Addiction, Survivor Support & Meditation Links
Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 9:41 am
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Addiction Recovery
Addictions have lessons to teach us, if we carefully listen to them. For those who are ready to pursue recovery, there are numerous support groups and organizations. These resources provide fellowship, practical information, and referrals to healing and other services. Here are links to a few organizations supportive of the recovery process:
Addiction Guide
Adult Children of Alcoholics - Meeting information
Al-Anon-AlaTeen - Help for Friends and Families of Drinkers
Alcoholics Anonymous - Help for Alcoholics
CoDependents Anonymous - Developing Healthy Relationships
Gamblers Anonymous - There is Hope
Love Addicts Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous - World Services
National Self-Harm Network - discussion forum
Overeaters Anonymous - Recovery from Over-eating
Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous - You Are Not Alone
Grief and Survivor Support
It seems like Western culture encourages us to have a short emotional attention span. Even well-meaning loved ones and friends often advise us to "just get over it" and "move on," without even realizing we may need more time to process certain emotions and thoughts, to adjust. Since our needs for closure and resolution are seldom honored, at times we have to seek outside support in order to truly heal and achieve peace with certain issues in our lives.
In my readings, I have noticed that many people are actually grieving about something, without even realizing it. This makes sense when you think about it. We experience so many "deaths" in the course of living, not just those of loved ones passing away. There are deaths of relationships, deaths of lives we may have lived before moving to a new location. Sometimes, we grieve the loss of a job ...and so on. Furthermore, many of us have survived serious, traumatic experiences for which we may need extra help in processing and transcending. So, here are links to grief and survivor support services that I hope will help you achieve the healing you need:
AfterSilence.com - For Sexual Abuse Survivors
Anger Management - An Article by the APA
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) - Therapist's Manual (Military Version)
Grief.com - Because Love Never Dies
LivePerson.com - Instant Online Counseling
National Center for PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
National Domestic Violence Hotline
PTSD Podcast - excellent podcast about symptoms and treatments
Meditation
Unless you are directed by a healthcare professional not to meditate, a meditation practice will support your efforts to overcome any challenge (note: again, it is not recommended if you are directed not to do it, as it could make some conditions even worse). Many scientific studies suggest there are physiological and psychological advantages to meditation. Anyone could benefit from it --active children needing to center themselves, busy business people needing to focus and solve problems, students learning and integrating new material, homemakers coordinating hectic schedules and chores.
A lot of people want to meditate but don't know where to start. My approach is to start at the beginning. Every day, even every session, is a new beginning. No matter how distracted you are and how hopeless it feels, just allow each session to unfold as it will, without expecting a "perfect" meditation practice (which doesn't exist, anyway). Little by little, this approach will add confidence to your practice.
As far as what style of meditation to practice, I personally recommend either Chan, Insight, Vipassana or Zen meditation. The simpler, the better. To me, the less emphasis on chanting, incense, and other bells and whistles --and the more emphasis on "just sitting"-- the better.
Chan Meditation - Sheng Yen Tradition
How to Practice Vipasanna Meditation - by Shambhala Sun
Insight Meditation Center - New York
Meditation cushions (worth the money --your bottom and legs will thank you!)
Meetup.com - Find a meditation group
Vipassana Meditation - S.N. Goenka Tradition
Zen Center - San Francisco
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Addiction Recovery
Addictions have lessons to teach us, if we carefully listen to them. For those who are ready to pursue recovery, there are numerous support groups and organizations. These resources provide fellowship, practical information, and referrals to healing and other services. Here are links to a few organizations supportive of the recovery process:
Addiction Guide
Adult Children of Alcoholics - Meeting information
Al-Anon-AlaTeen - Help for Friends and Families of Drinkers
Alcoholics Anonymous - Help for Alcoholics
CoDependents Anonymous - Developing Healthy Relationships
Gamblers Anonymous - There is Hope
Love Addicts Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous - World Services
National Self-Harm Network - discussion forum
Overeaters Anonymous - Recovery from Over-eating
Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous - You Are Not Alone
Grief and Survivor Support
It seems like Western culture encourages us to have a short emotional attention span. Even well-meaning loved ones and friends often advise us to "just get over it" and "move on," without even realizing we may need more time to process certain emotions and thoughts, to adjust. Since our needs for closure and resolution are seldom honored, at times we have to seek outside support in order to truly heal and achieve peace with certain issues in our lives.
In my readings, I have noticed that many people are actually grieving about something, without even realizing it. This makes sense when you think about it. We experience so many "deaths" in the course of living, not just those of loved ones passing away. There are deaths of relationships, deaths of lives we may have lived before moving to a new location. Sometimes, we grieve the loss of a job ...and so on. Furthermore, many of us have survived serious, traumatic experiences for which we may need extra help in processing and transcending. So, here are links to grief and survivor support services that I hope will help you achieve the healing you need:
AfterSilence.com - For Sexual Abuse Survivors
Anger Management - An Article by the APA
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) - Therapist's Manual (Military Version)
Grief.com - Because Love Never Dies
LivePerson.com - Instant Online Counseling
National Center for PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
National Domestic Violence Hotline
PTSD Podcast - excellent podcast about symptoms and treatments
Meditation
Unless you are directed by a healthcare professional not to meditate, a meditation practice will support your efforts to overcome any challenge (note: again, it is not recommended if you are directed not to do it, as it could make some conditions even worse). Many scientific studies suggest there are physiological and psychological advantages to meditation. Anyone could benefit from it --active children needing to center themselves, busy business people needing to focus and solve problems, students learning and integrating new material, homemakers coordinating hectic schedules and chores.
A lot of people want to meditate but don't know where to start. My approach is to start at the beginning. Every day, even every session, is a new beginning. No matter how distracted you are and how hopeless it feels, just allow each session to unfold as it will, without expecting a "perfect" meditation practice (which doesn't exist, anyway). Little by little, this approach will add confidence to your practice.
As far as what style of meditation to practice, I personally recommend either Chan, Insight, Vipassana or Zen meditation. The simpler, the better. To me, the less emphasis on chanting, incense, and other bells and whistles --and the more emphasis on "just sitting"-- the better.
Chan Meditation - Sheng Yen Tradition
How to Practice Vipasanna Meditation - by Shambhala Sun
Insight Meditation Center - New York
Meditation cushions (worth the money --your bottom and legs will thank you!)
Meetup.com - Find a meditation group
Vipassana Meditation - S.N. Goenka Tradition
Zen Center - San Francisco
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