Category Archives: Meetings

Writing a Recovery Journal

Posted on by

Excerpted from Chapter 10 of The Recovery Book.

Many people who are sober and in recovery keep a journal. Writing things down can be a very powerful way to process your feelings and get them “out of your head.” Often, problems don’t seem quite so big or so awful once you’ve worked through them on paper.

A journal is also a great way to keep an eye on your progress as you move beyond active addiction and into recovery. A year or two from now, you might look back on what you wrote and be astonished at what you have accomplished. And proud of yourself.

Your recovery journal doesn’t have to be fancy—you can get your thoughts down in a notebook, email memos to yourself, use a recovery app, or just start a computer file. You can write about whatever you want. And no one has to ever see … Read more...

Recovery Zone ReCheck – New in The Recovery Book

Posted on by

The Recovery Zone ReCheck is a simple relapse prevention plan.

In every Recovery Zone, at all times, you will be at some risk of relapse, often when you least expect it. The Recovery Zone ReCheck helps you avoid relapses by regularly taking stock of your life.

Once a month or so, use the three Recovery Zone ReCheck questions to assess your life. They will help you see when changes are coming up—relationships, work, health, medication and so on—that could trigger a relapse. These changes can be almost anything: dental procedure, divorce, getting a raise, having a baby, moving to a new town.

When you spot such road blocks, you move back a Zone or two, brush up on the guidelines of that Zone, re-commit to sobriety, and re-focus on recovery. See pages 18-21 in The Recovery Book for all the details.

The Recovery Book

Recovery Resources Lists Now Online

Posted on by

For the past two years, as we’ve been updating The Recovery Book, we’ve been collecting online resources related to addiction and recovery. Many of them will be listed in the book, but we had far too many to include. So we are posting them here as well, in Resources.

We have links to all kinds of resources: treatment directories, health effects of addiction, sober living directories, drug testing, legal and employment issues, drug courts, sober social networks, online meetings, medication safety and disposal, recovery activism, campus recovery associations, mutual help fellowships, resources for teens, resources for family and friends, help to quit smoking, and much more.

We also have links to recovery support groups for many diverse communities: bikers, pilots, nurses, Buddhists, Jews, Native Americans, doctors, lawyers, and more.

Please explore our lists. Share them with others. And please let us know if you have anything to add. … Read more...