When legitimate pain relief and addictive thinking become difficult to distinguish, trying to figure it all out alone can be dangerous. A few weeks ago, I had oral surgery that left me in significant pain. As someone in recovery from addiction, my initial plan was to manage the pain without opioids. But despite taking ibuprofen and acetaminophen, the pain became unbearable. My oral surgeon prescribed hydrocodone. And so began an experience that reminded me just how complicate

Understanding the Neuroscience of Denial in Addiction Recovery When people hear the word denial , they often assume it means lying, stubbornness, or refusing to face reality.But denial isn’t a character flaw. It’s not defiance. It’s not avoidance. Denial is a neurobiological response created by a brain that has been rewired by addiction. I know this not just as a professional in the addiction and recovery field, but because I lived it. And the more we understand the science o

Clients often tell me they feel stuck. Stuck in their routines, stuck in their career, stuck in early recovery, stuck in relationships, or stuck in fear. I know that feeling well. I’ve lived it in both active addiction and in recovery. For some people, feeling stuck feels like failure, but it’s not failure. It’s feedback. It’s a signal that something internally or externally needs attention. Why We Feel Stuck 1. Fear of Change. Sometimes the misery we know feels safer than

Ever felt stuck in life ? Like no matter what you do, you just can’t move forward? I have. And while this image might come from a funny moment in a movie, feeling stuck in real life is anything but funny. When I Was Stuck in Addiction - and in Recovery For years, I was stuck. First in active alcoholism and addiction , and later in early recovery . Addiction was a misery that’s still difficult to describe, but being stuck in life and recovery was a close second. The truth is,

Halloween is the one night a year when we’re encouraged to wear masks, to hide behind a costume and play a part or pretend to be someone else. And it’s fun for a day! For people struggling with addiction, however, wearing a mask often becomes a daily habit. And it’s miserable. I wore masks every day for years. The “I’m fine” mask, the “successful professional” mask, the “I’ve got my life together” mask. On the surface, things looked pretty good. Career , nice car, nic

Terror. That’s what I felt when I left treatment more than a decade ago. I was faced with the task of starting my life over from scratch. I didn’t know where to begin, and just getting through another day without a drink felt like a full-time job. I was still experiencing post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) and a brand of anxiety that made me feel like a fish out of water. I was crawling in my own skin in any social situation, even recovery support groups. Looking back,