recovery

The Triggering Effect: How to Manage Yours

If you’re in recovery from addiction, you know it takes much more than just willpower to prevent relapse. Recovery is a lifelong journey of learning and discovery about yourself that requires deep healing, as well as an arsenal of coping mechanisms to get you through the daily struggles of sobriety. “Willpower alone is not a defense against relapse,” says Meadows Senior Fellow Dr. Claudia Black in “The Triggering Effect.” Instead, “Recovery is achieved, maintained, and enjoyed through a series of actions.” One of those actions is coping with addiction relapse triggers. Read More

What Parents and Caregivers Should Know About Program Aftercare

“Aftercare” is a general term for activities and other resources that behavioral health and addiction treatment patients receive after being discharged from a primary care facility. Aftercare answers the question of “Now what?” once your child has completed a behavioral health program. This aftercare can help keep patients on… Read More

Holiday Wish

Don’t worry about making any one person the answer Let recovery be the answer Don’t worry about finding that good mother Let the rooms embrace you Don’t worry about the “God thing” Let the peace of the program… 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

Kid Cudi, Shame, and Depression

Hip-hop artist and actor Kid Cudi announced yesterday that he is currently receiving treatment for depression and suicidal thoughts. In a Facebook post he said, “It’s been difficult for me to find the words to what I’m about to share with you because I feel ashamed…” Read More

The Real Impact of Rape Culture and Sexual Trauma

When bystanders pulled Stanford University swimmer and Olympic hopeful Brock Turner away from the woman he was sexually assaulting behind a fraternity house dumpster, he laughed. When the judge in the resulting sexual assault trial handed down a sentence much more lenient than the recommended six years of jail time, citing the “severe impact” he feared a harsher sentence may have on the 20-year-old, many felt that he might as well have laughed. 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

11 Signs Your Young Adult May Need Help

By Ashley Chesky, MA, LAC and Patricia Plum, MSW, LMSW Do you sometimes feel that you no longer recognize the child that you raised? When you look at your young adult, do you find yourself asking, "Who is this person?" Do you feel "crazy," "lost," or “at your wits end?” Have you lost all hope?  Maybe this is where hope begins. Read More