Every six months, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hosts the National Take-Back Initiative, an event to promote the safe disposal of prescription medications. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the...
Category: Recovery Resources
Just Jordan – Learning New Things In Quarantine
It can feel more than a little maddening to have so much time on our hands during lockdown. They say that idle hands are the devil’s playground, which is why Jordan G. has been keeping busy during quarantine....
6 Signs You Need Treatment Now
With the peak of the COVID-19 crisis just around the corner, everyone is scrambling to keep themselves safe and healthy. However, many people unwilling to come to terms with their substance abuse issues are at ...
Just Jordan – Using Music to Combat Stress
Jordan G. is back this week with another vlog, this time sharing about how music has helped her relieve stress during social distancing. Because we’re almost a month into isolating ourselves from the outside ...
Tips and Tricks to Help With Anxiety and Panic Attacks
We are currently facing an unprecedented pandemic that’s shaken the very structure of society. Recovery Unplugged understands that many of us are experiencing an overwhelming amount of anxiety, which can lead...
Maintaining Good Mental Health During the Pandemic
Many of us never anticipated that COVID-19 would have such a serious and concrete impact on our everyday lives. Since the federal government has extended social distancing guidelines until the end of April, it ...
Just Jordan – Mental Health in Quarantine
This week I decided to talk about how we can keep up good mental health in quarantine. Because I’ve struggled with this myself, I thought it would be good to talk about it with you all too. Since starting q...
Why Treatment is Essential During a Pandemic
By now, the majority of people in the United States are currently practicing some form of social distancing or self-quarantine. With the fast spread of COVID-19, all areas of life have been uprooted, making it ...
Commemorating GLSEN’s Day of Silence
Being a member of the LGBTQ+ community has never been easy. Even with all of the forward movement over the course of the past five decades, the youth still suffers. That’s why we’ve decided to highlight and...
How Are Pets Helping Us Through the Pandemic?
If you’ve ever owned a pet that you’ve connected with, you’ll understand that there’s something special about the human-animal bond. It’s easy to love an animal unconditionally, and even easier to put...
Recovery Unplugged’s Coronavirus Protocol
It is Recovery Unplugged’s policy to ensure the safety of clients and staff during the viral outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019, COVID-19. Recovery Unplugged will take all necessary precautions to keep ...
6 Books to Read About Addiction for World Book Day
For some, books are better than people. Some books can take you to places and allow you to feel things that you’ve never imagined you could. That’s why we’ve decided to gather together a list of 7 of the ...
How to Celebrate National Beer Day in Recovery
When someone mentions that National Beer Day is coming up, it’s unlikely that your first thought is root beer. For many people in recovery, “holidays” centered around drinking or using drugs can potential...
Recognizing National Pet Day at Our Pet-Friendly Drug Rehabs
Pet-friendly drug rehabs have become more and more common in treatment as time has passed. Substance abuse and treatment are hard realities that can drain our willpower, but having our animals with us makes thi...
Things You Can Do During the Coronavirus Quarantine
With the surge in the Coronavirus outbreak these past few weeks, it’s been a roller coaster ride for people across the country. Many people are being encouraged to work from home, and most public events, incl...
5 Children’s Books That Discuss Drugs and Alcohol
Many people often refer to addiction as a family disease. This is because everyone in the family, especially the children, are impacted by a loved one’s substance abuse. That’s why for International Childre...
Parents of Alumni Share for I Want You to be Happy Day
As a parent, it can be easy to feel helpless when you see your child struggling with things that are making them unhappy. When all you want is for your child to be happy and healthy, it can be excruciating to b...
The Lasting Scars of Self-Harm
Warning: The content in this article discusses distressing themes including self-harm and suicide, which some may find triggering. If you’re struggling or need support, call 1-800-273-TALK or dial 988 for the...
Staying Sober on St. Patrick’s Day with Friends Who Drink
Saint Patrick’s Day celebrates Irish culture and religion, but it can also be a hard day for those in recovery. While it has proud roots, Saint Patrick’s Day’s association with alcohol warrants a little e...
Why Do People Drink on St. Patrick’s Day?
When St. Patrick’s Day comes rolling around every year, people all over the world start getting their shamrocks and green beer ready. But do you know why people drink on St. Patrick’s Day? St. Patrick’s...
Women and Addiction and International Women’s Day
For International Women’s Day, Recovery Unplugged wanted to recognize the unique relationship between women and addiction recovery. Vicki Quintero, our Production Coordinator, was a client here at Recovery Un...
Rebuilding and Repairing Relationships After Addiction
In order to start rebuilding and repairing relationships after addiction, you have to rebuild yourself into a new person. It’s significant to take into consideration what your actions have done to others befo...
How Drug Addiction Affects Relationships
After living through an experience and looking back at it, we always see where we made mistakes. When you’re in recovery, it’s easy to look back and see how addiction and substance abuse dictated your life....
Dating in Recovery: Are You Ready?
The disease of addiction is a disease of isolation, which is why community and relationships can be very positive. However, when it comes to dating in recovery, there’s no “recovery fairy” that tells you ...
Is Couples Drug Rehab Possible?
Can Couples Go To Rehab Together? The consensus seems to be that while couples’ drug rehab is possible, the reality is that it’s unrealistic and improbable. Relationships are different for everyone, and the...
Avoiding Relapse During the Super Bowl
With the 54th Super Bowl coming up this Sunday, everyone seems to be planning or attending a party to celebrate. However, there’s a reason the Monday morning after the big game sees the highest rates of workp...
A Look At Addiction and Codependency
When Prince penned his iconic love song “I Would Die for You,” it’s safe to assume that he was exaggerating. For many people, however, these sentiments and possibilities are far too real, as are their str...
What to Do When Someone Overdoses
It’s a thought that everyone impacted by addiction has had before. What do you do when someone overdoses? Worse, what is there to do if someone you love overdoses? There are millions who are still out there a...
Financial Stress and Substance Abuse
The relationship between financial stress and substance abuse exists in many different contexts. It’s a tragically ironic double-edged sword. There are dozens of different ways this association can develop, b...
What Happens When You Mix Lunesta and Alcohol?
Across the United States, about 60 million people struggle with chronic sleeplessness, or insomnia – and many of them use Lunesta. A sedative-hypnotic medicine, Lunesta was designed to help people fall as...
The Benefits of Quitting Alcohol
We all know how dangerous alcohol is. Many of us and the people we care about have been severely impacted and even destroyed by excessive drinking. Alcohol kills 88,000 people a year according to the Centers f...
40 Best Mocktails of the 2020 Holiday Season
The way that we as a society view alcohol can make it hard for those in recovery. It can make it difficult to find places or gatherings that take those in recovery into account. This is especially true during a...
My Loved One Overdosed, Now What?
Experiencing your loved one suffer an overdose can be terrifying and unexpected. What’s the proper way to respond to the situation? How much do you share with the paramedics and first responders when you ...
New Year’s Resolutions and Addiction Recovery
The promise of the New Year makes optimists out of most of us. We feel empowered by the symbolic new beginning that it offers and want to reinvent ourselves. At the very least, we identify and address the areas...
Setting New Year’s Goals In Drug Treatment
“Progress is the word that charms their ears and stirs their hearts.” – Woodrow Wilson Why do we make resolutions? It seems like a tall order. However, resolutions always made in good intention because...
The Right Time for the Resolution
A FEW WORDS ABOUT NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS FROM RECOVERY UNPLUGGED’S NATIONAL OUTREACH MANAGER, BLAKE COHEN. Do New Year’s Resolutions Work? Have you ever wondered what percentage of New Year’s resoluti...
Dry January: What Is It and How Can It Improve Health in the New Year?
New Year’s Eve is one of the drunkest nights of the year. Many will be waking up on New Year’s Day with unbearable hangovers, saying they’ll never drink again. Dry January is a great way to explore an alc...
Staying Sober on New Year’s Eve
People in recovery can often feel like they have their noses pressed against the glass on New Year’s Eve. The holidays are supposed to be about new beginnings, fresh starts, and promises to be the best versio...
6 Reasons to go to Treatment During the Holiday Season
The holidays are stressful for everybody. There’s always family drama. If you’re not in the same area, you have to make travel plans. There’s always that one cousin that gets on your nerves. Even if every...
Help Prevent Prescription Drug Addiction on DEA Take Back Day
This Saturday, October 26, marks the next National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) established this event in 2010 to curb prescription addiction across the country. Na...
RecoveryFest Music Series Celebrates Addiction Recovery in Nashville
There’s never been a better time than today to get clean. The city of Nashville agrees, which is why hundreds of people in recovery came out this past Saturday, September 28, to have a festive, drug- and alco...
Joseph Gorordo Featured on Recovery – Coast to Coast Podcast
Recovery Unplugged VP of Business Development Joseph Gorordo has certainly been making the rounds as of late. Last month millions saw him on A&E’s Addiction Unplugged and this month, he could be found at ...
Making It Happen: Recovery Unplugged Gives a Much-Deserved Nod to Our Billing Department
When we talk about the Recovery Unplugged treatment experience, we generally discuss our doctors, therapists and creative professionals; however, there are multiple key players within our organization who are c...
A Happy, Safe and Sober Labor Day from Recovery Unplugged
Labor Day: what is there to be nervous about, right? The only thing most of us really have to worry about today is choosing between sleeping in or waking up in time for our favorite furniture sale; or braving t...
Recovery Unplugged Observes International Overdose Awareness Day 2019
Today marks International Overdose Awareness Day 2019, an increasingly resonant global event spearheaded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) aimed at promoting awareness of the scope and pre...
3 Immediate Ways to Integrate Music into Everyday Recovery
Marge Simpson once emphatically stated: “Music is none of my business.” The absurdity and humor of this statement speaks for itself. The reality is that there are few, if any, forces more natural or more un...
Children: Invisible Victims of the Opioid Epidemic
Children often bear the brunt of their parents’ mistakes, and we’re learning that the opioid addiction crisis is no exception to this reality. According to recent data from the Children Services Association...
Why Are Your Employees Struggling with Addiction?
Determining the cause of addiction among your employees is as simultaneously simple and difficult as asking someone why they’re having trouble paying their bills or why they’re estranged from their families...
Important Tips for Cultivating and Maintaining Recovery
Welcome to recovery! Getting clean and sober is like getting another chance at life. As difficult as it can be to finally make that decision to put down the drugs and alcohol, the truly hard part is often stayi...
Addiction in the Workplace: Industries with the Highest Rates of Substance Abuse
Anyone who has impacted by addiction, whether it’s in their own life or the life of a loved one, knows that the career and professional life are often one of the earliest casualties of substance use. Unfortun...
5 Ways Recovery Unplugged Integrates Music into Addiction Recovery
One of the first things clients and their loved ones ask when they research our organization, is how we specifically use music to help the healing and recovery processes. To provide some more insight, we have p...
Sober Bars Making Socializing Easier For Non-Drinkers
Sober bars are starting to take the streets by storm, offering a variety of lavish mocktails and bar-like social atmospheres. The sober curious movement is becoming a popular trend among heavy drinking cities, ...
Recovery Unplugged Kicks Off Pride Month 2019
June 1st ushered in Pride Month 2019, an event where members of the LGBTQ+ community can feel free, safe and encouraged to actively embrace and express their identities; celebrate with likeminded people and sup...
Staying Sober during Festival Season
Summer is almost here, which means one thing: festivals. That’s right…as we speak there are legions of music and culture hounds from across the country booking hotels, making sure their cars are in good wor...
Recovery Unplugged Discusses Family Weekend with Clinical Director Klifton Fehr
Family is an integral part of the addiction treatment and long-term recovery processes. The ability to reconnect with our loved ones and cultivate a support system during and after treatment is critical to long...
Identifying Substance Use Disorder in a Friend or Loved One
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports that nearly 19 million Americans currently struggle with substance use disorder. Alongside them are entire communities of friends and loved ...
Face the Music Foundation Teams Up with Major Recording Artists to Raise Addiction Awareness and Treatment Funds
What do Face the Music Foundation and recording artists Garbage, Richard Patrick and Jam Alker band have in common? Well…probably more than you think…but for the purposes of this announcement, it’s that t...
Race in Addiction Treatment: Addressing the Accessibility Gap
A recent study from the University of Michigan shows that white, non-Hispanic patients are getting treated for opioid dependency through prescribed buprenorphine at rates exponentially higher than the black com...
Recovery Unplugged Celebrates Our Nurses
The Recovery Unplugged treatment approach is driven by a commitment to providing the highest level of acute medical and behavioral care, a commitment undertaken and honored by our exemplary nursing staff. When ...
Recovery Unplugged Outreach Manager Blake Cohen Brings Our Corporate Wellness Program to New Audiences
It’s been three weeks since my corporate wellness presentation at Bounce Exchange, a large tech company based in New York City, and today I received a text from one of their employee’s stating the following...
Recovery Unplugged Celebrates National Nurses Week
Today marks the first day of National Nurses Week 2019, an event organized by the American Nurses Association to observe the vital role that nurses play in medical care, and to celebrate their talents, compassi...
A May Day Message for Workers Struggling with Alcohol and Drug Abuse
The May Day holiday has taken different forms and has been associated with many different events throughout history, one of the most prominent of which is International Workers Day. The relationship between May...
Drinking and Cinco de Mayo: What You Need to Know
Recovery Unplugged concludes our Alcohol Awareness Month blog series by focusing on high rates of alcohol consumption on Cinco de Mayo. The heavy drinking that occurs during this holiday can easily counteract t...
A Last Resort: The Issue of Involuntary Commitment for Addiction Treatment
When a loved one is struggling with substance use disorder, families and friends are forced to make a series of choices they never thought they’d have to make almost on a minute-by-minute basis: Do they belie...
In Recognition and Observance of Alcohol Awareness Month
Poor April; for years it has had the dubious distinction of “Tax Season,” a “fool’s” month, and “showers” that are simply a placeholder for something better in May. Fortunately, however, the month...
Employers Feel Effects of Increased Marijuana and Opioid Use
Do you know someone at work from whom you can easily score marijuana or prescription painkillers? Have you seen someone die from overdose on the job from opioids? Have you witnessed someone noticeably impaired ...
What Peter Tork’s Alcohol and Drug Addiction Struggle Says about Reinvention in Recovery
Last week the music and performance art world said goodbye to Peter Tork, bass player for The Monkees. Tork passed away on February 21st at the age of 77 from cancer. His musical legacy is often a polarizing on...
VINCE STAPLES SPEAKS ON UNBROKEN SOBRIETY AND AVOIDING DRUGS AND ALCOHOL
It’s a common and dangerous misconception that substance use and the creative process are directly intertwined; that bands and recording artists do their best work when they’re under the influence, or that ...
Benefits of Out-of-State Addiction Treatment
One of the unfortunate realities of addiction is that it often begins at home. The dysfunction we experience in our family dynamics, careers, personal relationships and various other areas of our lives are comm...
Is Your Career Making You Use?: Jobs with the Highest Rates of Alcohol and Drug Addiction
Everyone’s job is stressful, right? Even the people who beat the alarm clock every morning and race with enthusiasm to the most rewarding of jobs occasionally find themselves checking their blood pressure wit...
SLEEP DISORDERS AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE
Sleep problems caused by addiction are known as substance-induced sleep disorders, and a person’s sleep habits are known as sleep hygiene. The unfortunate truth is that a person’s sleep hygiene can be easil...
What Are The Most Addictive Drugs?
This time of year, everyone loves a countdown, from the best songs of the year to the most commonly used (and most ridiculous) phrases, and everything in between. Recovery Unplugged is starting your new year of...
Staying Centered and Sober during the Holidays
Recovery Unplugged wants to wish everyone a happy, healthy and hopeful holiday season while recognizing the plight of those in recovery during this often-bittersweet time of year. We are fully mindful that the ...
Recovery-Friendly Workplaces Make Finding a Job in Recovery Easier
Finding a job in recovery can be incredibly difficult. The stigma that the recovery community faces is often most apparent during the employment process. Many companies approach applicants in recovery with prej...
How Does The Marchman Act Help Address Addiction in Families?
What do you do when a family member or loved one struggles with substance abuse and they’re unwilling to seek treatment out for themselves? The reality for millions of families across the United States is tha...
A Thanksgiving Message from Recovery Unplugged
Recovery Unplugged wants to wish all a safe, happy and sober Thanksgiving, from our family to yours. For those in recovery, Thanksgiving can hold particularly special meaning. Although the holiday season usuall...
The Role of Stigma in Addiction and Relapse
Imagine you’re in dire need of serious medical treatment— you’re in an incredible amount of pain, you have infected wounds, you can barely walk— and you know that your medical care provider isn’t goin...
Is Vaping Addiction a Threat to Teens?
Over the past few years, the advent of the vape pen and e-cigarette has changed the way that society approaches nicotine consumption. Unfortunately, however, what was initially created to help provide cigarette...
A Veterans Day Message from Recovery Unplugged
As the nation observes another Veterans Day holiday, we extend a much-deserved thank you to the servicemen and women who have literally dedicated their lives to maintaining our security, freedom and the unparal...
ASAM Pushes for Increased Access to Medication-Assisted Treatment As Part of New Grading System
Last year drug overdose killed over 72,000 Americans according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Over 49,000 of these deaths were directly attributable to opioids like heroin, o...
National Recovery Month: What We’ve Learned
With another National Recovery Month in the books, recovery and addiction prevention advocates all over the country are left empowered, mobilized and indelibly changed. The fact remains, however, that there is ...
“What’s Next?”: Am I Doing Enough in Addiction Recovery?
Life has been asking itself the same question ever since the one-celled bacterium showed up on Earth: “What’s next?”. A sense of purpose has become just as vital to humanity as food, shelter and companion...
Developing Healthy Lifestyle Habits in Recovery
Recovery takes a lifetime; and it should be a healthy one. As National Recovery Month continues, and so many of us are examining how we live recovery and sobriety on a daily basis, it might be worth taking a lo...
Why Should I Go to Local National Recovery Month Events?
As we find ourselves almost halfway through National Recovery Month 2018, many are still wondering how to get involved and find meetings, rallies and events close to them. Others, unfortunately, may still be wo...
Finding National Recovery Month Events in Your Area
National Recovery Month 2018 is in full swing and communities all over the country are mobilizing to organize events and help spread the word. If you’re wondering how you can organize or attend National Recov...
It’s Officially National Recovery Month: Get Involved Now
Today marks the start of National Recovery Month, an event started by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to promote awareness, involvement and education regarding drug and al...
How Has Your Recovery Routine Changed in the Last Year?
With another National Recovery Month just around the corner, millions across the nation are preparing to educate and empower themselves to take a more proactive role in combatting addiction and relapse in their...
The Year in Recovery: What Has Been Done to Fight Addiction Since Last Year’s National Recovery Month?
September 1st marks the beginning of another National Recovery Month, a 30-day event established by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) aimed at providing educational resource...
Pursuing and Maintaining Dignity in Addiction Recovery
It takes a tremendous amount of courage and dignity to acknowledge and seek help for drug or alcohol addiction; however, it may not always feel that way for people going through the process. Despite the inheren...
Common Signs of Opiate Addiction
Opiate addiction has been sweeping the nation in the past twenty years and has officially been declared a public health epidemic. The latest data from the National Health Interview Survey reported that in 2017 ...
Staying Sober during the 4th of July
As we prepare to celebrate the 242nd anniversary of our nation’s independence, millions of Americans will take to backyard barbecues, fireworks displays, festivals and all other manner of celebrations to obse...
Music: The Great Unifier
It doesn’t take perfect vision to see that our country and our world are divided, or that this division seems to be getting worse every day. The current political climate, deep-rooted cultural differences and...
Recovery Unplugged’s Joseph Gorordo Interviewed by FOX 7
Our very own director of outreach Joseph Gorordo recently spoke with FOX 7. The interview was part of a piece about a lawsuit filed against pharma giant Purdue by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Joseph discu...
Rap Group Sekkond Hand Comes to Recovery Unplugged
Sekkond Hand is a rap group comprised of three members who are currently bringing the struggles of addiction and overcoming substance abuse to the forefront of music. This week, they will be performing at two R...
So…Just Who’s Responsible for Combating Drug Addiction?
We’ve all seen those after-school public-service announcements about drug addiction prevention is everyone’s responsibility: the cartoon animal that simplifies addiction as a matter of choice; the abbreviat...
Should Two People in Addiction Recovery Start A Relationship?
We’ve heard time and again the potential obstacles in relationships in which one person is in addiction recovery (trust issues, fears of relapse, potential aggression, etc.). It’s also common for people in ...
Opioid Overdoses Increase in 2018
In a bit of expected yet unwelcome news, opioid overdoses have risen in the United States. Despite all the hand wringing from stakeholders and the seemingly empty promises to get this public health issue under ...
Heroin(e) Documentary Takes Comprehensive Look at Opioid Addiction
Three days after the awards were presented, the political opinions were expressed and Frances McDormand’s statue was stolen and recovered, one of the most important stories from this year’s Oscars remains u...
The Impact of Stress in Recovery
We can’t see it, we can’t always identify it as a problem, but we can’t help but feel it. It’s a problem that impacts practically every aspect of our physiology, including blood pressure, mental health,...
Forging Your Own Path: Creating A Recovery Plan that Works for You
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to addiction recovery. In the past few decades, more and more treatment facilities have been correctly utilizing a customized care approach that addresses each patient’s...
Read Our Story: Paul Pellinger Releases New Book on Music-Based Treatment and Recovery Unplugged
Recovery Unplugged Chief Strategy Officer Paul Pellinger has just released an illuminating and engaging book on the power of music-based addiction treatment and the origins of the Recovery Unplugged care proces...
Maintaining Recovery and Avoiding Relapse during the Holidays
For most people, the holidays represent a time to gather with loved ones, celebrate each other, exchange gifts and create lasting memories. For those in recovery, however, this time of year can often represent ...
Recovery Unplugged Delivers Two Powerful Presentations at This Year’s Recovery Results Conference on Addiction Treatment
With this year’s Recovery Results Conference just around the corner, Recovery Unplugged is delighted and humbled to announce that we will be among this year’s presenters, giving two powerful and inspiring t...
The Never-Ending War: Examining the Plight of Addicted Veterans
Objectively speaking, it’s hard to think of circumstances more treacherous than the battlefield during an active armed conflict; the deafening blasts of bombs and gunfire, the chaos, the violence, etc. It’s...
Recovery Unplugged Chief Strategy Officer Paul Pellinger “Comes Home” to Sullivan County, NY to Discuss Opioid Addiction
Last month, Recovery Unplugged Chief Strategy officer, and veteran of the addiction care landscape, Paul Pellinger went back to the area where he was born to discuss the opioid addiction epidemic currently plag...
The Treatment Gap: A Look at Why So Many People Aren’t Getting Help for Opioid Addiction in the US
Last year marked another landmark year for opioid fatalities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that over 50,000 people died from opioid addiction in the US in 2016, accounting for an overw...
Advantages of Florida Addiction Treatment
For the past few decades, Florida has become a hub for addiction and substance abuse care. Patients suffering from every type of substance abuse issue have been able to find quality treatment in the sunshine st...
Three Ways to Help an Addicted Friend
Very often we look at a friend who is vulnerable to drug or alcohol dependency and convince ourselves that it’s not our business to intervene or not our place to say anything about it. In theory, this sense o...
In Observance of World Mental Health Day
Today Recovery Unplugged recognizes and observes the 25th annual World Mental Health Day, an event established by the World Federation of Mental Health to promote awareness and education regarding mental health...
Whatever You Need It to Be: Purpose and Benefits of Drug Rehab
While its purpose is to address the behavioral aspects of drug addiction and to ultimately help patients develop healthy coping strategies to avoid relapse, drug rehab means different things to different people...
Celebrate National Recovery Month with Recovery Unplugged
Today kicks off National Recovery Month, a 30-day event sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that was established to educate Americans about substance abuse and ad...
Is It Time for Individual States to Take a More Active Role in Overdose Prevention?
In 2015 New Jersey saw 1,587 deaths from drug overdose, a 21 percent increase from the year prior. That same year, a little further west, Ohio saw 3,050 of its residents succumb to drug overdose, a record high ...
Choosing the Right Drug Treatment Facility
The Huffington Post recently ran an article about the how to identify an ethical drug treatment facility, which turned out to be a rather accurate and illuminating piece. The explosion of substance abuse and ad...
What’s Next?: Developing and Maintaining A Solid Aftercare Plan in Recovery
When a person first enters recovery, they’re often so traumatized, stressed out and disoriented that they’re not thinking of anything else beyond the next day or two. As time goes on, and they move further ...
Recovery Unplugged Rocks the House and Raises Money at Summer Music Fest 2017
Hightstown, NJ was treated to some amazing music for a great cause this weekend, as Recovery Unplugged and Face the Music Foundation came together to bring the rock at Summer Music Fest 2017. Partnering with At...
Choosing the Right Florida Addiction Treatment Center
It’s little wonder or surprise that addicts seek a Florida addiction treatment center. The state has long been hailed as a recovery destination. It’s forgiving climate and tropical atmosphere make it an ide...
Milestones: Measuring Success in Long-Term Addiction Recovery
If you ask a multiple people what their definition of successful long-term addiction recovery is, they’ll probably all come up with a variety of different answers. While the answers will all undoubtedly be so...
Building A Solid Support System in Recovery
When we enter the early stages of post-treatment recovery, it’s the people around us that comprise our support system and will ultimately be our primary source of strength on some of our most vulnerable days....
What Type of Addiction Treatment Program is Right for Me?
It’s a question every person entering treatment for addiction must ask themselves: What type of addiction treatment program would be the right fit for me? The answer to this question is contingent upon a vari...
Addressing and Managing the Burden of Guilt in Addiction Recovery
Those who are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction experience a full range of emotions, particularly during the first few months or the first year after treatment. Often chief among these emotions is guil...
Is Medication-Assisted Treatment Right for Me?
Medication-assisted treatment or MAT is a viable form of ongoing maintenance for a variety of substance abuse-related conditions, specifically opioid and alcohol addiction. Many patients experience considerable...
Drug Overdose Deaths Expected to Hit Record Highs for Third Straight Year
In 2014, over 47,000 Americans died from drug overdose. This shocking and tragic figure dealt a hard blow to the morale of the prevention movement; however, it also created an increased sense of urgency and mob...
Recovery Unplugged Attends NIH and Kennedy Center “Sound Health” Event
This past weekend, the National Institutes of Health and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts joined forces to present a first-of-its-kind exploration of the relationship between music and positive overal...
What It Means to Truly “Be There”: The Importance of A Support System in Recovery
How many times in our lives have we told someone we care about that we’re “there” for them when they experience times of crisis? Whether they’re struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, have experienc...
Recovery Unplugged Texas Receives JACHO’s Gold Seal of Approval
In another demonstration of their commitment to the highest quality of care for the patients they serve, Recovery Unplugged is delighted to announce that they have received accreditation from the Joint Commissi...
Finding An Effective Addiction Outreach Program
The American addiction and overdose crisis has taught us many things, two of the most important of which are that community involvement is vital to curbing substance abuse and that addicts need all the help the...
New Study Reveals Shocking Data on References to Drugs in Music
Rock and roll and hip-hop have been closely linked to counterculture over the past few decades. They have developed an association with sex, substance abuse and violence, as have genres like heavy metal, jazz a...
The Importance of Community in Preventing Addiction
Very often, when we think about the growing addiction epidemic in the United States, and the need for drug and alcohol addiction prevention, we tend to look at it as something abstract; as numbers on a spread...
Three Career Choices that Are Prone to Higher Rates of Addiction
When we start to examine our career choices early on in life, we immediately start making inevitable comparisons: money vs. time; opportunity vs. job scarcity; travel vs. telecommuting, etc. Very few, if any, o...
The Importance of Perseverance in Recovery
Recovery Unplugged Texas was recently impacted by a tornado that left us temporarily unable to fully provide the unmatched level of care our patients deserve, and have come to expect. While none of us can contr...
Is the Substance Abuse Gender Gap Narrowing?
As long as such factors have been clinically evaluated, men have generally been at a higher risk for substance abuse and chemical dependency than women. While women face their own gender-specific issues that ca...
PA Lawmakers Propose Compulsory Addiction Treatment
One of the fundamental tenets of recovery is that it ultimately has to be the addict’s decision. Conventional wisdom indicates that an addict can’t get clean for anyone else but themselves and they have to ...
A Closer Look at What Addiction Does to Families
When discussing addiction and its impact, brief and superficial lip-service is often paid to damage it creates within the family unit. We hear common tropes like how substance abuse takes its tolls on families ...
Kroger to Sell Narcan at Pharmacies in 105 East Texas Locations
With the state of Texas battling a fierce and pervasive heroin and opioid problem, lawmakers, police, recovery advocates and ordinary residents alike are banding together to come up with more and more solutions...
Six Important Things to Know about Dual-Diagnosis Disorder
Although the link between substance abuse and mental illness has been well documented, many fail to recognize the presence of a dual-diagnosis disorder in themselves or a loved one. Whether they’re unable to ...
Can Gene Variants Create More Targeted Opioid Addiction Treatment?
It is now generally accepted philosophy in the addiction treatment community that customized treatment plans that address each patient’s individual substance abuse history are crucial for success. A new study...
Recovery Unplugged Featured in El Paso Inc. Article
Recovery Unplugged had the honor of being featured on the popular Texas News and Lifestyle website Elpasoinc.com last week. The piece highlighted the Recovery Unplugged treatment approach and the positive impac...
Unpacking and Dispelling the Concept of Rock-Bottom
It’s one of the oldest tropes in addiction recovery, and an assertion that’s been repeated for decades: You have to hit what is known as “rock-bottom” before you realize you have a problem with drugs or...
What to Expect for Addiction Treatment in 2017
As we begin to settle into another year, it can be overwhelming to contemplate how quickly time passes, and to think about what we failed to accomplish the year prior. The passage of time can be even more overw...
New Father-Son Book Highlights Treatment Gap and Prison Rates for Addicts
When most people are in the midst of a lengthy prison sentence, they tend to think their life is over, or at least severely disrupted. The last thing they’re thinking about is writing a book with their dad. R...
‘Tis (Almost) the Season: Maintaining Recovery during the Holidays
One week from today will mark the official start of the holiday season, at least according to the retail industry. For some of us this means making travel plans, getting gifts, performing good works, reconnecti...
Common Types of Supplemental Treatment Therapies
No treatment program should be identical to another. The issues and circumstances that trigger substance abuse are as unique to each individual and must be treated as such. Although there are some universal ele...
Decline In Mental Health Treatment Corresponds with Increased Suicide Rate
A report recently published by JAMA reveals a tragic, albeit unsurprising, correlation between the widespread reduction of mental health treatment resources and the collective increase in suicides across the co...
The Benefits of Supplemental Post-Treatment Therapies
Sooner or later our treatment ends. If we’re lucky, our programs give us valuable behavioral coping resources to help us manage the situations that can trigger relapse, whether we have to avoid them or face t...
How Vivitrol Helps Families after Treatment
Those of us who have helped our loved ones manage addiction know how difficult it can be. Even after the best treatment and the most positive and encouraging signs of progress, the path can still be difficult. ...
A Victim of Geography: Where Is Texas’ Drug Supply Coming From?
As Texas continues to reel from rampant alcohol and drug addiction, and as more and more residents succumb to overdose and other substance abuse-related causes of death, the state’s elected officials, law enf...
Avoiding Relapse during the Holidays
While the holidays are a wonderful opportunity to get together with friends and family, they can also be problematic for those in recovery. The free flow of alcohol, tense interactions with family members, fina...
Recovery Unplugged Releases New eBook on the Impact of Addiction on Families
Families are the lesser-discussed casualties of addiction. For practically every one of the over 23 million Americans suffering from chemical dependency, there is a whole separate group of people suffering righ...
A SAFE and Happy Halloween: Alcohol and Halloween’s Burgeoning Relationship
This year Americans will have spent approximately $8.5 billion on Halloween. Translation: it’s not just a kids’ holiday anymore. While many of us still celebrate the occasion by taking our children or niec...
Sing Your Life: The Positive Impact of Singing on the Brain
Ever notice how we often sing when we’re excited, exuberant or motivated? This is not a coincidence. Nor is it a coincidence that over 30 million adults in America are in choirs. Whether we’re in the car, p...
Embracing Music in Everyday Recovery
At Recovery Unplugged, we commonly hear concerns from prospective patients about their lack of musical experience prior to treatment. They’re concerned that they have to have an overtly musical background as ...
What Our “Guilty Pleasure” Songs Can Tell Us about Music Therapy
Recovery Unplugged often hears prospective patients tell us that they don’t think they’d benefit from our program because they “don’t play an instrument” or they’re “not very musical”. They don...
Recovery RockFest 2016 Invades Wilmington
This past Saturday, hundreds in the recovery community gathered at Wilmington, North Carolina’s Hugh McRae Park to hear great music and exchange support during the 2016 Recovery RockFest. The event was hosted...
Three Elements of An Effective Aftercare Plan
Anyone who has ever completed an addiction treatment program knows how important it is to have a solid, realistic and effective aftercare plan. Our aftercare plans can often mean the difference between continue...
Get Involved In International Overdose Awareness Day
August 31 will mark the 15th annual International Overdose Awareness Day. The event was established to raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of a drug-related death. It also acknowledges the grief f...
Is Vivitrol Right for Me?
Vivitrol has proven to be an effective resource in helping sufferers of opioid and alcohol dependency manage their cravings and overcome their withdrawal symptoms. The medication is used as part of an overall t...
Music-Based Therapy Is Not Just for Musicians
When people hear about music therapy for drug and alcohol addiction, and they find out what it entails, they often think that it’s not for them because they don’t have a musical background; nothing can be f...
RU Co-Founder Paul Pellinger Appears on New York’s Thunder 102 Radio
Ahead of his recent presentation at a Rural Health Network opioid addiction event in Sullivan County, Recovery Unplugged co-founder and chief strategy officer Paul Pellinger took to Liberty, NY’s Thunder 102 ...
The Special Plight of the Touring Musician in Recovery
Summer is when touring musicians of all stripes hit the road to connect with their fans and expect their audiences. Touring is a fact of life for most musicians, and a great way stay immersed in their music whi...
What You Need to Know About Medication-Assisted Treatment
Over the past few decades, numerous medications have been introduced in the addiction and chemical dependency treatment landscapes. These powerful, and sometimes controversial drugs have been enormously effecti...
5 Facts About Music Therapy for Addiction
When people hear about music therapy for addiction, they’re immediately compelled to ask numerous questions, not the least significant of which include “Does it really work?” and “How does it work?” T...
Examining and Unpacking The Marijuana Myth(s)
Over the past 70 years, Marijuana, in all of its forms, has been the casualty of extremes. Decades ago, the nation was absorbed by the “Reefer Madness” culture, and every adolescent in the country was taugh...
The Importance of Medically Supervised Detox in Addiction Treatment
Withdrawal is one of the most common roadblocks to long-term recovery. Even when an addiction sufferer recognizes they have a drug or alcohol problem and need to stop, the pain and sickness associated with the ...
Win A Chance to Meet Zeds Dead While Supporting Face the Music Foundation
Heading to Bonnaroo this year? Well even if you weren’t before, you may be now. Face the Music Foundation and Recovery Unplugged have partnered with Canadian electronic music duo Zeds Dead to offer two lucky ...
Examining the Impact of Addiction on Parents
We are now square in the middle of the month-long swing between Mother’s and Father’s Day, and while for many, these holidays are spent eating brunch, buying gifts and honoring our parents, mothers and fath...
Quality Therapies for Long-Term Recovery
Treatment teaches us many new things. It teaches us how to love ourselves, it teaches how to live each day in recovery, and it teaches things about ourselves we would have never otherwise discovered without con...
Recognizing Addiction in A Child
Every year hundreds of thousands of children fall victim to drug and alcohol addiction, often paying the ultimate price as a result. For each one of these bright, vibrant and promising lives that are threatened...
Why Every Month Should be Alcoholism Awareness Month
As of today, we find ourselves right smack-dab in the middle of Alcoholism Awareness Month, an event created by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence to empower everyday people to promote grass...
Art Therapy Can Improve Drug Treatment Outcomes
Addiction treatment is often a combination of medical treatment, psychological treatment, behavioral modification and peer support. It isn’t an exact science, and many strategies have been used over the years...
Addiction Perception – Then and Now
From the start of the 1900s we have demonized addiction. In the 1950s (just like now) heroin use was a hot topic. Clinicians at the thought of addicts as having its roots in neurosis and obsession referring to ...
How To Get Through The Holidays Sober
The holidays sober are full of joy but they can also be very difficult to get through while in recovery. Holiday memories and events associated with alcohol or other drug use may tug at you. This will can be ...
The Narcan Debate
Up until now we have discussed the miracle ingredient in Medically Assisted Treatment (MAT)-Naloxone. One of the more common uses is in the form of Narcan. There has been much debate on the availability and all...
GivingTuesday
Recovery Unplugged Treatment Center has joined GivingTuesday, a global day of giving that harnesses the collective power of individuals, communities and organizations to encourage philanthropy and to celebrate ...
Taking Time On Veterans Day
Veterans Day is an official United States public holiday, observed annually on November 11, that honors military veterans, that is, persons who served in the United States Armed Forces. It coincides with other ...
What we are listening to – Recovery Music
Searching around for inspiration, can be a problem for many, especially when you don’t know where to look. Inspiration comes from imagery, settings and relaxation. We know that inspiration from music can be t...
Addiction Stigma and Understanding
“Why the bigotry, why the stigma, why the shame when we almost all have a version of this disease? We’re all using something to deal with the pain and suffering of being human…Why are we a nation that wai...
Songwriting Contest Phase 3
We would love to thank everyone for entering the songwriting contest! The top 5 have been chosen by your votes! Music has been with us as long as we can collectively remember. Musical instruments have been...
Being Sober At College
College, that is where I saw myself start to degenerate and fall (among many of my “friends”). I remember feeling free to do what I wanted and at that point it was smoke and drink all that day. However n...
Music Heals and Influences Change
We base our treatment around the healing power of music and how it can impact change. This week there was a study published about how music helps the healing process for everyone. Queen Mary University of Lon...
Self-esteem and Drug Rehab
It’s normal to feel a bit low while ‘in the rooms.’ I witnessed something that was amazing this week at Recovery Unplugged (a drug rehab in florida). Our director of client services and techs took our f...
Sobriety – A Marathon
As you can tell by the title, I think it is important to take time as much as possible to look at the big picture when it comes to recovery and sobriety. It is easy to get bogged down in the little details and ...
Suboxone – Is it Obsolete?
Last week Recovery Unplugged spoke about Vivitrol and how it is helping many people in their recovery from substances. In the not so distant past there was a medication that promised the very same thing: Suboxo...
Music in Recovery @ Recovery Unplugged
Music is the great equalizer here at Recovery Unplugged, well, it is the great equalizer everywhere. I remember the first time I heard Otis Redding sing (I’m not that old, it was in a movie I swear). Hearin...
Alcoholics Anonymous for 80 years
Today marks the Alcoholics Anonymous 80th anniversary. When AA started there were few places to turn for those who suffered from alcoholism. If treatments were prescribed, they were harsh, often combinations o...
What is Heroin?
If you have tuned on the news lately Heroin is back in a big way. But what is Heroin? Heroin and commonly known by its street names of H, smack, boy, horse, brown, black, tar, and others is an opioidanal...
Things to Know about Drug Treatment
Are you part of the 20 million who need treatment? Here are a few things to understand first: Recovery doesn’t end when treatment is over. A one-size-fits-all approach will not help very many addicts re...
MusiCares Visits Recovery Unplugged
Today’s group was extra special as we were visited by MusiCares. For those of you who do not know them they are:...
Music Therapy Makes the Difference
We are always saying that music makes the difference....
Our Recovery Songs
Over the last couple years, some highly unlikely acts have written songs about addiction and recovery that are, “Amazing.”...
Fighting Addiction With Music
Addiction is a state characterized by compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli, despite adverse consequences, but you already knew that. You also that here at Recovery Unplugged we specialize in a rehabilita...
Face The Music – Scholarships for Drug Rehabilitation
Now that we have all recovered from an intense weekend with Face the Music Foundation’s Family Day, we would like to thank everyone once again for all their hard work. What made this especially successful was...
Popular Fiddler Randi Fishenfeld plays at Recovery Unplugged
We had a special guest visit from fiddler Randi Fishenfeld to Recovery Unplugged. Randi is a very well known violinist who has played with some huge names like Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, Journey, ...
Last House on the Block Scholarship
First off- Recovery Unplugged would like to express gratitude to everyone who wrote in to apply for our scholarship. It pains us that we are not able to help every suffering addict who needs drug or alcohol tre...
Are you an “Almost Alcoholic?”
Every day, millions of people drink a beer or two with friends or enjoy a glass of wine with a good meal. For more than 30 percent of these drinkers, alcohol has begun to have a negative impact on their everyda...
Long Term Sobriety
For those who have never struggled with addiction, it may seem like rehabilitation is the final step to lifetime sobriety. Unfortunately, the challenge of long term sobriety is a lifelong task as those who comp...
Addiction to Exercise or Body Building
Eating disorders are a form of addiction that cause people to look dangerously thin or overweight. Less known is the addiction to maintaining a toned physique that suggests a career in bodybuilding or fitness m...
Five Truths about Alcohol Use
I was prompted to write this post from an article I read on CNN Health’s The Chart website, “Studies link alcohol to early death, memory loss” in January 2014. I thought it would be beneficial to pull a c...
The Role of Social Media in Promoting Alcohol, Drugs and Addiction
At this point, most people have a general knowledge of social media and many people have accounts of their own that allow them to connect with past friends and colleagues. Social media is a great resource that ...
Codependency
When referring to addiction and recovery, we often spend our time talking about the person that is using, but not much about those around them. I want to start by saying that I have been in this situation befor...
Rehabilitation at Home
When you suspect a loved one in your home is struggling from addiction to drugs and alcohol, many people have a natural instinct to solve it. They feel they are capable of helping that person overcome. In some ...
Eating Disorders
While many people typically think of drugs and alcohol as the main source of addiction, eating disorders are another form of addiction that requires treatment. Eating disorders are most rampant in young girls, ...
Leaving Rehabilitation Early
If you have not struggled with an addiction to drugs or alcohol, it is hard to understand the rehabilitation experience. For most people, it is a grueling time that is physically, mentally and emotionally painf...
Medical Detox
Withdrawal symptoms are extremely drastic and can include serious headaches, heart attacks, vomiting and death in some circumstances. Depending on how long and how much of the drug has been ingested, the body w...
Community Service as a Driver for Recovery
When a patient emerges from inpatient drug or alcohol rehabilitation, they are encouraged to stay involved in recovery groups and activities. Sometimes, inpatient programs suggest halfway house programs that gr...
It’s just college, right?
Alcohol and college are closely associated with each other in the minds of students and graduates with plenty of nights they don’t really remember. Many people say, “Its college, have fun!” Very rarely ar...
Physical Side Effects of Addiction
Drug addiction is a very serious situation that often has severe physical side effects. After extensive drug use, a person can begin to look very different from their pre-addiction selves. Weight loss and weig...
Talking to Kids About Drugs and Alcohol
It is hard to avoid the prevalence of drug and alcohol addiction in our society. If you are not talking to kids about drugs and alcohol, who will? While this topic is not the easiest to approach with your kids,...
The Benefits of Youth Activities for Preventing Addiction
There is no magic combination of checklist items that are sure to keep your kids from choosing alcohol and drugs. While no one can provide a sure-fire solution into preventing addiction, research shows that par...
The Signs of Alcohol Addiction
Due to the nature of our society and the prominence of ‘social drinking,’ many times, alcoholism goes undetected. But, in all actuality, alcoholism is a dangerous condition that can be deadly if untreated. ...
How to Help
Do you have a friend or loved one you suspect is struggling with drug addiction? Have you seen physical and behavioral changes that make you think something is different? When faced with this situation, it can ...
Warning Signs of a Drug Overdose
When you suspect a friend or loved one has overdosed on drugs it can be a very scary experience. In such a tense situation, it is easy to panic and be slow to make split-second decisions that can potentially sa...
Goal Setting
Everyone, at some point in their life, has hopes and aspirations. Growing up, everyone wants to be a professional athlete, astronaut or maybe a fireman. Dreams and goals don’t have an expiration date. In orde...
The Role of Stress
I do not want to suggest that it is OK to make excuses for addictions, but it is important to understand situations and triggers that can aggravate addiction or rehabilitation. In this case, let’s examine the...
Planning an Intervention
Confronting a family member or loved one about alcohol or drug addiction is hard, no matter how you approach the topic. It is important to remember that while you are approaching them in love, they still may fe...
Continuing Treatment
When a person ends drug rehabilitation, the process of recovery isn’t over. The time after a person leaves a rehab facility is just as important as their time in the program. There are ways to continue healin...
Reading the Signs of Drug Addiction
When you suspect a child, parent or loved one is struggling with addiction, it is hard to know what to do. There is always a risk of damaging a relationship and many do not know how to be sure addiction is pres...