Family Interview with Peggy L.
This interview is the latest in our Family Interview series. We will be sharing one interview each month from the family members of those who struggled to get sober, those who are sober today and those who have died as a result of their addiction. Family members are often in pain after years of doing […]
Happy Mothers Day by Robin P.
I have been in recovery and working a recovery program now for 30 years. There were so many people that helped me along in early recovery and taught me how to act like a mature woman in recovery. God knows it didn’t happen overnight. I went to treatment when I was 28, so I was […]
Freedom From Shame by Jon J.
I grew up in an environment where it was not okay to be who I was. As a gay man in rural Kentucky, I learned early on about how to internalize pain and how to act as if I was okay. A message I continually received was that God punished gay people, and that I […]
Celebrating National Poetry Month – Poem by Jim Dwyer
A brief heroically wasted life was not after all what i was after a musty anonymous church basement room a close to opaque cloud of silver-blue cigarette smoke a cup of hi-test styrofoam coffee a merciless orange plastic chair the usual pre-meeting buzz & chatter the banter the world class palaver this strange fellowship of […]
Family Interview with Kathy C.
This interview is the latest in our Family Interview series. We will be sharing one interview each month of the family members of those who struggled to get sober, those who are sober today and those who died as a result of their addiction. Family members are often in pain after years of doing everything […]
Willingness by Ambre B.
It was no secret that I drank alcoholically from the time I had my first drink. By age 15, an ambulance rushed me to the hospital with a BAL of 0.42. Doctors told me that I was lucky to be alive. I was extremely disconnected from the severity of my disease in that short time; […]
Family Interview
We are continuing a series we started in 2020 of Family Interviews. We spoke with the family members of those who struggled to get sober, those who are sober today and those who died as a result of their addiction. Family members are often in pain after years of doing everything in their power to […]
Grateful, Sober Dad by Chris N.
Sobriety has given me more blessings than I could have ever imagined when I walked through the doors of Turning Point on 05/10/2016. I have found a God of my understanding, dignity, love and forgiveness of myself and others and the ability to be present for the people in my life. It has also given […]
Family Interview with Kate N.
We are continuing a series we started last year of Family Interviews. We spoke with the family members of those who struggled to get sober, those who are sober today and those who died as a result of their addiction. Family members are often in pain after years of doing everything in their power to […]
Finding my passion by Robert W.
For me, I was very sedentary when I was using and drinking. I barely got out of bed unless it was to get drugs or to do something that supported my substance issue. I quit a lot of hobbies when I starting drinking and getting high, one of which was my passion for fitness and […]
Holi-Daze by Ali M.
The holidays can be a difficult time of the year or is it just that we can be extra difficult this time of year? Like all of us, the path that led me to recovery is paved with tragic failure and personal shortcomings – such as the impressive ability to disappoint my family, unbelievably more […]
The Pain is in the Resistance, by Derek S.
I first heard this saying from a residential therapist while in a treatment center in 2011. He did not tell it to me once, but every day for the 14 months I was there. Talk about overkill. But the truth is that I needed to hear it that many times, and I still must remind […]
Truly Grateful, by Sean L.
I got sober at the tender age of 25. I freely gave a good part of my childhood and all of my adulthood at this point to alcoholism and addiction. At 25 and already having been to very dark places in my life, I thought this was just how I was destined to live and […]
A Grateful Alcoholic, by Chris N.
I was taught early in my recovery that grateful alcoholics/addicts do not drink or use. With Thanksgiving upon us, the focus this week will be on “gratitude,” which is as important for my spiritual condition 4.5 years into my recovery as it was day 1 when I walked through the doors of Turning Point. I […]
Moving in Recovery, by Julie M.
“The Earth has music for those who care to listen”-Shakespeare I had always wanted to move. It was deep in my soul to get out of the sour town I had most of my bad memories from. I truly just never thought it would be possible for me to chase any sort of dreams. My […]
Don’t Leave Before the Miracle Happens, by Darienne M.
This is the best piece of advice I could ever give: Don’t leave before the miracle happens and never stop trying. If you would have told me 6 years ago that I would be in recovery now, I would never have believed you. I thought I was a hopeless case that they talk about in […]
A Life Worth Living, by K.S.
I didn’t start out an alcoholic and I always believed I could manage it on my own, despite the multitude of family and friends that thought otherwise. I knew my drinking had progressed, but I still couldn’t bear to label myself an “alcoholic.” Somehow it was easier to consider myself a daily drinker. It didn’t […]
Living an Abstinent Life through Halloween and the Holidays by Shanni B.
Halloween is the start of many other joyous holidays to come. I’ve heard in the rooms that the holidays can be a triggering time for some addicts and alcoholics. For the Food Addict, it is a time of year where our program is tested the most. I celebrated my birthday at Turning Point a few […]
We Stay Sober No Matter What, by Anonymous
Part of recovery is working with others. I’ve been clean and sober for a little while now and find this to be the best part of recovery. Recently a newly sober woman said to me “How am I supposed to stay sober after losing my job, that job was everything to me and now I’m […]
We Stay Sober No Matter WHAT!, by Joan B.
When I first got sober, I was going to meetings at a club house in Hermosa Beach Ca. There was this fellow that would say, every time he shared, “we stay sober no matter,” and then he would yell “WHAT”! It certainly would get your attention, especially if you were new and shaky. It had […]
Speaking My Truth, by Ashley N.
During the first 6 years of my recovery I did not hear of “National Recovery Month.” I started working in the addiction treatment field in 2012 and that year was the first year that I learned about the initiative. I started having conversations with friends that I knew from “the rooms” and none of them […]
Taking Suggestions & Finding Direction, Anonymous
Sharing your truth and listening to others will set you free. I am 45 days into recovery so I know I have a long road before I will experience the happy, joyous and free life that long timers talk about in meetings. However, I have already learned so much by closing my mouth and opening […]
The Gifts of Recovery, by Maise L.
On June 20th of 2020 I will reach the milestone of 1 year sober from drugs and alcohol. A milestone that I talked about for years while in my addiction, but never was able to reach, mostly due to my inability to listen and take suggestions. I was in Turning Point from June to august […]
Family Interview with Lori P., by Ashley Neal
I have been reading stories of recovery from addiction and eating disorders for a very long time. When I joined the staff at Turning Point of Tampa, part of my job was to find people who wanted to share their story with us. In turn, we share those stories on our website and social media […]
