Healing After Suicide – i understand Book Interview
What better time than National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month to speak to Vonnie Woodrick about her new book? Vonnie and her children created the nonprofit organization, i understand in 2014 to change the way we talk about suicide. And to address the stigma and language surrounding what is the terminal effect of a mental illness. […]
Saturday Programming, Addiction Treatment – Limelight Interview
Sanford House at John Street for Men is quiet on a Saturday. After a long week, the men in residential treatment embrace the weekend and Saturday programming with a more casual vibe. This is not to say we set aside the evidence-based practices we employ during the week, but the work is more relaxed […]
Isolation and Addiction – 3 BIG Reasons Folks With SUDs Isolate
I have a friend who tells a story about the final days of his isolation and active addiction. He says he was smoking then, and he was not allowed to light up in the house. So, he would take a bottle of Jack Daniels to the unheated garage behind his house, sit on a […]
Watery Me – Crying in Recovery
At the start of the pandemic I cried for two weeks. Not all day, every day, but very regularly. The enormity of the crisis, the fear about the virus, the concerns about lock down – it was a lot to deal with and get my head around. Every time an email came through from […]
Discipline and Motivation – Practices in Early Recovery
A discipline is any activity that I can do by direct effort that will eventually enable me to do that which, currently, I cannot do by direct effort. John Mark Comer Would you pair the word “discipline” with the words “controlling” or “intense”? I certainly would and have. As a self-identified Type B individual, […]
Anxiety Disorder 2020 – What are the Signs?
During a family Zoom meeting last week, my son asked us a question his boss had posed in another Zoom meeting. The question was, “What new thing have you learned during the pandemic?” My son, who is clever as well as handsome, answered, “I built a table from scratch.” Another person said, “I learned to […]
Looking Back at Summer Joy 2019 – The Best of Excursions
What a difference a year makes. We went back to our articles from last year at this time, when summer was a little simpler to navigate. Interestingly, summer joy and our recovery advice stood the test of time. In 2020, we still seek happiness, connection to nature, and fostering feelings of awe. And in Michigan, […]
Gratitude Therapy – Finding Happiness in Recovery/Life
I keep a file, with a pink and orange leaf motif, labeled “HAPPINESS”. The file contains articles, post-it notes, clippings, and odds and ends on positive psychology. I am fascinated by the concept of gratitude as a therapeutic intervention (in these times it seems even more germane). And how gratitude groups in the treatment […]
Update: Sanford Outpatient and Virtual Treatment
The Governor issued Executive Order 2020-21, requiring all people in Michigan to “stay home and stay safe” three months ago. Since that time, Sanford has worked to provide addiction treatment for our clients under these extenuating circumstances. Our Residential Programs are available with testing, increased policies and response protocols. And we were able to pivot […]
Power of Pets in Virtual Addiction Treatment
Updated March 2024 Floofer. Doggo. Pupper. Good Boy. These are some of the most cringe-worthy but intensely heartfelt phrases I find flying out of my mouth whenever I see a dog. It can get very embarrassing for those around me whenever I fail to regulate my reaction to pets. All of a sudden, my […]
