There’s this ridiculous, antiquated, and dangerous idea everywhere in the recovery system: Fix your past. Work through your trauma. Get stable. Get healthy. THEN, you’ll stop drinking. Then you’ll stop using. Then you can start building your life. Sounds right. Logical. It isn’t. There is NO evidence whatsoever that shows that even if you: go to therapy work through your past get in shape build support and connection “do everything right.” That these things will help you stop

There’s a narrative out there that nothing  in the mental health system works. And honestly… a lot of it doesn’t - and I write and speak about that side of things a lot. But every once in a while, something cuts through the noise. Something that actually helps people. Something that doesn’t just check boxes or push paperwork or keep people stuck in cycles of “treatment.” ACT teams are one of those things. What ACT Actually Is ACT stands for Assertive Community Treatment . But

I’ve been noticing something lately that doesn’t quite make sense to me. And I think part of it is because my dad died this year… And my mom is on her way. So death isn’t some abstract idea right now. It’s… right here. When I’m sitting alone, in my head, thinking about it— Not existing. Just… gone. It scares the hell out of me. Like a deep, almost panicky kind of fear. But here’s the part I can’t reconcile. If I picture a real situation— A client of mine in danger. Someone tr

Something important is being taken from peer support in mental health right now—and almost no one is calling it out. Peer support is being swallowed by the system. It did NOT come from the system. It came from people who lived through hell and sat across from someone else and said: “I’ve been there.” No hierarchy. No diagnosis. No script. Just truth. And now? It’s being turned into a job description. Certified. Standardized. Documented. Billed. Controlled. And everyone’s call

I’ve been thinking a lot about what someone is “supposed” to do after finishing a doctorate as I did 2 weeks ago. Because there’s definitely a script. And if I’m being honest… I followed that script for a long time. I had to. A doctorate is under more "political" scrutiny than is talked about. Most people would probably say I should be doing something very different right now. I just finished my doctorate. So the expectation is pretty clear: Move up, make more money, and get