PAL Blog
A Parent’s Story
Articles by Parents Like You
It’s Okay for Me to be Happy
Our family consisted of mom, dad and three children. I was married for 20 years to an abusive man who regularly beat and humiliated everyone in the family. When I finally left, my daughter Nancy had just turned 12. Her brother had already moved out and her older...
Were my daughter’s issues caused by mental health or addiction?
My husband and I have been married for 25 years. We had two daughters, a little over three years apart. From the beginning Teri was extremely sensitive and creative. She really loved her older sister and even as a baby her face would just light up when she came into...
I’m the one who needs help
My son was an athlete and very successful. We spent countless hours together as he grew up, traveling the state for baseball tournaments, practices, and social functions; baseball was our life. I was a single dad doting on his every need as he was an only child and I...
The View from Recovery
Articles by People in Recovery
A Taste of the Lifestyle
One of the great regrets of my life, at a certain time, was the effect I believed I had on my brother in my early days of addiction. While we can pontificate on the nature of this beast – the way addiction as a disease works and manifests itself in individuals – I...
Blaming someone else for my struggles
In my disease I felt like life was unfair on a daily basis; that things were constantly “happening” to me with little provocation on my own part, and that I’d never be able to find peace or serenity as long as these outside forces continued to work against me. I...
When I had no love for myself, others did
There was a period of time, in the earlier days of my struggle with active addiction, where I had little to no interest in getting better. Typically, in the form of pressure from family, intervention, friends, even the judicial system at a certain point, I found...
From Counselors
Articles by PAL and Partner Counselors
Let’s Talk About Gratitude
It’s November! Let’s talk about gratitude. There is no better medicine to lift our spirits than a quick account of our blessings. What an incredibly powerful tool for changing our perspectives for the better. The happiest most resilient people I meet always seem to...
Is Relapse Part of Recovery?
I would like to share some of the most common questions I receive about relapse. I will answer them from an overview perspective and in a general sense. Relapse is a big topic, with many variables that are case specific. I don’t think it can be covered thoroughly in...
A House United
A House UnitedOne of the first things parents who have a child abusing drugs and alcohol can ask themselves is, are we one the same page about how we want to respond? The answer varies, but is often no. This is one of the critical issues that will need to be addressed...
