I was told when I was new to sobriety that the time I started using drugs or alcohol my emotional maturity stopped. In other words, I was 13 emotionally. My first reaction was one of resentment toward the person sharing this with me. I soon...
For an individual who is looking for help for themselves or loved ones, the understanding of the differences between Recovery Centers and Treatment Centers is vital. Ethics come in to play when a center leads one to believe it can offer the paying customer something...
Holidays can be difficult times for those in early recovery. The influx of family, the feelings of regret, and the emotions that can surface, can at times, be overwhelming. Unresolved conflicts can come to a head. Guilt, remorse, resentment, and anger have a tendency to come...
Apparently, it is not “normal” to drive 200 miles—one way—for a haircut. Looks of disbelief, horror, amusement, even disdain crossed the faces of friends and co-workers when I revealed my plan to drive from Austin to Fort Worth to get my hair cut. “You’re crazy!” was...
Chris Schroeder is the Director of Media for C4 Recovery Solutions. In his role with C4, he has been tasked with hosting and developing the webcast show, The Afflicted and Affected, interviewing leaders in the addictive illness field and other interesting personalities revolving around the...
On this sunny day, all seemed to be right in the world—the rest of the world at least. As I slumped in the passenger side of my father’s truck, the darkness that had begun to manifest itself inside me years before now seemed to have...
Chris Schroeder is the Director of Media for C4 Recovery Solutions. In his role with C4, he has been tasked with hosting and developing the webcast show, The Afflicted and Affected, interviewing leaders in the addictive illness field and other interesting personalities revolving around the...
Most people come into the drug and alcohol recovery process accepting that some sort of personal change is necessary. What I've come to learn is that it is one thing to accept change, another to give up what that change will look like and yet...
Willingness There is only one key and it is called willingness. So it is by circumstance rather than virtue that I have been brought to this program. While I was locked up for my last stint, I had time to look at where my path had...
According to the infamous Charlie Sheen, “You are either winning or losing—there’s nothing in between.” My recent experience says otherwise. Intellectually, I understand that resentment is the dubious luxury of normal men and women, but for me, the alcoholic, it is poison. Yet for about a month,...
By Chris Thigpen, BRC Alumni 2011 I’ve been out of BRC for about four months and over that period of time I have been awake to the world around me. I take the bus up the street to work and daydream out the window. I see...
Many alcoholics and addicts work steps 1 through 3 in treatment; what we fail to address is that it is one thing to admit powerlessness and it is quite another to become connected to an alternative source.