Dallas Addiction Recovery Newsletters

Recovery is a Journey




Dr. Candace McDaniel
8021 East Thornton FWY, Suite A
Dallas, Texas 75228

Call (214) 328-4848 or

for more information



"Oh my achin' Bones"

Medical science and very many persons' practical experience says our bodies change every decade. For instance, if a male is going to have a "beer gut" after being slim and trim their whole life, no matter how they eat, it will probably first show up about age 30. Then…

Read more of "Oh my achin' Bones"


"We can secure other people's approval, if we do right and try hard but our own approval is worth a hundred of it…"  Mark Twain

Many of us have thought that if we tried a little harder we could please our parents; or if we were just a little better looking other people would be more likely to accept us, etc., etc. Some of us have spent an extreme amount of time, money, and effort in an almost constant attempt to gain approval. And…

Read more of "our own approval is worth a hundred of it…"  Mark Twain


"I'm not here for that!"

On occasion, a client may get a little frustrated with the counselor's interest in their life. This happens most often while discussing the results of a drug screen. You know, "I haven't done any heroin in months. I didn't come here to stop drinking. So, leave me alone about it!"…

Read more of "I'm not here for that!"


The Twelve Steps

Twelve Step programs have provided us with a sound and proven means for recovery. There is not an addicted person, honestly desiring to arrest the addiction, who will not recover, if conscientiously living…

Read more of The Twelve Steps


Life Lessons

For those of us on the journey of recovery, we celebrate our sobriety or clean dates. We say to live one day at a time. Let's also celebrate…

Read more of Life Lessons


Sweet Surrender

The process of recovery is sometimes described as having three levels of experience: defiance, compliance, and surrender. Defiance is pretty simple to spot. When we are in that level, we say "No" to recovery on the inside and on the outside. While we are in the compliance level of recovery we say…

Read more of Sweet Surrender


"Let the Dance Begin"

After a while, we start to feel better. After a while, we may work a 4th and a 5th step. You know, we made a "fearless moral inventory." It takes a lot a courage, trust, honesty, and openness to choose recovery, to choose to look problems square in the eyes and deal with them without…

Read more of "Let the Dance Begin"


Challenges of Recovery

Recovery is really more than making changes, it is a healing process. Some folks take longer to heal from physical wounds than others. The same is true of mental, emotional, and spiritual wounds. Patience, diligence, and new insights to old problems are assets to this healing process. The following are some challenges…

Continue with Challenges of Recovery


"When we search less, we find more."    Rick Bingham

Pretty often, I get asked, "How can a person be happy? I just want to be happy." I know there's been a lot written about happiness and how to find self-fulfillment. I think it is really very simple: Decide what your values are and then live that way. There are principles…

Continue with the January 2008 issue


Recovery is a Journey

Sometimes in our journey we have so much to make amends for that we lose sight of our own worth. In our past we have used and abused others so much that we come to believe we don't deserve to be treated right in our relationships. Nothing could be further…

Continue with the November 2007 issue


"Self pity, in its early stages, is as snug as a feather mattress. Only when it hardens does it become uncomfortable."  Maya Angelou

Some days we grasp for self-pity like a blanket on a cold night. And, we are momentarily comforted. The problem is, extended periods of self pity will undermine our purpose to be at peace with ourselves so we can know freedom from addiction. Being on the …

Continue with the September 2007 issue


Problems and Pain

Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. The first of the "Four Noble Truths" which Buddha taught was …

Continue with the June 2007 issue


"I'm Movin' On"

What changes are you ready to make in your life? Are you ready to move on down the road of recovery and find both peace and forgiveness? Why not make…

Continue with the May 2007 issue


The Blessing of Confusion

For many of us the first few months of being clean and sober bring with it difficulties in thinking straight, problems concentrating, being able to get anything done, and nightmares. It gets better…

Continue with the April 2007 issue


"The only way out is through. The only way to heal the pain is to embrace the pain."  Fritz Perls

We are like diamonds being continually polished and perfected. As this purification proceeds, old thought forms and negative patterns rise to the surface to be released. Past unfinished business…

Continue with the March 2007 issue


Methadone Treatment: Saving Lives, Not Ending Them

Recent headlines involving celebrities and methadone misuse unfairly undermine the long term safety and benefit of this lifesaving medication in treating opioid addiction and reinforce negative public perceptions regarding methadone treatment. The recent article in USA Today…

Continue with the February 2007 issue


The Wonders of Acupuncture

How can thousands of years of Chinese medicine be wrong? Acupuncture has existed for centuries, yet many discount the power it possesses. With all of our manufactured prescription painkillers, anti-anxiety, and anti-depressant drugs; it is difficult to believe that something else, other than medication, might work…

Continue with the January 2007 issue


"What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it."     Hugh Millugan

Choices about how we use our time are basic, creative, and subtle expressions of our attitude toward ourselves. In addition to showing self respect in regard to our physical lives, we want to put time into our day for nourishing and enriching our spirits. We do that by…

Continue with the November 2006 issue


Ways to Cope with Craving

It is probably no surprise that the majority of how to cope with craving begins with preparation, with having an active recovery, not a half hearted…

Continue with the October 2006 issue


"We make a living by what we get.  But we make a life by what we give."    Winston Churchill

One of the basic psychological needs of all human beings is the need to feel acceptance from others. It feels good to believe…

Continue with the September 2006 issue


Craving

Craving has been defined as "an intense desire for some particular thing" or, "an urgent or abnormal desire." It may be that a more useable definition is…

Continue with the August 2006 issue


"Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy, we must have somebody to divide it with."    Mark Twain

Well, here's some more of what I like about recovery: I get to enjoy the gift of fellowship with others who are on the journey. I get to enjoy being in association…

Continue with the July 2006 issue


What do you like about recovery?

If you're stumped right now, it's only a matter of when, not if you relapse. Yes, there are certainly many challenges to recovery. And, at the same time there can be joy…

Continue with the June 2006 issue


"The most useless day of all is that in which we have not laughed."    Sebastien R.N. Chamfort

When we wallow in self-pity we actually become obsessed with our moaning and groaning. We convince ourselves that we'll never laugh again. It gets easy to cry, alone and secretly.…

Continue with the May 2006 issue


Progress…Not Perfection

I've been lucky to have mentors in my life who have assertively suggested I practice serenity. Sometimes I would call James in a panic or with a frantic tone in my voice. He'd refuse to buy into my fear. Not until I stopped rambling would he…

Continue with the April 2006 issue


"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving; and that is your own self"

Taking responsibility for our own attitudes, actions, and neglects is far more difficult than managing and directing the lives of other people. Giving advice to another person, for example, is much easier than practicing…

Continue with the March 2006 issue


Ground Rules for Recovery

"Having spent the better part of my life trying either to relive the past or experience the future before it arrives, I have come to believe that in between these two extremes is peace." How hard it is to quiet our minds so…

Continue with the February 2006 issue


"The distance doesn't matter; only the first step is difficult."

Life continually presents us with opportunities for achieving what we desire. Only the first step is difficult. Each time we sense the possibility of a new direction in our lives, we are being given a chance to…

Continue with the January 2006 issue


Holiday Recovery Guide

For recovering people, and lots of others, the holidays are often times of tension, sadness, and depression. When asked what is the best part of the holidays, many will answer, "family."  And, when…

Continue with the December 2005 issue


"God has burdens, also shoulders."

Some days we wake up and we know we can't get out of bed. We lay there, trying to force ourselves, but none of the usual motivations work. We may be sad, we may be grieving, or we may just be…

Continue with the November 2005 issue


Recovery is a Journey

When we admit the truth about our limitations, we create fertile ground for new growth and change. If we wallow in hopeless belief that our limitations are just our true nature…

Continue with the October 2005 issue





Dr. Candace McDaniel
8021 East R.L. Thornton Fwy, Suite A
Dallas, Texas 75228

Call (214) 328-4848 or