, and this can be accomplished by

Those pleasant moments you experience when seeing a loved one or coming home to an affectionate pet are pure neurochemistry at work. Dopamine levels surge when we anticipate or experience something pleasurable—hence the enjoyment we get upon arriving home and being enthusiastically greeted. There are other neurochemicals such as oxytocin and endorphins at play, but dopamine is the one to pay attention to because it’s

The loss of a loved one is always difficult, but imagine having to deal with it at the same time you’re trying to recover from chemical dependence or compulsive substance abuse. This happened to the legendary musician Lou Reed, frontman for the Velvet Underground, about 20 years before he passed away in 2013 at the age of 71, and he recorded an entire album about

When Hollywood star Ben Affleck attended the 2017 Oscars to see his production Manchester by the Sea win multiple awards, he had a sober lifestyle coach by his side. The actor was 44 years old at the time, and he posted a Facebook update a few weeks later to address tabloid speculation about who was next to him at the ceremony.  Affleck had been photographed a