A QUARTERLY BULLETIN OFCRS NEWS & VIEWSVOLUME 2, NO. 4 FALL/WINTER 2014

Wishing You a Healthy Happy Holiday Season

www.detoxone.org

In the days ahead many of us will gather with family and friends to celebrate one or more of the season’s holidays before we welcome in another new year. The holiday season can be stressful for us all, particularly for those in recovery from a drug or alcohol addiction, making support and communication vital to preventing a relapse. Coping with addiction and the holiday season is a real issue that each of us should be mindful of as we prepare to attend numerous gatherings and get-togethers that often present temptations to recovering addicts or to those still struggling with an active addiction.

If you or someone you care about has an addiction or is in recovery, consider a few healthy holiday survival tips as we prepare to navigate another season of celebrations with family and friends:

Tip 1: Manage your expectations for holiday activities by including opportunities to establish clear boundaries for the safety and well-being of an addict in recovery and their family members. Too often we expect a Hallmark holiday which can set us up for incredible stress, tensions, sadness and overindulgent behavior that can trigger destructive relapses. Communication within families about the issues of addiction and the needs of those in recovery is key to enjoying a healthy holiday season.

Tip 2: Accept select invitations to upcoming holiday gatherings and get-togethers that will not put your recovery or the recovery of a loved one in harm’s way. Plan to arrive late and leave early and if asked why you’re leaving, have a reason prepared in advance.

Tip 3: Make a plan and be prepared to answer questions about recovery from family and friends. By rehearsing your responses/reactions to anticipated questions in various scenarios you will help calm your body’s and brain’s natural stress responses by already having experienced some of the associated anxiety. Practice does make perfect sense particularly if you know your family and friends may be inclined to ask uncomfortable questions or make comments that trigger past hurt or shame. Decide for yourself to what extent you are comfortable with talking about your recovery.

Tip 4: Get your beauty sleep. Fatigue never trumps the well-rested! Everyone’s judgment can be easily impaired when enough rest is not on board. Best idea is to establish a consistent sleep schedule that will support your body’s natural rhythms and help you approach each holiday with an alert and more positive attitude.

Tip 5: If you or a loved one are in treatment or recovery and need our assistance please contact the Cochran Recovery Services, Inc. at 651-437-4209. I also encourage you to visit the CRS website at www.detoxone.org to learn more about how we help people at all stages of the treatment and recovery process.

Remember there will always be addiction and holiday season issues to grapple with. Adopting these tips and others will help create coping mechanisms that will support family and friends dealing with recovery enjoy the holidays together.

I wish you and yours a healthy happy holiday season.

Richard Terzick, M.A. Executive Director, Cochran Recovery Services

51294 18th Street E., Hastings, MN 55033 . www.detoxone.org

CRS Welcomes a New Year with an Expansion of Programs and ServicesCochran Recovery Services Inc. is preparing to enter a new year with our continued commitment to help individuals implement a program of recovery into their everyday lives and create a path to achieve economic independence along with a healthy recovery.

Current CRS organizational leadership and sta� are committed to the idea that going forward depends on future innovation - through new programs, new capabilities, and new services. Growth will come through our commitment to addressing our clients' needs for products and services through collaboration, understanding, and support - in other words – a client-centered approach to healthy recovery.

With this in mind, in 2015, CRS is expanding a treatment program (Informed Trauma Care) and introducing a new Wellness Program to support the health and well-being of individuals during addiction treatment and throughout the recovery process to provide personalized residential program care as part of its science-based, medically driven, state-of-the-art alcohol and drug addiction treatment plans uniquely suited to each individual’s recovery journey.

The goal of addiction treatment is twofold: to stop using and to maintain long-term recovery.By integrating healthy nutrition and exercise practices in one’s daily live, individuals struggling with addiction enhance their ability to achieve both of these goals. A growing awareness of health-wellness and trauma among behavioral and mental health professionals is leading to an increase in both the important link between diet-physical exercise and trauma-speci�c services designed to avoid re-traumatizing those who are seeking assistance as well as sta� working in service settings.

CRS’s overall goal for 2015 is to expand trauma-informed and trauma speci�c services to increase CRS’s ability to treat that population of individuals who have a high rate of relapse and who have failed chemical treatment programs as well as failed to follow through with mental health intervention. Recognizing healthy nutrition and physical �tness are important components of an e�ective addiction recovery plan, in 2015, CRS will introduce a personalized wellness program to support each individual’s treatment and recovery.

The CRS Wellness Program coupled with our Informed Trauma Care Program will be an essential part of a comprehensive addiction recovery approach that will include individual time with a physical trainer and nutritionist to address physical and dietary patterns recommended for balance and healthy living. The wellness tools learned in residential addiction and rehabilitation will bene�t those su�ering from addiction as well as help those in recovery in their day-to-day lives.

I want to thank our board and sta� members for the hard work and important collaborations we have shared in 2014 and I am excited about future opportunities to expand CRS programs and services that have bene�ted from the support of the Otto Bremer Foundation, the St. Paul Foundation, Bigelow Foundation, the Wells Fargo Bank, Dakota County, the Minnesota Community Foundation, and the Laura Most Estate.

My best wishes to you and your family for a happy holiday and for peace and health in the New Year!

For information on CRS programs and services along with CRS Alumni meetings and DWI classes, please contact us at 651-437-4209 or visit our website at www.detoxone.org.

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