Author: Nicole

There is no such thing as an inherently negative emotion, even one that can be as destructive as anger. There are plenty of things in life to be angry about, and it is anger that motivates individuals and communities to make necessary changes. However, the way that we handle anger can be negative, if we lose ourselves in it. Anger management counseling is designed to help individuals find inner peace and use their anger objectively and thoughtfully.

Find the roots of anger

At anger management counseling, one of the key goals is to look within to find the source roots of what is actually causing your anger. At the base of negative emotional reactions, feelings like shame, pain, and stress are driving factors. Finding out the foundational reasons that you need anger management is the first step in a journey towards inner peace.

Provide an outlet for emotions

One unique aspect of anger management counseling is that it provides a safe space to work through your emotions. Trying to do this in your day-to-day life can be difficult, especially if you are having anger management issues. Anger management counselors are a third-party resource that will not look at you with judgement, and who are there to help you achieve self-betterment.

Techniques to control anger

Once you have made true personal progress towards discovering the root of your angers, you can begin to develop strategies to help you handle your anger in productive ways. We teach philosophies that are based around self-awareness, which leads to impulse control These strategies of relaxation can help you keep calm and objective in moments when anger used to take over.

Counseling at Turning Point of Arnold

If you are wondering whether anger management counseling is necessary in your life, please give us a call at Turning Point of Arnold for a consultation about what is necessary in your life.

Spiritual counselors are similar to traditional counselors, as they help individuals work through life issues and find stability within themselves. However, spiritual counselors use a different set of tools to address the ever shifting-landscape of the human soul. If a person’s spirituality is out of balance, it can make it hard to find balance in other aspects of life. Spiritual counseling works to solve these issues through therapeutic strategies. Here are some important aspects of spiritual counseling…

Having a spiritual foundation

The nature of life is that all sorts of challenges and hurdles are going to be thrown your way. Having a strong personal foundation can help you keep yourself on solid ground as the tumultuousness of existence continues to rock your world. This is why spirituality is so important, as it provides a stable worldview to help you keep the essence of yourself. It’s important to note that spirituality doesn’t necessarily need to mean religion, although religion is a perfect rock from which to build a spiritual foundation.

The power of prayer

One important aspect of spiritual counseling, and the prime example of how it differs from traditional counseling, is that the power of prayer is seen as one of the greatest tools in the arsenal of our lives. Not only is prayer a physical and mental acknowledgement that there are forces in the universe that are greater than us, but it is a terrific personal tool to help you clear a hazy head, and provide clarity in a life when so many things can seem uncertain.

Helping through grief

The source of all existentialism in humanity is the inescapable fact that we will all die, someday, no matter how much we might try to avoid it. This, inevitably, means that the people who are closest to us will die, as well. One of the key principles of spirituality is its ability to help us work through our grief when we lose a loved one. Spiritual counseling can help individuals with their coping skills and world outlook through the process of grief, and can help mute the trauma that it would otherwise cause.

Family reunification is an essential part of our addiction recovery program. We believe that one of the most effective tools against addiction is connection. While family may represent the most frustrating and complicated connections in our lives, it can also hold the keys to understanding ourselves and connecting with others.

Connection is Key

After we leave recovery programs, we rely on a support group for continued recovery efforts. Shame and isolation fuel addiction, and so they’re something that we seek to root out of family systems. However, it’s harder than it sounds. Often, it takes facilitated communication in families to get these topics aired, and so that we can counter shame and isolation with empathy and understanding instead.

We know that addiction can wreak havoc on family systems and that often, repair and damage control is necessary. In family counseling, we try to build goals together that will help each family member reach their true potential and strengthen the family structure that binds individuals to each other.

Family Dynamics are Important

One of the most difficult things to face about family relationships in addiction-recovery settings is that addiction is seldom an isolated incident. The underlying factors that lead to addiction often have far-reaching effects throughout the family. Sometimes, this is because the addiction in question has some basis in either genetics or learned behavior. In fact, some studies estimate that genetics are as much as 50% of addiction. This means that the risk and challenge of addiction doesn’t belong to just one person in the family. It’s something that the entire group must be aware and savvy about.

We recognize that family relationships require sensitive handling, patience and effort. We also believe that they can be the most powerful forces for healing and true recovery.

Strained family relationships can be one of the biggest stressors in life. One of the most common triggers that drives recovering patients back to using is stress. Therefore, if we can defuse tense relationships and create new opportunities for better and healthier communication, we can often turn a relapse risk into something that instead will strengthen individuals against relapse.

Every Week, We Open Our Facility for Families

We feature a weekly “family day” every Sunday. Programs on these days include family therapy sessions. It also includes structured recreational activities so that families can have positive experiences together that will build more positive bonds and unlock stalemates that we can come to in counseling.

To learn more, contact us today.

Assimilation into the work world can be the most difficult step for patients recovering from addiction. The social stigma of addiction can brand recovering patients, and for some of us, gaps in our work history that lead to uncomfortable questions. Furthermore, addiction strikes at our confidence and self-worth, and makes us doubt that we can be of any good to those around us. Without the drug, we feel crippled and incomplete. However, positive patterns can be established in the professional world that remind us of our own strengths and capabilities.

It’s important to remember that although you struggle with addiction, you’re still an important contributor to the work force. In fact, addiction and recovery can even give you strengths and assets that others don’t have.

Our Recovery Program Teaches Valuable Workplace Skills

There are certain principles that are valuable in any workplace, and we foster these in our patients. These include:

• communication
• teamwork
• problem-solving
• goal-setting
• self-motivation
• discipline and hard work

Here, Patients Also Learn Practical Life-Skills

We strive to give our patients practical skills that will assist them as they enter the workplace post-recovery. Some of this comes through daily routines at the facility, others from special programs. Most of all, it comes when our patients take initiative and seize all of the opportunities given to them for personal growth and development during their recovery period.

• house chores
• financial planning
• technology literacy
• written language skills
• team leadership and project management
• health and nutrition management
• We Offer Assistance in Job Placement

Because we’re so passionate about effective aftercare, we go above and beyond for our patients, helping them find advantageous work after they’ve completed the program. We’ve been able to facilitate job placement for many of our patients in the past, and we partner with programs like the CalWorks Get Hired program in order to provide as many opportunities as possible for our patients.

We believe that work provides an anchor in our recovering patients’ lives, and that it can build self-worth and purpose that encourages patients to continue in their recovery. After all, part of addiction recovery is avoiding future substance use, but even more important than that is building connections and a sober lifestyle more precious than addiction.

Statistics of relapse can be scary for those seeking addiction recovery. Studies show that some of the biggest factors in determining whether a patient will continue to stay sober after finishing a recovery program are program length and aftercare support. We believe passionately in giving patients every tool we can to assist their recovery after they enter our program. That’s why we take measures for relapse prevention in order to truly help patients rebuild and rehabilitate.

Transitional Living

We offer a transitional living facility for those who complete our recovery program. There, patients can put the skills and tools that they’ve acquired with addiction recovery into action, in a safe and sober environment. Patients gradually re-enter the workforce, build connections with friends and family outside of recovery, and learn more about independent living. As they begin down the road of independent recovery, patients are surrounded by people who understand their struggles and support each other in their goals.

Specific Planning for Sober Living

Mental health counseling and group therapy build important skills. Here, patients learn about personal addiction triggers and coping techniques. However, it’s also important to incorporate very specific planning into aftercare. This includes financial planning, housing resources, and job placement. All of these factors help our recovering patients build a new life, successful and sober. By building new plans and goals, they strengthen resistance to relapse.

Another aspect of recovery planning that many underestimate is practice. We encourage patients to envision scenarios and temptations that they’ll encounter after leaving our facility. Through specific role-playing and rehearsing, they gain skills and resources that will enable them to stay sober.

Connections with Friends and Family

Interpersonal connection is a vital part of addiction recovery. That’s why we prioritize family rehabilitation, including group therapy and special recreation opportunities. Families help us understand our own struggles and strengths. Most of all, they motivate us to set and reach personal goals. Families remind us why we want to become clean. Through participation in our loved one’s lives, we find purpose and joy beyond addiction.

Our Personal Story

Our facility was founded by two individuals who have personally experienced the recovery journey and reached success. That’s why we know that addiction recovery is about more than a few weeks’ program. It’s an ongoing, lifelong process. Our personal experiences have made us passionate about true success for our patients. It’s more than a job to us; it’s our lives and our mission.

One of the most well-known and common approaches to addiction recovery is the 12-Step program established by the founder of AA. Here at Turning Point of Arnold, we support participation in the 12-Step program for our patients, because we’ve seen how it can enable healing and break down the walls that we put around ourselves during addiction.

Storytelling and Connection Fuels Recovery

The most essential ingredient of the AA model is that it opens people up for storytelling and connection. It lets us each know that we’re not alone in our struggles with addiction. Everyone’s recovery story is different, and through hearing the stories of others, we can learn and have breakthrough moments in our own progression.

However much we love and connect with our friends and family who haven’t experienced addiction, there is a divide there. The shame, the cravings, and the cycle of addiction is hard to express to those who haven’t had the same experience. In the 12-Step program, you automatically move past that divide, since everyone there has similar stories. From the very beginning, you share a significant bond and common experience.

When you go to a group meeting, you’ll never be pressured to speak up. You start sharing when you’re ready. However, you will find that people are eager to know you because they want to help in whatever way they can. The network of support and connection that we find here can empower our recovery at any step.

Honesty Creates the Groundwork for Change

Another extraordinary benefit of the 12-Step program is that it creates an unequaled atmosphere of honesty and candor. It strips away the denial that we often build around ourselves as addicts and makes it feel okay to face everything in a realistic way. The honesty can be startling to newcomers to meetings, but it’s an environment that is completely pivotal when it comes to enabling change.

One of the attributes of addiction is denial about the severity of the problem, and a pattern of deception to yourself and others. The 12-Step program turns that on its head and gives us a chance to alter our course for good. It asks us to take accountability for our part in addiction without shame or blame. It only asks for remorse enough to inspire change. We apologize for our wrongs and look for ways to make amends, and through that process we’re empowered to realize that there’s help and change possible.

To learn more about our 12-Step program participation, give us a call.