"Neuro"-Nonsense
This chemical messenger in the brain is responsbile for feelings of pleasure and is hijacked by active addiction
What is dopamine?
This thought pattern, sometimes called black or white thinking, makes a person feel like they are either a total success or a complete failure, with no middle ground
What is all or nothing thinking?
Step One asks us to admit that we are powerless over addiction and that our lives had become this
What is unmanageable?
This program uses a "four-point program" based on cognitive behavioral therapy and emphasizes self-empowerment over the concept of powerlessness
What is SMART Recovery?
This technique involves acknowledging a craving, observing it without acting, and waiting for it to subside...great for sunny days
What is urge surfing?
This is the clinical term for the brain's ability to adapt, reorganize, and create new neural pathways throughout life and in recovery
What is neuroplasticity?
These self imposed rules often start with "must," "ought to," or this common five letter word, which only serves to make us feel guilty, frustrated and inadequate
What are "should" statements?
Often feared, Step Four asks us to make a searching and fearless moral "this" of ourselves?
What is an inventory?
Focused on Buddhist principles, this alternative recovery community focuses on the Four Noble Truths and regular mindfulness meditation practices
What is Recovery Dharma?
This healthy coping skill involves setting clear limits on what you will and will not tolerate in relationships to protect yourself
What are boundaries?
Daily Double: These four basic needs, sometimes referred to as H.A.L.T. should be checked immediately when a sudden craving arises
What are hungry, angry, lonely and tired?
This thinking pattern involves making a negative interpretation or assumption about a situation without facts to support it. It typically splits into two behaviors: mind reading and fortune telling...Also, it's a mat
What is jumping to conclusions?
Step Eleven focuses on improving our "conscious contact," with a higher power of our understanding, using two tools: prayer and this ancient practice
What is meditation?
This public health strategy focuses on minimizing the negative consequences of substance use, such as providing Naloxone, rather than requiring immediate abstinence
What is harm reduction?
This skill involves writing down thoughts and feelings to process emotions and track progress over time
What is journaling?
Located in the temporal lobe, this "alarm system" of the brain processes fear and emotion, often triggering the fight or flight response during a threat, stressor or trauma
What is the amygdala?
Also known as "magnifying," this thought pattern takes a minor problem and blows it up until you are convinced a total, life-ruining disaster is about to happen
What is catastrophizing?
Step Nine involves making "these" to people we have harmed, which is different from a simple apology
What are amends?
This nonprofit organization fosters a supportive community through sober 'active' living, requiring members only to have 48 hours of continuous sobriety to participate in fitness activities
What is Phoenix (multisport)?
This breathing technique involves inhaling for four seconds, holding the breath for four seconds, exhaling for four seconds and holding for four seconds
What is box breathing?
This syndrome refers to a cluster of emotional and cognitive symptoms (like fatigue, irritability, confusion, and mood swings) that can last for weeks or months after acute withdrawal ends
What is Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS)?
This thought pattern occurs when you hold yourself responsible for an event that isn't under your control... assuming what others feel or think is because of what you did
What is personalization?
Having had a spiritual awakening, Step Twelve focuses on carrying the recovery message to others and practicing "these" in all our affairs
What are principles?
This program integrates some elements of the Twelve Steps with traditional First Nation healing practices, focusing on healing the "intergenerational trauma" caused by colonization
What is Wellbriety?
Creating this type of daily structure helps prevent boredom and decision fatigue, both of which are common triggers for substance use
What is routine?