By Ana Carolina Bovo April is Alcohol Awareness Month! The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism brings to awareness the importance of new information and knowledge about alcohol misuse and its impacts on health. Although Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is among the four leading preventable causes of death in the U.S., it is still widely undertreated, with only 7% of AUD adults being adequately treated. Researchers argue that the scarcity of available treatments, their modest rate of success, and the underprescription of these treatments might be part of the issue.  In this scen ..read more

By: Mikayla Owen As the holiday season approaches, it is important to remember that addiction recovery is a multifaceted journey that requires a holistic approach to healing. Nutrition and lifestyle choices greatly impact overall aspects of wellness in recovery. Embracing seasonal nutrition can be a valuable tool in achieving overall well-being and maintaining recovery during the holidays. The effects of addiction on the body can not be understated, as it can lead to long-term imbalances and deficiencies, which are important to address in recovery. There is a connection between seasonal nutri ..read more

By: Marc Feinstein A NEW PARADIGM FOR ADDICTION ​ Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institute of Health, recently wrote an article for Scientific American entitled, “What does it mean when we call addiction a brain disorder.” She notes that, “The term [brain disorder] acknowledges that addiction is a chronic but treatable medical condition involving changes to circuits involved in reward, stress and self-control.” ​ One of the key neural circuits that Dr. Volkow is referring to is the reward circuitry of the brain that includes the ventral tegme ..read more

By: Hannah Wilding FAMILIES ARE AFFECTED BY ADDICTION TOO ​ The effects of substance abuse on families, and on relationships as whole, vary greatly between types of people and families. As people abuse substances, more of their energy becomes dedicated to the attainment and usage of the substances, and less time is devoted to creating memories and bonds with people who care about them. Unsurprisingly, this struggle results in disconnectedness and absence among people who abuse substances and their family and friends. Because of the variety in composition of families in our modern society, the ..read more

Guest Post by: Curtis Dean Thank you to Curtis Dean and Sage Music for sharing this great information about the benefits of music therapy. Be sure to check out ,sagemusic.co to learn more or sign up for music lessons!  Music has always had a strong, intense relation to and interaction with the mind. People listen to different kinds of music to cope with a range of emotions and experiences. Music therapy has significant potential to impact an individual’s addiction recovery journey, often easing both mental and physical challenges. Let's see what music therapy actually is and how it c ..read more

By: Natalie Tabor EAT, DON'T DRINK, AND BE MERRY!​ Though the holidays are wonderful, they can also be a difficult time, especially if you are someone in addiction recovery. Let’s face it- EAT, DRINK, AND BE MERRY...beer, wine, liquor, and holiday cocktails are often abundant at holiday parties. Here we share some strategies with you that can help you maintain sobriety during those holiday gatherings. ​ Research has shown that successful recovery consists of a harmony of determination and strategy. Strategy is all about goal setting! Determination comes into play in sticking to the goals that ..read more

By: Jamie Turner, BS, BSW and Julia C. Basso, PhD As we write this, the coronavirus or the COVID-19 disease continues to spread throughout the world in an exponential fashion. This pandemic is at the forefront of everyone’s minds and is fundamentally changing our everyday lives. Fortunately, scientists are scrambling to obtain data on this novel virus and publish the findings with speeds that are unheard of in the scientific community. There are many unknowns and one area of inquiry is the factors that put us at an increased risk for catching this disease. Severe acute respiratory syndrome cor ..read more

By: Michele King GRIEF IS NOT LIMITED TO DEATH It is common to think of grief as something that only happens after losing a loved one, but the experience of grief extends far beyond that. People grieve all kinds of losses—their jobs, their homes, their relationships. We also grieve when we lose a way of life or parts of our identities. These fundamental shifts require a period of adjustment—of learning a “new normal”—and that can be extraordinarily painful. It is important to validate grief as a normal, natural, and necessary part of addiction recovery.  Recovery, like grief, is a long a ..read more

By: Kelsey Stamborski Prior research has shown that human-animal bonding can reduce anxiety, lower agitation, and improve overall health and wellbeing. More recently, research has shown that there may also be benefits of animal interaction during addiction treatment and recovery. A 2014 study by Kamioka and Okada found that animal interventions with dogs, cats, horses, dolphins, birds, rabbits and guinea pigs are an effective treatment for alcohol and drug addiction, as well as mental disorders such as depression and schizophrenia. ​ Likewise, a 2016 study from the University of Washington fo ..read more

By: Michele King INCORPORATING EXERCISE INTO RECOVERY (DURING COVID-19) ​ By now, many of us have been in quarantine for nearly four months, and we are still trying to grapple with the accompanying loneliness, boredom, and general anxiety around the virus. Exacerbating this anxiety is the fear of losing financial support, having loved ones affected, and seeing conflicting or confusing information online. For those struggling with active addiction or in any stage of recovery, these challenges are distinctly difficult and may be triggers to relapse. ​ Physical activity is one way to cope with t ..read more