sober living Archives | Oceanside Malibu

The Recovery Journey

The Recovery Journey Sobriety gives us the ability and skills to deal with the “normal” issues we face in life: loss of loved ones, loss of relationships, empty nesting, career changes, physical impairment, and grieving. Recovery is a process not an event. Life is a continuum of ever-deepening circles. Put those two ideas together and we begin to understand what growing old sober might look like. In life, discovery often precedes recovery. You wake up one morning and realize, “Oh, that’s what that’s all about. We live life forward and understand it backwards. Recovery goes through stages, even as life does. In the beginning, we have an early awareness and more »

EMDR in Addiction Treatment

EMDR in Addiction Treatment We know for sure that trauma occurs in well over 90% of people who seek mental health or addiction treatment. When a trauma occurs, it is outside of the normal range of human experience. When the experience happens and it enters into the brain, the brain doesn’t know how to process it, metabolize it for lack of a better word. Consequently, it gets frozen and isn’t processed like every other experience. If it’s frozen in time, the person consciously or unconsciously is still hanging on to the remnants of that experience and that can last for many, many years. We certainly don’t want blame any person more »

How Outpatient Treatment Helps The Chronic Relapser

How Outpatient Treatment Helps The Chronic Relapser Treatment facility professionals will usually discuss with patients and their families, the need for outpatient treatment. You may have heard the terms extended treatment or sober living after completing the initial detox portion of a program. The reason for this is results. It has been shown that completing a full continuum of care helps patients remain clean after treatment. Outpatient treatment is especially helpful for people who have been to many treatment centers for addiction and have repeatedly relapsed. There is benefit for everyone to participate in an extended care treatment program. It may however, be particularly helpful for young adults and more »

Why A Relationship May Be Difficult For An Addict

Why A Relationship May Be Difficult For An Addict An addiction is a relationship. When someone is addicted to a substance and/or a behavior, that person is in a relationship with their substance or behavior of choice, the same as if they were involved with a person. Further, the relationship with the object of their addiction is the most important relationship in his/her life. He or she will do anything to protect that relationship and keep it alive, i.e. deny it, lie about it, cover it up, minimize it, blame others, etc. When a person with an addiction enters into a significant relationship, he or she is not entering more »

Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous Participation in Alcoholics Anonymous often brings a sense of connectivity, safety and support. Membership in this community can provide an opportunity for an addict to acquire a substitute self-object, filling an unmet need from infancy and childhood. AA may serve as an omnipotent transitional object, an integral ingredient in helping make the transition from ingesting self-soothing substances to sudden abstinence bearable. When AA members speak about their devotion to ‘working the program’, they may be speaking less about AA principles and more about finding a power (AA) strong enough to compete with their drug of choice. Psychology often emphasizes the need for others to help maintain self-esteem, more »

Remaining Active In Recovery

Remaining Active In Recovery The people you surround yourself with may influence your recovery or hasten a relapse. The people that surround you are a reflection of yourself. When you leave treatment, you are no longer the person you once were, but are instead a brand new version of yourself. If you go back and hang out with the friends or family members that got you into trouble in the first place, you are setting yourself up for failure. A person’s environment is an important factor to maintaining recovery. Your living space can be another contributing factor for relapse. Most former active addicts lived in an area that had easy more »