The Alcoholics Guide to Alcoholism

AA, abusive childhoods, catastrophic thinking, cognitive distortions, feeling less than, feeling not good enough, forgiveness, low self esteem, negative self schema, overcoming resentments, resentments, shame, shame and addiction, shame of addiction

The Discordant Echoes of the Past

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July 30, 2015

The last six years of research has been dedicated to trying to understand a fundamental part of my illness of addiction, of me. People often say there is more to you than addiction. To which I normally answer yes, there is also recovery. I don’t mean to be smart arsed…
Continue reading →: The Discordant Echoes of the Past
shame and addiction

Shame

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July 29, 2015

In the next few weeks we will be looking at Shame and Addiction – nicely summed up here in this quote from The Little Prince. “- Why are you drinking? – the little prince asked. – In order to forget – replied the drunkard. – To forget what? – enquired…
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addiction, addictive behaviours, alcoholism, behavioural addictions, emotion regulation, emotional awareness, Emotional dependency, emotional differentiation, emotional immaturity, Emotional literacy, emotional processing

Phew! So it’s going much better than I thought!?

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July 23, 2015

I have often written about all the difficulties I have had with reading my emotions. Especially in early recovery when I could not even identify and label the most intense negative emotions. That experience has set me on a near decade-long search to better understand emotions and the way a lack…
Continue reading →: Phew! So it’s going much better than I thought!?
“not being part of”, “not belonging”, a learnt attachment, a message of hope, a program of action, a sense of belonging, a spiritual solution, AA, AA meetings, negative self schema, self compassion, self schema and addiction, shame, shame and addiction, shame of addiction, The wounded healer, what is recovery?, what recovers in recovery?

You are Enough, We are Enough!

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July 21, 2015

“The wounded healer” refers to us, who suffer greatly from shame, helping others via love, tolerance and understanding who also suffer greatly from shame. We can help others and be helped because we all know what it is like to feel the chronic, toxic shame the drives addictive behaviours. Our…
Continue reading →: You are Enough, We are Enough!
Ernie Kurtz, shame of addiction, William L White

The Wounded Healer

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July 21, 2015

Here is a video of Ernie Kurtz, academic historian on the subject of recovery, principally 12 step recovery, being interviewed by William White. They discuss shame and how 12 step recovery helps treat the shame that often drives addictive behaviour. Below is also a link to Ernie Kurtz’s…
Continue reading →: The Wounded Healer
shame and addiction

Becoming a Human Being not a Human Doing

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July 20, 2015

Great insight here in how we need to become vulnerable and trusting in order to recover from the shame that drives our addictive behaviours. Ultimately recovery becomes a process of becoming more human! Allowing yourself to become more human…the healing in recovery involves the healing of human relationships.
Continue reading →: Becoming a Human Being not a Human Doing
shame and addiction

The Shame at the Heart of Addiction

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July 20, 2015

For me, over the last ten years, it has become very clear that the toxic shame ingrained in my brain, from early childhood maltreatment, is at the core of my addictive behaviours. Over the next weeks I will be posting on the role of shame in addictive behaviour and how…
Continue reading →: The Shame at the Heart of Addiction
12 steps, a program of action, AA, AA effectiveness, alcoholism, behavioural change via recovery

The psychic change as continual behavioural change?

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July 13, 2015

When I came into AA I remember hearing the words “the need for a psychic change” which was the product of a spiritual awakening (as the result of doing the 12 steps) and that the 12 steps are a program of action! The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous clearly states…
Continue reading →: The psychic change as continual behavioural change?
“mental obsession”, a distressed based condition, addiction, addiction memory, alcoholism, intrusive thoughts, obsessive thinking about drinking, obsessive thoughts, OCD, OCDS

From a Drinking Problem to a Thinking Problem?

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July 13, 2015

In early recovery I was amazed that some people in recovery said they never thought about alcohol after a few weeks into recovery. Or rather than thoughts related to alcohol rarely drifted across their minds. I was alarmed by this as thoughts of alcohol rarely left my mind in early…
Continue reading →: From a Drinking Problem to a Thinking Problem?
a message of hope, alcoholism, high vs low bottom, hitting rock bottom, recovery from alcoholism

Do you Have to Hit Rock Bottom Before Getting Help?

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July 12, 2015

Does a person with alcohol issues have to hit rock bottom in under to surrender and start recovering? Does one have to go to the bitter end before surrendering to the recover process? My own experience showed that I had to concede to my innermost self that I was/m alcoholic…
Continue reading →: Do you Have to Hit Rock Bottom Before Getting Help?

The Alcoholics Guide to Alcoholism

Recent posts

Two Selves

Chapter 10 – Rebirth

Chapter 9 The First Step Is The Hardest

Chapter 8 Don’t They Know Who I Am?

Chapter 7 – A Chemical Colonisation

Chapter 6 – Fear Without Solution