choice house blog

Recovery from addiction can affect your social life, as you find that some people may have been encouraging your addiction. As you take inventory of your friends, you may decide who to keep in your life and who to cut. Recovery can be challenging when you find that you need to cut people out of…

“The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Writer and Philosopher Being outdoors and in nature can be therapeutic for those seeking recovery from addiction. When you get…

Many people have days where their mental health state can keep them from getting out of bed or from being productive. Sometimes that little black raincloud just won’t go away, and it can be hard to imagine feeling the sunshine again. However, there are things you can do to help yourself get through these days…

Recovery is hard work; ask anyone that has gone through it. However, you’ll find that those who have gone through it and have been sober for many years will tell you that it was the best thing they ever did for themselves despite the difficulty they faced. Recovery is a daunting process. It appears as…

Relapse prevention is critical to maintaining long-term sobriety following treatment. Creating a relapse prevention plan often includes recognizing triggers, managing cravings, practicing relapse prevention tools, and establishing a support group. It also includes contacting people for motivational reminders to stay sober. Taking part in appropriate prevention activities will help when it comes to those critical…

Trauma affects people in different ways. A distressing situation may be traumatizing for one individual but not for another. The symptoms of trauma can vary, depending on the type of traumatic experience and how the person processes what happened. Mental health professionals need to understand the individual experience and the types of trauma that can…

Addiction takes a significant toll on your body, especially in the long term. When you enter into recovery, you must go through the effects of detox and withdrawal and then begin healing. This can take time, but the physical changes will be a great motivator to continue the path to sobriety. Seeing the before and…

When a person has been diagnosed with a substance use disorder in addition to another mental health disorder diagnosis, this is called a “dual diagnosis.” Dual diagnosis treatment can be a little more difficult because the addiction and mental illness are being treated simultaneously. However, this form of treatment will give you the best chance…

Many individuals believe that getting sober means simply abstaining from drugs or alcohol and that’s it. However, recovery is much more comprehensive and involves the creation of a brand new life of sobriety. Stopping the usage of drugs or alcohol is easy, but doing the work to heal the part of yourself that craved drugs…