The Subtle Cues of Communication

“You cannot ‘not’ communicate.” Read More

Frozen Tears: Processing Hidden Losses

Grief is normal, and it is a direct result of attachment and love. There is really no one-size-fits-all approach to grief. Still, normal grief tends to follow a pattern, whereas complicated or what psychologists refer to as disenfranchised losses can go underground and truthfully never get processed at all. This is when grief becomes what is referred to as complicated and can block our enjoyment of life and even undermine our ability to be intimate. Read More

Protect Your Sobriety Without Missing Out

By: Michelle Peterson Back in the day, you loved to party. Whether you got drunk or high, it was how you had fun. Well, not really. It took you a while to realize it, but substance abuse was an attempt to run away from problems, and it wasn’t very successful. Eventually, you realized you wanted (and needed) to stay sober. Read More

Intimate Partner Violence and Love Addiction

By: Rebekah Givens, Behavioral Health Technician, Willow House at The Meadows Imagine that what you crave more than anything else in the world are love and acceptance. Now, imagine that throughout your life, you've continually tried to earn the love of others, yet your efforts come up empty time and again. Read More

Sober Dating Tips: Find Romance Without Compromising Your Recovery

By Aimee Runyon For those recovering from a drug or alcohol addiction, dating can be a complicated and confusing world. When you finally decide to start dating again, it is important to seek the advice of those in your support group to make sure the time is right. Read More

Mothering and Codependency: A Catalyst for Personal Growth

If I had been more honest with myself and diagrammed my family when my children were young, I would… Read More

How God Shows Up in Recovery

By Nancy Minister, Workshop Facilitator, Rio Retreat Center at The Meadows I recently listened to a friend talks about her practice of catching herself when she was “off” — in other words, being short or rude to someone when experiencing some sort of conflict. Read More

Financial Porn

In an age of round-the-clock news dispatches akin to hearing it before it even happened, it’s no wonder those affixed to their personal electronic BFF can appreciate what life was like before the realm of mobile devices, the internet, and social media. It’s also any wonder that intimacy in relationships… Read More

Growing Up with an Addicted Parent

I remember as a twelve-year-old, sitting alone in our living room after one of our by then typical family meltdowns …….trying to make sense of the pain and general devastation of our once happy family……trying to understand how kind, decent and loving people could cause each other such unrelenting pain, how we could say the things we were saying, hurl insults, act out in anger and rage……I recall saying to myself “wars do these things to people, separate loved ones, wound hearts, tear families apart. But somehow, we’re doing this to ourselves.” Read More

The Connection Between Love Addiction and Love Avoidance

By Jean Collins LCSW, LISAC, CSAT, Executive Director of Rio Retreat Center at The Meadows What are love addiction and love avoidance, and what do they have to do with love? Things can get very muddy for women who struggle with self-defeating relationship patterns. Fortunately for women whose lives… Read More