“I wanted to design a course that was a one stop shop as well as having access to a supportive community. It’s kind of what I wish I had when I came into recovery first.”   Following on from our last podcast with Dawn Clancy of Growing Up Chaotic, we disucss Dawns new first ever online

As we start the New Year, I’ve begun thinking of ways we can refine and develop our family communication skills. Communication is the method we use to exchange information. In the family unit, it can be between partners, between parents and children and between children. Communication can be with words but can also be with

I spoke to Dawn Clancy recently, creator of Growing Up Chaotic, a community for friends and families of addicts and survivors of abuse. Dawn and I met originally when we both wrote for AfterPartyMagazine. She shares some of her story with us and gives us some great advice on how to live a functional life, despite

    Where were you when I was sitting alone in the parking lot of the motel we called home? Where were you when I picked up that needle and stuck myself with it? Where were you? You knew he had HIV/AIDS. I used to cry and feel so lonely without you there. So I

Sexual trauma and co-dependency….finding the connection will be interesting. In Rosemary O’Connor’s book about taking care of ourselves in order to take care of our kids, she discusses two topics that go to the core of our self-esteem. Trauma consists of a deeply distressing or disturbing experience and it affects us on all levels:  physical,

Carolyn Elliott is my latest mentor and probably the most bullshit free teacher I’ve ever had. She has taught me the essence of being fearless and thorough, which is spoken about often in the recovery world, but rarely have I seen it……until now. This exquisite woman doesn’t just sparkle, she sizzles. When I came across

  Please don’t pelt me with “haycorns”. I have revisited the stories of Winnie the Pooh with a new point of view. I have been looking at the early stories from the books “Winnie the Pooh” and “ Now We Are Six” by A.A. Milne with a fresh (recovery oriented) eye. We all struggle with

The copy of Codependent No More in the attached picture, is my own. It’s evident from the condition of the cover, it’s been well read. On the back cover it reads, “Does someone else’s problem become your own problem? If so you may be codependent – and you may find yourself in this book.” Well,

I have super powers. I was taught them early in life. I can walk into a room and sense how people are feeling. I can tell if there has been an argument or if there is peace. I have honed my skills to be able to respond and “perform” according to what I think others

I came to recovery broken. I came to recovery having lost all sense of self. I had a huge sense of what I had needed; another drink, another line, another pill – anything- I just needed something!  Until I didn’t. Until I had only one thing left to lose: my being. The day after I