Path2Change

Meet Alfie the Old English Sheepdog and his pal Lambchop. 🐾🐑

Yesterday, these two joined a family therapy session, and something quietly beautiful happened. Both adult clients asked to have Alfie and Lambchop sit with them, and throughout the session, each naturally reached for their comfort when the more challenging topics arose.

In addiction-focused family therapy, comfort objects can be powerful. They support nervous system regulation, create a sense of safety, and help clients stay present and engaged, especially when conversations touch on attachment wounds, trust, and childhood experiences connected to substance use.

The value isn't in the stuffed animal itself. It's in what it makes possible in the space.

When Viktor Frankl wrote "To maintain hope in spite of tragic experiences, one must learn the courage and tenacity to strive for a future goal, no matter how bleak," he's expressing a central idea of his psychology and philosophy: hope is sustained not primarily by optimism, but by meaningful orientation toward the future.

A few key ideas are embedded in the quote:

Hope is active, not passive. We don't survive by merely wishing things will improve. An individual needs to continue directing oneself toward a meaningful aim, even if success is uncertain.

Suffering devastating setbacks does not automatically create meaning.

The "courage and tenacity" Viktor Frankl mentions are necessary because tragedy can easily lead to despair, resignation, or nihilism. Meaning often requires deliberate effort to find or create.

The future gives the present significance. A future goal can help a person endure present hardship because it places suffering within a larger context.

The hardship becomes part of a journey rather than an isolated burden.

Bleakness does not invalidate purpose. Frankl was skeptical of the idea that hope depends on favorable odds.

For him, a person could maintain meaning even when circumstances appeared objectively terrible.

The Five Chapters
A reflection on awareness and change, change for me, change for you, and change for our family.

One
Something is wrong in my house. I can feel it, but I cannot put a name to it. I walk through my days as if nothing is wrong, everything is fine, because naming it would make it feel too painful, too real.

Two
Ah, I can see it now. The truth is, I have seen it for a long while. I keep telling myself if only I would try harder, love more, hold on tighter, things will change; you will surely turn around. I am exhausted. Nothing has changed.

Three
I understand now what I never did before, that this is not mine to fix. I did not cause this. I cannot control you. I cannot cure you, no matter how hard I try. This truth arrives not as relief but sadly as grief. I now mourn what I once prayed my love could make right.

Four
Finally, I am learning to tend to my own life again. I’ve begun to notice what I need. I’m no longer afraid to seek help. To love without disappearing into someone else’s pain. To begin learning to love myself, or at least consider the possibility of liking me.
This is so much harder than fixing; fixing is what I do.
Yet, it also feels more sincere, dare I say honest.

Five
Wow! I am still here, and so are you.
Notwithstanding the fear, I have stopped waiting for your recovery to seek mine. I have chosen to heal and dive into a voyage of discovery all of my own. Please don't interpret this as abandonment; it's not. Its growth, and what I wish for you too.

- David Russell

A thought on a walk, more a stroll to nowhere in particular.

In the gentle embrace of the present moment, let your feet find the rhythm of the Earth as you engage in a walking meditation, a dance between intention and serenity. As you embark on this meandering journey, recognize that each step you take is an invitation to commune with the essence of existence itself; it's an affirmation that you are here, alive and aware.

Allow your breath to flow like the breeze; with each inhalation, gather in the vitality of the universe, and with each exhalation, release the burdens of your mind. In this sacred stillness, observe the way the ground yields beneath your feet, how the leaves whisper their secrets to the wind, and how the light dapples through the trees, each flicker a reminder of impermanence.

In your wanderings, notice the thoughts that arise, like clouds drifting across the vast sky of your consciousness; do not cling to them, nor push them away, but rather, watch them pass with the same grace you offer the earth beneath you. For in this simple act of walking, you are not merely traversing space but traversing the tapestry of awareness, stitching together the threads of mindfulness, compassion, and understanding.

Each step is a meditation, each breath a moment of awakening; so, let your journey be unfettered by destination, for it is in the wandering itself that wisdom and clarity unfold.

Embrace the subtle beauty of this transient experience, and in the sacred sanctuary of the now, discover that the path you walk is not separate from who you are, but rather, a manifestation of your innermost truth, an expression of unity with all that exists.

Breathe in, Breathe out, Repeat and Focus...

Freudenfreude
noun
/ FROl-dan-/froi-duh /
1. The bliss we feel when someone else succeeds, even if we weren't directly involved.
2. Inspired by the German word for "joy."
3. The opposite of schadenfreude, or pleasure we feel when witnessing someone's misfortune.

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Positive self-talk begins at home. We, our herd, teach our children what to think and say about themselves; Shouldn't we start them off on the right foot?

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Programs built around your voyage.
No two paths through the sometimes turbulent waters of recovery are identical. Whether you are an individual seeking change or a family member trying to understand a loved one's addiction, there is a place for you here. https://www.path2change.ca/

No White Rabbit, Instead a Cat, and a Girl Without a Plan

Alice came to a fork in the road. 'Which road do I take?' she asked. 'Where do you want to go?' responded the Cheshire Cat. 'I don't know.' Alice answered. 'Then,' said the cat, 'it doesn't matter.'
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Don't be Alice, someone without a clear path forward, will end up somewhere, but where, and why? Recovery and life require understanding where we've been, being present for where we are, and having intention about where we're going.

Why not try this path: https://www.path2change.ca/programs.html

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While perhaps not intended as a metaphor for recovery, Approach 5: Metamorphosis by Yoann Bourgeois is a wonderful depiction of change through struggle where falling is not failing but just a step towards freedom.

Approach 5. Metamorphosis • Trampoline Performance by Yoann Bourgeois 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝟱. 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘀The unreachable suspension pointA trampoline piece by 𝗬𝗼𝗮𝗻𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗶𝘀, created in 2013.𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗱?...

Love this bit of truth from NICABM and …
OCD isn’t always about visible rituals or checking behaviors.

Some subtypes can be subtle — and often mistaken for ADHD, panic, or even psychosis.