I was in the middle of what I thought was a soulful, honest share when a voice bellowed from the back of the room. I turned to see a crusty old guy, holding an unlit cigar, who looked impatient for me to either finish baring my soul or move on to a different subject. “It’s| The Phoenix Spirit
By Gerald Loren Fishkin, PhD Parkhurst Brothers Publishers Fishkin trained as a psychotherapist. He describes how he developed an interest in understanding how shame influences the choices people make. He provides real life stories to help readers who want to understand and change how shame adversely affects their lives. He explains the difference between guilt| The Phoenix Spirit
Let’s talk tobacco. If you’re reading this article, it means recovery is important to you or someone you know. Maybe you’ve put in the work and made recovery a priority in your life. If so, honor yourself for that hard work. Maybe someone in your family is struggling and you just want to find some| The Phoenix Spirit
We reached out to several providers in the Twin Cities to check in about their successes and challenges. All of them are seeing an increase in utilization of their services. What types of substance use (SUD) / mental health (MH) disorders are you seeing more of? Jeremiah Gardner Hazelden Betty Ford We are seeing more| The Phoenix Spirit
A new year has begun, and I hear deep yearnings for hopefulness in the people I connect with in and out of the recovering communities. This has led me to reflect upon hope and what can help us both develop and maintain hope. Consider these three dimensions: Imaginative, cognitive, and supportive. My reflections upon hope| The Phoenix Spirit
Hidden shame is a powerful emotional and physiological reaction. It fills our being in covert ways. It can cause us to become violent or withdrawn from life and it can prompt us to bring out the better parts of ourselves in ways we never expected. It is both a curse and a blessing. Typically we| The Phoenix Spirit
I've never been a woman who just couldn't live without having kids. In fact, when Bob approached me after two years of married life and said he wanted kids, I told him I wasn't sure I was ready. I said first he would have to save for a trust fund for all the therapy our| The Phoenix Spirit
"Be careful of how you use your tools as you can become the tools of your tools." Henry David Thoreau *** My boss told me I need to do a presentation next week at our company sales rep meeting, on my personal philosophy on closing sales. Geeze, just because I was the leading salesperson for| The Phoenix Spirit
Older people can find plenty of reasons to drink alcohol or use other addictive drugs to excess. Pain relief. Isolation and loneliness. Feelings of boredom and uselessness after retirement. Loss after loss after loss. For some, it’s simply a decades-old habit. What’s hard to do is to stop using addictive substances when they are ruining| The Phoenix Spirit
