Category: Treatment

Dark photo of drugs on table with mans hand tensely gripping, close to relapse.

Why Do I Keep Relapsing?

If you have recently made the positive life choice to become sober, you might be surprised to learn how common relapses are. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, between 40-60% of people in recovery experience one or more relapses. Relapses happen often, but there are some things you can try to prevent them.

Why Is It So Common to Have a Relapse?

One of the reasons it is so common to experience a relapse after getting sober is that addictions are extremely powerful and tend to cause lasting changes to the brain. For this reason, it is vital to understand the common relapse triggers, so you can do your best to avoid them.

Common Triggers That Can Lead to a Relapse

There are many different triggers that can contribute to an addiction relapse. Keep in mind that since everyone is different, a significant trigger for one person might not have the same kind of effect on you. However, having a general awareness of the most common triggers can help you figure out the best way to manage them.

Some common triggers include:

  • Stressful situations,
  • Toxic relationships,
  • Spending time with people still suffering from addiction,
  • Going to places connected with your former substance abuse routine,
  • Seeing a bottle of alcohol or item associated with your substance abuse.

Relapsing and Sober Living Homes

One of the best ways to help prevent a relapse is to live in a sober living community. Residents of sober living homes are required to stay sober. These communities provide residents with a structured environment that can help them stay on track and maintain their sobriety.

Tharros House is a sober living home for men located near Boston, Massachusetts. Call 617-249-1087 to learn more about what our sober living home can offer you.

Woman relaxing with a cup of coffee

Relaxation Techniques for Times of Stress

One way you can help manage your feelings of stress is to begin practicing relaxation techniques. When you think about relaxing, the first thing that comes to mind might be enjoying a hobby or experiencing peace of mind. However, there is much more to it than that.

What Does Relaxation Do for Me?

Relaxation is a process that allows you to decrease the amount of stress on your body. By incorporating relaxation techniques as a daily part of your life, you can learn to cope with everyday stressors better. Additionally, relaxation techniques are useful in helping you manage long-term stress or health issues caused by stress—such as heart disease.

Relaxation Techniques to Work On

Many different relaxation techniques can be effective, so it is vital to find the right ones for you. Below are some standard relaxation techniques.

  • Visualization – To use this relaxation technique, simply begin visualizing mental images that allow you to imagine a peaceful and calm setting. It is helpful to sit somewhere comfortable and quiet and to close your eyes.
  • Progressive Muscle Relaxation – When using the progressive muscle relaxation technique, you begin by tensing and then slowly relaxing each group of muscles. This process helps you become more aware of physical sensations and learn to distinguish between tensing and relaxing.
  • Autogenic Relaxation – With this relaxation technique, you will use both awareness of your body and visual imagery to reduce your stress levels. Simply repeat phrases or words in your mind that help you relax and reduce muscle tension. For example, think about being somewhere peaceful and focus on breathing in and out slowly and lowering your heart rate.

Relaxation techniques are a simple way you can work on reducing your stress levels.

Tharros House

Tharros House is a sober living community in the Boston, Massachusetts area. Contact us today to learn more about what we have to offer.

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Does Meditation Help with Addiction?

Meditation has been found to support addiction recovery since it can help you feel calm, cope with triggers, and ultimately, help you to avoid a relapse. Although meditation cannot wholly replace a full addiction treatment program with professional medical support, it can still be a helpful tool.

Many rehabilitation facilities include mindfulness and meditation as therapy techniques. Whether you are currently battling an addiction, in treatment, or have been sober for many years, practicing meditation can be incredibly beneficial for your recovery.

What is Meditation?

Meditation is a mind and body activity that is intended to promote feelings of calmness and relaxation. It can also help people improve their well-being and cope with illnesses.

You can begin meditating by sitting comfortably in a quiet environment. Next simply and effortlessly notice your thoughts as they come and go, allowing internal and external distractions to pass by without assessing them. Meditation may also involve deep and purposeful breathing during times of stress.

There are two main types of meditation. These types include guided meditation and unguided meditation. To practice guided meditation, a trained meditation or mental health professional will guide you through the session and work with you. Unguided meditation simply refers to meditation that is practiced on your own.

How Does Meditation Help Someone with an Addiction?

For those dealing with drug and alcohol addictions, everyday stressors can be challenging to cope with and may even contribute to a relapse. Multiple studies have concluded that mindful meditation can reduce certain symptoms like anxiety, depression, poor sleep, and drug cravings. Meditation can also help people feel more aware of their thoughts and have better control over their emotions.

Compassion with Meditation

As you begin to simply allow thoughts and distractions to come and go, you may notice all kinds of wanted and unwanted thoughts / emotions. This is completely normal. It is important to keep an open mind no matter what comes up, and understand that there are people everywhere experiencing very much the same thing.

By sitting and allowing without getting involved, it is allowing your mind and body to activate its natural healing capabilities. Much of the excess thoughts and feelings are simply reverberations of past experiences, so this sitting meditation allows all of the noise to pass by. At first it may seem daunting, but as with anything, practice makes perfect.

Sober Living at Tharros House

Tharros House is a sober living community located near Boston, Massachusetts. Sober living communities are a great place for sober individuals to thrive and continue working on their sobriety among peers who share similar goals. Contact us today so that we can help you decide if our sober living community is right for you.

controlling addictive urges cigarette

Controlling Addictive Urges

One of the difficult parts of addiction recovery is controlling addicting urges. The good news is that as time goes on, these cravings and urges will decrease in frequency and strength over time. You can help yourself to control addictive urges through the use of coping strategies that work for you.

The Acceptance Method

One way you can control these urges is simply by accepting that the urges are normal and to be expected. It is important to learn to accept discomfort as part of the recovery process. You must teach yourself that these urges will pass. When you have accepted that these urges will happen, you can have an alternative activity in mind.

The Escape Method

Another way to work on control here is to remove yourself from the triggering situation. For example, if you are in a bar with friends and feel the urge to drink, it is time to leave. If there is an ad for alcohol on TV, change the channel. Just the simple act of escaping this trigger will allow you to focus your mind on something new and help lessen the urge.

The Substitution Method

When you start to feel an urge, try to substitute an activity or thought that is fun and more beneficial. Go out and take a walk or partake in another form of exercise. You can also try to pick up a new book to read or turn on new music to listen to. The possibilities for substitution are endless. Think about and write down some ideas so that you have a list on hand to choose from when an urge happens.

These methods are some ways you can control your addictive urges. To learn more about sober living facilities, contact us today at The Tharros House. We can help you continue on your path to recovery from your addiction.

mindfulness for sobriety in Boston Massachusetts sobriety home

How Mindfulness Helps with Addiction Recovery

If you are working toward recovery from an addiction of any kind, you already know it can be an uphill battle. Fortunately, there are some techniques you can use and different approaches you can try to help you on your path to recovery.

Mindfulness and Addiction Recovery

One approach to addiction recovery is mindfulness therapy. Mindfulness is a state of mental awareness that is used frequently in the practice of meditation as well as cognitive behavioral therapy. The goal of mindfulness is for you to become aware of what is going on around you without becoming too attached to your experiences.

Achieving mindfulness requires self-discipline in order to get yourself to focus on the present instead of getting caught up in thoughts about the past and the future. Mindfulness can help you as you work to overcome your addiction because it forces you to focus on the present and to take in your surroundings rather than dwell on past mistakes or get anxious about the future.

When you experience mindfulness, you focus on the joys of the world around you in the moment. This brings you a natural feeling of pleasure and can help stop you from seeking out pleasure by falling back into your old habits of addiction. Entering a state of mindfulness can also give you an opportunity for self-reflection. This self-reflection can help you process what is going on around you and help you stay on the path to recovery from your addiction.

Practicing Mindfulness at the Tharros House

At Tharros House, we offer guided mindfulness meditation, and connect our clients with outside mindfulness groups if they find this technique useful.  There are also many other opportunities for exploring new tools in recovery. Contact us today to discuss what we offer in more detail and to find out if Tharros House is the right fit for you.

addiction recovery boston Massachusetts

Addiction Recovery

Recovering from addiction can be a difficult process.  The path to recovery from drug or alcohol addiction is never quite the same for any two individuals.  When looking into rehabilitation and recovery programs for yourself or for a loved one, you will recognize some common steps.

Getting Sober and Drug-Free

To begin with, a person choosing to fight their addiction to become sober and drug-free needs a strong desire and serious determination to get clean.  If you are seeking help for a friend or family member fighting an addiction, it is important to realize that your loved one must be completely on board with the concept of recovery if they are to have a true chance at beating the addiction and staying sober.  If they have not realized that they have a true problem, you may need to have an intervention.

Starting the Path to Recovery

The early stage of recovery typically involves a detox of alcohol and drugs in order for the person suffering from the addiction to remove the unwanted chemicals and substances from their body.  The next step usually involves intense addiction recovery therapy.  Often, the recovery therapy can take anywhere from 28 to 90 days.  A recovery therapy program can provide the tools that are necessary to remain substance-free.

After leaving a rehab program, it is advisable to join a support group for recovering addicts.  Another way to continue with sobriety that may be beneficial for many people is to spend some time residing in a recovery home, or sober living facility.  The former addict will learn the tools they need to stay away from drugs and alcohol through relapse prevention taught in recovery programs, as well as learning healthy coping skills to continue their path to full recovery.

The Tharros House is a sober living home in Lexington, Massachusetts.  This sober living facility is designed to help individuals who are committed to maintaining sobriety live in a safe environment for recovery.

Bride to addiction treatment Boston Massachusetts

Three Alternative Addiction Treatments

Emotional Freedom Techniques

Emotional Freedom Techniques, or EFT, involves using your fingertips to tap on a sequences of body areas which are related to acupressure points.  It is an energy psychology technique with the purpose of balancing you “energetically” and also benefits you by freeing up areas of blocked energy.  EFT is used to help work on the underlying causes of a person’s addiction and is believed to help an addict cope more efficiently with their cravings.

Mindfulness-Based Therapies—Yoga

Mindfulness-based therapies can be useful in that they help an addict increase awareness and give them the tools to reconnect with themselves in order to have a better understanding of the way their addictions play out in their lives.  This type of therapy can help addicts better respond to stressors in their lives.  An addict can learn to practice mindfulness by learning to be more present in their own daily life.  Another way to practice mindfulness is formal meditation.

Equine Therapy

Equine-assisted therapy involves assistance by a licensed mental health professional along with an equine specialist.  It is not required for you to have the knowledge and experience of riding a horse, since the activities you will partake in are performed on the ground.  You may be encouraged to participate in activities which are directly connected to taking care of the horse, or you may focus on more structured activities which are done in order to help you address therapeutic issues.

By developing your relationship with the horse, you will better understand how you relate to yourself and to others, since this relationship with the horse will mirror your own relationships.  Throughout the process of equine therapy, your therapist will help you to identify patterns that fuel your addiction.  You will also learn to practice new ways of feeling, behaving, and thinking.

Tharros House

The Tharros House is a sober living home located in Lexington, Massachusetts.  This facility is a type of alternative addiction recovery support that can benefit addicts by giving them a live-in support group.

Living Sober in Massachusetts Sun Meditation

15 Tips for Living Sober in Massachusetts

Although there are a variety of programs available to help you on your journey to sobriety, living sober in Massachusetts can still be a daunting task if not prepared.

From specific addiction targeted sober living programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, to sober living homes, finding a strategy that works best for you is what matters most.

The following tips, while simple, may each make a huge impact on your path towards living a clean, sober life.

15 Tips for Living Sober in Massachusetts

  1. Get involved with the community.
  2. Dump the friends that bring you down and make friends with the people that lift you up.
  3. Take it one day at a time.
  4. Take responsibility for your life – no blaming others or making excuses.
  5. Be forgiving.
  6. Discover your passions and pursue them.
  7. Take on a hobby that allows self-expression.
  8. Spend more time around nature.
  9. When you wake up, close your eyes and picture 5 things in life that you are grateful for.
  10. Create goals for the type of person you would like to be and the things you would like to do.
  11. Use mindfulness to become more self-aware.
  12. Meditate.
  13. Never underestimate the control that your addiction may have.
  14. Learn more about living sober.
  15. Explore the sites and scenery in Massachusetts without drugs and alcohol.

Above all try not to be too hard on yourself; we all have weaknesses that can trigger a relapse. No matter what happens there is always help and various sober living programs to help you in living a clean, sober life.

Tharros Sober Living Home in Boston, Massachusetts

Tharros house brings together a sober community of like-minded individuals with aftercare, allowing you to learn new skills to overcome the challenges ahead in a fresh, fun, and encouraging way. Learn more about how Tharros House can help you.

Green Recovery House Sign

Alternatives to Twelve-Step Programs

When many people think of addiction recovery, one of the first things that come to mind is the group Alcoholics Anonymous (or AA) and the 12-step program for recovery.  While Alcoholics Anonymous and similar groups are typically thought of as treatment, they are more accurately defined as support groups.  Unfortunately, according to addiction treatment researcher Thomas McLellan, Ph.D., studies seem to indicate that only 25-35 percent of addicts who attend an AA meeting actually go on to continue with the program and attend meetings regularly.

Women for Sobriety

Women for Sobriety was created by Jean Kirkpatrick in the 1970s.  Jean Kirkpatrick held a doctorate in sociology and focused her program on the premise that women with drinking problems require a different recovery approach and plan than men do.  Women for Sobriety is an abstinence-based program which sets out to first tackle the emotional issues that may lead to addiction.

SMART Recovery

SMART Recovery uses a cognitive-behavior approach that encourages its members to first acknowledge the emotional and environmental factors for drug and alcohol use and then to respond to these factors in new and more productive ways.  SMART Recovery is abstinence-based; however, it does welcome individuals who are ambivalent about their recovery.  It has over 600 groups based in the United States, and it also has a youth program along with a Family & Friends program.

LifeRing Secular Recovery

LifeRing Secular Recovery was formed over a decade ago.  It has three main principles— sobriety, secularity, and self-help.  This group focuses on human efforts instead of divine intervention.  It also holds the belief that the key to recovery is within the individual and is based on their own motivation and effort.

Refuge Recovery

Refuge Recovery is a nonprofit, mindfulness-based addiction recovery organization. They provide a community that uses Buddhist philosophy to help people recover from addiction. Inspired by the teachings of the Four Noble Truths, Refuge Recovery places emphasis on being more empathetic and understanding.

Celebrate Recovery

Celebrate Recovery was founded by John Baker in 1991. Focusing on a Christ centered approach, Celebrate Recovery has spread to recovery houses, rescue missions, universities, and prisons around the world. To date over 35,000 Celebrate Recovery churches have been opened with over 5 million individuals having completed the Celebrate Recover’s Step Study, a program created to bring the healing power of Christ to those that are suffering, broken, and having life difficulties like as addiction.

Although Alcoholics Anonymous is not for everyone there are many other support groups available, such as the groups listed above.  These other groups may be more useful approaches if someone struggling with addiction does not find Alcoholics Anonymous to be the best approach.

Meth Addiction Artwork

Methamphetamine Symptoms and Treatment

Methamphetamine, or meth, is one of the most devastating drugs someone can take.  Meth works by forcing the brain to pump dopamine – a neurotransmitter that induces and elevates the mood and creates a high in the person taking the drug.  While there are many different activities that can increase dopamine in a person’s brain, drugs can hijack the brain and force the brain to secrete more dopamine than is healthy and typical.

Meth is a powerful drug and is habit-forming, which opens the door to the potential for addiction and long-term consumption.  When used over a long period of time, meth destroys dopamine receptors in the brain.

Symptoms of a Meth Addiction

There are certain telltale signs and symptoms to look for if you believe you or someone you love has a meth addiction.  These symptoms include weight loss (because meth stops your brain’s hunger centers from becoming activated), dehydration, decreased libido, osteoporosis (because bones and teeth become more easily breakable as a result of meth use, skin abscesses (due to injecting the drug into the skin rather than a vein), elevated body temperature, and sleep deprivation (due to constant stimulation impacting the need for sleep).

Treatment for Meth Addiction

Treating an addiction to meth can be difficult, as it requires comprehensive detoxification courses.  The first step in treatment includes purging the presence of meth from an addicted individual’s body and helping them reacclimate to functioning without the use of the drug.  Since there can be significant psychological damage to a person’s mind over time due to use of the drug, treatment should also address rehabilitation of the mind.  Treatment for meth should include showing former users of the drug how they can regain the ability to function in everyday life without going back to old behaviors of seeking out the drug.

Treatment After Rehab

At Tharros House in the Boston area of Massachusetts, we work with people who have already completed some form of treatment.  We believe that learning how to live life without picking up a drink or a drug is critically important, but only half of the process.  At Tharros, we focus on skills to maintain sobriety, but also on helping each client build a life that they want to live in sobriety. To learn more about our approach and get answers to common questions, please visit https://tharroshouse.com/faq/.