This is part six of a twelve-part series wherein we will take a closer look at each of the twelve steps of recovery. This article was originally published as “Willingness and the 6th Step” by  SerenityWeb.com Step 6: Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. “If

This article was originally published on June 14, 2016 as “Demi Lovato’s Addiction and Bipolar Disorder: a Dual Diagnosis in Rehab” on the blog of The Cabin Chiang Mai It took a trip to rehab for Demi Lovato to find out that she was suffering from bipolar disorder – a condition

This is part five of a twelve-part series wherein we will take a closer look at each of the twelve steps of recovery.  Step Five: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.   Why Would I Want to Do THAT? Why would

How we got here Many of us know the feeling of anxiety that we get when we are concerned about a loved one’s substance use. That feeling of fear often leads us to try to manage, “help”, or control the person we care about and their situation. We may step

“The party has been over for a long time.” — It’s an insight that many of the young people in treatment come to realize in their early recovery. Many young adults get swallowed up in experimenting with drugs and alcohol and are later surprised to find themselves addicted. Influences on

This is part four of a twelve-part series wherein we will take a closer look at each of the twelve steps of recovery. This post was originally published on AA Beyond Belief. Reposted with permission.  Step 4: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. by John S. Introduction:

This is part three of a twelve-part series wherein we will take a closer look at each of the twelve steps of recovery.  Step 3: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him. The journey of recovery has allowed us

For years, recovery from chemical dependency was thought to be the same for everyone, regardless of gender. The thinking was that “addiction is addiction” and that treatment and the Twelve Step meetings were an ideal place for men and women to work together on a common problem. However, recovery is

After almost seven years in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction, the first image that comes to mind when I think of the word “addict,” is of a homeless, older, disheveled man in a dirty trench coat.  He is alone, and stumbling slowly down a dark and wet street, gripping

This is part two of a twelve-part series wherein we will take a closer look at each of the twelve steps of recovery.  Step 2: We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. This is a simple step, but one that as addicts we