Eileen Myles
The poet Eileen Myles—who reached some mainstream fame as the inspiration for a character on the show Transparent—has been sober for decades. “I remember the first spring I wasn’t drinking; it was 1983,” they said. “My friend Tom and I were walking around the West Village, and we were staring up and pointing. ‘Isn’t that […]
Is My Loved One a Functioning Alcoholic?

Are you concerned that someone you love has a problem with alcohol, but you can’t quite tell? You see that they are functioning well at work, paying their bills on time, raising a family, and other signs of “normalcy.” But you also see this person consuming increasing amounts of alcohol. Are they dependent? Are they […]
Father’s Day Feels Different For Everyone

Happy Father’s Day! Just like each person has a unique addiction story and approach to recovery, everyone has a different relationship with their dad. Some are close with their fathers, some have a strained relationship, some have lost their dads, some are in recovery while their dad is in active addiction or vice versa, and […]
Recovery in Summer 2021

The prediction that this summer may feel closer to “normal” as more Americans get vaccinated is exciting for many. But for people in early recovery, it might be anxiety-provoking. My sober date is August 1st, but I planned to quit a month in advance. This was for a number of practical reasons, but a small […]
Lessons Learned From More Than a Year in the Pandemic to Bring to Early Sobriety

We’ve now been in a pandemic for over a year. It’s been a hard time for a lot of people. Still, there are things to take from this experience—not to brush aside what we’ve been through, but to provide a blueprint for the future. When I think back to my early sobriety in 2015, I […]
How Can Alcohol Detox Help My Spouse?

If you are the spouse of someone with alcohol use disorder (AUD), you both face challenges related to alcohol abuse. Your desire to help and the worry about what will happen can gnaw at you. It may be difficult to separate yourself from the situation enough to realize that you are neither to blame for […]
Star-Studded Addictions: Eric Clapton

Musician Eric Clapton has been sober for over three decades. He went into addiction treatment for the second time in 1987, ten years after releasing a cover of the song “Cocaine” and a year after his son Conor was born. He’s been sober ever since. Clapton’s addiction was to cocaine, heroin, and alcohol. At one […]
Embracing Messiness, Even in Recovery

In our society, we tend to brush over nuances and keep up appearances. You may feel like your life was a mess in active addiction, and you should make up for it by being buttoned-up in sobriety. But recovery is a process of healing, and healing isn’t neat and tidy. There are ups and downs, […]
Can the Brain Recover From Addiction?

You might have heard that addiction changes the brain—but can the brain recover after you remove substances? The rate and level at which it recovers depends on the substance you used, the severity of your use, the length of time you were in active addiction, your age, and a number of other factors. However, the […]
Can People Change?

“Can people really change?” is a common question—and that “really” seems to imply we can’t. Sayings like “a zebra never changes its stripes” or “a leopard never changes its spots” reinforce this idea. But people often come at this question from a narrow angle: can this person change in the way I want them to? […]