Rapid Growth for Sanford House at John Street
As our newest project continues, we are committed to keeping you in the loop. Have you heard? Sanford House Addiction Treatment Centers is restoring another one of Grand Rapids’ iconic mansions. This time it will serve as a men’s treatment facility. We will open in June 2017. Rapid Growth And in case you didn’t see […]
Brave, Big, Bold and Bawdy…
I know for a lot of people their sober journey can begin in a bit of a stop-start fashion. They have periods of not drinking, then periods of drinking, then back to not drinking. .. until eventually recovery sticks. Â For me I never did that. I made the firm decision that I was […]
Blue Monday (Tuesday, Wednesday…) Beating the New Year’s Blues…
This week started with “Blue Monday”. Blue Monday – January 16th. It’s known as the most depressing day of the year. It is when the post-holiday blues set in, when New Year’s resolutions have typically failed, and when the weather is at its worst. But it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom, […]
Stop the Booze, Start to Move: Why Is Rigorous Exercise Important to Your Recovery?
The past few months I’ve learned a lot about addiction, treatment, and recovery. It’s not because I’m an addict myself or that anyone I know (that I’m aware of) is either. I’m a marketing assistant for Sanford House, a drug and alcohol addiction treatment center. It’s my job to research and learn about different social network […]
My First AA Meeting… Scared to Death
The sounds of laughter trickled down the hall and up the stairs, carried on the currents of coffee and lingering stale cigarette smoke. I stood at the top railing, peering down. There was no one was in sight, but I could hear them. I looked back behind me, through the double doors of the […]
Who Do You Trust? The Passion and Power of the Mental Health Profession
On Monday, I was at a dinner with a cool dozen mental health professionals. I am still reeling from the wealth of talent, housed in our private dining room. The dinner was sponsored by our friends at Alta Mira Recovery Programs and Bridges to Recovery and their Clinical Outreach Representative Carla Chludzinski. Egos and diets were […]
Fear Not the Pink Cloud, My Sober Friends
You can see it up there, can’t you? Right beside the sun, next to the unicorn. It’s hard to miss—a fluffy mass resplendent in its coral color. It has a built-in espresso maker and from its center, rainbows shoot high in the sky and stain the horizon with joy and high-fives. If you’ve […]
Excursions – Embracing the Challenges and the Triumphs of Recovery
I am one of those people who likes to experience the thing I am touting. No false advertising here. So when Sanford House set out to launch an online, lifestyle magazine for people in recovery, I did some soul searching – head and foot. We organized several meetings, where Sanford House staff unearthed what recovery […]
How Do I Know My Therapy is Working?
I come from two separate worlds. I am an artist, first and foremost. Art helps me frame my experiences and communicate my ideas. Art makes me feel happy, comfortable, and excited. I’m also a mental health professional. Mental health professionals do not use art to frame their experiences. They use facts to communicate their […]
Doodling to Distract – The “Art” of Visual Journaling
In my blog post last week, I discussed the benefits of creating art in an art therapy context. This week, I want to talk a little bit about the benefits of creating art on your own. I started keeping a visual journal in college. It was assigned to me by my favorite professor, and […]
