Sober Soul Recovery

A good cognitive therapist helps you examine your thoughts and consider how accurate and useful they are.   To recognize distorted thoughts, see yourself in a more balanced way, and build self-compassion.   ‘Positive thinking’ on the other hand would be telling yourself, “I’m not unlovable, I’m perfect in every way at every moment!!”  This is an exercise in futility because you know it is not true.  No one is perfect all the time!  This kind of positive thinking is ineffective and illogical.

Tips For Dry January, February and beyond that will help you make the most of time off of alcohol or other unhealthy behaviors. How to understand the good, the bad and how to move forward.

Family can be one of our greatest sources of physical security and emotional support. But family environments can also foster destructive emotions and behaviors, including substance abuse and addiction. The genetic ties that make blood relatives so close can also hold the seeds of compulsive or addictive behaviors, and the self-harming actions that children observe in their parents can become habits that affect their own lives as they grow.

Lynn shares valuable information for what kind of recovery pathways are available, what they consist of and how people successfully transform their lives.

In psychology, coping means to invest own conscious effort, to solve personal and interpersonal problems, in order to try to master, minimize or tolerate stress and conflict. The psychological coping mechanisms are commonly termed coping strategies or coping skills.    Why Does Trauma Affect Trust? Attachment Styles How We Learn to Cope. The Effects of Our Coping Styles in Adulthood and Unhealthy Behaviors How to better understand yourself are you avoidant or introverted? How to heal.

“To know pain is human. To need is human…Many of us are willing to extend a helping hand, but we’re very reluctant to reach out for help when we need it ourselves. It’s as if we’ve divided the world into ‘those who offer help’ and ‘those who need help.’ The truth is that we are both. Need is the most beautiful compact between humans.” ~ Brené Brown

What is Intuitive Self Coaching? A reactivation of your inner-tutor (in-tuition) learning to reopen the direct pathway to your wise self and connect to ancient wisdom.  While to some this may sound a wee bit woohooy, science supports what I teach. Oh, and contrary to popular belief, your thoughts and worries are not your intuition. Most of us learn to override our gut feelings and hence numb out our intuitive self-wisdom with angst and seemingly helpful nonsense (addictive behaviors and surrounding ourselves with peeps who support them).  This is a program designed for clients who want lasting change.

When a family member is suffering from addiction, other members of the family typically adopt certain behaviors, thoughts, and attitudes to cope with the destructive impact of substance use. These coping strategies may seem like the only way to deal with the addiction, but in fact, are often very unhealthy and harmful

What makes women happy? We have so many choices, yet often have difficulty feeling good about what comes next. What do we turn to? Self-help, surgery, sex? Money, power, career? The options for women now are endless. But has too much choice killed off contentment? Lynn dives deep and gets to some solutions along the way. 

What makes women happy? We have so many choices, yet often have difficulty feeling good about what comes next. What do we turn to? Self-help, surgery, sex? Money, power, career? The options for women now are endless. But has too much choice killed off contentment? Lynn dives deep and gets to some solutions along the way. 

Lynn shares her thoughts on why we are asking this question more often.  Across most generations, genders, and demographics in the U.S., drug use has increased. Whether discussing heroin, prescription drugs, marijuana or synthetics, American drug abuse has reached alarming levels. With so much information available about the dangers of drug use and headline after headline about record opioid abuse and overdoses, one would think that these numbers would be headed in the opposite direction. Why have Americans seemingly gone backward in the fight against drug abuse?

Lynn shares suggestions to help establish boundaries throughout the holidays and throughout the year.  Knowing where your boundaries lie is critical to leading a well-balanced life but this time can elicit more boundary-crossing and from so many different sources that it's imperative to protect your ‘sacred space.’

Each year, the holiday season brings friends and family members together to celebrate each other’s company. However, holidays can be an equally stressful time, where more family time can be emotional and those without close family/friends may feel increased loneliness, isolation, and depression. Many people find substance use as a way of coping, which is particularly dangerous for those in recovery.

Let’s just set the record straight once and for all shall we?  Lynn shares the accurate and up to date information you need to hear, learn and know. 

The holiday season is filled with triggers: financial pressure, family conflicts and large gatherings. Typically, the holidays involve seeing old friends, family and situations that may have involved drinking or using drugs in the past.  So here are some thoughts and tips I’ve gathered.

Located in Portland, OR, Olivia Pennelle (Liv) is an experienced writer, journalist, and coach. She is the founder of the popular site Liv’s Recovery Kitchen, a site dedicated to helping people flourish in their recovery. 

There are a lot of reasons for us to learn to slow down, relax, and live with more peace and joy. When we are centered, calm, and joyful, we have so much more to offer our families, friends, and communities. We are open to discovering our inner strengths, and are able to improve our relationships with ourselves and those we love.

Life changes are inevitable. Whether it’s a job change, the beginning or end of a relationship, starting a family, or a loss, transitions are part of the human experience – yet can often be difficult to adapt to. Through a little alcohol or any other substance use or overuse in the mix and the chaos can be overwhelming.  Transformation literally means to move across or through in order to change the shape. With the transition completed, the idea is to bring a new order; to create a new shape to your life.

Codependency and perfectionism often involve exploration of early childhood issues and their connection to current dysfunctional/unhealthy behavior patterns. Getting in touch with deep-rooted feelings of hurt, loss, and anger will allow you to reconstruct appropriate relationship dynamics.

Kelley Kitley is a rising international women’s mental health expert and author of “My Self”, an autobiography which lays bare the vulnerability and isolation unique to Kitley, and to women in general while revealing the transformation of loss into a surplus of riches beyond even the very author's wildest imagination.