Category Archives: Staying Sober

Heal Your Brain with TAMERS

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We know so much more these days about the brain and how addiction affects it—and about how we can help it to heal.

Addiction doesn’t happen because someone is lazy or is a “bad person.” It’s a brain disease, pure and simple. In some people, repeated use of alcohol or other drugs causes profound structural and functional changes to the brain. The need for drugs becomes a compulsion that can’t be ignored; it is as ingrained in the brain as breathing or looking for food. Plus, the frontal lobe, the executive brain, is damaged and is no longer able to override those impulses with rational thoughts.

We used to think that the brain was set in stone once a person was grown. We now know that’s not true. In fact, the brain can grow and change at all ages, a concept known as neuroplasticity. When the brain changes for the … Read more...

Staying Sober and Happy Through the Holidays

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Are the holidays a time of stress for you? How do you deal with it? How do you avoid temptation? Staying Sober for the Holidays | The Recovery Book

Below are some ideas from Dr. Al (edited from the first edition of The Recovery Book), as well as some from Bill Borchert, screenwriter and author of “My Name is Bill W.” and “When Love is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story.” Bill is a longtime friend of Dr. Al and Willingway.

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From The Recovery Book…

For recovering people (and for millions of others whose lives are out of sync), holidays are often times of tension, sadness, and depression. They are also a time when temptations to jump off the wagon seem to multiply. Some of the following tips may help you beat back the blues:

  • Keep your expectations realistic, so you don’t set yourself up for an emotional letdown. Just because you’re sober doesn’t mean
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