The Aviary Recovery Center Blog
On Your Recovery Journey, You Can Forgive Without Forgetting
“Forgive and forget.” No doubt, you have heard that advice a time or two (or more). The idea is that you will benefit not just from forgiving someone for a wrong they have done to you, but also from “forgetting” about it. We put “forgetting” in quotes because, of...
Beating Up Your Body and Brain – Reasons to Quit Drinking and Smoking
As a rule, most of us have a pretty good idea of the sorts of things we should do—and should not do—to maintain our physical and mental health. We understand, for example, the importance of a nutritious diet, of getting enough sleep, and of exercising regularly. But...
Neuroplasticity Allows You to Chart a New Pathway Toward Sobriety
An Unofficial Pathway – To Trouble Have you ever been someplace where a large field of grass is surrounded by sidewalks? There is no sidewalk through the field. There are only sidewalks around the field. And that means there is no quick pathway from one side of the...
Support for Those Who Support Someone with a Substance Use Disorder
Many of our blog entries are written for individuals who are struggling with drugs or alcohol or who are in recovery from a substance use disorder. That makes sense given that our work is helping people regain and maintain their sobriety. But we are mindful of the...
We Want You To Be Informed About Our Commitment to Trauma Responsiveness
Sometimes important distinctions can get lost in jargon or language that is specific to a certain job or situation. That is true in a lot of different situations—including the process of choosing a substance use treatment center. For example, when you are searching...
Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders – Don’t Focus on Which Came First
Here’s a classic brainteaser: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Eggs come from chickens and chickens come from eggs. Given those two seemingly incontrovertible facts, it is devilishly difficult to arrive at an answer about which came first (though there are...
Video Rewind: A Look at Four Informative Clips About The Aviary Recovery Center
They say a picture is worth 1,000 words—which suggests that a video may be worth many times more (though your humble blog writer is not entirely convinced). In 2021, members of The Aviary Recovery Center staff appeared on “Show Me St. Louis” to discuss various aspects...
Should You Take the First Step Toward a 12-Step Recovery Program?
Will a 12-Step program work? When you have a problem and are looking around for solutions, there is really only one significant question you want answered: Will this actually solve my problem? Or to boil it down to its essence, the real question is: Will this solution...
Budget Basics for Lowering Stress and Maintaining Sobriety
In principle, we all understand how to handle money. We need to be sure that we have more dollars coming in than we have going out. It sounds so simple to budget. But of course, it often is not simple at all. There are plenty of day-to-day expenses to be covered....
How Does Your Garden Grow? A Look at Varieties of Therapy (Part Two of Two)
In a recent entry, we asked you to imagine yourself starting a garden—and we pointed out that the first step would be to ask a simple question: What kind of garden are you going to start? Our point in that blog—and in this one—is that the word “garden” is easy to...