I went from heroin addict to PTA mom
I live in a suburb. I have all the trappings of a comfortable life. I am content in my daily life. What sets me apart from the typical soccer mom is that I am an outspoken recovering heroin addict. Many people might be familiar with my story from the …
Read more on CNN

Working the Steps for Love Addicts
Entering a 12-step program such as Sex & Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA) can be a very important part of the recovery work from love addiction. Modeled after the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, the 12 steps for recovery from love addiction look similar …
Read more on PsychCentral.com (blog)

Restoration Fellowship is a church where addiction isn't secret, recovery is …
"It's a church plan that's focused entirely on recovery ministry," said Culbertson, noting the group's calendar bases some of its lessons on the 12 steps of Narcotics Anonymous. "People who are recovering from addiction, from abuse, from past pains …
Read more on Bay City Times

Helpline for Teens in Edgewater, FL Provides Addiction Recovery Information
The first step toward addiction recovery is to admit that you have a problem and seek help in overcoming it. Having a non-judgmental and safe place to take these important steps can make the process much less frightening for teenagers. Calling the …
Read more on PR Web (press release)

One of the main things that I teach newly recovering alcoholics/addicts to do, is to identify the roles that chemicals play in their lives. This is especially important since the chemical has occupied so many crucial roles or functions and that removing it from a person’s life leaves big, gaping holes in their behavioral repetoire. When you identify the roles previously played by the chemical, you then identify possible healthy alternatives to replace the roles with. Early on, it is usually simple things like meetings, prayer, meditation, exercise, calling people for help, etc. Its pretty difficult to learn sophisticated living skills when you are hanging on by your fingernails. A little later in recovery, we are still working on replacing the roles with healthy alternatives, but we are focusing more on developinig more indepth living skills, and working to solve the most pressing of problems.

Often, by the time that someone finds his way to recovery, he has focused so much on getting the next drug, using it, and getting over it, that they don’t have a full grasp of the disarray that his life is truly in. The bills may be stacked up and unpaid. There may be impending court dates. Extended family members may not be speaking to him. He may be unemployed or underemployed. He may lack frustration tolerance, stress managment, feelings expression skills, and inability to communicate and problem solve with others. The following problems list can help the recovering person begin to repair the damage caused in his life by addiction. To use this checklist, identify which problems you have, rank them from most pressing to least pressing, taking into account the items as short term and long term goals.

The Problems Checklist

Check the problems on this list that you have currently. Identify whether you look at these items as short term or long term goals. Rank the ones you identified in terms of most pressing to least pressing, (i.e. #1, #2, #3).

Check Rank

____ ____ Housing, or appropriate place to live
____ ____ Medical or dental problems or need for checkups
____ ____ Regaining custody of children or finding Appropriate childcare
____ ____ Legal and court problems
____ ____ Relationship issues
____ ____ Social network problems (i.e. drug using friends/acquaintences)
____ ____ Feeling management skills
____ ____ Education issues such as going back to school, GED, additional training, etc.
____ ____ Psychololgical issues like anxiety, depression, mental confusion, mood swings, etc.
____ ____ Lack of structure and time management skills
____ ____ Lack of stress management skills
____ ____ Impatience, lack of frustration tolerance, demand for immediate gratification
____ ____ Lack of self-esteem, self-confidence, or positive identity
____ ____ Shame and guilt about hurting family or need to make amends
____ ____ Poor communication skills and/or poor conflict management skills
____ ____ Other obsessive compulsive behaviors
____ ____ Alienation, not feeling like you fit in, loneliness, isolation
____ ____ Lack of motivation or Procrastination
____ ____ Reliable Transportation
____ ____ Financial concerns or unpaid bills
____ ____ Job training or employment

`Bonnie and Clyde' duo arrested in robbery spree
A Medford couple is responsible for a string of heists at over a dozen fast food restaurants and truck stops across Suffolk County, using the stolen funds to fuel their mutual drug addiction for up to six bags of heroin a day, cops say. … In addition …
Read more on Long Island Advance (subscription)

Heroin becomes an increasing problem on LI
Long Island drug treatment officials say intake records, state health records and anecdotal evidence suggest treatment for heroin addiction has increased roughly fourfold on the Island since 2011. Nonfatal heroin … Pain pill addict David Laffer …
Read more on Newsday

'Live To Tell' story of addiction and recovery
Tim Rader, who is now living drug free, tells a story of addiction, recovery and redemption from which anyone can learn from. He puts a real face to the topic of addiction and its consequences. Through Tim's Live To Tell, he has a special message to …
Read more on Stratford Star

Recovery project to start helping addicts in March
"This a comprehensive one-year recovery program designed to help individuals attain and maintain a life of freedom from addiction and other life-dominating behaviors," said Jason Batten, operations manager at the mission. "The Grace Project is not an …
Read more on Parkersburg News

Addiction recovery begins with someone who is addicted to a certain substance, such as alcohol, recognizing the fact that they are addicted and then seeking help through alcohol rehabs. This is the first and very crucial step towards treating someone with an addiction and should be taken by the person who is in the throes of the addiction. No one can stop another person from drinking or getting serious about addiction recovery. Generally speaking, a person usually hits rock bottom before they seek out alcohol rehabs and get the help that they need.

Alcohol rehabs work first to eliminate the need for the body for alcohol. Because alcohol is a drug that not only creates a psychological dependency but also a physical dependency, the physical dependency must first be conquered in order for the addiction recovery to get started. Alcohol rehabs usually concentrate first on ridding the body from the physical dependency on alcohol so that the addiction recovery can then take place. This is only one step towards successful addiction recovery. After the physical dependency is gone from the body, the person must then concentrate on the psychological components that made them addicted to alcohol in the first place.

There can be a host of psychological components that cause someone to be addicted to any type of drug. These stem from problems that a person may have in childhood as well as adulthood that they numb by using certain substances, such as alcohol. Addiction recovery, in order to be successful, must address these problems so that the addict can get the monkey off their back and begin to lead a life that is free from addiction.

If a person is committed to addiction recovery, their prognosis for a full recovery is excellent. Not only are there alcohol rehabs out there to help them get rid of the physical dependency on alcohol, but these same alcohol rehabs will also give them the tools that they need to re learn their behavior patterns so that they do not fall into the same trap in the future. Most people who want to seek help when it comes to addiction recovery will get the help that they need through the tools that are offered at alcohol rehabs. These tools include both emotional support as well as learning tips that cn help them avoid drinking in the future.

Those who are serious about addiction recovery and want to live lives that are sober can get the help that they need at alcohol rehabs. Although loved ones can encourage alcohol rehabs as a form of addiction recovery to the addict, it is ultimately down to the person who is addicted to alcohol or any other substance to eventually help themselves. They can do this with the support that they receive at alcohol rehabs as well as learn from their past behavior. Addiction recovery is a process that can take a long period of time and in which a person is always learning, but can prove to be very successful once someone is committed to seeking help for their addiction.