Honest stories. Hard-won hope.
Personal reflections and practical guidance about addiction, recovery, and the family journey—from people who understand the road firsthand.
From the journal
More reflections
Real experiences and perspective from the journey through addiction and recovery.
Family is Tricky!
Family is Tricky. Family really knows how to push your buttons, and they know how better than anyone. They know how because they created them and they installed them. Family relationships can be tricky in the best of times. Add the tornado of addiction/alcoholism, and things can spiral out of control in a flash. I
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Just One Drink?
My really good friend and I hadn’t been able to meet in quite a while because it was difficult to align our life schedules. At some point, we both decided it had been too long, so we made the time to meet. We sat at the table and the first thing he wanted to know
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Isolation
The first time I got drunk was with my best friend, we were about 14. He spent the night at my house and my parents went bowling. They had a fairly extensive liquor cabinet and we made it our mission to do a shot of everything. From whiskey to creme de menthe, I think we
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Put Out the Fire!
Why? That was my great obsession. Why am I like this? Why can’t I drink like others? Why do these things keep happening to me? Why do I continue to screw it up at the worst possible time, time after time? Why me? What I discovered was that (especially at that time) why didn’t matter.
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One Drink Is A Lie!
I’ve been sober a number of years. Life is really good and I hold no illusions about my relationship to alcohol. But still, my head, once in a great while, will tell me a drink is a good idea. Maybe I’ve had a difficult day and I need a break, or maybe things are great
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Five Years Ago
On February 3rd, 2016 I was dropped off at a treatment facility. As I exited the car and stood inside the parking garage I was angry, sad, and confused. How is it that at 33 years old, was I standing outside of a rehab facility with a bag full of clothes and no other options?
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Why do I need a professional interventionist?
This is a great question. I guess the best way for me to answer this is to talk a little bit about my personal experience as an Interventionist and the work I have done with families. Also what I have seen when families didn’t use a Professional Interventionist.
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Why tomorrow may be too late?
We don’t believe in fear-mongering. However, alcoholism/addiction only gets worse if left untreated. If you are reading this, the fact is that your loved one is very likely in the final stages of addiction. They are no longer “just having fun.” They cannot stop. Without recovery, from here this disease nearly always progresses in three
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The Progression of My Disease
I remember the first time I had alcohol, I put the bottle to my lips, filled my mouth with beer, and swallowed. Immediately, it did something for me that nothing else had ever done, it was the most relaxing sense of relief I had ever experienced. I loved it! That feeling I had during my
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