look for the good – when you find it, say something and amplify it!

You don’t get over addiction by stopping using, you get over addiction by creating a new life Recovery is a life-long journey of learning and growing. In early recovery, the focus is on getting...

I am a person in long-term recovery and work at the Bangor Area Recovery Network in the field of peer-based recovery support services. I am intimately familiar with the barriers individuals face...

The dictionary defines prevention as a way to stop something from happening before it starts. How do we prevent addiction from happening? Addiction is a disease. It centers in the brain. The best...

The question we get asked the most in the work we do with couples in recovery is the dreaded: “What happens if one of us relapses?” A Recurrence can happen to both the person with the substance use...

Morning Pages: three pages, hand-written, purely stream of consciousness, zero rules, for your eyes only Artist’s Date: A couple of hours, all by yourself, engaging your creative spark – nature,...

As he turns 30 this summer, Zachary Walker is right where he wants to be—not only settling into an Old Orchard Beach cottage with his girlfriend but spending his days helping others on the path to...

An excerpt from a recently published book by a Mainer who is a friend of Bill W’s. Zinnia, a lonely, retired nurse, is on a solo adventure. Road trip! Curiosity leads her to national parks, the...

I started writing this on March 16 after taking a brief dip in the ocean. While the outdoor temperature was mild—in the mid-40s—the water was 38 degrees. I wasn’t really in the mood for jumping into...

Accessing a faith that works Learning that I would be persecuted for my faith, I laughed. Having suffered the horrors of active addiction, nobody could persecute me more than myself. Yet I fear your...

Welcome back to Couples in Recovery! For this issue we’re going to define the difference between co-dependency and interdependency because ultimately, we all want our relationships to evolve into a...

Harnessed superpowers aid in community transformations Did you know that we all have superpowers? It’s true! But sometimes we don’t know how to turn them on. Our powers don’t come with a set of...

Everyone’s Welcome + Peer Support We talk about the “recovery community” as if there is one—when, in fact, there are many. The recovery community is as diverse as humankind. Substance use disorder...

by Tania Margate I was a client in the last group in Crossroads Backcove halfway house for women before the program was discontinued. The program was slated for closure and so the plants were up for...

With proper care, they both flourish and grow At times, they get rootbound, a consequence of not having enough room to grow and change is necessary or they will wither and potentially die. One...

Biddeford couple invests in the lives of people newly in recovery For someone right out of rehab, getting their finances in order enough to rent and furnish an apartment and set up utilities—all...

El Rancho de la Vida ‘steers’ the way to wellness In the ranch-like atmosphere of Sunrise Ranch in Riverside, Calif., Jamie Lebish was able to drop his façade and focus on his early recovery from...

Penobscot Indian Island Reservation Maulian Dana, the Penobscot Nation’s first Tribal Ambassador, made a choice on June 4, 2018 to stop drinking—altogether, forever— and has kept that promise to...

Homes full of hope and encouragement Most people enter recovery at home, and family members learn alongside their loved ones how to live a new life in wellness and hope. But when living at home...

A local teen-based initiative is on a mission to elevate community messaging about the dangers of chemical dependency In one way or another, chemical dependency can and does affect us all. Visible...

Providing a foundation for solid steps into a recovery journey Sarah Siegel grew up on Cliff Island, and today she has a great life. She has a family, and she is a recovery coach and a spiritual...

Choose the perspective that supports you Family is an interesting concept. For some, our childhood experience of family is remembered in large part with fondness and love. For others, many of the...

Karen and Eddie’s story “Who do we turn to?  Who do we go to?” These are some of the questions Karen and Eddie asked themselves when their oldest daughter showed signs of addiction. They went...

A ripple effect is felt far and wide by active addiction and often those closest are the most affected. One out of four of us is affected by someone else’s addiction, and there is help, hope and...

Licensed alcohol and drug counselor (LADC) Michael Yerema is celebrating his 25th year at Aroostook Mental Health Center’s co-ed Residential Treatment Facility (RTF) in Limestone, commonly called...

Eddie Greyfox Burgess delivers curbside wellness Nothing draws a crowd like a turquoise 1965 Ford Fairlane shining in the sun—and that’s exactly what Eddie Greyfox Burgess was looking for in a...

Recovery centers are formed by people in recovery for people in recovery Let me start with a confession. Not so many years ago, I didn’t even know what a recovery community center was. I’d been...

At the intersection of a pandemic and an epidemic, telemedicine revolutionizes addiction treatment. When Dr. Ted Logan of Maine Behavioral Healthcare transitioned his substance use disorder practice...

During his run for office, District Attorney Jonathan Sahrbeck met with various groups of people doing work around the addiction conversation here in Cumberland County. Once he was elected, he...

Penobscot Nation’s Healing to Wellness Court weaves cultural connections into drug court program Rhonda Decontie grew up tagging along with her father, Frank Decontie, an addiction recovery...

How does a girl from Lewiston get sexually trafficked? And then become a leader in the recovery movement? Tricia Grant grew up exposed to alcohol, drugs, and sexual abuse and, by the time she was...

A former convent in Lewiston is now a safe haven for a small community of women Women who have survived a trifecta of traumatic, adverse experiences—sex trafficking or exploitation, addiction, and...

Community puzzle project now a ‘touchstone’ of hope in women’s prison. The first spark of positivity is often forged at rock bottom. Sheer desperation motivates us to move beyond the horrors of our...

Courageous men learning to be in compassion Six times a week, ten men walk into Stephen Andrew’s office on Middle Street in Portland, slip off their shoes, sit in a circle and do something that...

Maine’s Director of Opioid Response steps in to help get a recovery community center for Millinocket Gordon Smith was breezing past his desk one day this past spring when the phone rang. “It was...

Ninety-year-old Joan Giles has much to celebrate, having been part of Maine’s recovery community for 41 years. Journey’s Amy Paradysz talked with Joan at the Sarah Frye Home, an assisted living...

Consider them a time for growth: Reassess traditions, and be true to yourself and of service to others Are your usual traditions no longer fulfilling? The Rev. Jacob Watson says it’s wise to create...

A Saco collision repair shop makes it easier for people in recovery to move on As Jessica Truman reached one year of sobriety in November 2017, her next steps were daunting: Rent an apartment, get a...

When home is an unabridged island, people in recovery turn to creative means to access support services While life on one of Maine’s 15 unabridged islands can seem idyllic, the reality in geographic...

Across the state, recovery support organizations are grounded in community With a multifaceted issue like addiction, there’s no one road to recovery. In fact, there are many. Community approaches...

The recovery community has its own language. We often speak it without even realizing we’re doing it. We grow accustomed to certain words, phrases and nuances. This can be an adjustment when first...

“There’s hope,” says Eric Sorensen. “I keep it simple. I tell them there’s hope.” That’s what he says when he meets someone living what his life was for decades – using narcotics, drinking, sleeping...

Creativity is therapeutic, and certainly not just for artists. Stitching sock monkeys, painting on canvas with pre-drawn images or making an altered journal in an art therapy session – these sorts...