When you’re struggling with addiction, it’s all too easy to feel as though you are alone in the fight. It’s tempting to think that everyone else has no problems with drugs and alcohol, that you’re the only one who can’t seem to draw the line. We really love the work of the following top addiction bloggers and encourage you to check them out.
But here’s the truth: you don’t have to feel isolated in your recovery journey. If you have access to the Internet, then you have a world of support at your fingertips.
Not sure where to start? Don’t worry, we’ve compiled a list of our top addiction bloggers in no particular order who are dispelling myths, sharing resources, and getting real about addiction.
1. Chelsie Charmed at Recovering Addict Advice offers help from one addict to another. Her site includes a library of recovery stories, advice and motivation, and a recovering addict book club too. Guest contributions are welcomed.
2. Carolyn Hughes at The Hurt Healer is a British writer with a focus on addiction and mental health issues, a speciality which arose from her personal story of overcoming alcoholism and depression. She writes about how the pain of past family trauma influences addiction, as well as how faith can promote recovery.
3. Tommy Rosen is the founder of Recovery 2.0, an online conference on how to build a happy, addiction-free life with a yoga, meditation, and mindfulness focus. His site features a free recovery video series as well as a blog.
4. Cathy Taughinbaugh focuses specifically on helping parents find peace in the midst of dealing with their children’s substance abuse. She offers parent coaching, a support group, free resources, and more.
5. Julie Elsdon-Height at Sober Julie is a Canadian blogger who began her site after facing up to her alcoholism and surviving a serious car wreck. Post categories include family, recipes, travel, and health.
6. Barbara Theodosiou at The Addict’s Mom started with a vision of mothers “sharing without shame” about their children’s struggles with addiction. Today, the online community has over 70,000 members supporting one another.
7. Sandy Swenson’s blog is “the place where love and addiction meet.” Sandy is an author who writes about her experience of healing her life as a mother of a son struggling with addiction.
8. Chris Aguirre at The Recovery Revolution is one of a team of writers; the site began as a place to share stories about maintaining long-term sobriety, and it has since evolved into “just about anything related to addiction recovery and all its permutations”.
9. John Mitchell writes about growing up with poverty, insanity, and addiction … and seeing the humor in the tough times.
10. Shira Goldberg at The Addiction Show facilitates “conversations about addiction, recovery, and everything in between”. The site shares expert resources and research through a weekly podcast.
11. Jim Savage at The Rehab Works Podcast is a counselor who seeks to improve substance abuse treatment outcomes through education. Content is applicable for parents, professionals, and individuals in treatment.
12. Marc Lews at Understanding Addiction is a neuroscientist, professor, and recovering drug addict who links brain, behavior, and biography. In his latest book, he refutes the disease model of addiction, asserting that addiction “develops through accelerated learning … and can be overcome through self-directed change in one’s goals and perspectives.”
13. Steven Slate at The Clean Slate Addiction Site also uses his own life experience to debunk the disease model of addiction and emphasize that choices drive addictive behaviors.
14. Lisa Frederiksen at Breaking the Cycles is all about “changing the conversations” surrounding addiction and using modern science to inform addiction treatment programs.
15. Cate Stevens at Addiction Land founded the site to help addicts by offering support resources to facilitate recovery. Her approach is grounded in the 12 Steps, but the site welcomes all other recovery paths as well.
16. Christopher Lawford is a TED speaker and author working to redefine recovery as whole life wellness, while emphasizing the connection between mental illness and substance abuse.
17. Gavin DeFreese at The Discovering Alcoholic is a veteran who blogs as part of his recovery path, encouraging others to seek help for addictions and decrease the stigma surrounding treatment.
18. Jennifer Matesa at Guinevere Gets Sober offers recovery news, reviews, and stories specifically for individuals “who think they might have a problem with drugs.”
19. Lotta Dann at Mrs D Is Going Without is a New Zealander who chronicles her journey from “boozy housewife” to recovery advocate.
20. Allison Hudson at It’s A Lush Life believes that sober is the new black, and she’s inspiring others in their path to recovery. She began writing as a tribute to her younger brother, whose death from a drug overdose led her to seek treatment for her own alcoholism.
21. Dawn Nickel at She Recovers is in recovery from alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drug addiction; she created an online community “to reach out to other women wanting to recover their lives and their potential”. The site offers information about coaching, retreats, yoga, and more.
22. Veronica Valli is a British author, therapist, and former binge drinker; now, she blogs to inspire others as a “sober girl telling the world that recovery rocks!”
23. Kelly Fitzgerald at Sober Senorita promotes the idea that sobriety is self-love, and she encourages readers to seek help for addictions and embrace recovery as a lifestyle.
24. Laura McKowen is a writer who chronicles her “reluctant journey toward sobriety” and co-hosts addiction-related podcasts as well. Her mission is “to show up and stand out in the light even when I’m afraid, which is most days”.
As the Principles of Spiritual Psychology remind us, we are all Spiritual Beings having a Human Experience. We’re grateful to these bloggers for opening up about their lives in recovery; their work reminds us that we are all connected, and that we never walk alone.
We also invite you to follow The Clearing’s blog. Some of the topics we write about are holistic healing from addiction, mental and emotional health, spirituality in recovery, and alternative addiction treatment options. Subscribe to the blog by email using the form below.