Hello Everyone, 
Today we want to bring your attention to your focus. What do you mostly focus on? Is it your past, your present or your future. If focusing on your past brings depression and focusing on your future brings anxiety, then perhaps your peace can be found in your present. It is not always second nature to focus on the present, however it can be a choice. We have to start by being mindful of our thoughts and where our focus is being drawn to. One way to begin to focus on the present is to use our five senses; taste, touch, site, smell and sound. Using sight, we can look around the room we are in and notice things that are in the room. Next pay attention to the taste that is in your mouth, if you are eating something be mindful of the flavors that are in your mouth. Notice how your hands feel, if you are touching a keyboard or holding your phone, pay attention to how it feels to touch the things that are in your present. Next pay attention to the smells that are around you currently in this moment and lastly pay attention to the noises you hear. You may hear the sound of someone sleeping or the sound of a fax or the hum of an air conditioner.  When you find yourself dwelling on your past, or in anxiety over your future, take a time out to divert your focus to your present and try to "just be" and "just breath." Please give it a try, we hope this helps! 
Thanks for reading and have an awesome day!

Hello Everyone, 

Today I want to discuss the importance of having a support system. A support system is so vital to staying grounded and connected. A healthy support system helps us to get through a difficult time and to stay healthy. When we start to pull away from our support system, we are more likely to stay stuck, back slide or stay in something that is not healthy for us. A support system can come from family, co-workers, friends, or like minded groups such as church, self-help groups etc. Support systems can come from several avenues in our lives. If you have not reached out to your support system for a period of time, I encourage you to do so today. Call the person or people that have supported you in past, or those that you know you can lean on in the future. If you do not have a support system, I encourage you to reach out and begin to establish one for yourself. A support system doesn't always come to use, most times we have to create one for ourselves. Join a club, attend some sort of meeting and begin to go outside of your comfort zone to begin to establish a support group. 
Take care, thanks for reading, and please remember you are not alone!

Hello Everyone, 

Meditation is a powerful tool for finding peace, decreasing stress, increasing insight and for learning self control. Meditation can be intimidating if you have never done it, but it is really not that difficult at all. There are multiple resources available to help us with meditating. Guided meditations are one of my favorite ways to meditate. Guided meditations have a guide walking you through your breathing and the imagery that can be used in meditation. There are meditations on self forgiveness, letting go and forgiving others (to name a few). I was initially intimidated with the time I thought it would take to  meditate, but there are lots of  meditations that are less then 5 minutes. Meditation is a useful tool for mental health. Youtube is a great resource and there are numerous free apps. for phones that can be downloaded and used. You will want to type in meditation or guided meditations. If you are stressed, having a hard time letting go of something, or in need of forgiveness... try meditating. 

Thanks for reading everyone!

Hello Everyone, 

Having addiction within a family can be very stressful, confusing, chaotic and disheartening. It can be very difficult trying to know what to do to help. Often times families feel stuck, not knowing if what they are doing is helping or hurting their loved one. Good recovery in a family starts with this basic understanding of the 3 Cs. Having a foundation of understanding of what the family is not responsible for helps the family then direct their focus on how to best help the entire the family and not just the one with the addiction. 
1. I didn't cause it-Often times families blame themselves when there is a loved one in the family that struggles with addiction. The truth is, addiction is not caused by the family, plain and simple. 
2. I can't control it- It is not up to the family to control the addiction or the level of dependence from the dependent family member. Nothing the family does or does not do is going to control the addiction in another family member. 
3. I can't cure it- Unfortunetly, the family cannot cure the addiction. When the family spends time on trying to cure the addiction, everyone loses not just the person suffering from addiction. 

Theses are the 3 Cs of family recovery. This is a great guide for families to follow. Any time the family is trying to take credit or blame for the addiction, the family must state the truth..we did not cause it! If the family begins to try to control the addiction-the family must state the truth-the addiction is not ours to control. Any time the family is trying to cure the addiction (rather than offering support or referring family members to treatment) the family must state the truth- I cannot cure it! 

Standing on truth will help the family to stay as healthy as possible. If the family is not standing on the 3 Cs, they can be caught up in the addiction along with the person struggling with it, and that helps no one. Remeber, this is just the beginning, but it is a great place to start! 
We recommend that the families of our clients seek counseling and support. A great support system is Al-Anon. Al-Anon is a free support group for loved ones of individuals suffering from addiciton and is  offerred nearly everywhere in the United States. Visit Al-Anon.org for a list of meeting in your area.