Mindfulness Using the Serenity Prayer

The Serenity Prayer may serve as a reminder of what steps you need to take to live a happier life.   While the term “prayer” may turn some people off, I encourage you to think about it more as a plan.  The first part talks about staying focused on your end goal.  The...

Where Do Emotions Come From? Understanding The Mind Body Connection

Your brain is the main control center of the body. You experience the world through your senses. When the sensory input reaches the brain it figures out what the information means, based on prior learning experiences, and what to do about it. For example, when you are driving and you see a yellow light, based on your prior experiences, your body sends the signals out to either slow down or speed up.

Increasing Motivation: Decisional Balance

Now that you have started to identify the problem, have identified some of the causes and consequences of addiction and mental health issues you want to change (and identified those things you are powerless to change) you need to get motivated. Part of getting...

Getting Ready to Make a Change

 In order to do the work required for change, it is necessary to identify why you are doing what you are doing, how it is affecting you and what you could do differently.  Doing this is kind of like taking the bandage off an infected wound, in order to figure out what...

Pinocchio: A Metaphor for Recovery

Sometimes it is helpful to relate your experiences to something else, in order to more clearly understand it. The movie, “Pinocchio,” can be used as a metaphor for addiction, Jiminy Cricket as their “sober selves” or conscience, and becoming a real boy without “strings” as ultimate recovery.

Consequences of Addictions and Mental Health Issues

Not everyone is in a bad place when they start using. Some people use drugs, gamble or engage in other behaviors recreationally.  As the “happy chemicals” in your brain got used up, and other coping skills became overwhelmed, the addictive behaviors were used to help...

Progression of Addictive Behaviors

Some people are still not convinced that they may have a problem.  “I am not as bad as______” or “I only drink on the weekends.”  The point is not how bad someone else is, or how often you are engaging in the behavior. The point is that you are experiencing problems...

Understanding Your Temperament and Preferences

Now that you have learned about your “issues” and have started to develop an action plan, let’s help you learn more about yourself as an individual, so you can make your plan even more successful.  In order to live mindfully and purposefully,  you need to consider how...

Addiction: Consequences of Addictive Behaviors

Not everyone is in a bad place when they start using. Some people use drugs, gamble or engage in other behaviors recreationally.  As the “happy chemicals” in your brain got used up, and other coping skills became overwhelmed, the addictive behaviors were used to help...

Addiction: Reasons People Use

Addictive substances and behaviors cause a release of pleasure chemicals that temporarily numb or distract from current feelings of depression, anger, anxiety or physical pain.  It is one way people survive unbearable pain, until they learn what is causing it and...