When we turn to addictive substances, relationships and behaviors, it is often because we are trying to drown out the voices of our inner demons. They play off of our deepest fears, of inadequacy, inferiority, abandonment, loss, rejection. They tell us that we’re not good enough, that we aren’t deserving of love, that we are…
Our addictions are often fueled by our escapism and avoidance. What many of us are trying to escape and avoid, and distract ourselves from, is the pain of our past. We will do anything to avoid having to face it. It can be terrifying look at the painful things we’ve been through – the hurt…
Learning to love ourselves unconditionally – through our addictions and depression, through all of our life challenges and obstacles – is one of the most important elements of recovery. Learning self-love is far from a quick fix. It is a lifelong process that involves unprogramming all of the limiting and self-disparaging beliefs we’ve adopted about…
One of the best things we can do for ourselves in recovery is create a relapse prevention plan – a plan for how we will respond to addictive urges when they hit. Very often when we’re not prepared for urges, our instinct is to respond to them the way we always did, by using. Our…
Addiction can be sneaky. Just when you think you’ve got one addiction beat, another one can creep in. There are several reasons for this. A big one is that right after you quit a substance, you tend to have abnormally low dopamine levels for a while. That’s because most addictive substances give you a significant…
Life skills training is an important part addiction treatment. Life skills include things such as how to find a place to live, how to pay the bills, how to make a budget, how to find a job, how to keep a job, how to find a car, and so on. These might sound like basic…
No one who has experienced withdrawal would think it was something to be grateful for. Depending on the drug, you might experience anything from irritability and cravings, to diarrhea, vomiting, seizures, and hallucinations. The fear of withdrawal keeps many people using substances long after it stopped being fun. Withdrawal has ended many attempts at recovery…
We’ve long known that exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, especially for anyone in addiction recovery. Exercise improves your physical and mental health is many ways. Physically, it helps heal the damage done to your cardiovascular system, it helps you maintain a healthy body weight, it encourages you to eat better and…
Everyone has different needs in addiction treatment. A quality addiction treatment program will help you create an individualized program that takes into account your specific background and issues. Different groups of people tend to share certain needs and risks. Here are some of the problems men are more likely to face in addiction and treatment.…
Recovery capital is whatever you have working in your favor to help you stay sober. An easy way to think of is that anything that makes you happier, healthier, and more connected to others is recovery capital. The more recovery capital you have, the easier it will be to stay sober. Recovery capital can be…
We are in-network with University of Utah Health Plans, Select Health & PEHP!