Understanding Emotional Sobriety | Part One
Understanding Emotional Sobriety: John's Anxiety is Caused by Lack of Emotional Sobriety An excerpt from 12 Smart Things to Do When the Booze and Drugs are Gone by Allen Berger, PhD., Hazelden Publishing John's Anxiety is Caused by Lack of Emotional Sobriety The concept of emotional sobriety is not easy to grasp. [...]
Understanding Emotional Sobriety | Part Two
Understanding Emotional Sobriety: Emotional Differentiation An excerpt from 12 Smart Things to Do When the Booze and Drugs are Gone by Allen Berger, PhD., Hazelden Publishing Before we get on our way, I want to introduce you to the psychological concept of differentiation, because it will be quite helpful in understanding emotional [...]
Understanding Emotional Sobriety | Part Three
Understanding Emotional Sobriety: Bill W.'s Letter on Emotional Sobriety An excerpt from 12 Smart Things to Do When the Booze and Drugs are Gone by Allen Berger, PhD., Hazelden Publishing Bill’s Letter on Emotional Sobriety To better define emotional sobriety, I want to unpack a letter that Bill Wilson wrote to help [...]
Recovery Today | Emotional Sobriety in Relationships
Earnie Larsen, author of “Stage II Recovery - Life Beyond Addiction” helped us understand that recovery unfolds in stages. The first stage is concerned with getting and staying clean and sober. We can think about this stage as breaking the bond of addiction. But as Earnie noted, getting out of a bad place is not the same as getting into [...]
Serene Scene Magazine
Andrew: I have the distinct pleasure of sitting with Dr. Allen Berger, Ph.D., practicing in Hermosa Beach and in Westlake Village, California. Author of the awesome books, 12 Hidden Rewards of Making Amends, 12 Stupid Things That Mess Up Recovery, and coming in the spring, 12 More Stupid Things That Mess Up Your Recovery. Thank you so much Dr. Berger [...]
Dr. McGee: 12 Stupid Things
First there were the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Now, Allen Berger, Ph.D. has come up with 4 gems that all contain dozens of benefits for those in recovery from addiction. They are: “12 Stupid Things that Mess Up Recovery” “12 More Stupid Things that Mess Up Recovery” “12 Smart Things to do When Booze and Drugs are Gone” “12 [...]
Learning and Growing from Our Past
So many of are plagued by painful past experiences. Regardless of what happened, we can find ourselves stuck in the past. This creates much sober suffering (a wonderful term coined by Fred Holmquist). We end up reacting the present though it were our past. When we are stuck in the past we can’t deal well with what is going on [...]
Recovery Matters | Part Three
Recovery Matters An excerpt from 12 More Stupid Things That Mess Up Recovery by Allen Berger, PhD., Hazelden Publishing Nearly every serious emotional problem can be seen as a case of misdirected instinct…Every time a person imposes his instincts unreasonably upon others, unhappiness follows. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, 1952 -1981 Getting [...]
Recovery Matters | Part Two
Recovery Matters An excerpt from 12 More Stupid Things That Mess Up Recovery by Allen Berger, PhD., Hazelden Publishing Nearly every serious emotional problem can be seen as a case of misdirected instinct…Every time a person imposes his instincts unreasonably upon others, unhappiness follows. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, 1952 -1981 Understanding [...]
Recovery Matters | Part One
Recovery Matters An excerpt from 12 More Stupid Things That Mess Up Recovery by Allen Berger, PhD., Hazelden Publishing Nearly every serious emotional problem can be seen as a case of misdirected instinct…Every time a person imposes his instincts unreasonably upon others, unhappiness follows. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, 1952 -1981 We [...]
A Hidden Reward of Making Amends: Nathan (Part Three)
Nathan An excerpt from 12 More Stupid Things That Mess Up Recovery by Allen Berger, PhD., Hazelden Publishing Part three of a three part abridged excerpt from the chapter, "Finding Forgiveness and Self-Respect by Working Steps 8-10," from Allen Berger's Book, 12 Hidden Rewards of Making Amends. Hazelden Publishing. Copyright 2013. Let [...]
What Does a Dry Drunk Look Like? | Louise (Part Two)
Louise: Part Two An excerpt from 12 More Stupid Things That Mess Up Recovery by Allen Berger, PhD., Hazelden Publishing An excerpt from "12 More Stupid Things That Mess Up Recovery: Navigating Common Pitfalls on Your Sobriety Journey by Allen Berger, PhD., Hazelden Publishing 2016 Though no longer drinking, Louise was a classic [...]