There is a reason why after a relapse many people are encouraged to quickly “work” the first three steps again. It is because they are...

Here are Two basic get-started workbooks for addicts, and then one step by step guide for couples in the early stages of life in recovery...

After a recent 12 step retreat, there were two things that kept popping back up in my mind. They are not, of course, novel, but I believe...

This essay was inspired by Center for Action and Contemplation meditations on the theme of Awe and Amazement from the week of  December...

Part One. Remember, None of this is offered as an Excuse. It is Preventive Medicine Instead. After more than six and a half years of...

Summary: Reading Gabor Mate’s recent book, “The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, & Healing in a Toxic Culture” is like having my own...

Mate reminds us that as beings we want to be in stable caring mutual environments, not aggressive hostile ones. Of course, the latter is...

Secrecy and separateness are two of my main proto-addictions, my Ur-addictions, those earliest of tendencies that, like childhood...

This post is inspired by the books “In Praise of Love,” by Alain Badiou and “I and Thou” by Martin Buber. See the Book Reviews and...

In 1942, novelist, literature professor, and lay theologian C.S. Lewis wrote a religious satirical novel, The Screwtape Letters, about...

The Enneagram is a psychological (some would add spiritual) tool which I first encountered in the 1990s when beginning my seminary and...

I believe a mark of a healthy mind and spirit (in other words sobriety) is the capacity and ability to hold at the same time at least...

Like many things in recovery and life, frustrations can lead to growth and better relationships. That is what came out of the prison...

Here are two more books especially for the one early in recovery, but good to revisit often. "The 12 Steps and 12 Traditions." This book...

There are a few standard books of recovery that are fresh and life-changing every time they are met for the first time by someone in the...

I am under a lot of stress right now but spent my coffee time this morning sitting near the garden listening to birds and watching a...

Dr. Lustig explores the difference between pleasure and happiness. These are old truths but ones I, like many, have ignored. He quotes...

Disgust, it has been stated, is seen as disgusting. We turn away from what disgusts us, and so we tend to want to turn away from what...

We often say in recovery groups that all our stories are unique to us and all our stories are the same. Mine then, too, as explored...

Simply put, bibliotherapy is engaging in reading to find healing. Much of it focuses on certain kinds of readings. Perhaps works of...