Treatment Archives - Page 5 of 31 - Enlightened Solutions

How Do Adverse Childhood Experiences Affect Your Addiction Risk?

Written by enlightened solutions on August 5, 2020. Posted in Addiction, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

It may seem obvious to anyone who has experience with substance use disorders that childhood adversity and addiction are related somehow. Certain patterns tend to emerge whenever people with substance use disorders start talking: having a parent who struggled with addiction, being abused physically or sexually, having a parent who was always in jail or who just wasn’t there at all, and so on.

However, you may not be aware that this phenomenon has been studied fairly extensively and that experts are now seeing a picture emerge of how these experiences affect not only your addiction risk, but also your mental health, your physical health, and even how much money you make. The following is a brief look at how adverse childhood experiences are related to addiction.

What Are ACEs?

Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are a measure of how often you felt frightened, threatened, hurt, insecure, or neglected as a child. ACEs fall broadly into three categories: abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction. Abuse can be physical, sexual, or emotional. Neglect can be physical—such as not having enough food or not having clean, adequate clothing—or it can be emotional, such as feeling unloved.

Household dysfunction includes having a parent with a mental health issue or substance use issue, having a parent who is incarcerated, witnessing domestic violence, or having your parents get divorced. It can be helpful to explore NPR’s interactive questionnaire and learn more about specific ACEs.

How Common Are They?

One of the largest studies on ACEs was conducted by Kaiser Permanente between 1995 and 1997. The study looked at data from more than 17,000 people and asked questions about adverse childhood experiences. It also collected answers regarding adult substance use and mental and physical health. As you might expect, most people had at least one adverse childhood experience. About two-thirds of respondents said they had at least one, and one-fifth of respondents had at least two.

How Many Are Too Many?

Your next question might be: how many ACEs can you have before you’re in serious trouble? Ideally, the fewer the better. ACEs tend to be the kinds of challenges that stunt rather than stimulate growth. However, the magic number appears to be four. Each ACE increases your risk a little bit, but the risk jumps when you get to four.

At that point, experts have seen a jump in a variety of negative outcomes, including addiction, teenage pregnancy, and suicide. An ACE score of 4 nearly doubles your risk of heart disease and cancer—most likely from increased drinking and smoking—and increases your risk of developing alcohol use disorder by seven times, compared to someone with no ACEs.

Do ACEs Cause Addiction?

Looking at the data, it may seem obvious that ACEs lead to addiction and other negative outcomes but if you look a bit closer, the picture gets complicated. For example, addiction has a strong genetic component, and even adopted children who are raised from birth by parents without substance use issues are more likely to develop an addiction if one of their biological parents had a substance use disorder.

Additionally, when a parent has a substance use disorder, there are more likely to be other problems, such as neglect, abuse, incarceration, and so on. It’s very hard to untangle the effects of genetics and a child’s environment but they both play a role. The same is true of mental health issues. There is a strong genetic component and it undermines the stability of the household. Mental illness is another route to addiction as well.

Conversely, there is a bit of good news: not everyone with a high ACE count will develop every problem associated with ACEs. It depends a lot on the individual as well as any mitigating factors, such as having community support and being connected with other responsible adults. While ACEs certainly contribute to addiction risk, other factors matter too.

What Do ACEs Mean for Treatment?

ACEs have several important implications for the treatment of addiction. First and foremost, the strong connection between childhood experiences and addiction underscores the fact that addiction is not a choice. Children have basically no influence over their circumstances and yet those circumstances have an enormous influence over their health and happiness as adults. Therefore, we all need to recognize that shaming or punishing people with substance use disorders is pointless and counterproductive. Compassion and support are far more effective.

Second, it’s important to recognize that addressing trauma will often be a central component of addiction treatment. Research shows that anywhere between 20 and 50 percent of people seeking help for a substance use disorder have a lifetime diagnosis of PTSD. The earlier the trauma, the more challenging it is to overcome. However, people can get better with the right help.

Can You Prevent ACEs?

As noted above, not everyone who has a high ACE count suffers the same consequences. One reason is that we’re all different and we all respond to adversity differently. Another reason is that there are often factors, such as positive childhood experiences, that offset the damage caused by ACEs.

These include things like having positive relationships with other adults—perhaps relatives, teachers, or coaches—as well as peers, learning healthy coping skills, having good educational opportunities, having access to food and healthcare, and having good available role models.

These may be available through community programs, public systems, education and public health programs, or extended family. However, as an adult, you may need therapy to address the harm caused by ACEs.

Like genes, ACEs do not determine your destiny, but they can have a significant influence on the rest of your life. We can’t control what happens to us as children, especially when we’re very young. However, we can understand the role that ACEs play in later problems such as addiction and we can respond with compassion, especially toward ourselves.

At Enlightened Solutions, we understand that the roots of addiction are complex. That’s why we treat the whole person, mind, body, and spirit. We address childhood trauma while also helping clients develop healthy coping skills and close connections to their support network. To learn more about our approach to treatment, call us today at (833) 801-5483.

What To Do When You Feel Another Episode of Depression Coming

Written by enlightened solutions on August 3, 2020. Posted in Mental Health, wellness. Leave a Comment

Depression is one of the most common mental health challenges worldwide and it’s a major risk factor for addiction. For example, one study found that among people with major depression, 16.5 percent had an alcohol use disorder and 18 percent had a drug use disorder.

Those are both much higher than the incidence of substance use disorders in the general population. Furthermore, if you have had one episode of major depression, you are likely to have another. About half of people who have had one episode will have another and about 80 percent of people who have had two episodes will have a third one.

The good news is that you can often lessen the severity of a depressive episode or avoid it entirely if you are aware of the symptoms early and respond appropriately. Early symptoms can be any of the common symptoms of depression but are especially likely to include irritability, fatigue, rumination, disturbed sleep, changes in appetite, and isolation. If you notice any of these symptoms, take the following action:

Make Sure You’re Sticking to Your Treatment Plan

If you have received treatment for depression in the past, you likely followed some course of treatment that helped you through it. This might have included therapy, healthy lifestyle changes, changes in thinking patterns, and possibly medication.

Typically, as you start to feel better, you are more inclined to let these things slide. So if you feel symptoms of depression coming back, review whatever helped you overcome your last episode and make sure you’re still doing those things, or resume doing them if you’ve stopped.

Make sure you’re eating healthy and getting regular exercise. You can also consider resuming therapy if you have met with a therapist before.

Take Care of Yourself

In addition to eating healthy and exercising, there are additional ways to take care of yourself that will help you in your healing from depression. Find ways to turn down the dial on your chronic stress, perhaps by managing your schedule better, saying no to new responsibilities, or delegating existing responsibilities.

Make sure you’re taking a little time each day to relax and have fun in whatever ways work for you. Spend time with people you care about. All of these things will help to reduce stress and anxiety, which are common triggers for depression.

Talk It Over

When you feel like your mood has taken a wrong turn and your thoughts start getting pretty dark, don’t bottle it up. Talk to someone. Ideally, you should talk to a therapist because it’s possible that you’ve slid back into some unhealthy thinking patterns and your therapist can help you correct the course. However, it can help to talk to someone you trust or someone who supports you and will listen without judgment.

It’s especially important to be able to discuss your feelings with your spouse or partner since it’s easy to take irritability and a persistently foul mood personally. An important thing to remember is that communication is key. It helps prevent alienation and just talking about what you’re going through will probably help you feel better.

Connect with Others

It’s also important to stay connected socially in general. Often, one of the earliest signs that a relapse of depression is approaching is that you want to be alone. You cancel plans, decline invitations, or just don’t show up to things. However, this is one of the behaviors that can make you spiral down more quickly.

Spending time with people you care about reduces stress and improves your mood and the less you feel like it, the more important this kind of connection is. Be sure to accept invitations and actually show up. Reach out to people, even if it’s just a text or email. Keep in mind that no matter how much you are dreading getting together with friends, you will probably enjoy it once you drag yourself out of the house.

Change Your Mood

If you’re in the depths of a depressive episode, the idea that you can just cheer up by listening to music or watching some funny videos is absurd. However, if you’re just starting to feel early symptoms of depression, these kinds of activities are powerful because they can help keep you from spiraling down.

Funny or uplifting music, videos, movies, TV shows, and books are all great ways to change your mood quickly. Exercise, even a short walk, is an especially powerful way to improve your mood in a matter of minutes. Talking to certain friends might help, as might something like cooking your favorite meal or going to your favorite restaurant.

Even just a change of scenery might get you out of a funk. Try going to a place with natural beauty, as nature has been proven to improve your mood. Even a few minutes sitting in a nearby park can lift your spirits.

Accept Your Feelings

If you have already experienced an episode of major depression, you know how bad it can get. When you feel another episode approaching, you might feel overcome with dread or even panic. You might think, “Oh no, not this again! I barely made it through the last episode and I don’t have time for this right now.”

Unfortunately, that kind of thinking makes you feel even worse. You’re adding to your misery because you feel bad about feeling bad. A much better approach is accepting your feelings. We all have bad days or even bad weeks. Instead of panicking, you can say to yourself, “I feel pretty bad today.

That’s fine; it’s normal to feel bad sometimes.” Then just sit with the feeling. It will likely pass. There is even research suggesting that the more people are able to accept challenging emotions in times of stress, the less likely those emotions are to turn into depression.

If you are attuned to your emotions and if you are aware of your patterns and triggers, it’s possible to avoid or at least reduce the severity of another episode of depression. The keys are to take care of yourself; talk it over, especially with a therapist; connect with others, particularly those you trust; manage your mood, especially early on; and avoid compounding your symptoms with worry or anger about your symptoms.

If you suddenly find yourself in emotional distress, reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or use their chat feature. You don’t have to be suicidal to call.

At Enlightened Solutions, we know that substance use is often just the tip of the iceberg. Most people who struggle with addiction have other issues as well, including major depression. Managing your mental health is a key component to a strong recovery from addiction, which is why our treatment program includes evidence-based treatments for co-occurring mental health issues, as well as lifestyle changes to promote holistic healing. To learn more, call us today at (833) 801-5483.

How to Write a Compelling Intervention Letter

Written by enlightened solutions on June 11, 2020. Posted in Addiction, treatment. Leave a Comment

If you’ve tried reasoning with your loved one, encouraging them to get help, and yet their substance use only seems to be getting worse, it’s possible that the only thing left is to stage an intervention. Most people are familiar with interventions; they’re when you get some family members and possibly some close friends together, confront the person about the obvious damage their substance use is causing, and ask them to accept help.

A lot goes into a successful intervention and you should always enlist the help of an experienced interventionist to guide the process. However, one part of the intervention that you may be deeply involved with is writing an intervention letter. There are two main reasons for writing a letter beforehand. The first is that you want to have something to say and you want to say it without rambling. In other words, you don’t want to find yourself drawing a blank when it’s your turn to speak—after all, it is a form of public speaking—and you don’t want to go off on tangents that eat up everyone else’s time. The second reason is that interventions are often emotionally intense and you don’t want to get drawn into any arguments that might derail the process. With those two things in mind, let’s look at some considerations for writing a powerful intervention letter.

Start with love and support.

First, it’s critical to open your letter with a sincere statement of love and support. When someone walks into an intervention, they instantly become defensive. It’s important to remember—and to remind them—why any of you bothered to engage in such an unpleasant task. You wouldn’t do it unless you were genuinely concerned for the person and wanted them to be happy. It’s often a good idea to share a happy memory or express sincere gratitude for something the person did for you.

Emphasize that addiction is a disease that needs treatment.

When you’ve expressed your love and support, it’s typically a good idea to follow it with a statement about how their behavior when using drugs and alcohol is at odds with the decent, kind person you know they really are. What’s more, you understand that they have been behaving in this uncharacteristic way because addiction is a disease; one that needs treatment.

Give specific examples of how substance use has hurt your loved one.

After you’ve expressed your love and support and stated your belief that addiction is a disease, it’s time to move on to the meat of the letter: the real harm that drugs and alcohol have caused your loved one, and by extension, their friends and family. There are a few important points to keep in mind about this. The first is that you want to keep your examples as concrete as possible. Value judgments and generalizations open you up to arguments, so stick to facts. Instead of something like, “You’re always getting drunk and starting arguments for no reason,” go with something like, “Last Wednesday, when you were drunk, you were yelling at me so loudly that the neighbors called the police.” You can say that you felt scared, angry, hurt, and so on, but try to refrain from attributing feelings, thoughts, and motivations to the other person.

Next, stick to incidents you’ve experienced firsthand. For one thing, this gives you more credibility since you’re not relying on hearsay and rumors. Another reason is that there is a room full of people who are going to share their own stories and there’s no point relating a secondhand version of their stories.

Finally, resist the urge to embellish or labor your points. The incidents you choose should speak for themselves.

Ask them to accept help.

After you’ve shared a few examples of how substance use is hurting your loved one, reiterate that addiction is a disease and ask them to accept treatment. Say that treatment can be effective and life can get better. If they won’t do it for themselves, ask them to please do it for you.

State the consequences of not accepting help, when appropriate.

Sometimes it’s necessary to spell out the consequences of not accepting help. This is only done in a small percentage of cases and your intervention specialist will make a judgment on whether an ultimatum is appropriate in your case. If you do give your loved one an ultimatum, you have to be prepared to follow through. If you say that you’ll take the kids and leave unless your spouse accepts help, then you have to do it. Otherwise, they’ll know they can just continue to do whatever they want because your threats are meaningless.

Ask for feedback before the intervention.

With so much at stake, writing an intervention letter can feel like a huge task, especially if you don’t write very often. To make it manageable, start by breaking it down into the smaller tasks described above. Do a little brainstorming. For example, when you are writing the part describing the effects substance use has had on your loved one’s life, see if you can come up with 20 examples—from those, pick the most striking three to five to detail in the letter.

After you have a first draft of the letter, the real work begins. Put it away for as long as you can, to get a little space. That might not be long under the circumstances. When you look at it again, read it to yourself aloud. When you do that, a lot of awkward phrases will jump out at you. Since you have to read it aloud anyway, you might as well do it early. Make sure to have someone else look at it, so you can get some perspective from outside of your own head. Finally, you will probably have an opportunity to read the letter during a rehearsal or at least to show it to the interventionist. Take their feedback seriously; they have a lot more experience with interventions than you do.

An intervention is typically the last resort, but they often succeed in getting people into treatment. The important points of an intervention letter include opening with love, emphasizing that addiction is a disease, spelling out as concretely as possible the consequences of your loved one’s substance use, and asking them to accept help. At Enlightened Solutions, interventions are one of the many services we provide. To learn more, explore our website or call us today at 833-801-5483.

The Danger of Judging Ourselves

Written by enlightened solutions on December 7, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Healthy Living. Leave a Comment

When struggling with addiction, one of the most common emotional pitfalls we can find ourselves falling into is internalizing and absorbing society’s judgment of addiction and addicts and turning that judgment onto ourselves. We start to believe the things we hear – that addiction is not a real thing, that addicts are bad people and criminals, that we use our addiction as an excuse for bad behavior. We start to judge ourselves and think about ourselves disparagingly. Why is this self-judgment so dangerous?

When we are working towards recovery, we need all the support we can get. We need all the inner resources and strength we can muster. Self-judgment depletes our inner strength, our confidence and our sense of self. We start to believe that we can’t recover and that we’re doomed to a life of active addiction. We knock ourselves down rather than building ourselves up. Our self-talk becomes cruel. The voice we’re listening to all day every day is full of self-hatred. We’re up against not only the force of our addiction but our own self-disparagement as well. We deny ourselves of hope, optimism and positivity. Our energy becomes full of negativity and cynicism.

When we judge ourselves harshly, we’re more likely to relapse because we’re not giving ourselves our own support and encouragement. We’re putting ourselves down. Our negative energy taints everything we do, from the habits we perpetuate to the relationships we choose. We’re manifesting with an energy of pessimism which brings about the circumstances we don’t want rather than the ones we do. We give up on ourselves. We lose faith in ourselves. We stop believing in our ability to heal ourselves. Self-judgement can be the catalyst for our self-destructiveness. Feeling bad about ourselves can be the reason we self-harm.

When we find ourselves judging ourselves, we can make the conscious choice to turn that judgment around and choose compassion instead. Ask yourself, would you be so judgmental of someone else, someone who was struggling with depression and emotional pain, or a physical illness? Addiction is just as debilitating and destructive, and those struggling with it deserve to be understood and embraced rather than judged and rejected. You are no different. You are battling a tremendously painful illness, and just because it can operate invisibly and be less easily recognizable than other illnesses, doesn’t mean it is any less difficult. Choose to be kind to yourself. Surround yourself with people who understand addiction. Be in community with other people in recovery. Self-judgment is dangerous. Let’s work to eradicate this judgment in ourselves so that we can empower ourselves to heal.

The staff at Enlightened Solutions has a combined 45+ years invested in our personal recoveries, and we have assisted in the restoration of countless lives. We can help you too. Call us at (833) 801-LIVE today.

Creating a Relapse Prevention Plan

Written by enlightened solutions on December 6, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Drugs & Alcohol. Leave a Comment

When we are in recovery, we soon discover that the challenges of addiction don’t disappear overnight. We still face the same addictive urges and temptations. We still live with the stress and overwhelm that drove us to our addictions. One of the best ways we can maintain our sobriety is create a relapse prevention plan. When we are hit with urges, our instinct is often to respond with frustration, resistance and panic, which can make us more likely to run to our addictions to escape the painful emotions we’re feeling. Creating a relapse prevention plan for ourselves provides us with a useful and effective tool we can keep with us moving forward, to help keep us on track with our sobriety.

1. Create a Routine

One of the greatest threats to our sobriety is a lack of routine. If we are on vacation, are not working or in school, or don’t have another outlet for our time and energy, we are more likely to find ourselves swayed by the temptation of our addictions. Create a routine for yourself full of things you enjoy, healthy activities, and productive ways to spend your time. Make attending meetings, going to therapy and working with your sponsor part of this routine. Give your energy to keeping this routine and make it a commitment for yourself.

2. Find an Accountability Partner

When we have someone to be accountable to, we’re more likely to stay the course of our recovery. This partner can be a sponsor, another friend in recovery, a family member, therapist or mentor. This person should be someone with whom we feel comfortable checking in and giving regular updates on our progress. We shouldn’t be afraid to discuss with them any challenges, temptations or even relapses that may arise. Keeping track of our progress, even when we stumble, can help us keep ourselves on track.

3. Choose Calm

We commonly become stressed, anxious and panicked when we’re faced with an addictive urge. We worry we’ll relapse. We fear we’ll always be suffering in this way. When we practice mindfulness, we can more easily calm ourselves down, which can help us avoid some of the emotional overwhelm that can lead to relapse. Practice doing things that bring you feelings of peace and calm. Repeat calming affirmations such as “I will get through this. I am at peace. I am reaching my goals.” Use other calming practices such as meditation, journaling and talking with a supportive friend.

Enlightened Solutions was created to help people learn more about addiction and to find the support of a community that understands the struggles firsthand. Call (833) 801-LIVE today to get the help you deserve.

How Our Lives Benefit from Inner Peace

Written by enlightened solutions on December 5, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Sober Living. Leave a Comment

Having peace of mind changes everything for us and drastically transforms our lives for the better. We experience an internal well-being that can feel totally new and different for us when we’ve been consumed with inner turmoil for so long. The health of our relationships improves, and we repair those that have been broken and heal the conflicts that contributed to their demise. We change the energy with which we manifest in our lives moving forward, bringing us happier circumstances and easier navigation through life’s challenges. We start to see things working out more easily for us. We feel happier and more secure within ourselves.

Stress is a normal part of life, and recovery doesn’t mean our stress disappears. With inner peace, though, we can more easily deal with the stresses in our lives. We are more centered, balanced and grounded. We are less triggered by the things that formerly knocked us off our center. We become less reactive and less emotionally swayed by challenging things, events and people. We find it easier to stay true to ourselves and to keep our focus on our emotional well-being.

Inner peace allows us to reclaim the dignity many of us lost when we were at our lowest point, when we were most self-destructive and self-harming. We learn what it means to love and accept ourselves. We forgive ourselves for our mistakes rather than condemning ourselves to live in shame and self-deprecation. We’re better able to release the past in order to focus on the future ahead. We find ourselves wanting to move forward with hope rather than staying stuck in our pain.

With inner peace comes self-empowerment. When we’re at peace within ourselves, we mentally and emotionally start to uplift ourselves more. We shed the disparaging self-talk that dominated our minds. We stop being our own worst enemy and shed our self-hatred. We find it so much happier and easier to be our own ally instead. We start to shower ourselves with self-love and self-acceptance. We stop denying ourselves the gift of our own compassion and understanding.

When we have peace of mind, we start to make better choices, in our relationships, habits and behaviors. We shed our self-destructiveness. Being good to ourselves comes much more naturally. We become better able to recognize our harmful patterns, and we develop the mindfulness to stop them in their tracks. Our energy is one of peace, and we manifest more peace in our lives rather than the tumult, confusion and conflict we grew accustomed to. Our lives and everything in them benefit tremendously when we work to develop our inner peace.

At Enlightened Solutions, our holistic and multidisciplinary approach is focused on healing the whole person and invigorating your soul. Call us at (833) 801-LIVE today.

The Challenges of the Holiday Season

Written by enlightened solutions on December 4, 2018. Posted in Healthy Living, Recovery. Leave a Comment

The holiday season is most commonly associated with cheer, joy and nostalgia. Our cultural traditions are intended to bring us together with family and friends to celebrate gratitude and appreciation with loved ones. For many of us, however, this time of year brings with it some very real challenges that can make the season stressful rather than joyful. We can be filled with fear, anxiety and sadness rather than with the merriment the holidays are traditionally known for.

Some of the challenges we face with the holiday season come from the fact that we don’t have the family or other close relationships that other people are joyfully celebrating this time of year. We can feel an acute sense of loneliness seeing other people with their loved ones when we aren’t able to be with ours. For some of us, we have isolated ourselves so much that we no longer have close relationships to benefit from. Our addictions might have caused so much damage to our relationships that we are now totally estranged from them. We might have lost our loved ones, and this time of year serves as a painful reminder of our grief.

The sadness and loneliness we feel are some of the emotions we grew accustomed to avoiding through our addictions. The holiday season can make us want to return to our old behaviors to escape the pain we’re feeling. We might find ourselves feeling anxious and afraid that we’ll relapse. We can find ourselves tempted by the holiday parties and celebrations that are often centered around alcohol. We might be spending time with people who themselves are not sober and who might not realize the difficulties we’re having. The heightened emotions and temptation surrounding the holidays can be overwhelming, and we might find ourselves increasingly worried about relapsing.

There are some ways we can handle the challenges of the holiday season. One of the most important things we can do for ourselves is to prepare and plan ahead. We can plan which parties we attend and choose events hosted by other sober people in recovery. We can plan ahead to attend extra meetings whenever we’re feeling particularly challenged. We can make a plan with our sponsor to communicate more than usual. We can ask our loved ones to support our efforts and make parties more inclusive of people who don’t drink. The holiday season can be overwhelming, but with preparation, we can allow ourselves to partake in its fun and celebration rather than becoming depressed and risking relapse.

At Enlightened Solutions, we believe that every addict can recover. We want to help you remember that life can be full of happiness and enjoyable experiences. Call (833) 801-LIVE today.

Prioritizing Our Peace of Mind

Written by enlightened solutions on December 3, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Healthy Living. Leave a Comment

When we are struggling with addiction, depression, anxiety and other mental health issues, we often tend not to prioritize our own well-being and peace of mind. We place more importance on everything else in our lives – our families and relationships, our obligations and responsibilities, and the lifestyles that allow us to maintain our addictions. Getting high becomes our primary focus, along with avoiding the difficult emotions we’re afraid to face. When we make the life changing decision to work towards recovery, we learn that we have no choice other than to prioritize our peace of mind.

When we realize how important our internal peace is to the rest of our lives and to our overall health, we learn that there are some things we must shed. We go through an elimination process where we remove the things and people that no longer serve us. We separate ourselves from toxic relationships. We work to discontinue the destructive habits that facilitated our addictive behaviors. We begin to create lifestyles focused on health and wellness rather than on self-harm.

This process can bring up some challenging emotions we might not have been prepared for. We might feel grief to lose people in our lives with whom we were close but who contributed to inner turmoil. We might feel resistance when we have to drop the habits we’ve become so accustomed to. We may want to cling to our former lives and all the ways in which we self-identified. We might feel frustrated with the complicated recovery process and overwhelmed with how much more is involved than simply abstaining from our drug or behavior of choice. We might feel afraid to venture forward, uncertain of what’s to come. We can be filled with anxiety and trepidation.

All of these feelings are normal and natural. When we’re ready to prioritize our peace of mind, we realize that we must be brave and move through the fear and other challenging emotions that arise. When we work through this process, we come to know that a healthier and more empowered version of ourselves is waiting on the other side. We come into this new sense of self with renewed joy and purpose. We feel more fulfilled within ourselves. We feel as though we’ve come home to ourselves. Prioritizing our peace of mind enables us to open all of these important doors for ourselves and venture confidently into a life of recovery and wellness.

If you are like many of us and feel trapped and controlled by your addiction, know that you are not alone and that there is hope. Enlightened Solutions is here to help you find your way. Call (833) 801-LIVE today to get the care and support you deserve.

Encourage and Congratulate Yourself

Written by enlightened solutions on November 16, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Addiction Recovery. Leave a Comment

Many of us working towards recovery from addictions and mental health issues have spent years beating ourselves up, criticizing and judging ourselves, and denying ourselves forgiveness and compassion. All of these things make it harder for us to heal. One shift we can make in our mentality is to start thinking positively about our progress and growth. We can help ourselves do this by encouraging ourselves as much as possible and congratulating ourselves for everything we accomplish, even small things.

When we are depressed or in crisis, everything can feel impossible. We might feel like we don’t have any energy or willpower. We might struggle with daily tasks and responsibilities. When we are in this place, it’s highly important to change our self-talk to be empowering and affirming. “I believe in you. You can do this. You are strong. You are brave. You are powerful.” Encourage yourself as often as you can.

Motivate yourself. Set intentions for yourself and believe you can follow through on them. When we don’t believe in ourselves, we are blocking ourselves from our true capabilities. We are depriving ourselves of the energy of our intention, and we are failing to use our power for our own benefit. Build up your confidence by talking to yourself differently. Speak to yourself with love and hope. Pray for motivation, pray for courage. Believe in your higher power and your inner strength.

Everything you do, no matter how small, congratulate yourself. You got out of bed even when you felt like you couldn’t. You took care of things. You showered and brushed your teeth. If you’ve been in crisis before, you know how insurmountable even small tasks like self-care routines can feel. Congratulate yourself. Give yourself praise for showing yourself love. Work to build up your sense of self-worth.

Congratulate yourself for the bigger things. You haven’t given up. You are still trying. You are surviving. You are on your path. You are meant to do wonderful things.

Recognize all the ways you’ve showed up for yourself and others in your life, and congratulate yourself for them. We often forget all the good we’ve done and focus on our mistakes and regrets, so dig deep and look for the good. Meditate on self-love. Praise yourself for not succumbing to your addictions and mental health problems. Congratulate yourself for your resilience.

We are here to support you in your recovery. Treatment at Enlightened Solutions includes recovery planning, mentoring, therapy and more. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

How We Can Redirect Our Thoughts When We Are In Crisis

Written by enlightened solutions on November 14, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

When we are experiencing a serious depression or other crisis such as a nervous breakdown, our thoughts can be debilitating and are often a major contributing factor in our condition. When we are in crisis, our thoughts can feel as though they are out of control. We can experience thoughts of deep hopelessness and despair, breakdowns in our rational thinking, and suicidal thoughts and ideation.

One thing we can do for ourselves when we are in crisis is to work on redirecting our thoughts. This can feel impossible. We feel controlled by our thoughts, even haunted or tortured by them. Our inner demons are persistent and overbearing, and they dominate our minds. If we can start to consciously choose our thoughts with intention, we can start to take back control of our minds.

Our usual default line of thinking is often focused on how much pain we’re in. We think thoughts like “I don’t want to be alive. I can’t do this anymore. I don’t deserve to live.” We tend to replay these same thoughts over and over again in our minds, which amplifies them and gives them even more power over us. When we have moments of feeling even a little better, maybe we have a pause in our painful thoughts, our instinct is often to return to the depressing thoughts. That becomes our automatic line of thinking that our minds naturally, instinctively revert to.

The good news is that we can reprogram this line of thinking. Our minds have the capability of transforming themselves from within. Even in times of crisis, even in a total state of breakdown, we often have moments where we have some clarity. In those moments, whenever you can, start to say things to yourself like “I am healing. I am getting better. This pain will be over soon. I will get through this.” Write them down if you can. If you need the help of a therapist or friend, ask. You can record your affirmations, and anything else you find comforting. Meditate with the recording to calm yourself and help you sleep. With repetition, we are reprogramming our subconscious minds. As we do this, we begin to be able to heal our deepest wounds, address our underlying fears and handle unresolved emotions.

When painful thoughts arise, try not to fight them. Meditation helps us to accept our thoughts rather than adding resistance to them, which can add fuel to the fire. We can embrace our painful thoughts with our understanding and compassion. We can have empathy and patience for our inner selves as we heal.

Enlightened Solutions has years of experience helping people in recovery. Call (833) 801-LIVE for more information on how we can help you.

Tag: Treatment