Once you’ve identified them, the therapist will teach you how to cope with them in a constructive way. Once you recognize that you need some help with an addiction, you will probably consider other options before entering a formal rehab program. Peer support groups, including 12-step groups like Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous, as well as SMART Recovery or Celebrate Recovery, may be right for you. Here are some of the most common features of rehab programs so you can be as prepared as possible for the experience.

Important Tips for Traveling While Sober and Having an Even Better Time

If you’re looking for outdoor activities, hiking, outdoor concerts, biking, scenic adventure tours, the Denver Zoo, and skiing or ziplining in nearby Breckenridge are excellent options. You may also enjoy the Downtown Aquarium, Denver Art Museum, or shopping the outdoor 16th Street Mall. Denver also has a thriving arts and culture scene with world-class museums and exhibits. Insufficient support from family and friends can hinder motivation and accountability and cause setbacks in recovery. If your loved ones are not supportive of a sober lifestyle, build vacationing in recovery a new support network in the recovery community. Chapters Recovery Center offers a large selection of treatments that assist people in the recovery process from substance use as well as, mental illness.

• Detox is the process of removing drugs or alcohol from your body after prolonged use.
• Just because you’ve (hopefully) turned on your out-of-office doesn’t mean you need to check out of all communications back home—especially if you have people you rely on to help you stay on track.
• Aftercare refers to the ongoing support provided to people after they have completed formal addiction treatment (inpatient or outpatient treatment programs for substance use disorders).
• This will increase the chances of slipping up and having a drink, because HALT (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired) includes boredom.

What are the tools needed to help you travel well?

At Discover Recovery, we work with a wide variety of health insurance providers so those in need can get access to the treatment they need. That means you (or your loved one) won’t have to worry about covering the cost of treatment. Instead, all of your energy and focus can be spent where it’s really needed, which is on overcoming addiction. Our holistic approach is proven to significantly increase the likelihood of sustained sobriety and overall well-being. For more information on our aftercare programs, visit our website or call us at Discover Recovery today. Also, develop healthy coping mechanisms for stress, prioritize your physical and mental well-being through exercise and nutrition, and stay connected with recovery communities.

Addressing anxiety while managing your drinking

Having a support system that you can call, such as a sponsor, a therapist, or a trusted friend or family member, can help if you feel as if you are at risk for relapse. The journey from initial use to addiction passes through several distinct stages, each with its challenges and signs. Whether you’re concerned about your own cocaine use or worried about someone else’s,… Effective heroin withdrawal treatment is crucial to manage the challenging symptoms and secure a successful recovery.

Don’t Do the Following When Planning a Vacation While in Recovery

People often take a vacation to “get away from it all.” And that typically includes shutting off your phone and shutting out distractions. But when you’re in recovery, the better rule-of-thumb is to stay connected to your sober friends, therapist, sponsor, group leaders and supportive family members. By planning a vacation that is less likely to have triggers, you can avoid them.

• But I learned that our thoughts aren’t always true or helpful, especially when recovering from alcohol.
• Also keep in mind that depending on the severity of your addiction as well as other factors, inpatient treatment may not be required; outpatient programs may be an option.
• Addiction therapy can vary but patients can expect to participate in several behavioral therapies and, in some cases, may receive medication-assisted treatment interventions.
• A life of sobriety may seem like an immensely daunting task to people just starting.

Since leaving Holyoke, her devotion to volunteering has stayed with her. She has donated her time and energy to many local non-profit organizations. She currently serves as a Corporator for The Savings Bank, based in Wakefield.

A tireless community advocate, Paul has served as the past President and Vice President of the Pawtucketville Citizen Council and is the Founder of the Rosemont Terrace neighborhood group. Paul Belley joined the Megan House Foundation Board of Directors in January of 2017, but has been involved with the organization since its grand opening. As is the case with many families, Paul has witnessed the devastating effects of the opioid crisis within his own family. In his nine years at AMD Dan managed AMD’s worldwide sales efforts which included a direct sales force and a global network of over 40 resale partners. Since joining AMD the company’s footprint expanded into 98 countries including several nationwide deployments. Under Dan’s guidance AMD saw increased penetration into the traditional clinical telemedicine markets as well as significant entry points into the emerging retail pharmacy,concierge, medical tourism, EMS, and skilled nursing markets.

LIV RECOVERY HOMES Womens sober home

She started her career within the Arlington Public School system as a paraprofessional in a special education classroom. In 2002, she began working at a homeless family shelter, and it was there she realized New Beginning Recovery she wanted to pursue a career in mental health. In 2010, Kim graduated from Cambridge College with a Master of Ed all while raising her three amazing sons. She received her LMHC in 2012 and in 2015 became the Clinical Director at The Megan House working with young women who suffer from substance use disorder. In 2023 Kim returned to a career in the public school system as a School Adjustment Councilor. The culture in our sober homes promotes family, friendship, support, and recovery.

Sober Living in Lowell, Massachusetts

It’s located on a quiet side street with plenty of parking, it has easy highway access, and it’s just around the corner from the train.

Sobriety and addiction recovery resources in the Lowell Area

1. Residents participate in the development and implementation of an Individual Service Plan, setting goals to achieve prior to transitioning to independent living.
2. She currently serves as a Corporator for The Savings Bank, based in Wakefield.
3. She and her husband, Rick, own Griffin Greenhouse Supplies, Inc. in Tewksbury, where she is a Special Events Coordinator, responsible for the successful implementation of domestic trade shows.
4. During this time Martha devoted herself to volunteering in the Andover School System as the PTO President, where she raised awareness for cultural diversity in the classroom.

He lives in Chelmsford with his wife Carly, 6 month old daughter Ever, and their 2 year old golden doodle Aries. Before joining Sarah Cannon, she was the Northeast Registry Supervisor for Client Services for Elekta as a Cancer Registry services team member. A lifelong Lowell resident, Cheryl Sheridan, is the Director of Oncology Data & Accreditation at Sarah Cannon, the Cancer Institute of HCA Healthcare. She is responsible for the oncology data management, accreditation, and registry operations across all 178 of their locations nationwide. She has worked within a diverse community and believes compassion is key to understanding differences and recognizing similarities. Lowell SpinnersThe Lowell Spinners professional baseball team is the minor league affiliate of the 8-time World Series Champions, the Boston Red Sox.

Sue received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business, magna cum laude, from Merrimack College. As a seasoned educator, coach and marketing executive, Ms. Coimbra brings with her an understanding and background of youth in our community. Ms. Coimbra graduated from Bradford College as senior class president, is completing an additional graduate degree in education and teaches fifth grade at the Academy of Notre Dame in Tyngsboro, MA.

Catherine is committed to serving the members of her community and has a passion for giving back. Gorham StreetThis is a great house with a small group of people who really have an incredibly strong “stay sober” attitude. Located a minute’s walk to the train station and just blocks from downtown Lowell. Transitional housing is temporary housing for the working homeless population and is set up to transition their residents to permanent housing. To learn more about the rebrand and the renewed vision of the organization please visit The rebrand comes after a year of interviewing staff and community partners and bringing in a third-party agency to help develop the brand.

Anthony is originally from Biddeford, ME and attended Bentley University in Waltham, MA where he graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and a minor in Law. He has worked at Clark Insurance since 2011, starting in the Portland, ME HQ before relocating to Lowell in 2015 when Clark purchased the James L Cooney Insurance Agency. A.J.’s role within Clark Insurance has him working directly with business owners throughout the Merrimack Valley to help mitigate/manage risk, specifically in the non-profit, construction, and property management industries. Prior to healthcare Pamela worked in the insurance industry as a licensed broker for Colonial Life and Accident.

Overall, increased research attention on nonabstinence treatment is vital to filling gaps in knowledge. For example, despite being widely cited as a primary rationale for nonabstinence treatment, the extent to which offering nonabstinence options increases treatment utilization (or retention) is unknown. In addition to evaluating nonabstinence treatments specifically, researchers could help move the field forward by increased attention to nonabstinence goals more broadly. For example, all studies with SUD populations could include brief questionnaires assessing short-and long-term substance use goals, and treatment researchers could report the extent to which nonabstinence goals are honored or permitted in their study interventions and contexts, regardless of treatment type. There is also a need for updated research examining standards of practice in community SUD treatment, including acceptance of non-abstinence goals and facility policies such as administrative discharge. A focus on abstinence is pervasive in SUD treatment, defining success in both research and practice, and punitive measures are often imposed on those who do not abstain.

What is Controlled Drinking or Alcohol Moderation Management?

Regular physical activity can act as a healthy coping mechanism when dealing with cravings or anxiety related to your efforts towards alcohol moderation management. When it comes to choosing between total abstinence or limiting your intake, the answer isn’t black and white. Several factors influence this decision, including societal perception, cultural factors, psychological impact, and health implications. You may feel pressured by society’s view of what is acceptable drinking behaviour or fear being ostracised due to cultural norms surrounding alcohol use. Psychologically, you might be dealing with a range of emotions from guilt over past incidents to anxiety about future relapses. Also, consider your health – excessive drinking can lead to serious conditions like liver disease or heart problems.

Global Clinical Outcome

In particular, medically oriented treatments emphasizing abstinence appear to be an effective and cost efficient treatment modality for patients whose goals are oriented toward complete abstinence. Conversely, more intensive behavioral interventions may be particularly beneficial for patients whose goals are conditional abstinence or controlled drinking. On balance, this study is one of the few to empirically examine the effect of drinking goal on treatment outcome, and in particular, matching treatment options to drinking goals.

The present study indicates that the strict views in AA also might prevent clients in AA to seek help and goodbye letter to addiction support elsewhere, since they percieve that this conflicts with the AA philosophy (Klingemann and Klingemann, 2017). Initially, AA was not intended to offer a professional programme model for treatment (Alcoholics Anonymous, 2011). When the premise of AA was transformed into the 12-step treatment programme, it was performed in a professional setting. Many clients in the study described that the 12-step programme was the only treatment that they were offered.

4 Stepwise regressions: Quality of life (QOL)

1. Take our short alcohol quiz to learn where you fall on the drinking spectrum and if you might benefit from quitting or cutting back on alcohol.
2. Unfortunately, the very program that Kishline created was one that worked for others but not for herself.
3. We first provide an overview of the development of abstinence and nonabstinence approaches within the historical context of SUD treatment in the U.S., followed by an evaluation of literature underlying the theoretical and empirical rationale for nonabstinence treatment approaches.
4. Some no longer attended meetings but remained abstinent with a positive view of the 12-step programme.
5. Additionally, type I error correction was not implemented; therefore caution is warranted when interpreting marginally significant interactions.

A “controlled drinking controversy” followed, in which the Sobells as well as those who supported them were publicly criticized due to their claims about controlled drinking, and the validity of their research called into question (Blume, 2012; Pendery, Maltzman, & West, 1982). Despite the intense controversy, the Sobell’s high-profile research paved the way for additional studies of nonabstinence treatment for AUD in the 1980s and later (Blume, 2012; Sobell & Sobell, 1995). Marlatt, in particular, became well known for developing nonabstinence treatments, such as BASICS for college drinking (Marlatt et al., 1998) and Relapse Prevention (Marlatt & Gordon, 1985). Like the Sobells, Marlatt showed that reductions in drinking and harm were achievable in nonabstinence treatments (Marlatt & Witkiewitz, 2002). In the 1970s, the pioneering work of a small number of alcohol researchers began to challenge the existing abstinence-based paradigm in AUD treatment research.

Unlike AA, moderation management meetings aren’t necessarily meant to be therapeutic — although they often are. In the results, we mention that there were a few IPs that were younger, with a background of diffuse and complex problems characterized by a multi-problem situation. Research on young adults, including people in their thirties (Magaraggia and Benasso, 2019), stresses that young adults leaving care tend to have complex problems and struggle with problems such as poor health, poor school performance and crime gallstones and alcohol (Courtney and Dworsky, 2006; Berlin et al., 2011; Vinnerljung and Sallnäs, 2008). Thus, this is interesting to analyse further although the younger IPs in this article, with experience of 12-step treatment, are too few to allow for a separate analysis. However, they will be included in a further analysis on young adults based on the same premises as in present article but with experience from other treatments than the 12-step treatment. After five years, the majority remained abstinent and described SUD in line with the views in the 12-step programme.

Little attention was given to whether people in abstinence-focused treatments endorsed abstinence goals themselves, or whether treatment could help reduce substance use and related problems for those who did not desire (or were not ready for) abstinence. Our second goal was to examine differences in quality of life betweenabstainers and non-abstainers controlling for length of time in recovery. The results suggest that the 12-step philosophy, with abstinence as the steven tyler injured only possible choice, might mean that people in the AA community who are ambivalent and/or critical regarding parts of the philosophy must “hide” their perceptions on their own process. Experiences of the 12-step programmes and AA meetings were useful for a majority of the clients.

However, they do not elucidate patterns of non-disordered use over time, nor the likelihood of maintaining drug use without developing a DUD. This means addressing not just the physical symptoms of addiction but also the psychological, emotional, social, and spiritual aspects as well. Such approaches could include cognitive behavioural therapy to address mental health issues that may contribute to excessive drinking; yoga or meditation for stress relief; art therapy for expressing emotions; faith-based support groups for spiritual growth among others. The path towards moderation management comes with its unique set of challenges which can include social pressure or dealing with underlying emotional issues that contribute towards excessive drinking habits. Individual factors like personal motivation, mental health status, and support system also play a key role in determining how well someone will fare within a programme. Goodwin, Crane, & Guze (1971) found that controlled-drinking remission was four times as frequent as abstinence after eight years for untreated alcoholic felons who had “unequivocal histories of alcoholism”.