Recovery

Building Strength and Resilience through Facing and Dealing with Life’s Problems

Resilient qualities are not only what we’re born with but also the strengths that we build through encountering life’s challenges and developing the personal and interpersonal skills to meet them. It is one of life’s paradoxes that the worst circumstances can bring the best out of us. According to the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) studies performed by Robert Anda (2006) and his team at Kaiser Permanente’s Health Appraisal Clinic in San Diego, we will all experience four or more serious life stressors that may be traumatizing, and according to positive psychology research, most of us will grow from them. Read More

The Magic of Sand Tray

Sandtray therapy is a valued medium I use to help young adults who are trauma survivors and/or are struggling with addiction. At the Claudia Black Young Adult Center I use it with clients with early childhood complex trauma, those with attachment disruption often associated with adoption histories, those with dissociative symptoms, or major traumatic events such as sexual assaults, nightmares, and polarities around addiction.  Certainly, family dynamics can be explored with this medium. For the client who is showing resistance, has poor verbal skills and/or social-relational difficulties it is really useful as the sand tray becomes both a visual and a sensory tactile experience creating the ability to go deeper within and regain an internalized sense of control and safety. Read More

Strengths and Weaknesses As A Spiritual Role In Recovery

By: Nancy Greenlee, LPC, The Meadows Therapist Once a month, the Workshop team is treated to a consultation from Pia Mellody, the creator of the Survivors workshop treatment model. She makes herself available, both to consult on clinical cases, answer and process questions and to inspire us with her wise adages for the spirituality of recovery. Often, I leave our gatherings with notes in hand to share with my workshop groups. Read More

Becoming Fearless with the Help of Al-Anon

By the Mother of a Past Claudia Black Young Adult Center Patient As my daughter does her recovery work from drug and alcohol addiction and anxiety, I too work my recovery through Al-Anon. I won’t go into details of how my daughter and I both came to this point because I’m guessing many of you are already familiar with the scenario— failing grades, arrests, court appearances, isolation, detachment, and on and on. Read More

Identify Your Triggers to Avoid Relapse

By Claudia Black, Ph.D., Senior Fellow and Clinical Architect of the Claudia Black Young Adult Center at The Meadows The following is an excerpt from Claudia Blacks Audio CD “Triggers.” You can find it in The Meadows online bookstore or on… Read More

Accepting the Past as an Asset in Recovery

By Aleah Johnson, The Meadows Alumni Coordinator What if I were to tell you that all aspects of your past would be used as an asset? Would you believe it or would you instantly regret and want to change it? I have a love/hate relationship with the word "acceptance." As a stubborn addict, I am not supposed to agree with everything, right?   Read More

Can Adult Coloring Books Play A Role in Recovery?

Adult Coloring Books were big sellers this past holiday season. If you checked Amazon.com’s list of top-twenty best-sellers at any time in the last couple of months, you would find that up to 10 of the books listed on any given day were coloring books. The books feature mandalas, secret gardens, enchanted forests and a number of other intricately patterned designs. Read More

Sobriety in the New Year

The New Year symbolizes a time for fresh starts. Everyone is making resolutions to better themselves in the coming year, so it’s no surprise that many people decide to pursue sobriety. Starting a new year with the decision to find sobriety and heal lifelong wounds is a very courageous decision. Usually, though, simply making a resolution is not enough. This is true even with non-addicts. But the good news is, there are steps to take that can significantly aid in reaching and maintaining sobriety. Read More

Wings of Hope

We understand how tough making the decision to seek treatment can be for those struggling with trauma, addiction or mental health issues. We want to help recovery take wings, so we’re offering to cover airfare for individuals admitting to inpatient treatment at any of The Meadows programs: The Meadows, the Claudia Black Center for Young Adults, and Gentle Path at The Meadows. Read More