Denial

Many of us often have the idea that because it’s been years since we’ve been to treatment or started recovery or therapy, we shouldn’t have the “negative feelings” that we do.  This can start us down the “shame spiral” or what some have referred to as “feeling bad about feeling bad”. 

 The other day I ran into a friend who is also in recovery.  We started talking about the ever-elusive idea of a life in balance.  We recognized our tendencies to go toward one extreme or the other, to see people and events as either all good or all bad.  This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as black and white thinking and many people who are in recovery struggle with it.  In a way, this cognitive style can be useful.  It may provide us with a sense of c

            What is recovery anyway?  What’s the difference between sobriety and recovery?  Both concepts may seem equally undesirable during the first phases of   help-seeking for addiction, alcoholism or other behaviors that no longer serve us.

Brene Brown, a self-proclaimed “researcher/storyteller”, says that our ability to feel loved and accepted comes from having the belief that we are worthy of love and acceptance.  Huh?  Basically, we have to buy it.  If we don’t allow it to be true, it won’t be.  But how do we allow this to be true for us if we don’t feel it?

Stop the world; I want to get off!  This is the title of a musical I did when I was eighteen.  Many years later, however, the title remains very meaningful.

           “I need help”.  These three little words can be so hard for most of us to say.  We are often told to “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” or “get over it”.  If it was that simple, no one would ever need to go to treatment.  We believe that we should be able to solve the problem on our own.  And then comes the shame.  We feel ashamed that, try as we might, we cannot.  The shame feeds the feeling that we are not good enough, not strong enough to solve the problem ourselves.  And

Addiction affects one in five people in the United States, putting families through a heartbreaking cycle of recovery and relapse. In his book, Free from Addiction, Creative Care’s founder Dr. Morteza Khaleghi empowers you to take positive steps toward recovery. Drawing on over 20 years of experience healing patients, Dr. Khaleghi’s insightful, nurturing and – above all – breakthrough book is geared to anyone looking for help with dependency. Dr. Khaleghi’s book also provides direction for spouses, parents, children, and friends, who bear the brunt of the damaging disease of addiction.