Trigger avoidance is often what people first think of when they hear the words relapse prevention. Stay away from bars. Avoid old using friends. Do not drive past certain neighborhoods. These are real and practical steps, and for many people in early recovery they matter....
Avoidance is one of the most natural responses to anxiety. When something triggers dread, the impulse to stay away from it makes immediate sense. The relief that comes from avoiding is real, and it arrives quickly. The problem is that avoidance does not reduce anxiety...
Burnout has become a commonly used word, but it is often misunderstood. People use it to describe being tired, overworked, or fed up. Those feelings are real, but burnout in its clinical sense is something more specific and more serious. It is the result of...
Most people are familiar with the short-term experience of stress. Your heart rate picks up, your muscles tighten, your attention narrows. It is uncomfortable, but it passes. The problem is not stress itself. The problem is when stress becomes chronic, when the nervous system never...