Recovery Road

In her book When Misery Is Company: End Self-Sabotage and Become Content, Anne Katherine provides solutions for those of us who may fear allowing ourselves to have hope or to be happy. In this excerpt, we explore how understanding and processing our true feelings can lead to freedom from our past.

In their book What Went Right: Reframe Your Thinking for a Happier Now, Michael Wetter and Eileen Bailey offer practical techniques and principles to help us recognize self-defeating thoughts. In this excerpt, we explore the impact of accepting ourselves and letting go of our negative self-image.

In his book The 12 Steps Unplugged: A Young Person's Guide to Alcoholics Anonymous, John R. interprets the philosophies and stories of the Big Book in straightforward language that speaks to regular people. Wherever you fall on the spectrum of faith, this excerpt can help you understand the spiritual aspect of AA's approach to recovery.

In his book Second-Year Sobriety: Getting Comfortable Now That Everything Is Different, Guy Kettelhack explores the growth and the challenges we often face in the second year of recovery. In this excerpt, we learn how it is common to miss having a bit of chaos in our lives. If we want our recovery to last, we must continue to be mindful and ground ourselves in the moment.

In her book The Recovering Heart: Emotional Sobriety for Women, Beverly Conyers provides guidance on achieving emotional sobriety and self-acceptance. This excerpt explains the ways that trauma can affect our emotions and our lives, and how the defensive strategies we may use to protect ourselves from the pain of trauma can backfire and prevent us from healing.

In Finding Your Moral Compass: Transformative Principles to Guide You in Recovery and Life, Craig Nakken outlines 41 universally accepted principles, paired as positive and negative counterparts, that guide our behavior and are tools for discovering options and making choices. In this excerpt, we learn the difference between willfulness and willingness.

In his book Addictive Thinking: Understanding Self-Deception, Abraham J. Twerski, MD, explores the origins of addictive thoughts and offers hope to those of us seeking a healthy and rewarding life in recovery. In this excerpt, Dr. Twerski explains how we addicts may have a distorted concept of time and discusses why a "one day at a time" approach is key to long-term sobriety.

In this excerpt from his book Craving: Why We Can't Seem to Get Enough, Dr. Omar Manejwala examines the "apparently irrelevant" choices we make that can either set us up for failure or help us succeed in avoiding a return to use. Using data and science, Dr. Manejwala shows how a combination of beliefs and behavior can reduce our cravings and help us maintain abstinence - the cornerstone of recovery.

In her book A Woman's Way through the Twelve Steps, Dr. Stephanie Covington explores the Twelve Step program from a woman's perspective, but the invitation to self-connection in this excerpt applies to all of us, regardless of gender. Now that we are reclaiming ourselves from addiction, we need to ask, "Who are we? What do we need and what do we want for our future?"

In her book A Sober Mom's Guide to Recovery: Taking Care of Yourself to Take Care of Your Kids, Rosemary O'Connor addresses issues that mothers face at all stages of their recovery. Whether you're a mom or not, you can use the wisdom offered in this excerpt to develop self-care routines and rituals that will help you build well-being and find hope for the future.