Recognizing And Treating Trauma In Addiction Recovery Is Essential For Long Term Sobriety

Almost every human on the planet will experience trauma in their lifetimes. This is a fact. Trauma is no longer defined as being a soldier experiencing the active battlefields of war. Life is an active battlefield. When circumstances are taken out of our control, it can feel like war. Trauma cannot be defined by someone outside of a situation looking when. If a traumatic episode causes stress, distress, and ongoing mental health issues, the situation was traumatic.

Though most people will experience trauma in their lifetimes, they will not likely experience post traumatic stress disorder. PTSD is a specific clinical diagnosis given to those who have extreme reactions to trauma for an enduring amount of time. To be fully diagnosed with PTSD one has to meet specific clinical requirements. However, many people have symptoms similar to PTSD which negatively influence their ability to have relationships, perform at work, develop emotionally, and manage stress. Trauma, even though it might not be displayed through obvious symptoms like hyperarousal and hallucinatory flashbacks, can be debilitating and often lead to substance abuse.

Drug and alcohol abuse is an obvious answer to trauma. Euphoria, analgesia, hallucination- many of the physical and psychological effects of drugs and alcohol provide escape from trauma. Until trauma is worked through with a professional psychologist, one who has experienced trauma continues to live with it. Overlooking the presence of any kind of trauma in one’s life when attempting to treat their substance abuse problems is ineffective.

Treating addiction without treating trauma is like putting Neosporin on a severed limb. Regarding trauma with care and delicacy is essential for healing during the treatment process. How someone relates to their world is defined by mental illness. That mental illness can be enhanced or worsened by the experience of living with untreated trauma.

Defining Trauma

Bullying is trauma. Verbal abuse is trauma. Watching a sibling be taken away is trauma. Living in a non-emotional household is trauma. Rape is trauma. Divorce is trauma. Anything which creates a significant and life-altering impact is trauma. Your trauma does not have to meet any specifications. If it is affecting you, it is traumatic.

You do not have to live with the pain of trauma forever. Healing is possible for both trauma and addiction. The integrative and healing programs at Enlightened Solutions are designed to help you find peace in your life through recovery. For more information, call 844-234-LIVE.

Staying On Medication and 3 Other Helpful Habits For Bipolar And Addiction

Psychiatrists, physicians, and treatment professionals often quip that bipolar disorder is one of the most curious mental health disorders to treat because of the way that people relate to their medication. Bipolar disorder is well known for creating delusion within its two emotional states: depression and mania. Mania is defined by highs which make depression seem even lower. Part of the depression is caused by the sudden loss of euphoria which can be experienced during mania. Mood stabilizers and other medications which treat bipolar disorder help someone feel more stable and feel better in their lives. Once they feel better and like the way they feel, people with bipolar seem to forget they’re bipolar and in need of medication. They stop taking it, stop attending meetings with their psychiatrists, and slowly spiral back out of control. Problematically, they will repeat this cycle over and over again.

Get Consistent Sleep

Having shifting moods which cannot be controlled can mess with your daily routine. Part of the challenge of living with bipolar disorder is creating consistency from one end of mania to the other end of depression. Mania causes people to lose sleep while depression can cause an excess amount of sleep. Maintaining a regular sleep schedule each night can create stability and not cause other major disruptions which result due to abnormal sleep.

Stay Sober

Bipolar disorder and addiction, as well as alcoholism are frequently co-occurring and present a constant problem. In times of a manic episode, someone is inclined to feel invincible and energetic, inspiring them to party and use substances excessively. During depressive episodes, someone with bipolar will turn to depressant substances to cope with their feelings or stimulant substances to try and make themselves feel like they did during mania.

Ask For Help

Learning to manage bipolar disorder during recovery from drug and alcohol addiction is challenging. Nobody expects you to do it perfectly! If you are struggling with manic-depressive episodes which are causing you to have cravings, it is okay to reach out for help. Don’t feel ashamed that you have bipolar and that you struggle with addiction. Courageously reach out for help and get the assistance you need to feel better.

If you are struggling with bipolar disorder and addiction, help is available. Enlightened Solutions has a variety of programs which can work for you to heal mind, body, and spirit. You will have balance again. For more information, call 844-234-LIVE

Does The 12 Step Philosophy Really Work?

Project Match is an infamous study, one of the first to dive deeply into the debate of Alcoholics Anonymous and the efficiency of the twelve steps as a viable form of treatment. 900 drinkers were split into three groups to receive one of three treatments, either using AA-based treatment which utilizes the 12 steps and emphasizes attendance of meetings, cognitive behavioral therapy, or motivational enhancement therapy. Problematically, there was not a fourth group of individuals who had to quit drinking on their own.

Conclusively, the study found that the twelve step approach combining the attendance of meetings and utilizing the program of the twelve steps worked as well as other treatment methods, according to Scientific American. Citing another study, the article points out that in 2006 a Stanford University professor found that AA worked remarkably well. This study followed problem drinkers for an astonishing 16 years. The drinkers had either quit on their own, attended AA, or worked with therapists. “Of those who attended at least 27 weeks of AA meetings during the first year,” Scientific American writes, “67% were abstinent at the 16-year follow-up,” the remaining 34% did not participate in AA in any way. For the participants who received therapy, 56% remained abstinent 16 years later.

Alcoholics Anonymous and the use of any twelve step program is not meant to be an exclusive treatment method, or a treatment method at all. The steps are called suggestions and a program of recovery. Within the primary text of the group, The Big Book Of Alcoholics Anonymous, the authors encourage people to work with therapists. A vast majority of treatment facilities today are 12 step based or utilize 12 step philosophy. Though this raises controversy because AA is not scientifically based, once one reads a section of the book titled The Doctor’s Opinion, they see points which directly correlate to many of today’s “evidence-based” treatment methods.

The twelve step approach does not work for everyone. Relapse can happen at any point in time throughout someone’s life if they let down their routine of recovery, which does not have to include AA. For those who adhere to the program, continue therapy, and create meaning in their new sober lives, long term, even lifelong abstinence is completely possible.

Enlightened Solutions believes in the spiritual solution of the twelve step philosophy and utilizes integrative holistic approaches to support proven clinical methods. Our partial care programs are designed to heal alcoholism and addiction in mind, body, and spirit. For more information, call 844-234-LIVE.

Art Therapy Is More Than Arts And Crafts For Rehab

Art is an expression beyond the confines of language represented by words. Art is a language of its own, using the symbols of expression to communicate metaphor, emotion, transition, and meaning. One of the only static communications styles to be so dynamic, art can create movement without moving. A painting can encompass a lifetime, a sculpture can encompass transformation. What is put into art is transitory, which makes the modality of art therapy so important. Everything is changing in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. From one minute to the next, the brain is healing, the body is healing, and the soul is being rejuvenated. Art therapy is a way to move beyond traditional talking or packets and put that experience into different forms.

Though an art piece might be static, the process of making art is not. Art therapy might seem to symbolic to be realistic to some. However, there is importance in the symbology. For example, building up a sculpture with clay to represent pain, resentment, or trauma, then smashing that sculpture down into a blob is a transformative experience. Feelings, thoughts, emotions, judgments, pain, trauma, are all intangible. We feel them in many different ways as they manifest in our lives, but we can not simply grab anger by the handful, throw it across the room and pronounce it gone. With art therapy, the intangible becomes tangible, malleable, and useful.

Treatment for drug and alcohol addiction is full of talking, processing, analyzing, and reflecting, all of which are important tools and methods. Art therapy is an opportunity to engage in a different kind of processing which doesn’t require as much brain power as it does soul power. Using two different sides of the brain during treatment is important to helping the brain grow strong and find more balance.

An art therapist and specified art therapy groups are not required to do art therapy. You can bring art therapy home with you through very simple routines:

• Use coloring books

• Buy art supplies and create a designated time to just create

• Create gifts for people with crafting rather than buy new things

• Lookup art therapy activities online, which can include a narration

Art therapy is becoming a more relied upon model of treatment for addiction recovery. We employ alternative and holistic treatment methods as part of our integrative approach to healing addiction in mind, body, and spirit. Enlightened Solutions believes that there is an answer to addiction. For more information, call 844-234-LIVE

Nama’stick To Yoga Because It Helps With Depression

According to Bustle, Boston University recently released information from their study on the efficacy of yoga in treating depression. Published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, the study followed thirty people of varying ages who were clinically depressed. Within the group, the participants were either medication-free or had been consistently taking medication for three full months or more.

One half of the participants were instructed to take a ninety minute yoga class in addition to four yoga sessions of thirty minutes on their own at home. In the other half of the group, participants took two yoga classes and three sessions at home each week.

The study lasted for three months. At the end of the three months, researchers evaluated the participants’ depression with the use of clinical depression questionnaires. For the half of the participants who had more yoga in their schedule- two group classes a week and three at home yoga sessions a week- there was a better improvement in score. Overall, the majority of participants in either grow saw a 50% more positive increase on their scores regarding their depression.

Yoga has been found to be helpful in alleviating the symptoms of many mental health conditions including anxiety, addiction, alcoholism, and post traumatic stress disorder. Skeptics of holistic healing arts and their effectiveness in treating mental health disorders have combatted years of reasearch proving that yoga is helpful. THis new study from Boston University shows that yoga is undeniably effective in alleviating symptoms of depression. A fifty percent increase is an astonishing and impressive advancement for those struggling with clinical depression.

Practicing yoga today is easier than ever. Many apps exist which can be downloaded to smart technological devices, full of yoga sequences and classes. Yoga instructions can be found online through streaming video services like YouTube. Yoga studios are plentiful and most major commercial gyms offer numerous yoga classes throughout the day.

For treatment of addiction, alcoholism, and co-occurring mental health conditions, yoga is becoming a primary practice. Regular practice of yoga helps increase blood circulation, improves heart health, reduces inflammation, and improves mood. Those who practice yoga find that they feel a greater sense of wellbeing, universality, and connectivity to the world around them.

Yoga is often a life-transofmring practice. Recovery is about healing and transformation. Are you ready to make a change in your life? Enlightened Solutions is an integrative and holistic treatment program which draws on clinical and evidence based practices. For information on our treatment programs for men and women, call us today at 844-234-LIVE.

Why Is Meth So Addictive?

Meth, also known as methamphetamine, crystal meth, ice, crystal, and glass, is a highly addictive drug. Classified as a stimulant, central nervous system, synthetic drug, meth takes control of the brain and the body in a powerful way.

Meth Is A Synthetic

There is no one formula for crystal meth. One thousand or more formulas for meth might exist. Meth is not sourced from a natural source in any way, meaning there isn’t one part of meth that is natural. Heroin, for example, can be filled with chemical additives and other drugs, but will still have at least one part natural opium sourced from the poppy plant which produces it. Meth is a combination of chemicals often referred to as “the kitchen sink”. Since the pursuit of meth is a constant challenge for enforcement agencies, people who manufacture the drug are constantly evading the law. Changing formulas mean that the drug is changing as well. Synthetic substances are unpredictable because of their changing formulas. Volatile chemical reactions to create meth can create even more violent reactions in the person who takes it.

Meth Is A Stimulant

Stimulant drugs speed the brain and the body up to a high pace, stimulating the brain and the heart. Hallucinations, wild imagination, alertness, attention, and endless energy become enticing with meth use. Stimulant drugs produce a high amount of dopamine, the neurotransmitter which is responsible for creating feelings of pleasure. Euphoric sensations are extremely high in meth, and produced at high amounts. After just one or two uses of meth, one can feel effects of withdrawal or cravings. As a stimulant, meth is abused to help people stay awake, sexually active, and productive for long periods of time. Combining the neurochemical response with rewards- whatever is achieved by staying high on meth, makes it a very addictive drug.

Meth Is A Central Nervous System Substance

Central nervous system substances enter into the bloodstream more quickly than other substances because they hit the central nervous system first. Connecting the nervous system throughout the entire body, once meth is ingested it has an instantaneous effect. Getting high in a more impactful way more quickly is alluring to addicts.

Recovery from meth addiction is possible. Meth addiction can feel like a wild roller coaster ride you can’t get off of. If you are struggling with meth addiction, there is hope. Call Enlightened Solutions today for information on our treatment programs for meth addiction and co-occurring mental health conditions. 844-234-LIVE.

Using 12 Step Meetings For Recovery

Before there was a solution to the problem of alcoholism, there was no answer. People who had an uncontrollable relationship with alcohol were sent to hospitals and psychiatric wards. Doctors warned patients that their brains and livers would be damaged for good with one more drink or drug, yet patients did not listen. Around the country small groups were finding religious relief through simply programs of action that were helping them stay sober. The message of one such group found a man named Bill who had a spiritual experience. After discussing his experience, strength, and hope with a fellow struggling alcoholic, Bill and his new friend Bob, had an idea. That idea became Alcoholics Anonymous, the original 12 step program. Since the release of the primary text for the recovery group, The Big Book Of Alcoholics Anonymous, in 1939, millions of people have found a spiritual solution to alcoholism, all over the world.

Many people find sobriety through the rooms of AA or similar twelve step programs like Narcotics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, and Heroin Anonymous. For others, recovery programs are an essential supplement to their ongoing treatment and therapy. During treatment, you will likely be taken to multiple meetings of different kinds a week. In the meetings you can find a sponsor. Sponsors are meant to take a newcomer, someone with less than thirty days, through the twelve steps. After completing the twelve steps, you will then be in a position to sponsor someone else through the twelve steps.

Creating A Recovery Program Outside Of Treatment

When you graduate treatment you will either move to sober living or move on your own, which might include moving back home. Finding a new routine of twelve step meetings is easy to do with a few simple steps:

• Research meetings online. All you have to do is do an internet search of “12 step meetings in ____” to find an online schedule

• You can search for AA central in your area and call for a list of meetings nearby

• Ask your AA central volunteer if they have ride shares in case you don’t have a way of getting to a meeting

• Introduce yourself at a meeting and ask for phone numbers. New friends in recovery can take you to meetings, introduce you to new meetings, and support your recovery

• Find a home meeting which you commit to attending every week

• Get a new sponsor and work the twelve steps with them, call them every day, and check in with your daily inventory

• Volunteer to a commitment at a meeting like being a secretary, a treasurer, or literature person

The spiritual solution of the twelve steps has worked for millions of people around the world. Enlightened Solutions adopts the twelve step philosophy as part of our integrative programs of treatment. For more information, call 844-234-LIVE.

10 Tips For Moving Into Sober Living After Treatment

1. Create a routine of meetings: Treatment has a daily schedule to keep you occupied and moving through the day. Sober living can present a suddenly open schedule. Sitting around bored is usually a recipe for disaster in early recovery. Learning how to structure your day and create a healthy schedule can be a challenge after spending so much time in a place where that was being done for you. An easy way to create a backbone for your schedule is with recovery meetings. Until you have a job, go back to school, you have a lot of time. Spending that time in meetings will help you stay busy and help your recovery.

2. Fill your schedule with friends and fellowship: Many people continue to take time off of work and school after moving into sober living. Some might get a part time job as a way to fill their time and create a bit of income. In between, fill your schedule with friends and fellowshipping. The first year of recovery is doing everything “sober”. Going to the movies, going shopping, taking road trips, having an adventure- they’re all things people do all the time. For you and your friends in recovery they are brand new experiences. Find out what living sober in recovery is all about together.

3. Maintain healthy boundaries: The growing doesn’t stop with treatment. You’ll meet many more new people, start dating, and forming new relationships. As you make amends and reconnect with people from your past you rebirth old relationships. Relationships require healthy boundaries. Remember to make time to take care of you and clearly define when that time is.

4. Stay honest with your house manager: Outpatient, intensive outpatient, or aftercare are all partial care programs you might continue to do when you’re in sober living. Sober living is also where people choose to live once they've completed all levels of treatment they need and start to live life again. Staying honest with your treatment team and your house manager is important. THroughout the first year to first eighteen months you will continue to experience cravings, obsessive thinking, and struggles. Just because you’re in sober living doesn’t mean you’re expected to do recovery perfectly.

5. Continue seeing your therapist: If you aren’t in continuing levels of care, it is important to continue seeing your therapist or find a new therapist to see if you can’t see your treatment therapist. Ongoing therapy will help you stay connected to your recovery and work on underlying issues.

6. Practice Self-Care: Your life is going to become full more quickly than you realize once you’re in sober living. Between the meetings, work, after care, therapy, and adventure, it's important to slow down and take time for yourself. Create your routine of self-care and take time to nourish your soul in the way i needs to be nourished.

Enlightened Solutions provides partial care programs for those who have completed residential inpatient and are looking to continue their treatment. Our integrative and holistic programs are designed to create transformative healing in mind, body, and spirit. For more information on sober living, treatment, and how you can recover from addiction, call 844-234-LIVE.

What It Means (And Doesn’t Mean) To Live With A Mental Illness

Mental health and mental illness are becoming more well understood, but continue to face harmful shame and stigma.

Living With A Mental Illness Means You’re A Human Being

Humans develop mental illnesses. You have a mental illness. Chances are, you’re a human being. Living with a mental illness simply means you’re a human with a certain set of circumstances to live with. Mental illness does not make you sub-human or any kind of different breed of person. You still have the same heart, same brain, and same chemical makeup as everyone else. A few special variations have given you some particular challenges to work with. These don’t make you abnormal, they make you unique.

Living With A Mental Illness Does Not Mean You’re Crazy, Dangerous, Or A Monster

There are severe psychiatric mental health disorders which can completely cut someone off from their own humanity. Extreme cases of mental illness without any kind of treatment or intervention can cause someone to head down a troubled path. Such pathology is often sensationalized in the movies and books by villains, “psychos” and other harmful people. Mental illness is treatable more often than not. WIthout treatment and the use of tools to regulate your emotions, balance your moods, and help yourself stay centered, you can start to act “abnormal”. However, the damaging stigma and characterizations of mental illness do not apply to you. You’re not crazy, you’re not dangerous, and you’re not a monster. You are not a bad person who needs to be transformed into a good person. You live with an illness which needs to be healed so you can live well again.

Living With A Mental Illness Means You Have To Work Extra Hard

You feel things, experience things, and process things differently than your peers. When you have ADHD, you have to put in extra effort to create an environment in which you can focus, organize yourself, and manage your attention. Living with depression means being sensitive to your sensitivities and practicing self-care. Those who live with addiction and alcoholism work hard to create lifestyle changes which keep them away from using drugs and alcohol.

Living With A Mental Illness Does Not Mean You’re Weak

Quite the opposite. Going to greater lengths to take care of yourself, create a healthy environment, participate in good communication, and continue to work on yourself is courageous. It takes bravery and courage to look yourself in the mirror and confront your mental illness. Coming to a place of loving-kindness, compassion, and healing with yourself is something many people will spend their lifetimes avoiding. You are not weak, deficient, or a victim because of your mental illness. You are a recovery warrior! Be proud of the work you do for yourself.
 

Recovery is something to celebrate, not to be ashamed of. Making the decision to seek treatment and work towards a better you is a tremendous moment in your life. If you are in need of treatment for addiction, alcoholism, and/or a co-occurring mental health disorder, call Enlightened Solutions today for more information on our integrative, holistic healing programs of treatment. 844-234-LIVE.

Can Eating Disorders Be Predicted?

A recent study found that there are three primary categories that disordered eating behaviors can either develop from or not develop from, starting in adolescence:

• Asymptomatic: those who have no symptoms of disordered eating behaviors

• Dieting Group: those who were actively pursuing weightloss

• Disordered eating group: those who engaged in disordered eating behaviors symptomatic of diagnosable eating disorders such as binging and purging

Most eating disorders begin to develop at the young, pre-pubescent age and develop into adulthood. The study sought to investigate the patterns of adolescent behaviors and how they transitioned into adulthood. What the researchers found is revealing to the evolution of eating disorders and how early intervention could be essential for long term recovery.

For the asymptomatic group, those who had no symptoms at all, the researchers found that only a little over half (about 60%) stayed asymptomatic and did not develop an eating disorder later on in life. Adolescents who are not preoccupied with dieting or begin to participate in disordered eating behaviors in their critical developmental years are less likely to develop an eating disorder later in life. The remaining 40% might experience trauma, another mental health condition, or other extreme circumstances in life which lead to developing an eating disorder.

75% of those who belonged to one of the disordered eating behaviors groups, either dieting or disordered eating, continued to be in one of those two categories later on in life. Eating disorders have been discovered to thrive in the habit-forming part of the brain. Deeply rooted in in the brain, changing disordered thinking about eating habits, and disordered behaviors for eating habits, is hard to do. When eating disorder habits and thinking develops at an adolescent age, it can be difficult to stop later on in life.

Interestingly, the study found that a critical component in the development of an eating disorder was self-esteem. “Those with higher self-esteem in adolescence tended to have a decreased chance of transitioning from the asymptomatic group to the disordered eating group in adulthood.” In contrast, those who struggled with depression, dysfunctional family systems, family weight issues, or other circumstances, had lower self-esteem in adolescence and were more likely to develop an eating disorder through to adulthood.

Eating disorders are challenging to overcome but it is not possible. Addiction and alcoholism are commonly co-occurring with eating disorders. If you are struggling with both, recovery is possible and help is available. Call Enlightened Solutions today for information on our integrative treatment programs for healing mind, body, and spirit, as you make your journey to recovery. Healing is waiting. 844-234-LIVE.

Trigger Warning: Developing An Understanding Of Your Triggers

The word “trigger” and the use of the phrase “trigger warning” has become more prominent in mainstream culture today as society becomes increasingly aware of trauma and mental health. Trauma can be associated with any kind of traumatic event which feels out of someone’s control. Addiction, alcoholism, depression, anxiety, personality disorders, mood disorders, psychiatric disorders- almost all mental health conditions end up being rooted in the experience of some kind of trauma in someone’s life. Trigger warnings are used to let a mass audience know that a particularly difficult subject is going to be discussed openly. Commonly, topics like rape, sexual abuse, violence, drug and alcohol use are triggers for those who are recovering. Talk of suicide, loss, and violence can be triggering too. There are many shared triggers. Each individual has their own set of triggers as well. Developing an understanding of your triggers is part of developing a relapse prevention plan. Relapse prevention is the set of tools, actions, and practices to prevent yourself from reacting to any kind of situation with default behaviors- primarily engaging in the harmful use of drugs and alcohol. Triggers are not uncontrollable and you are not left weak or victimized in their wake. The first step to overcoming triggers and learning how to manage them is understanding them.

Pay Attention When You Feel Stimulated By Something

You might not yet recognize what feeling “triggered” is like. If you are in recovery from drugs and alcohol, it’s a very simply situation. Feeling triggered is any moment when your immediate reaction is: I want to use. I want to get high. During the early recovery months that can happen a hundred times a day from no hot water in the shower to hearing an especially mean comment. Drugs and alcohol become the habitual behavioral default for coping with difficult and uncomfortable situations. Keep a journal for a week to notice each time you feel inspired to drink or use. At the end of each day, look at the triggers and see if there is a common theme.

Start Looking For The Theme

Noticing the different situations which are triggering, you’ll notice commonalities between them. This is the situation of the trigger, or situational trigger. It might be something like feeling out of control, fear of being abandoned, not having your needs met, being bullied, perceiving someone’s judgments as negative. You might find you make a jerk reaction assumption about all of these moments. As someone in the beginning phases of recovery, and as any human beginning to do this work, that is exactly what you are supposed to do. Overtime, you’ll learn to pause, reflect, then choose how you want to respond. You will not feel triggered by everything forever, that is a promise of recovery. It gets better.

Transformative healing can take place during a few months of recovery. Enlightened Solutions provides recovery for mind, body, and spirit with our integrative partial care programs for men and women. For more information, call 844-234-LIVE.

How To Change A Behavior In 5 Simple Steps

Addiction and alcoholism are often referred to as behavioral disorders, along with many disorders which can be co-occurring. Behaviors are not permanent defects of character but challenges to be changed and overcome.

1. Become Aware Of What Needs To Change: Our behaviors are multifaceted and multilayered. Few things about human beings, what they do, how they feel, and the ways they behave, are surface level. We are complex beings who are being imprinted upon from the moment they are conceived. You can probably recognize on the surface what needs to change in your life. Frustratingly, you try to change it time and again to no avail. Trying to change a tree by cutting off its leaves will never work. You have to uproot the tree and plant an entirely new one. Such is the case with changing a behavior. Simply trimming around the surface of the behavior won’t get to the root of the problem where the true change can take place. Take time to investigate what this behavior is, where you think it came from, and why you’ve held onto it for so long. Often, behaviors, even negative ones, have some kind of a reward. Despite the fact that these behaviors cause us harm and hurt in some way, we persist in continuing to execute them. Working with a therapist can help you identify these behaviors and conduct a thorough investigation into them.

2. Challenge The Behavior As It Is: Using the example of the tree, without heavy machinery, it is hard to uproot an entire tree. Before you start digging, take a look at the tree as it is and start to challenge it. Though you’ll have to get to the roots, pulling the tree apart will be effective in changing it entirely, as a step by step process. Start with the words you use, the reactions you have, the feelings you notice before, during, and after this behavior. One branch at a time, you’ll dissect the behavior and begin to change.

3. Synthesize Your Intentions With Your Actions: Unbeknownst to most who engage in self-help or life-changing books, programs, and even recovery, is that intentions are equally important to change as the actions. Without an authentic and concise intention, you’ll be doing all this work for the wrong reasons. When there isn’t a solid connection between intention and action, the action tends to fall short of its potential. What are your intentions about changing this behavior? Is it self-centered or is it for the better good of everyone in your life? Are you making this change for yourself or are you making it for someone else? Do you feel you need to change because someone told you or because you recognize a fault in your character?

4. Make The Change: Change doesn’t happen all at once, but action does. You can spend months, even years, talking about making a change, investigating a behavior, and lamenting about how badly this behavioral change needs to occur. It will only start to change once you start to change it.

5. Reflect On What Happens When You Take Action: The results will commence immediately once you start to take action with your behaviors. Remember how resistant you were to change? How hard you thought it might be? Your fears about never really changing? Reflect on how drastically you have seen changes in yourself and keep in mind that you have the capacity to grow, change, and evolve.

Are you ready to make a change in your life? Addiction and alcoholism can become dangerous behaviors if they continue to grow. It is possible to make this change. Enlightened Solutions has the way. For information on our partial care programs for men and women, call us today at 844-234-LIVE.

Changing The Inner Narrative

Adopting an inner narrative means that we learn to say things to ourselves which we pick up from other people. Mostly, these statements come from an “I” point of view. For example, “I can’t do anything right,” or, “I am not loveable anyway,” or, “I am worthless.” Though we may not hear these statements directly, we might hear them indirectly. However we are saying them to ourselves, they are always an “I” statement. If other people were to say the things to us we say to ourselves, they would likely hurt a lot more. Part of the reason we say negative statements to ourselves is because we were hurt so deeply when someone said them to us.

An important part of change is awareness. Awareness means noticing and paying attention. In the case of negative inner narrative statements, awareness would mean becoming aware of these statements when they arise and noticing how they sound, who they sound like, and how they make you feel.It might be challenging to catch them at first. Every now and then when you do catch a negative narrative statement, quickly change it to a “you” statement. Pretend you are someone on the outside directing that statement towards you. Is that something you would want to hear from someone else? Notice how uncomfortable that situation feels. Pay attention to the shift in energy and your feelings. Next, take the exercise a step further and imagine turning that “you” statement toward someone else, like your dearest friend or favorite family member. Imagine their face as you would say that to them. They would likely be hurt and you would feel guilty for putting such toxic energy on them.

This exercise isn’t about creating guilt or making you feel guilty for what is going on inside your head. Everyone has an inner voice and everyone experiences it negatively until they learn to change it.

Identifying the origin of the narrative

Negative behaviors like a punishing inner narrative can quickly become habit. Habits become so routine that we adopt them as normal. Until we start to become aware of our negative inner narrative, we assume them to be normal. As you start to notice more about your negative thoughts and become more familiar with them, pay attention to anything that sounds familiar. You might notice a tone of voice- yes, our inner narratives have a tone of voice!- that sounds eerily like one of your parents, a schoolteacher, or maybe even a bully from the past. Quickly, you’ll find that these negative perspectives were not of your own making, but originate from a negative experience in life. Unraveling the mystery of your inner narrative, you can let go of them piece by piece to create a more compassionate, kind, and loving, voice.

There is a way to love yourself again. Enlightened Solutions has a way. Bringing together proven clinical therapy methods with holistic healing and a twelve step philosophy, the partial care programs at Enlightened Solutions are ideal for healing mind, body, and spirit. For more information, call 844-234-LIVE.

10 Relaxation Techniques To Get You Through A Difficult Time

1. Breathing: Breath is the source of life. Connecting the breath is an immediate way to calm down. It’s little coincidence that when we’re having an anxiety attack, getting all out of sorts and hyperventilating, someone tells us to breathe. Trying to take deep breaths on your own can be difficult when your head is running a hundred miles a minute. Look to an anxiety management, meditation, or mindfulness app to help you with breathing techniques. Pacifica even has a track that breathes with you.

2. Meditation: Meditation will settle down any difficulty in as little as two minutes. Headspace has a great “SOS” series of 2-3 minute meditations designed to help you get situated. Focus on the breath, quiet your thoughts, scan your thoughts and your body. You’ll feel more relaxed.

3. Mindfulness: Mindfulness is a practice that can be applied anywhere. Mindfulness can be practiced through a meditation, through an activity, or just in your own thoughts. Bringing your attention and awareness to specific things will help you to stop obsessing over whatever difficulties you are facing and connect to peacefulness.

4. Take A Walk: Movement is good for the soul. If you can take a walk, swinging your arms back and forth across your body, you’re engaging your brain in active bilateral stimulation which helps the nervous system calm down when it is activated.

5. Stand In The Sunshine: The sun gives an energy that only the sun can. Mindfully notice it’s warmth, the way it glows through your eyelids when they’re shut, and how it makes you feel. Let the cozy heat envelop you like a blanket, soothing your fears and anxieties.

6. Dance Around: Dancing is an ancient practice. Make light of a heavy situation by turning on your favorite song, or even just dancing to yourself. Five to ten minutes of non stop movement will help get the blood pumping and focus your energy somewhere other than your emotions.

7. Color: Grab a notepad, a sketchbook, a canvas,a  coloring book, and your favorite medium. Connecting to the strokes of painting, drawing, or sketching is like an instant meditation and form of relaxation.

8. Go For A Run: Running helps produce endorphins, which are good for positive feelings and clearing the mind. Tie up your favorite runners and hit a path. You don’t have to run for very long to feel more relaxed.

9. Call A Friend: Sometimes you just need to talk. Call up a friend who you know has a willing ear and just let it all out.

10. Journal: When a friend isn’t available, the next best place is a journal. If you can’t talk it out, write it out. You might discover things you weren’t aware of before.

Enlightened Solutions is a dual diagnosis treatment facility offering partial care programs to men and women who want to experience healing transformation in mind, body, and spirit. For more information, call 844-234-LIVE.

Eating For Your Chakras?

Eating For Your Chakras?

The chakras are seven spiritual portals or centers in the body which interact with different emotions and functions. Aligning the chakras in a healthy and balanced way is said to help the body optimize energy flow, bringing someone fully into the present, as well as to enlightenment. Spiritual work, therapeutic work, yoga, meditation and diet, can all help support the chakras.

Root Chakra

Location: Base of spine

Connected to: Security, feeling grounded, feeling safe

Eating for the Root Chakra: Collective Evolution explains that the root chakra’s symbolic color is red. Red foods or foods with a  strong red pigment will help recharge and balance your root chakra. Avoid red dyes and artificially colored foods. Instead, opt for whole foods like red fruits (think strawberries, raspberries, pomegranate, and cherry) and red vegetables (red bell pepper, beets). Red meat is a powerful protein that can help with healing in this area.

Sacral Chakra

Location: Below the naval

Connected to: Creativity, Passion, Commitment, Lower Back

Eating for the Sacral Chakra: The color for the sacral chakra is orange. Deeply orange fruits like oranges, tangerines, and most citrus as well as mangoes will be good for bringing balance to the sacral chakra. Vegetables like carrot, squashes, yams, and pumpkins will help as well.

Solar Plexus Chakra

Location: Above the naval

Connected to: Self-Esteem

Eating for the Solar Plexus Chakra: The solar plexus embodies your personal power and sense of self. Eating for this chakra helps you feel strong and connected to who you are. Yellow is the color for this chakra. Look for bananas, pineapple, yellow bell peppers, lemons, yellow lentils, and even oats.

Heart Chakra

Location: Center of the chest

Connected to: Love, Gratitude, Joy, Compassion

Eating for the Heart Chakra: A balanced heart chakra is the difference between jealousy and contentment, codependency, and healthy boundaries. To balance and heal the heart chakra, opt for green foods, the color of the chakra. All of your leafy greens, green vegetables, and green fruits like apples and kiwis will help.

Throat Chakra

Location: Center of the throat

Connected to: Speaking, Expression, Voice

Eating for the Throat Chakra: Ever get a lump in your throat? When you can’t express yourself or speak your truth, you lose your voice- literally! Supporting the throat chakra with food can help open that channel and help you express yourself. The color for this chakra is light blue. Blueberries are a powerful antioxidant and great food for this chakra. Try the ancient fig as well.

Third Eye Chakra

Location: Between your eyes, above your brow line

Connected to: Critical thinking, Clarity, Seeing the Truth

Eating for the Third Eye Chakra: Being disillusioned by lies can block the third eye. In recovery, you are gaining wisdom each day by learning to discern between what is real and what is not real, what can be controlled or changed and what cannot. To support your third eye chakra, eat darker blue foods that are almost purple like purple versions of normally other color vegetables (broccoli, kale, carrots, green beans), eggplant, plums, and grapes.

Crown Chakra

Location: Top of the head

Connected to: Enlightenment

Eating for the Crown Chakra: Having a balanced crown chakra is a culmination of personal recovery. You are able to recognize your true inner self and view the world in an enlightened way. Collective Evolution suggests light fruits and vegetables that are connected to roots for the crown. To truly nourish your crown chakra, spend time outside, drink lots of water, and get plenty of sunshine.

Enlightened Solutions believes that holistic healing therapies can be a key to success in healing mental health and addiction disorders. Our program combines spiritual healing modalities with clinical therapy and twelve step philosophy to provide total transformation. For more information, call 844-234-LIVE.

Sounds Are Healing For Recovery

Sounds and noises influence us from the moment we start developing in the womb. There is a reason mothers put headphones over their stomach bumps for the baby to hear. Parents start talking to their baby months before birth is due because the growing child will hear what is happening outside. Inside the womb there are all kinds of noises- the beating heart, the swoosh and gush of fluids, the movement in organs. Outside the womb there are all the noises of life, voices, music, and more.

Certain vibrations and collections of notes or sounds are calming while others induce anxiety. Metal rock, for example, has been proven to actually relax people, as has classical music and other forms of music. Our bodies react naturally to vibrations and sounds. Naturally, then, music or sound therapy makes sense as a healing modality.

What is Sound Therapy?

According to MNN, the Mother Nature Network, sound therapy is a form of holistic healing which “...can benefit the well-being of our bodies and minds, helping the body heal from mental stress and even physical pain.” The article explains that sound therapy is helpful for mind, spirit, and body. “Various studies have shown that the use of low-frequency sounds can lessen the pain and anxiety associated with fibromyalgia…”

How Is Sound Therapy Conducted?

All sound therapy needs to happen is sound. Sound therapy could include the use of specific instruments like acoustic guitar, violin, or Tibetan singing bowls, as well as the soundtrack to various natural sounds like birds, gurgling creeks, or the wind. “White noise” apps have a soundboard available to mixx all kinds of sounds to create the most perfect combination. Sound therapy is about helping clients get lost into a relaxing sensation of sound. Sometimes, clients can participate in creating that sound. Bringing treatment into the process can look like a sound therapy practitioner asking the clients about how they feel before and after the sound therapy, what kinds of feelings the sound therapy produces, and more. Sound can help balance the brain and the mind-body connection, bringing someone more into the present with themselves.

Why Is Relaxation Important For Addiction Treatment?

Cravings are high during the treatment phase of addiction recovery. Nerves and anxiety are usually coupled with cravings, as can depression. Relaxation is helpful for detaching the association between relief and one’s substance of choice. The more one relaxes, the more they can go with the flow of their feelings and experiences in treatment, without returning to old coping behaviors like substance abuse.

Enlightened Solutions has created a holistic healing program of treatment which utilizes spiritual modalities with proven clinical treatment. Start your recovery with us. 844-234-LIVE.

Women Are More At Risk For Addiction Than They Have Been In Decades

The Washington Post reports that new studies are emphasizing the problematic relationship of women and alcohol. One study the article cites compiled 68 varying alcohol-use studies from around the world in which researchers from Australia discovered a “gender convergence”. Data revealed that the gender gap between males, females, and their relationship with drinking is closing. In the early 20th century, men who were born were “more than twice as likely as women to drink and three times as likely to have an alcohol problem.” By the end of the century, that difference was practically non-existent.

Women in Culture

What is causing this closure? George Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, explains that women are living in a different culture than they were 100 years ago. “Instead of being at home,” Koob describes, “they’re in society, and drinking is part of business and social gatherings.” Another problem is that underage drinking in men has declined. Women are continuing to drink underage at a steady pace. Additionally, Koob expresses, women report experiencing depression and anxiety twice as often as men. Depression and anxiety are two of the most highly co-occurring or “comorbid” problems with addiction. Often, women, and men alike, will turn to drugs and alcohol to cope with the symptoms of depression, anxiety, or other mental health disorders. Koob points out a final fact which is emphasized in The Big Book Of Alcoholics Anonymous.

The primary text for the free recovery support group and founding group for the world wide twelve step program, was written for men, by men. A singular chapter addresses women, and that is only to the wives of alcoholic men. Quite quickly, the founders discovered that women were equally perilous alcoholics as their male counterparts. The authors write that there are no specifics like length of time drinking alcoholically or just how much one drinks to determine the effect of alcoholism. “To be gravely affected, one does not necessarily have to drink a long time nor take the quantities some of us have. This is particularly true of women.” The authors then dedicate two more important sentences to female alcoholism, not daring to call it any more or any less than what males experience. “Potential female alcoholics often turn into the real thing and are gone beyond recall in a few years. Certain drinkers, who would be greatly insulted if called alcoholics, are astonished at their inability to stop.”


Enlightened Solutions understands the shame and guilt which can come from developing alcoholism. We have a solution. Our partial care programs fuse together clinical treatment, alternative and holistic healing modalities, and 12 step philosophy to create a dual diagnosis curriculum for mind, body, and spirit. For more information, call 844-234-LIVE.

Changing Your Approach To Body Image

Body image is important for recovery. Anyone can struggle with poor body image. Having a low sense of self and self-perception can damage the way you have relationships and engage in intimacy throughout your life. Here are a few suggestions for changing your approach to your body image.

Make Sure Your Beliefs Are Consistent

You think you might see some kind of flaw in the mirror. Oh no, you think to yourself, I cannot have this! This makes me unattractive. Yet, you see it in a friend and think they’re so beautiful it doesn’t matter. Or, even more problematically you might think they aren’t very beautiful anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Your beliefs about yourself and about others have to be consistent. Most importantly, they consistently need to look something like this:

Everyone is beautiful.

All bodies are beautiful.

It’s okay to be okay with yourself and how  you look

Take A Healthy Look At Your Eating Behaviors

Paying attention to eating behaviors might sound like the opposite thing you need to do to shift body image from negative to positive. Food shouldn’t be assigned labels or emotions. There shouldn’t be “bad” foods and “good” foods which you either feel okay about or completely guilty about. Identifying the way you label and judge your food, as well as yourself when you eat, is important. What you eat directly influences how you feel. You either have to change the food you’re eating in a healthy and balanced way or change the way you feel about the food you’re eating.

Embrace the “All Food” and “All Exercise” Philosophy

What if there was a world where you didn’t have to do a certain workout for a certain number of time followed by a certain protein shake with certain ingredients? Imagine a life where you just ate, in a healthy and balanced way, and got at least 20 minutes of exercise, in a healthy and balanced way. That world is possible and you can create it. Obsessing over doing everything right in regards to diet and exercise can drive you crazy, cause you to be sick, and thwart your positive body image. Let the reins loose a little bit and enjoy the way you live your life, not punish yourself for it.

Give Yourself The Same Love You Give Others

When you compliment and admire someone for the way they look, turn those sentiments back toward yourself. Positive affirmations are a powerful tool for helping you build a more positive self-image and higher sense of self-esteem.

Enlightened Solutions offers holistic partial care programs designed to treat issues of body image and eating disorders in addition to any dual diagnosis issues with substance abuse. We have a solution. It starts with you. Start by calling us today for more information at 844-234-LIVE.

Recovering From A Crystal Meth Addiction

Crystal meth is a highly addictive synthetic substance. A central nervous system drug, once methamphetamine hits the bloodstream by any method it accesses the brain and all systems throughout the body more quickly than other substances. Meth’s synthetic nature makes it a volatile and unpredictable drug. An ever changing set of formulae make meth unpredictable in what kind of high it will produce. Under the influence of meth, an individual can experience paranoia, psychosis, hyperarousal, and insomnia. People who have been long time meth addicts report staying awake for undefined periods of time, experiencing black outs, and waking up in places they don’t remember traveling to.

Effects of Meth

Meth is detrimental to mental and physical health. Smoking crystal meth can deteriorate the teeth and gums, while wreaking havoc on lungs, throat, and the body. Injecting crystal meth into the veins can cause infections, abscesses, and when mixed with other drugs like heroin, fatal overdose. Spiritually, meth takes over someone’s life. A bad meth addiction can lead someone resorting to any kind of length to get another hit of the drug.

Recovering from a crystal meth addiction is a long journey. It takes many months to normalize from the severity of using crystal meth. Due to the way meth interacts with the central nervous system, detoxing from meth can feel like a painful extraction. Psychologically, it is common to suffer from severe cravings. The cravings for meth can be so intense that one might decide using the drug again would be a better alternative or solution to the problem of cravings.

After Detox

After detox, it is important to support recovery from meth addiction through various levels of treatment. Someone is in critical need of residential treatment if they cannot stay sober or have the threat to hurt themselves or someone else. Lower levels of care like partial hospitalization or intensive outpatient programs which come with sober housing might be more appropriate if the condition is under relative control. Through treatment, therapists can help uncover underlying issues which might have contributed to experimentation with and abuse of crystal meth.

Cravings for meth will start to disappear as more tools for emotional regulation and coping are developed. Creating new meaning in life and building a life of recovery quickly replaces the need for the harmful substance. It may take some time for every nook and cranny of meth addiction to smooth out, resulting in lasting hyper behaviors and impulsivity.

Lifelong recovery from meth addiction is possible. Many times meth addiction is co-occurring with a mental health disorder like anxiety or depression. If you or a loved one are struggling and are in need of help, call Enlightened Recovery Solutions today. Recovery starts with you. Start your recovery with us. We have a solution. 844-234-LIVE.

Bringing Arts, Crafts, And Self-Care Together: The Self-Care Box

Designing a regimen for self-care could be too much. Trying to pick from all the many different options which help you to feel nourished, relaxed, and rejuvenated can be overwhelming. Self-care isn’t meant to be overwhelming. Quite the opposite, self-care is a time to drop out of the world outside and drop into the world inside. Tending to your needs, helping yourself feel taken care of, this is the point of self-care. If only you could just pull self-care off a shelf and put it on like a fuzzy robe. Psychotherapist Jennifer Rollin suggests creating a self-care box as a compact way to create a go-to source for all your self-care needs. Rollins points out that a self-care box can be relatively inconspicuous, meaning you can have one at home or at work. Storing a few quick self-care items in a small caddy for the car isn’t a terrible idea either.

Here are some of the things Rollins suggests, mixed in with some of our favorites:

• Essential Oils Room Spray: you can store this at home, at work, and in your car. Look for a soothing blend using lavender and bergamot or chamomile to create a sense of purifying calm immediately in your space. You can even buy an oil diffuser which attaches to your air vents.

• A small bottle of thick hand lotion: don’t over-lotion your hands, because they will dry out. In a moment of self-care, giving yourself a little reflexology massage that is also moisturizing can be quite the treat. Get in between your fingers, rub around your wrists, and release some tension

• Inspirational Books: You can buy cute little versions of book sin additions to regular size books. Keep your favorite self-help, spiritual, or inspirational book in your kit for a moment of encouragement when you need it.

• A Busy Toy: silly putty, play dough, kinetic sand, or this fidget cube is a good way to keep your hand busy and your brain focused during self-care. Self-care isn’t always all “ooo's” and “aahh's”. Sometimes it can be really hard to let go and relax.

• Calming Music: on your phone, your computer, or a playlist on Spotify, load up on all that yoga studio, massage room, spa music that gets you feeling zen and relaxed.

Enlightened Recovery Solutions wants to help you learn how to take care of yourself in a healthy, holistic way for the rest of your life. Lifetime recovery is possible. We have the solution. Call us today for more information, at 844-234-LIVE.