Addiction, Attachment, and the Messiness of Early Recovery
Addiction began being conceptualized as an attachment-related disorder as early as 2001. Research in this area gave additional credibility to the community model of treating addictions and has fostered further efforts to be devoted to cultivating effective group therapy and community-based models of care for people with addictions. In short, attachment is an emotional and biological process of being able to connect meaningfully and effectively with other humans that [...]
How an “Open Community” Supports Long-term Recovery
Alpha 180’s owner, Bob Ferguson, often asserts that “people get sober in treatment, but find recovery in community.” This powerful statement serves as the foundation of Alpha 180’s philosophy on young adult recovery. While abstinence in treatment is no small feat, we believe that long-term recovery must involve the realization and pursuit of our dreams. Our goal at Alpha 180 is to inspire transformation in young adult men by [...]
Incorporating Wilderness Therapy in Aftercare
In developing the Alpha 180 program, we wanted to incorporate effective aspects of various modalities. With a background in traditional residential addiction treatment, I sought to expand my horizons by learning about the methods of wilderness therapy programs that I respect, such as Legacy Outdoor Adventures, Wilderness Treatment Center, and Red Oak Recovery. The latter, an innovative hybrid of residential and wilderness therapy models. Touchstones of a wilderness experience [...]
Bridging The Gap
For young adults in recovery, I have noticed an unfortunate, but relatively common pattern: they seek treatment, they begin their recovery journey, they become employed, and then they relapse. I have witnessed this cycle on countless occasions. It is a discouraging and frustrating experience for not only the person in recovery, but also for their loved ones. However, I believe the pattern can change. In my career working as [...]
Healing Trauma is the Key
Trauma is an unavoidable aspect of human life. Lately, its role in the emotional experience, particularly in how it relates to addiction, is becoming increasingly recognized in the collective awareness. Since trauma is not limited to sexual abuse or violence, but rather any experience that overwhelms the emotional system to the point where it cannot reset appropriately, it is not surprising that our culture’s struggles with addiction are spiraling [...]
The Hero’s Journey
Popularized by Joseph Campbell, the Hero’s Journey is a framework said to encapsulate the sequence of a self-discovery. Campbell believed that this cycle was inherent to the human experience and, thus, spanned across time and culture. His system involves aspects such as the “Call to Adventure”, “Arrival of the Helper”, and “Transformation”. At Alpha 180, the students are the hero of their own story of self-discovery. We utilize The [...]
The Purpose of Purpose
When I wake up in the morning, which happens around 6 o’clock a.m. these days, I am rarely thankful that I am not sick or hung over. It is not something that crosses my mind, it is just the way things are. All too often, I take for granted that I have so much to be proud of and to work to keep. My journey has not always been [...]
Family and Friends Play a Role in Addiction Recovery
The support of family and friends often plays a large role in addiction recovery. Everyone in the family will need to go through their own recovery process, and nobody should do it alone. Below are some ways that the family, spouses and friends can help a loved one in their recovery: Stay Involved & Supportive Our students are trying to figure out that balance between recovery life, old and [...]
Big. Vision. Moves.
The faculty or state of being able to see. The ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom. This is the definition of vision. What does the process of getting sober mean to you? Personally, I did not get sober to strictly maintain the ability to keep mind altering substances out of my body. I got sober to utilize the tool of abstinence and catapult [...]
Rebuilding Relationships
Among the many consequences of active addiction, one of the greatest tolls is the loss of relationships. Many who enter recovery have become severed from those they are closest to. The nature of the disease of addiction and the destruction that ensues makes it impossible for us to maintain healthy relationships with friends and family. Throughout the journey of recovery, repairing such relationships and creating new ones represents a [...]
Long-term Aftercare Made the Difference
I attended several treatment facilities from the age of 16 to 22. Each time I admitted into another program I truly was desperate for help. The pain and suffering I experienced when dependent on drugs and alcohol left me out of options. A few weeks into treatment, I had gotten the substances out of my system and was beginning to feel much better. This allowed me to believe that [...]
Creating Space for Recovery
One of the foundations upon which Alpha 180 was built is the idea that if we create space for inspired students in recovery then those students will show up. We have found this to be the case. Through our journey at Alpha, as well as through my own as a clinician and a person in recovery, we have seen that the most important thing we can do for our [...]
Developing Spirituality Through Taking Action
I came into recovery with preconceived ideas about religion and spirituality; ideas that I kept close to heart, and identified with. Growing up, I felt surrounded by people who insisted on impressing their religious and philosophical views on me, and it made me unreceptive to spirituality. During my addiction, I cultivated a protective shell that repelled ideas that were not strictly in line with my using activities and ideas, [...]
Transformation Vs. Compliance: Facilitating Second-Order Change
Is change possible? Of course! Is sustained change possible? That’s a different story. With relapse rates hovering around 60-70%, the outlook for sustained change is bleak (McClellan et. al., 2000). A more astute question might be: are we as treatment providers facilitating sustained change or focusing on clients’ compliance with set rules? It’s relatively easy to change while in treatment. A little motivation coupled with consequences for negative behavior [...]
Heart of Alpha 180
In my addiction, I was forced to betray my values on a daily basis as an act of survival. I never felt comfortable as the kid who was getting arrested, tearing his family apart, and stealing from friends. Those were some of my actions, but that is not who I felt I was in my heart. The truth was that I wanted love, acceptance, and to be okay with [...]
Alpha 180’s Academic Recovery Support Program
Balancing school and recovery can be tough... Resiliency is not easy as a college student in recovery. Dr. Donald Misch states, “Recovering students feel virtually alone in confronting this college environment awash in alcohol or other drugs. Their sense of alienation from the general campus community is heightened by a conflict of priorities – recovery versus academics – faced by few of their classmates1” (2009). As a result, academic [...]
Learning to Parent When Everything is Okay
This past week, Alpha 180 hosted its first immersive Family Workshop. From all over the country, family members joined their young adult sons for the purpose of stepping into their new roles as recovering individuals. Some tears and many laughs were shared as these parents witnessed their sons, perhaps for the first time, as young men in recovery. At Alpha 180, we seek to restore the developmental trajectory of [...]
Doing Away with New Year’s Resolutions
Those less familiar with recovery may be surprised to find out how commonly self-deprecation and addiction coexist. Addiction creates a cycle in which we behave in ways that cause us shame and then use to cover up that shame. Over and over we resolve to do better, but repeatedly fall short. Perhaps to a lesser extreme, everyone can relate to this cycle. New Year’s rolls around and the talk [...]
Alpha 180 and Jaywalker join in Houston, TX to serve victims of Hurricane Harvey
By: Michael M. This past weekend, the Alpha 180 brotherhood made a memorable trip to Houston, TX. The trip was comprised of three main events: touring the Museum of Fine Arts, hanging out with the guys from Jaywalker, and volunteering with a disaster relief organization called the St. Bernard Project. The museum was a fantastic chance for the community to walk around together and get to know one another amongst [...]
Alpha 180 on the radio!
Alpha 180's Executive Director, Nico Doorn and our Clinical Director, Will Crosswell share about how we incorporate a healthy balance of physical, mental and spiritual health into our program. Thank you to Peoples RX Austin's Favorite Pharmacy for hosting us on their "Let's Get Healthy" podcast!
Alpha 180 In The News!
Nico Doorn, Alpha 180 Executive Director, shares about how Alpha 180 is more than just a sober fraternity on Austin's KVUE News. We are a sober social center, offering clinical services, housing, academic support, and sober fellowship events. Entering our second year, we are looking to expand our reach to more aspiring students in recovery! Alpha 180 also held our one year anniversary celebration and it was awesome! One hundred [...]
Aligning My Life With My Values
While I was using substances, there was an inability to live up to the values that I held true to myself. All the damage that I caused in my life was painful, but I believe that the inability to live up to my values was the most painful part of my drug use. I was always this loving kid with a big heart, but my hurt made me gravitate [...]
Alpha 180 at the Association of Recovery in Higher Education’s 9th Annual Collegiate Recovery Conference
Dozens of the nations’ Collegiate Recovery Programs (CRPs) and their supporters convened in Houston, Texas for the Association of Recovery in Higher Education (ARHE) annual conference. The conference brings together thought-leaders in the collegiate recovery space to share and collaborate. The conference hosted many key professionals with career-long dedication to addiction and recovery advancement, including addictions researcher Dr. John Kelly of Harvard Medical School and Tom Hill, who formerly [...]
Not Freshmen Any More: The First Two Semesters of Alpha 180
Alpha 180 was always about realizing a vision. We believe that through sobriety, community, and purpose, young adults in recovery are capable of achieving anything. We are not about containing the damage of active addiction; instead increasing the upside of inspired recovery. But one short year ago the vision was just that: a vision. Surrounded by our current community of inspired Alpha 180 pioneers, I forget about opening [...]
The Family Afterward: Transformation
There is an illusion that once our loved ones get sober, things will be perfect. This is generally not the case. The big book of Alcoholics Anonymous tells us that the work has just begun. In the chapter, “The Family Afterward” it says, “The family of an alcoholic longs for the return of happiness and security… It will take time to clear away the wreck. Though old buildings [...]
Food For Thought: The Importance of Meals and Fellowship
At Alpha 180 we eat meals as a community. Five nights a week dinner is a shared experience with members, staff, and the neighboring community. Universally and generationally, coming together over a shared meal builds fellowship. From Paleolithic hunter-gatherers to the dinner bell ringing at the home on the range–food brings groups together. Before tv, Facebook, and snapchat entered the picture to interrupt this time, simply bringing groups [...]
Get In Trouble, Safely
To many young adults, the prospect of staying sober sounds like being sentenced to boredom and missing out. Addiction treatment, justifiably so, removes people from their current environments and focuses on stabilizing crises. Residential programs require focusing solely on establishing a foundation of recovery and educating individuals about the dangers of addiction. However, lasting recovery is about finding ourselves; integrating rather than denying aspects of our true self. [...]
Moving to a New City in Recovery
Recovery has given me opportunities and the ability to follow dreams that I never thought were possible. In the pursuit of these dreams, I have had to relocate to different cities and states to attain them. The first time I moved was when I had around two years of recovery and I was moving from where I grew up and where I got sober. I was extremely rooted [...]
How To Successfully Navigate The Holidays In Recovery
The holidays can be a stressful time for people in recovery; though with proper preparation and support, they can be profound times of healing, connection, and fellowship. Early recovery is a tumultuous period for most people. It contains many stressful events and episodes of growth and learning. Adding the stress of the holidays to the fragile nature of early recovery can be a dangerous situation. Emotions can run [...]
Making the Holidays a Sober Success for Families
Before we start, remember that the holidays have a way of creating higher emotional responses than the average day. For this reason, I encourage you to allow greater compassion for yourself and more empathy for your loved ones. As you begin to think about the upcoming holidays, likely your mind will wander to memories of previous years–years that were less than jolly, possibly even horrific. My intention in spurring your thoughts [...]
Keeping Recovery First
It’s quite often said that what you put in front of your recovery, you will lose. In my experience, I have found this to be true. I have seen friends deprioritize recovery and qsedput school, relationships, work, and various other things in front of their recovery. From my experience, I have seen this play out in two different ways. Either it leads to a relapse or the individual [...]
Dream Big: Thriving in Recovery Beyond Abstinence
Finding freedom from my addiction to substances has been one of the most important successes of my life. I am proud of every new day that takes me further from the last time I used. In the rooms, success if most prominently measured by recognizing how long members have been clean. And believe me, earning a new chip or keytag was a (and still is) a huge motivator [...]
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