When our emotions and urges are strong we realize keeping painful events from surfacing only makes our mood darker. This is an opportunity to use a distress tolerance skill called Radical Acceptance. What is Radical Acceptance? Radical means all the way, complete and total. It means accepting our current circumstances, and what is going on

Today I am celebrating my 60th birthday. I just got off the phone with my wife. She wanted to know what it feels like to be 60 years old. My response was twofold. First, as I reflect on the years, I have gained abundant blessings and wisdom. Second, I am in touch with my mortality.

A Peer with lived experience (meaning mental health condition, addiction, and trauma) laid out to peers the ingredients of the daily exercises for mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health. This can be exhausting work. Ten people are with their Peer Mentor in a shelter due to a tornado threat. The storm begins to whirl around

We do not like stern (truth) words spoken to us. At first glance, we become defensive, irritated, angry, or even bitter. We say, “I can’t deal with this now” or “You don’t know me or my history”. Excuses prevent us from growing because we are great at making them up. When supporting a deeply wounded

A good storyteller tells the narrative of 2 things happening at the same time, one inside the other. There are two stories on opposing sides. A person is in behavior treatment at a local hospital and wants to recover from a mental health condition. Another person who suffers from addiction believes they can get better

“We gain insight into our recovery through our Higher Power as we model these steps, and share our journey toward hope, healing, and health with people” – This is the twelfth step of Recovery. During the early stages of Recovery, I recall the people who exposed the steps to me. They modeled what it takes

I am a Certified Peer Specialist who has the pleasure of connecting with family and friends who live with or associate with people who have a mental health condition or addiction. Family and friends attempt to support us with these conditions but at times experience frustration and believe we may be irredeemable. There is hope!

We ask our children if they want to receive gifts or go on a family vacation each Christmas. The last two years they elected to do a family vacation. This year we traveled to the gulf staying in Fort Morgan Alabama. The variety of activities available at Fort Morgan in Gulf Shores makes it a great place to bring

This will be my last post until August 12, 2024. I will be taking time to enjoy my family. A good person cannot bear bad fruit. A bad person cannot bear good fruit. I have not met people contemplating Recovery or are already embracing Recovery as bad. We can tell the content of a person’s

Three points in today’s blog. First, Do not put that which is Recovery in front of dogs or cast pearls in front of swine for they will trample it to pieces. Dogs and swine are used as attributes in Recovery to people in a pre-contemplation state of mind (People have no intention of changing their