Addiction is a disease. End of discussion… right? As practitioners within the field of behavioral health and wholeness, we’ve all heard the message, loud and clear. Many of us subscribe to the concept without question, confident in our convictions that “addicts are sick people, not bad people.” Some of us have built our careers upon this assertion, while others espouse it personally, within …
You know those times when life just gets heavy? When you’ve absorbed yourself SO deeply into something SO significant, you lose track of time and space and any responsible sense (gulp) of basic self-care? When you pause for a quick breath, only to realize that you’ve been SCRAMBLING forward, so fast and so frenetically, you …
In this blog post, I’m going to share an intimate experience from my past, a story about one form of language trauma I experienced at the end of my first marriage. I’ve never put this story into writing before, and it feels unspeakably (yes, that’s a pun!) vulnerable. But I KNOW that trauma doesn’t heal …
In my mid-twenties, I spent two years living and working in Jerusalem, Israel. My Hebrew language skills were conversant at best—good enough to order coffee, take a taxi or ask directions. I worked in an English-speaking office, publishing an English-language magazine. But after work each day, when I walked outside those office doors, my environmental …
And she did. Once upon a time, I went through a period of extreme emotional unpredictability. I’d cry uncontrollably, unexpectedly and inconveniently, all at the drop of a hat. My therapist explained that I was severely OVERSATURATED—I was overwrought from decades of “soaking up” every intense emotion I’d ever encountered. Admittedly, I’m still susceptible to …
FROM “MY NEEDS? WHAT NEEDS?” (PART 1 OF 3) Nine years ago, when my husband walked into his first SA meeting (Sexaholics Anonymous; sa dot org), I knew exactly what HE needed. I knew he needed help. I knew he needed advice. I knew he needed experience, strength and hope from others in recovery. And …
FROM “MY NEEDS? WHAT NEEDS?” (PART 2 of 3) When I walked into my first Twelve Step meeting, I felt like a hollowed-out version of Wonder Woman. On the outside, I was taking on the world, strong in my life, career and relationship. But on the inside, I was broken and fragile with fear, crumbling …
Let it Begin with Me: Ten Takeaways from My First Meeting Read More »
FROM “MY NEEDS? WHAT NEEDS?” (PART 3 OF 3) Toward the beginning of my recovery, I encountered AA’s Seventh Tradition, the one that suggests that Twelve Step groups be “fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.” I soon learned that Tradition Seven applies to more than financial matters: it means that people who are serious about recovery …
38 years ago, my parents named me Crystal Rae Nelson. It’s a designation I’ve changed three times in the past two decades, each time inspired by a shift in my marital status. This year, as a belated birthday gift to myself, I’m changing my name one last and lifelong time. But this time (for the …