Here’s a perspective-stretching exercise in tapping the flipside of diagnosis. It’s also an invitation for contributions to developing a diagnostic language around what going right for people. Call it a life-affirming balance to the DSM-5. Get to the end of the article, and there’s a fun and rewarding activity that can be done, safely, at […]
It’s my choice
The paradox of free choice. It’s an age-old debate and I don’t presume that this post will cover nearly all the angles, but here are my thoughts, anyway, as choice applies to recovery. We come into recovery learning that the sense of being able to choose has been all but eroded in active addiction. In the later […]
Stigma is lethal
STIGMA IS LETHAL Conjure up an image of a drug addict or an alcoholic. Chances are (and this is not your fault), you are seeing the kind of rundown reprobate that inspires you to tuck your wallet deeper into your pocket. Or clutch your handbag tighter. That’s not your fault, you were taught to respond […]
Guiding principles in recovery: Hope
When it comes to addiction recovery, there is so much advice out there, on the internet and in treatment centres, that it all gets rather befuddling. It can happen that the ‘advice’ is presented as gospel truth i.e. you’re told in no uncertain terms that you must follow such-and-such a goal if you want sobriety. It also happens […]
Bankable recovery
I love the idea of ‘recovery capital’. Not only is it a key idea that has transformed recovery practice from focusing on pathology to going out and getting a better life, but it also says, “Hey, I’ve got assets, I’ve got capital, and that’s a fine thing in this world.” Simply put, recovery capital is the sum of all […]
