Building Closeness in Recovery

Many of us in recovery spent our formative teen or early adulthood years drinking or using. During the time we might have been learning to build authentic closeness, we were cut off from ourselves by substances. I’ve always kept many relationships of all varieties, even during active addiction. But there are layers to true intimacy […]
Building Empathy for People in Different Stages of Recovery
Recovery allows the space to cultivate empathy. During active addiction, your brain changes so that you may seek out the substance above other things in life. When alcohol or drugs are no longer your main priority, it often follows that you’re less self-centered. You are better able to understand other people’s experiences. Still, sometimes we […]
What Is National Alcohol Screening Day?

National Alcohol Screening Day is an annual day of outreach that offers education and resources for you if you are struggling with alcohol dependency. The goal of National Alcohol Screening Day is to find the right alcohol addiction treatment program to match your needs if you are suffering from alcohol use in your life. With […]
Settling in After the Pink Cloud

After detoxing or in early sobriety, some people experience euphoria for a few days or weeks. This is referred to as the “pink cloud.” Sometimes people worry that after this wears off, real life in recovery will be a harsh reality check. As someone who experienced the pink cloud when I was just over two […]
Recovery on Your Own Timeline

Sometimes in recovery, it can feel like we’re behind peers who never had addiction. The years we drank or used drugs could have been spent working towards life goals. When I first got sober, I tried to work on every goal at once. I finally had the capacity to do so—and felt like I was […]
Accountability Without Shame in Recovery

In recovery, it’s important to take responsibility for the ways you may have harmed others during active addiction. This isn’t to punish yourself for having an addiction. Taking accountability can also be part of your own healing. In my recovery, learning to face the harm I caused without shaming myself has been a long and […]
Navigating Daily Life in Recovery

Everything is so new when you first enter recovery. It can be really hard, but in my experience, early sobriety was kind of an adventure. Coming out of the chaos of active addiction and then the novelty of early recovery, you’re left navigating daily life sober. Life is different when you’re not dealing with the […]
A Brief Description of the Neuroscience of Addiction
Many factors can contribute to a person seeking drugs or alcohol in an addictive way—genetics, environment, trauma, co-occurring mental health disorders, and lots of others. What causes someone to drink or use is different for everyone, and often a combination of things. However, the ways addiction changes the brain tend to be consistent from person […]
Book Lifelines Tackles Addiction in Baltimore and Beyond

The book Lifelines by Leana Wen, MD—a public health expert, emergency physician, and the former Baltimore City health commissioner—dedicates two whole chapters to addiction. In Wen’s experience as health commissioner in Baltimore, where TruHealing has centers and the Amatus Health headquarters is located, “addiction is tied into every other issue in the city.” Wen discusses […]
Celebrating Valentine’s Day with a Sober Partner

Valentine’s Day is a time for couples to celebrate their love and toast the coming years. For men and women who struggle with addiction, the temptation to drink can prevent them from celebrating. They may feel uncomfortable around alcohol and do not have a sober partner to spend time with. There are plenty of fun […]