A Connected Life
It is our hope that “A Connected Life” will engage you in fresh, inspiring ways with what a life empowered by recovery can look like. It’s also our way of staying in touch with you in a conversation that’s alive with practical, new insights and meaningful resources for community and support.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and Relapse
It’s a cute acronym, but a problem no one enjoys having: Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. About 20% of the U.S. population is prone to some level of “winter blues,” apparently activated by a reduction in daily sunlight as the days get shorter. Some 30% of winter-blues sufferers develop the extreme form diagnosable as SAD,…
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Dealing with Mental Health Stigma and “Anti-Addict” Prejudice
For all the progress made against bigotry, many prejudices are hard to root out. Among those who still feel they suffer constantly from stigma are people with mental illness. Whenever someone commits a random act of violence, news reports implement his mental condition. Every Halloween, asylum-themed haunted houses and “crazies” costumes surface. Meanwhile, the majority…
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How to Extend the Life of New Year’s Resolutions
It’s estimated that 40% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions each year—and just 8% of them keep those resolutions. If you’re newly sober in December–January (or at any other time of year), chances are you have goals for a successful future. You may also have doubts about your chances of achieving them. Actually, a little…
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Dealing with New Year’s Eve Triggers
If “celebrate my first year of sobriety” is one of your New Year’s resolutions, you may be looking uneasily toward the actual turn of the year. Will your family understand if you skip the annual gathering where drinks flow freely? Do you dare attend any gathering where someone’s likely to pop open a champagne bottle…
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Eat, Play, Serve and 5 Five More New Year’s Resolutions to Give to Your Recovery
New Year’s resolutions are often easy to make and even easier to break. Research cited in Forbes found that roughly half of Americans make resolutions and only eight percent actually keep them. It’s possible that this dynamic exists because we worry—or maybe secretly really believe—that a new good habit will make us miserable. So, for…
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The Motivational Power of “Therapeutic Alliance” – and How to Get It
Decades of clinical research reveal that “therapeutic alliance”—the strength of the client-therapist bond and collaborative working relationship—is a critical mechanism for positive behavior change: For low-motivated clients in treatment for alcohol use disorder, a stronger therapeutic alliance improved their motivation for recovery, in 2006 findings in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. A strong therapeutic alliance…
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How to Keep a New Year’s Resolution – 4 Tips for Getting a Healthy New Habit to Stick
Nobody said keeping a New Year’s resolution would be easy— but for many of us, sticking with a healthy new habit, whether it’s regular exercise, eating better, or avoiding drugs or alcohol, seems to require superhuman strength. We want a “new you,” but the distance to that destination can be daunting, if not unfathomable. And…
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Honoring Veterans With Addiction and PTSD – A Recap of Last Week’s Facebook Live Event
More than 3,000 viewers tuned in for last week’s live Facebook event (December 29) hosted by Beach House Center for Recovery. The final installation for 2017 in our continuing monthly series was dedicated to the many brave veterans who, in addition to serving our country, now battle addiction and mental health issues. Friday’s discussion was…
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12 Days of Giving: How Beach House and Two Local Moms Aim to Save More Lives in the Opiate Epidemic
Staci Katz and Cindy Singer are two moms in our local Florida community who are here to make a difference. We at Beach House are happy to be a part of their mission. This is why we launched our 12 Days of Giving Campaign. During the month of December, we granted 12 scholarships to individuals…
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“Strengthening My Recovery: Meditations for Adult Children of Alcoholic/Dysfunctional Families” by Daily Affirmations
Welcome to Beach House Center for Recovery’s Monthly Book Club! Each month, a member of our community recommends a book that inspired them, changed their life, helped a loved one through a tough time, or is simply too helpful to overlook. To help start 2018 on a positive note, Melinda Dixon, a Beach House Admission…
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Self-Talk Pointers to Help You Stay Sober at Family Holiday Events That Involve Drinking
When you’re in early recovery, an important rule of thumb is to avoid situations that involve alcohol. The same is absolutely true if you’ll be spending time with family this holiday season— so it’s best to skip that annual Christmas party that your cousin Leo hosts, featuring spiked eggnog and Santa Shots. Why not Skype…
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Connecting with Family over the Holidays in Meaningful Ways
This holiday season may be your first sober in a long time. If that’s the case, you may be facing a common dilemma in early recovery: how to connect with family over the holidays. Connecting in positive and meaningful ways can strengthen your resilience to relapse, after all— but the reverse can also be true…
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