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I’m sober. Now what?

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New to sobriety and recovery, and not sure what to do, where to go? Wondering how to stay sober? Wondering what you can do to avoid a relapse?

The Recovery Book covers just about everything you need to know about treatment options, 12-step meetings, sponsors, rebuilding relationships, restoring health, going back to work, and much more. Some call it “the Bible of recovery.”

With all that information packed into it, The Recovery Book is a large book. So to make things as easy as possible, we put together a Quick Start Guide and some handouts. They’re all below, free to download right now.

Check them out, and see if The Recovery Book is right for you.

And if you need to find a 12-step meeting, we’ve got that info right here: Find a Meeting.

The Recovery Book – Quick Start Guide (pdf)

The Recovery Book – The Recovery Zone … Read more...

On the Radio! Dr. Mooney and Catherine Dold on WGN Radio in Chicago

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Dr. Mooney and Catherine Dold recently had a great talk with Rick Kogan on his WGN Radio (Chicago) show, After Hours With Rick Kogan.

Rick chatted with us for 45 minutes about the face of addiction today, the gift of recovery, and what’s in The Recovery Book. He called it a “remarkable book that could probably save your life.”

Give a listen over at WGN Radio – After Hours with Rick Kogan.

Back to School & Sober: 12 Tips for Success

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Heading back to school this fall as a newly sober person? Maybe you just finished treatment, or maybe you took a year off to build a really strong foundation for your recovery.

Wherever you are in your recovery, you might be nervous about heading back to school. Totally understandable. Maybe you’re worried you’ll be the only person not partying. You might fear you won’t have any fun. You might be afraid you’ll be tempted to use again, being surrounded by lots of partying students.

The good news is, these days there are many high school and college students in recovery. You are not the only one. Far from it.

With some preparation you can have a school year filled with academic achievements, a great social life, and no relapse. Below, a dozen ideas to help you succeed:

1. Get involved in a recovery program. Recovery programs help build self-esteem, self-respect, … Read more...

Back to School & Sober: How to Resist Peer Pressure

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“I just went back to school after six weeks of addiction treatment and summer vacation. What do I do when my friends ask if I want to get high?”

When you go back to school you will likely run into temptations to drink to use drugs. You need to make a plan to deal with this kind of situation long before it comes up, or you might have trouble refusing these offers.

Peer pressure can be tough to fight, but you can resist. All you need are the right tools. You probably got some of them in treatment, and you’ll pick up others as you go to more AA or NA meetings.

Talk about this issue with your counselor, your sponsor, and other students at your school who are in a recovery fellowship. Ask them exactly what they do to avoid problems. The following tips may also help:

Think ahead

How to Clean Up Your Online Reputation

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If you’re like many people, you live a good portion of your life online. You’ve been sharing bits of yourself on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, MySpace, Flickr and other online venues for years. If you’ve been drinking and doing drugs, some of what you and others have shared about you may be less than flattering.

Now that you are getting into recovery and a life of sobriety, you might want to get rid of some of that evidence of your past life. You also need to get rid of any photos or comments (or online friends) that could act as a trigger and potentially lead you to a relapse.

Do this cleanup for yourself, so you can avoid running into reminders of your past and can concentrate on where you are now. Do it also so you can project a better image for future employers and others. (You might want to … Read more...

“Since My Divorce” Interviews Dr. Al

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Divorce coach Mandy Walker, who blogs at Since My Divorce, interviewed Dr. Al Mooney recently about how addiction, alcoholism and recovery can play havoc with a marriage and other relationships.