How does recoveryBox help me break my addiction?

Wondering what recoveryBox is and if it can help you? Well, do you have an addiction, habit, hurt or hang-up that you want to break? If so, then recoveryBox is your toolbox for the iPhone (or iPad).


Designed for accountability, recoveryBox is an iPhone app toolset that facilitates tracking of daily life activities by easily breaking them down into your "lights". Breaking habits requires knowing why we do what we do, when do we do it and coming up with goals to break unhealthy behaviors. recoveryBox has the tools needed to help with addiction recovery.

recoveryBox is designed to work with any addiction: drugs, gambling, pornography, alcohol or customize your own specific to your needs!!

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Use as much or as little of recoveryBox as you need. Visiting the How To Use Page will tell you more about the app but let's break it down.

1. Entering your daily lights (which are your daily routine activities). As you progress in recovery, you will see the number of green lights (healthy activities) increase as the number of yellow lights (warning light activities) and red lights (acting out) decrease.  

The idea is to focus on changing your habits but by being accountable (see step 3).

2. Track your triggers. Know what sets you off so that you can try and avoid. Customize your triggers.

3. Be accountable to either a sponsor or accountability partner. This is a simple step of sending a text or email to your sponsor directly from recoveryBox. Included in the accountability communication will be totals of your lights as well as reasons for yellow and red light activities. You can customize this too.  Being accountable is how the conversation gets started about what's really happening in your recovery.

4. Earn badges for your accomplishments! This is huge! Everyone needs affirmation when heading in the right track. Let recoveryBox help you by showing you progress and milestones not only for time being sober but for activities that are part of a healthy recovery.

5. Enter treatment goals. These goals can be developed by you, with a counselor, as part of a group or with your accountability partner or sponsor. And if desired, treatment goals can be linked to either a traditional 12 step program or Celebrate Recovery steps.

6. If you attend a traditional 12 step program or Celebrate recovery program, use recoveryBox to track which step you are in, journal while in that step as well as well as create goals. You can even switch back and forth between the wording for each step.

7. Sobriety Anniversary Date tracking is crucial to our recovery journey. See how long you have maintained your sobriety as well as set goals for a new sobriety date. recoveryBox will adjust your anniversary date if red lights are entered. Customize the sobriety date screen by adding a motivating picture of those you love.

There are lots of other tools that are part of recoveryBox: 

• search daily lights with any customizable dates to find patterns,
• pray the serenity prayer, 
• access daily devotionals, 
• motivators that can be customized to remind you to enter your daily lights as well as text/email your accountability partner/sponsor, 
• customize the daily communication piece, 
• customize how daily lights are entered, 
• post badges as well as anniversary dates to Facebook or Twitter, 
• find recoveryBox resources, 
• communicate with recoveryBox staff right from the app regarding bugs or requesting new features,
• share recoveryBox with friends directly from the app,
• rate recoveryBox from the app so that others find hope in their recovery

Good luck!

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Download recoveryBox, your Addiction Recovery Sobriety Toolbox 

Using recoveryBox with a Traditional 12 Step Program or Celebrate Recovery Steps

How To Video Series for recoveryBox iOS App for Addiction Recovery

Below you will find our How To Videos for recoveryBox - Using recoveryBox with a Traditional 12 Step Program or Celebrate Recovery Steps. Record what step you are on, journal as much as you want, share those entries with whomever you want and add treatment goals to that step.

Please note, if you are a person who doesn't want to use a 12 Step approach then you don't have to - ever!  Perhaps you might want to check out the Treatment Goals section instead!

Traditional 12 Step program or Celebrate Recovey Steps Using recoveryBox

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Download recoveryBox Addiction Recovery App - Your Complete Accountability Sobriety Toolbox

Yellow Light Y2 - Intentionally putting oneself at Place of Risk ~ Caution

Some might ask how can being "somewhere" be a Yellow Light?  I mean, it's just a "place" right?

Well, for some with an addiction, just being somewhere can be the trigger.  Even though a "place" doesn't speak to you to convince you to "act out", it can actually trigger the voice in your mind that tells you what to do.

Follow me on this.  For those who suffer from alcoholism, going to a bar for happy hour may not be the smartest of decisions or going to a friends party where you know there will be alcohol.  Because at this "place" you have access to the actual thing that you are trying to break away from.  Or for those suffering from a pornography addiction, perhaps going to Hooters will trigger the feeling inside that you so crave leading to "acting out".  What about those with a shopping addiction?  Should going to the mall be on your agenda?

Now these are not hard and in stone rules.  Of course not.  Each person must decide for themselves if being at a certain place is dangerous to the undoing of their sobriety.  However, sometimes we just don't know.  Or perhaps it is so early in the recovery process that we know these "places" are triggers.

So, I would think logic would say to STAY AWAY!  You have worked so hard to finally admit your problem and start the hard work of beating this addiction, why would you place yourself in harms way?

The reason it is considered a Y2 light, "Intentionally putting oneself at a Place of Risk" is so that you are accountable for putting yourself there.  Remember, Yellow Lights are not acting out lights..these are just the flags that say..Stop and Slow Down! Consider the Implications!  What could this lead to?

Because entering a yellow light requires adding an explanation of the situation it is helpful so that your accountability partner can see the situation.  It is also helpful to begin to see patterns.  When searching over a months time, see how many yellow lights you had.  Are they all on a certain day of the week?  Do they always occur when ...

Sometimes it really is obvious - at least most often for an outsider.  But not always.  And with data at your fingertips, you can't deny the actions of your life.

So PLEASE don't be afraid to report a yellow.  Be accountable to someone for it and perhaps come up with plans on how to change why the yellow even happened so it doesn't turn into a red light in the future.


Don't have recoveryBox yet?  Make the SMALL investment and begin to see your habits change.
To download, click here.  For more information, visit the recoveryBox app website (you can always download it from there if you decide).

Addiction Recovery Motivator Compliance ~ Do I Really Have to??

Being compliant in addiction recovery is NOT an easy task nor is it one that you can just do one day but not the next.  You MUST work at addiction recovery each and every day!!!  Bottom line!!!

As I've said before I'm not a counselor but rather someone who has been through the process of what addiction recovery looks like.  And being accountable each and EVERY day to a sponsor or accountability partner is a must. And it's the same for a traditional 12 Step Program or for Celebrate Recovery.

recoveryBox , the mobile iPhone app built for addiction recovery, has some built in tools that can help you with that if you need some reminding.  And let's face it...in our lives we are so busy that things slip our mind - easily.  And for that, we have what are called MOTIVATORS!

If you click on More Tools in the tab bar on the bottom, you will see a whole list of tools.  Select "Settings" and voila..all sorts of things you can customize!!  I invite you to investigate how these can simplify data entry (again for compliance).

What is a motivator?? It's a reminder that will pop up when you tell it too!  Set one for entering your "lights" for the day or set one to remind yourself to text/email an accountability partner.

You can change the motivator at any point.  You can even turn it off if you don't need one anymore.   Work it out with your 12 step sponsor or accountability partner.  Decide together if you are to text your numbers daily or weekly.  Again, it's all about creating a system that you will be compliant with and that will help during your recovery.

~ Have you set your motivators today??

PS.  Just a small side note, if you set a motivator to text/email on a daily basis then the Accountability Module dates will be set for daily use, but if you select weekly in the motivators tab, then those dates will reflect a one week difference.  Just a small nice thing to help you be consistent.

Haven't downloaded recovery box yet?? 

Get it today and begin your addiction recovery today!!  

Select/Customize an Addiction and Enter Lights

How To Video Series for recoveryBox iOS App for Addiction Recovery

Below you will find our How To Videos for recoveryBox - Select/Customize an Addiction and Enter your Lights. recoveryBox has evolved to let you customize your yellow and red lights so that you can work on areas that are troublesome to you!  Green lights remain the same because those are basic habits of life that are healthy and will help you on your journey to freedom. And remember you can track more than one addiction at a time if need be.

Select/Customize an Addiction and Enter Lights

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Download recoveryBox Addiction Recovery App - Your Complete Accountability Sobriety Toolbox

Alcohol Recovery App ~ Helping Break the Addiction

recoveryBox - the Addiction Recovery iOS App

recoveryBox was created originally for those in recovery from a pornography or sex addiction.  However, after working with lots of counselors on this concept, we configured recoveryBox so that it would help those who want to break free from the addiction of alcohol.

The preconfigured addiction selection for alcohol has suggestions of the types of habits that need to be broken (called your red lights).  But you can create your own type of addiction that would work better for you by creating your own custom red lights.

By tracking your good habits (green lights) as well as warning situations (yellow lights - people, places, and things) and triggers you can create a clear picture of what habits you have as well as need to break.

Keep accountable with your sponsor or counselor or accountability partner. recoveryBox will let you know it's time to enter your daily lights as well will remind you to connect with your sponsor.

recoveryBox works well with a traditional 12 Step Program or Celebrate Recovery.  Try recoveryBox today. Available for any Apple iDevice.

Don't worry if the lights you see here don't match what you need help with. Customize the addiction to match what you need to track. Users will also want to track their triggers (also customizable) so that accountability partners/sponsors can get a good picture of what's going on.

Want to break the addiction? Accountability does work!

G2 ~ Treatment Self-Care recoveryBox iPhone Mobile Addiction Recovery App

Being in treatment for addiction recovery, one would think that a G2 - Treatment Self-Care should have been on the top of the list for Daily Lights activities.  The reason it's not is because as I wrote about before, you really need to take care of yourself physically which is why Treatment Self-Care falls into the next category of Green Lights.

G2 Treatment Self-Care lights are activities that we do as an individual as part of our treatment.  Each person will have some basic activities that will look the same but then it will be different due to the reasons that we have an addiction.  

Of course self-care such as counseling is of the upmost importance.  You can't get better from an addiction without knowing the why behind why you act out!  And for myself (and just about everyone else that I've talked too in recovery) will have a counselor and most often he/she will assign homework.  Homework can be from reading something, thinking and journaling, workbooks, creating inventories, asking for forgiveness from someone, offering forgiveness, etc.  In fact, following a traditional 12 Step Program or Celebrate Recovery step is part of treatment self-care.

For others it can be taking medications as part of treatment for a variety of things such as anxiety or depression.  For myself, I can count taking meds as one G2- Treatment Self-Care but there are others who must take them 3 or 4 times a day and in order to be compliant they can count that as 3 or 4 G2 Treatment Self-Care lights.

recoveryBox was built so that you can customize these lights.  You don't have to add comments for any green lights but here is where for some it's vital to keep track of what a day looks like.  When you select the button to add your comments you will see a few already suggested for you BUT please make this list work for you.  Add what you need as part of your treatment self-care.

Later, you will see how you can add a Goal for Treatment Self-Care..make sure anytime you interact with a goal that you add a Green Light for that.  Boost up your confidence by realizing all the wonderful progress you are making in your addiction recovery.

Beginning to see how recoveryBox and the visual of Lights makes it easy to see the Go Go Go aspect of doing positive things for addiction recovery.

Wondering if recoveryBox is right for you?  Download it today from the Apple store and give it a whirl.

Wondering what addictions this will work for?  When you download recoveryBox you will first be prompted to choose one (or more) addictions from the list. There are over 50 to choose from..

~ Adrenaline-Producing Activities ~ Alcohol ~ Anger~ Being Right ~ Caffeine ~ Cocaine ~ CoDependency ~ Collecting "stuff" ~ Cumpulsive Behavior ~ Drug Abuse ~ Eating Disorder ~ Emotional Addiction ~ Escapism/Amusement ~ Exercise ~ Fantasizing ~ Gambling ~ Getting One's Own Way ~ Heroin ~ Hoarding ~ Idolization ~ Isolation ~ Laziness ~ Lust ~ Marijuana ~ Media (TV, Internet, etc) ~ Methadone ~ Opiates ~ OverWorking ~ People Pleasing ~ Perfectionism ~ Pornography ~ Prescription Drugs ~ Risky Behaviors ~ Sadism ~ Self Injurous ~ Self-Judgement ~ Sex Addiction ~ Shopping ~ Smoking ~ Sniffing ~ Social Media ~ Steroids ~ Substance Abuse ~ Theft ~ Tobacco ~ Travel ~ Trivia ~ Vandalism ~ Vicodin (pain killers) ~ Video Games ~ Voyeurism

CoDependency Recovery App - Breaking Free

recoveryBox - the Addiction Recovery iOS App

recoveryBox was created originally for those in recovery from a pornography or sex addiction.  However, after working with lots of counselors on this concept, we configured recoveryBox so that it would help those who want to break free from the addiction of CoDependency.  

The preconfigured addiction selection for CoDependency has suggestions of the types of habits that need to be broken (called your red lights).  But you can create your own type of addiction that would work better for you by creating your own custom red lights.

By tracking your good habits (green lights) as well as warning situations (yellow lights - people, places, and things) and triggers you can create a clear picture of what habits you have as well as need to break.

Keep accountable with your sponsor or counselor or accountability partner. recoveryBox will let you know it's time to enter your daily lights as well will remind you to connect with your sponsor.

recoveryBox works well with a traditional 12 Step Program or Celebrate Recovery.  Try recoveryBox today. Available for any Apple iDevice.

Don't worry if the lights you see here don't match what you need help with. Customize the addiction to match what you need to track. Users will also want to track their triggers (also customizable) so that accountability partners/sponsors can get a good picture of what's going on.

Want to break the addiction? Accountability does work!

recoveroyBox's Today's Widget and Configure PopUps for Badges Earned

It's exciting to be able to offer new features for recoveryBox - and these ideas come from you the user!

TWO new features..

1. Todays Widget (and how to configure)

1. How to turn on/off the live pop ups for badges.

TODAYS Widget

Every wonder.. "Did I enter any lights today?" or "Did I text my accountability/partner or sponsor today?" And ever want to know this right away without starting up the app?

Introducing the Todays Widget for recoveryBox (and it's configurable!!)

When you first add the recoveryBox widget  you will see...

1.  The lights icon - if you have entered lights it will have a checkmark
2. The text/email icon - if you have sent an email or text it too will have a checkmark
3. The arrow icon - will bring you to the app
4. The blue label will default to a motivational saying.  You can configure this to actually display the addiction label if you prefer.
5. Default is also a display of the years, months and days of sobriety for each addiction. 

If you tap on any of the icons it will bring you to the app at the correct screen.

Select the preference tab to configure the Todays Widget

Turning on addiction labels will display the name rather than a motivational phrase.

Don't want to see length of sobriety and only want to see the reminder lights and accountability icons?  No problem.  Just turn it off an only see a motivational phrase.

Badge PopUp Configuration

Well, not everyone likes to have their badges popup in realtime as they earn them -- so you can now configure this too using the preferences for recoveryBox. If you turn off Display Badges they will stop popping up.  Its that simple!....but know that you are still earning your badges behind the scenes and anytime you want to go see what they are just visit the badge screen.

That's it for new features in 5.2!  Remember, if you have an idea let us know so we can see if it makes sense to add it in.  We want to support our users!

Download recoveryBox today!

Part 3 : One to One Accountability and Your Sponsor

This is where the the entire concept for recoveryBox comes together. You have been diligent about entering your Lights and Triggers and now...

It's time to be honest with someone other than yourself.  And that's why you have a sponsor or accountability partner from a traditional 12 Step Program or from Celebrate Recovery.

When you send a text/email to your accountability partner, it will tally all of the Green, Yellow and Red lights.  You select the time frame (when I write more about the accountability module I'll explain how the dates default).

This is what's so awesome..there is no remembering what the day or week looked like because you already did the work when you entered the lights!!  And believe me it is work being honest to yourself.  

As you can see I use recoveryBox to text (as that's the default I set up) each day by 10:00PM.   It really is that simple and my sponsor can see  as a snapshot what my day looked like.  Let's see an example of what the system builds as a started text/email ( I can edit the piece of communication if I want before I send it too).

As you can see it puts the date (and in my case it's just the one date otherwise it's the range of dates I selected). Then it puts a total of my lights broken down by color...My sponsor and I have made a Green target number I'm supposed to hit and it changes as I meet my goals.

The Yellows and Red's are the hardest for me but it's where I'm being completely honest with myself and another.  Under the settings panel I've enabled comments to be added to my communication piece.  I have nothing to hide from my sponsor but it's nice to have the option (again, when I write more about that module, I'll show you how to enable those).

If I entered any triggers for the day, anything over a green level is included as well as my journaling.  I love being able to communicate to my sponsor without having to retype anything..yet I have it all recorded for me.  Sometimes my sponsor sees something that he is concerned about and will either call or text me back right away..but most times I just get a response saying "OK".  And that's all I need.

This part of recoveryBox is what really allows communication and knowledge to happen between my sponsor and myself.  BUT I do use this with my counselor too.  Sometimes I'm asked how the week was and it's so easy to pull up the information any way I want.  And I'm much more accurate because I can't say "I forgot".

Being successful in Addiction Recovery is about making changes.  With recoveryBox you can actually quantify the changes ~ and that's a good thing!

Use recoveryBox now for your Addiction Recovery.

Part 2 : One to One Accountability and Triggers

Adding our Lights is great for seeing what we did on a certain day but it's not enough if we are going to figure out the why we do what we do.  I could easily have 26 Green Lights for the day but is it because I was making good choices on a certain day or was it in response to a trigger..say boredom.

Triggers really work well when adding yellow and red lights but we can also gain a lot of information about our addiction if we record our triggers on a daily basis.

recoveryBox tracks triggers much like the light system for daily activities.  At the beginning of the day we start at a 0 Intensity level which is Green.  Then as the day goes on something happens and we start to get frustrated, or bored or depressed and we have different levels which will go into Warning for Yellow and I NEED HELP RED.

Again, visually helping us see as we swipe through our days will make habits/triggers/etc jump out at us!

One day I might feel depressed at a 2 level which is very manageable but the next day that same trigger is at a 8 because I was glossed over by my boss for a promotion.  I may not have acted out and therefore I don't have a Red Light to record BUT I still had those feelings.  And this is where you would record why you had that trigger and didn't act out.  

Many times we will be moving our sliders on days we have acted out but eventually we will learn to not act out and our addiction recovery journey will really take on an entirely new look.

You can journal about the day..and I find it very helpful.  The next segment will show you how to link the accountability for lights and triggers and honestly how it paints a much clearer picture for your accountability partner.  With that information, they can help you with encouragement targeted for what you need.

The Book Icon in the upper right is where you would add your journaling.  If the book icon is empty then you didn't journal but if it's colored orange then you added some meaningful information about your day.

I'll be writing more about this Trigger's Module but for now try adding your triggers daily and see if journaling helps you and your sponsor work together better.  At the very least see if it helps you just feel better getting down your thoughts.  

And yes, I add a Green Light each time I journal or add a trigger.  It means I'm taking care of myself!!

recoveryBox mobile iPhone app for Addiction recovery

Part 1: One-to-One Accountability and Green Lights

This blog post is going to be broken up into 3 different ones.

1.  Adding my Green Lights for Accountability.
2.  Adding Triggers for Accountability
3.  MOST IMPORTANT:: Being Accountable To My Sponsor or Accountability Partner

recoveryBox was built for those who are in recovery for some sort of addiction with some sort of accountability feature.  

When we go through some sort of treatment it's so important that we are honest with ourselves but also someone else..most likely someone who has been there done that.  Usually we choose someone (but not always) who has been there so they understand the pressures we feel and can offer encouragement during those times.

By adding your Lights and Texting/Emailing to a sponsor or accountability partner you are taking ownership of your addiction and telling yourself that you are on the journey to recovery.  It's crucial that we do this!!

Adding G2 One-to-One Accountability Lights are Easy!!

When you Text/Email your Lights to a Sponsor each day that is checking in. That is letting the see a quick snapshot of your day without you have to rehash or even rethink the day. So that's a G2 One-to-One Accountability Green Light I get to add!

I tend to check in with him in the AM with a text to say Good Morning but at night after my day is done I send a text of my Lights.  It's a system we created with the use of recoveryBox during a one on one meeting.  

I'm supposed to send my lights by 10:00 PM.  

It's that easy.  Check in and get credit and Being Accountable all in one easy step.

In the next segments, I'll show how adding triggers completes the picture for accountability and what to do with these lights..in other words using the accountability feature.

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Download recoveryBox Addiction Recovery App - Your Complete Accountability Sobriety Toolbox

3 R's ~ Staying Motivated or Risk A Relapse

Random Resource ThuRsday!! 

3 R's ~ Staying Motivated or Risk A Relapse

I know from experience how easy it is to start down the road to recovery feeling the high of finally being free from a horrible secret and thinking I've got this licked!!  And then wham!!!  Something in life hits us and we run back to old habits, acting out and then going into relapse. 

And from there it is such a downward spiral.  Does anyone else know what I'm talking about here?!?

But that's why programs like a 12 Step Program or Celebrate Recovery have accountability partners as part of the approach.  Most of us just can't do this alone!  And we need someone to help us, encourage us, support us and motivate us.

This week I blogged about the Motivator piece of the recoveryBox iPhone Addiction Recovery App.  There is a good reason that is part of the app..it's to help us stay motivated.  Part of us as a person wants to please people other people.  It's part of being connected in life.  So when using a tool such as recoveryBox, it's important to stay motivated for compliance...because that IS one of the biggest pieces to addiction recovery.  You can't "cheat" here and there.  True recovery is to not return to those habits.

While doing research for recoveryBox, I ran across this article about motivation and it helped me focus on how can recoveryBox app can be part of that motivation.  Thanks Peggy for authoring such a great piece and for really just putting it out there in honest terms. 

(look for another blog post in a few weeks about another feature to recoveryBox that is all about motivation.  It's my favorite piece too!)


Addiction Recovery

Maintain Your Recovery Motivation Or You Will Relapse By Peggy L. Ferguson, Ph.D.

People often find their way to recovery in the midst of a crisis. Someone standing at the crossroads of recovery, may have been arrested for DUI, may have been fired, or may have received a scary report from the doctor. He may have heard the bottom line demand from his spouse-- "Get help or we are getting a divorce." Or, the alcoholic/addict may in fact, have a moment of clarity and really be able to see that he does have a problem and that help and abstinence are called for. The alcoholic/addict feels afraid. He feels ashamed. He feels angry at others or at himself for being in this position in the first place.

Fear, coercion or crisis helps him find his way into recovery. Fear is a fairly good short term motivator, but not so good in the long run. Once the fear subsides and the crisis is over, it is very easy to lose your motivation and momentum. At the point where the cycle of addiction is interrupted by failing to take the next drink, dose, or joint, there is a lot of tension, anxiety, and mindfulness of where you are in the process. Detox or withdrawal may occur, with physical and/or emotional symptoms being very consciously experienced.

When you get to feeling better physically and emotionally after detoxing, it is easy to lose your momentum. Your focus on recovery can dissolve. Some of the problems that once motivated your recovery might be resolved now. Because you have quit drinking or using, your spouse and kids are once again speaking to you and are in the process of forgiving you. You may have even won back some trust. Everything seems to be going well.

Under these circumstances it is quite easy for you to take your eyes off the target and lose your focus on recovery. Erroneously, you may believe that your abstinence is not so fragile now. Feeling better, you may think you have it "whipped".

Without actively focusing on your continuing abstinence and recovery, your behavior can begin to drift away from the newly instituted behavioral changes that you have made. You run the risk of returning to old thinking, old feelings, and then ultimately old behavior. The reason why this would happen is that you are not consciously taking steps to continue on a path of recovery. This path involves many changes in your behavior and in your life style. Without making conscious choices in regard to how each decision affects your new recovery life or your old addiction life, you are unconsciously choosing your old life. Choosing recovery is not like jump starting your damaged car battery where once you get it started, it recharges itself as run it. You have to continuously work a program of recovery. Without doing so, your efforts will be short- lived.

You will quit going to counseling. You will quit going to meetings. You will have stopped calling your recovery support people. Your defenses will go back up and you may take exception to the feedback of significant others who tell you that you are acting like you used to before recovery.

You won't be able to see that you are on the road to relapse. You won't be able to understand why they are concerned. You won't be able to identify the behavioral changes that scare them because you will be back in denial. Being around old drinking/using environments and friends don't scare you. You can't understand why it would scare your significant others. After all, you told them that you are not going to relapse. You have learned your lesson. What more do they want?

After awhile, you will begin to think that you have your drinking or using under control now. When you think of addiction as a thing of the past, that you now have it under control, you will begin to entertain the notion that you can now drink or use without negative consequences. If any of this sounds like your recent experience, you are in big trouble. You are in the relapse process and unless you do something now, you will relapse--and soon.

Copyright 2009, Peggy L. Ferguson, Ph.D., http://www.peggyferguson.com Hubbard House Publishing, Stillwater, OK. 

Download recoveryBox, Addiction Recovery App - Your Complete Sobriety Toolbox

Random Resource ThuRsday - So I shouldn't Go "There". Now What?

This week I wrote about how just being at a location is dangerous to the undoing of our sobriety. I found a wonderful resource that talks about this and a lot more.  In this document are tons on strategies to fight the addiction.  Take a look.

For more from this recovery website, visit http://www.markhoustonrecovery.com.

Below is the section from the resource that deals with Being at the Place (the Y2) and strategies.
I am glad the author put this trigger at the top of the list.  It's why I have the Person of Risk as the Y1 and the Place as the Y2 Yellow Lights.  Warning!!  Warning!!  Use Caution here!

Relapse Trigger #1: Putting Yourself In Difficult Situations Like Visiting Your Favorite Bar Or Hanging Out With Friends Who Are Still Using

Perhaps the most difficult part of recovery is leaving behind old friends or old habits that got us into trouble in the first place. Even if we are committed to staying away from your previous group of friends or hangouts, if we don’t change our habits and interests, we can quickly find yourself with a new group of friends or hangout spots that are just as damaging to our recovery process.
Relapse Prevention Action Plan:

• Find alternative places to hang out like a local bookstore or coffee shop.
  
• Choose companions who seek a healthy lifestyle.
  
• Go to a recovery based meeting. 
  

I really do encourage you to read the rest of the pdf file.  It is loaded with strategies to help in your addiction recovery.

To download recoveryBox,visit the Apple App Store.

The Serenity Prayer ~ the history behind it

I was curious about the history behind this beautiful prayer and did a little research. Read below or click this link for the article.

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The Serenity Prayer is the common name for an untitled prayer originally written by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr in the late1930s to early 1940s. It is believed that Niebuhr wrote the prayer for a sermon.

Elisabeth Sifton's book entitled The Serenity Prayer, which was published in 2003,,quotes this version as the authentic original:

"God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."

The earliest verifiable texts so far discovered are an approximate version, apparently quoted from memory, in a query in the in The New York Times Book Review dated July 12, 1942 which asks for the author of the quotation; a reply in the same column issued on August 2, 1942 states the quotation is attributed to Niebuhr and an unidentified printed text is quoted as follows:

"O God and Heavenly Father,

Grant to us the serenity of mind to accept that which cannot be changed; the courage to change that which can be changed, and the wisdom to know the one from the other, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen."

The serenity prayer became widely known when it was adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous; In 1950, the AA Grapevine, an AA magazine, identified Niebuhr as the author and the current AA web site continues to identify Niebuhr as the author.

The serenity prayer is reported to have been in use in Alcoholics Anonymous since the early 1940s. It has also been used in Narcotics Anonymous and other Twelve-step programs.. The Alcoholics Anonymous version of the serenity prayer omits some of Niebuhr's text:

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

courage to change the things I can,

and (the) wisdom to know the difference."

Niebuhr discusses the Serenity Prayer and how it came about it in his book, The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr: Selected Essays and Addresses. He states,

"... The embarrassment, particularly, was occasioned by the incessant correspondence about a prayer I had composed years before, which the old Federal Council of Churches had used and which later was printed on small cards to give to soldiers. Subsequently Alcoholics Anonymous adopted it as its official prayer. The prayer reads: 'God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to dintinguish the one from the other.' ..."

In addition, Niebuhr's daughter, Elisabeth Sifton, wrote an entire book about her father's serenity prayer, The Serenity Prayer: Faith and Politics in Times of Peace and War, that explores the circumstances around which her father wrote this prayer, the wide range of versions of this prayer, and the real essence of the prayer's meaning.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/552531

When You Feel the Crave, What Routine Do You Do?

One of the most important parts of being able to deal with an addiction is knowing what our triggers are.  Once we figure those out, we can start to reprogram ourselves with "new habits" that we insert into the place of the "old habits" when we sense those triggers or cravings.

For instance, a young girl bites her nails down to nibs and to the point that she can't use her fingers anymore because of the pain. Upon, tracking her data she realizes that she was bored and therefore started biting (and didn't even know it). But as she started to pay attention to the fact that she was bored, she began to figure out her cue and then inserted a new behavior...get up and go get a glass of water.

Another example, a young successful business man ends up drinking and has created such a bad habit of it that his wife has left him. He doesn't understand why because he provides for her every need.  Upon figuring out his triggers, he realized that his anxiety kicks up every time he's about to close a huge business deal. In order to deal with the anxiety he heads to the bar to kick one back and take the edge off.  But it has come to the point that anytime he feels anxiety he automatically heads to the bar. Now, he recognizes his anxiety and instead of heading to the bar (old habit) he has inserted a new habit of calling his accountability partner/sponsor that he met at Celebrate Recovery.

We ALL have habits that we wish we didn't have. Some are worse than others and some are downright dangerous. And we can change these habits, but it takes knowledge of what we are doing. By inserting a new habit into the spot of our old habit we can use the same cues as before and still get the same reward. The reward for the alcoholic was not the getting drunk (because no alcoholic says I like the hangover) but rather the temporary release of the anxiety feeling.

With that understanding, you can use recoveryBox to track what your triggers are. Don't confuse the cue verses the trigger. For the alcoholic, the trigger was not "closing the deal" but rather the feeling of anxiety. The cue was waiting for the closing of the business deal. We can't change the cues in life - they exist everywhere. But what does that cue trigger? Realize that feeling and then insert a new habit.

When you text/email your accountability partner, they can clearly see how to relate your triggers with your lights. It will be obvious to link together your triggers with habits. Your habits are being tracked by the light system. An accountability partner can help you see that triggers linked with red/yellow lights mean you are using healthy habits while green lights mean you have replaced bad habits with new ones.

While I know not everyone uses all pieces of recoveryBox (because there are a lot), they really do work together. I encourage you to use the light system in conjunction with the trigger tracking system. Help yourself and your sponsor figure out the puzzle to your behaviors by providing as much information as you can.

As always, if you have questions about how to use the recoveryBox app, please email!  Be supported!!

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Download recoveryBox Addiction Recovery App - Your Complete Accountability Sobriety Toolbox

Tracking our Sobriety Anniversary Using recoveryBox

Sobriety Anniversaries are an important part of recovery. Don't let the addiction take the celebration out of recovery. Using recoveryBox, track one or more addictions and their anniversary dates. Add a motivating picture to get you through the hard time. See how to set it all up.

Do You have to Give Up Your Old Friends - Random Resource ThuRsday

Random Resource ThuRsday brings to your the question "Do you have to stop seeing all your old friends in order to recover?"

This comes from a Great Blog I found called Changing Lives Foundation.

Do you have to stop seeing all your old friends in order to recover?

April 24, 2012 in AA Related, Al-Anon Related. . ., Ask Joe, Relapse, Why Don't they Just Quit,Why Don't They Just Quit? Book Excerpts by jherzanek | 2 comments

ASK JOE:
Old friends and recovery:

Q: Do you have to stop seeing all your old friends
in order to recover?

A. It depends

When I was first getting off alcohol and drugs, many of my old friends
were just like me. I knew that being around drugs and being around
people using them was a bad idea. Exposing myself to the wrong influences
would have been a set-up for relapse. It wasn’t easy to let go of
some of my longstanding relationships. At the same time, though, I was
meeting new people who were also in recovery. I quickly learned that
my new lifestyle and old friends were kind of like oil and water—they
just didn’t mix.


After several weeks of sobriety, I started to see these old relationships
in a different light. I tried to talk to some of my old friends about recovery.
A few of them actually quit using. Others began to avoid me. I stayed
busy concentrating on not using. It was a little depressing, in a way. I
wanted so much to help them change, but many just weren’t interested.

This is a difficult time for the recovering person. There is a sort of
lag-time between leaving old unhealthy relationships and developing
new and better ones. It doesn’t happen overnight—but it will happen.

Trust the process and trust God to provide. For myself, I knew what was
at stake. I had to do this or soon return to the old life. The void in my
social life was going to be filled one way or another. This is one more reason
why support groups are important.

Recovery means making many changes,
and some are more difficult than others.

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recoveryBox Addiction Recovery App - Your Complete Accountability Sobriety Toolbox

Random Resource ThuRsday ~ Support Systems

Last post, we talked about the upcoming features being added into recoveryBox.  The Twitter and Facebook integration.  The premise being it's an extension of your support system if you so desire.

Today is Random Resource ThuRsday and I'd like to continue with the concept of Support Systems.

I ran across a post just about this idea and how it's more than an accountability partner by David Sack MD. Here is the blog post link for the entire article or read below for bits and pieces.

Dr. Sack refers to a piece of addiction treatment that is tried and true - the Support System.
This is where one tried and true component of addiction treatment – a strong social support system – can bolster long-term recovery. A social network can keep recovering addicts invested in their recovery program even if they lose motivation, get discouraged, or become complacent or over-confident.

Research suggests that social relationships provide emotional support, a sense of belonging and stress relief. While higher levels of social connection improve quality of life, lower levels have been linked to relapse.

Here are five steps that will lead the recovering addict to the support they need:

1. Ask for Help - it's NOT a sign of weakness he writes.  And I can attest to that.  Talk to a good friend, find a counselor, pray with a spiritual leader, involve the family (but make sure they are not CoDependent)

2. Choose wisely - this should go without saying BUT when we are in a state of despair, it's hard to figure out just who you can trust, or who really is stable enough to ask into our support system. There are always clues but if you are not sure ask for help in making that determination.

3.  Attend some sort of meeting - this is critical. It can be a traditional 12 Step meeting, it could be a group therapy meeting, Celebrate Recovery or combine them.  He suggests finding one with like addictions because of being able to relate to each other.  Having been through that I agree completely.

4. Remain focused - it's so easy to start feeling good and want to return to "normal life", but the reality is, recovery takes time and so be selective about the types of activities you return to.

5. Be patient - and goodness knows this one takes practice.  It's hard to open up because of leaving yourself vulnerable. You have to process everything you say and do on a daily basis.  Becoming engaged in social settings is not easy so don't be too hard on yourself.  Remember, there may have been bridges burned as well and repair work will take time.  I believe the more patient you are about recovery the better chance of you becoming recovered!

recoveryBox, the mobile iPhone app for addiction recovery can be a huge part of your support system. Use it with your sponsor/accountability partner, counselor, and soon social friends.  Keep yourself accountable to others and yourself.

If you haven't downloaded it yet, get it at the Apple Store today.