The Lion King and Addiction Recovery

This weekend I went to the Lion King with my family. It was a familiar story–almost the exact same script as the original animated film from Disney–but the incredibly realistic images kept my attention fresh. As always, recovery colored my experience as I watched the film. Most of us are well-acquainted with the story of…

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Taking Surrender to a Deeper Level

Those who have been working SAL recovery for awhile understand that recovery is a marathon, not a sprint. When I first came to SAL, it seemed strange to me was that people were still attending meetings even years after “rock-bottom”–long after finding sobriety or stability from trauma reactions. In other recovery groups I had attended,…

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SAL Women’s Retreat–A Participant Shares

We are so grateful for the opportunity to rub shoulders with 25 amazing women who came to this year’s SAL Women’s Retreat. Special thanks to Katelyn, for offering her strength, hope, and experience in this post. Please leave your questions and comments about the Retreat on this post! The ten-hour journey to the retreat this…

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SAL Recovery Makes You A Better Mom

Last week I had the amazing opportunity to attend the S.A.Lifeline Women’s Retreat. It was such a gift to be able to rub shoulders with 30 amazing women–each one of us courageously facing our difficulties with courage, a willing heart, and a growing number of tools. As I returned home and Mother’s Day was quickly…

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Why You’re Not Crazy for Being Crazy

This week I have been reading Bessel Van Der Kolk’s bestselling book: The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Bessel Van Der Kolk is a brilliant scientist. He has paramount understanding of brain function and physiology and he has devoted his career to studying trauma. While his work…

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Making All Things New This Easter

This is Easter week. Around the globe, the Christian world is celebrating the holiest day and most miraculous event to ever occur in the history of the Earth. Easter morning represents hope and healing that defies logic: even breaking the bands of death and overcoming the physical limitations of this mortal world. It’s no coincidence…

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The Pathway to Healing from Trauma

  Hopefully you have heard the exciting news that Dr. Barbara Steffens will be speaking at the S.A.Lifeline Fall Conference on September 21st, 2019. About a decade ago, Dr. Steffens’s research transformed the treatment of partners of sex addicts from a co-addict model to a trauma model. For many of us in the S.A.Lifeline community,…

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The Lone Wolf of Isolation

Special thanks to one of the fellows in one of our online meetings for sharing his thoughts on reaching out to others. If you’d like to contribute to the men’s discussion with your strength, hope, and experience, email us today. I used to ride mountain bikes a lot. It was an obsession for many years.…

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The Scarlet Pimpernel and Recovery

This thoughtful post was sent to us by an SAL member who wishes to remain anonymous. We are so grateful for her willingness to share her strength, hope and experience. Rocks…. Drama… What do rocks and the theater have to do with recovery? Or even with one another? One thing that I have learned from…

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Worms of Recovery

Thanks to SAL member Shiree for this beautiful blog post, and for her willingness to share her strength, hope, and experience with us all. A Sunday School teacher explained to the little children how we can keep our bodies clean. He told them about an experiment with worms: four jars were filled with 1) drugs,…

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