6 Ways a Michigan Summer Improves Mental Health and Recovery
Michigan summer… It’s Memorial Day weekend and it finally feels like Michigan summertime has begun. After what we’ve gone through the past couple of years, summer has a special meaning; it feels hopeful and restorative. Green is the color or life, nature, renewal and energy. The color green is also associated with fertility, growth […]
BEST Vacations in Recovery – Sober Summer Travel
Every year at this time I think of those who are new to recovery. Summer vacation, a time to relax and enjoy life can be stressful to the newly sober traveler. In my drinking days vacation began with the first glass of wine on the plane. It often ended with bruised shins, battered relationships, […]
Mental Health Awareness Month – 7 Ways to Do Your Part
As the Marketing Director for Sanford Behavioral Health, I am responsible for social media outreach. Likewise, I am responsible for answering questions or responding to engagement on our various social media profiles. It shocks me when I post something about a new initiative we are launching, and along with the likes and shares I […]
Soul Hunger, Eating Disorders and a Historic ED Treatment Center
Residential Eating Disorders Multidisciplinary Team On the Anatomy of Addiction Podcast, I had the opportunity to interview two members of the residential eating disorder team. Dr. Anna Flores and Erin Carrigan, MA, LLPC, LPCC, are both transplants to Michigan. They moved here to help build the residential eating disorder treatment center at Sanford. Sanford […]
Prevalence of Alcohol Use Disorders Before/After Bariatric Surgery
There are times on the road to wellness, when the only thing one can say is, “No fair.” I remember thinking no fair when six months sober, a long dormant eating disorder popped up like the head of a Hydra. Just when I had my alcohol use disorder (AUD) licked, another trial presented itself. And at […]
Alcohol – Still the “King” of Addiction
I’ve spent a lot of time looking at alcohol advertisements lately. Which is perhaps an odd thing for someone in recovery to do. After all, glamour shots of sweating wine glasses and the implied comradery of women toasting with Skinny Girl Chardonnay certainly influenced me in the past. But as an ex-imbiber and marketing […]
10 Reasons a Michigan Winter is Good for Your Health!
At the beginning of winter 2020, there is no question what was in the minds of Michiganders far and wide. After almost a year of isolation, distancing and COVID-19, we are heading into the months when we normally sequester. How are we going to handle this? And when the first snow fell in October […]
The Importance of Human Connection. Pandemic’s Silver Lining?
There is no argument – 2021 has been a tough year on our mental health. We have been challenged by the seemingly never-ending COVID pandemic. And in the behavioral health field the increase in overdoses, caused by multiple factors linked with the pandemic, resulted in more than 100,000 deaths. Is Connection the Pandemic’s […]
10 Common Excuses for Avoiding Addiction Treatment
It’s the holidays. The time for pageants at church and school, office parties, and family responsibilities. As a person in recovery, I can remember this time of year while in active addiction. On top of the crushing TO DO list of everyday holiday tasks, there was the exhausting schedule of drinking, planning to drink, […]
What is Medical Detox? Anatomy of Addiction Podcast
Today on the podcast we talk to Sanford Chief Operations Officer, Katie Vokes and Chief Clinical Officer, Jenny Selent. They define “medical detox” and talk about the criteria for entering a detox facility. Also, they give us a good idea of what it feels like to take the first step in the addiction treatment […]
