"Gone Fishin' with Eric V."

Eric V. is a staff member who has been using the activity of fishing to teach life lessons to the men and women who are in treatment at Sober Living by the Sea. Fishing with Eric is one of the many spiritual, physical and esteem building rehab activities offered by Sober Living by the Sea.

Every Sunday at 6:00 the boat leaves the harbor and the men and women who choose to go fishing with Eric get to experience a positive and spiritual activity that will help them learn how to "have fun in sobriety." The men and women also benefit from participating in the activity with other recovering people who are learning how to live life on life's terms.

As Eric says, "A lot of us know what it feel like to be awake this early in the morning - from drinking or using drugs. Now when I get to see the sunrise and I have this activity to enjoy it is very positive spiritual experience that I am grateful for every time."

Eric goes on to point out that he sees the activity is a metaphor for success in real life. "Being good at fishing requires a lot of common sense that is useful in other parts of life. For one thing, you have to be up early to catch the fish. Also, if you use dead or improper bait - then you will not get the results you desire. In order to attract the fish you want to catch, you must use nice lively bait that fish will want to eat." This lesson is akin to having the right approach in life no matter what the task you are trying to achieve.

Eric is enthusiastic when he describes how the feeling of catching a fish is a huge thrill that is a metaphor for achieving a goal in real life. The reality of fishing is that when you have a fish on the line, there are many factors that are out of your control that can prevent the fish from being caught. The fish could unhook itself, the line could break, another fisher's line can cross your line causing you to lose the fish as well. The most important things to remember when you are fishing are that you

• must be persistent


• must be patient


• must use the proper equipment to give yourself the best chance at success

When one of our clients finally reels a fish in and can hold it in the boat, that is a tangible and real feeling of success and completion. The client has experienced the process of :

1) setting a goal
2) working towards it properly with the help of others
3) achieving the goal

Not only is this a positive and empowering process, but it is all accomplished while sober and all in one morning!

Some people who arrive at Sober Living by the Sea Treatment Centers for treatment are already avid fishers, but most people are have little or no experience fishing and get to spend the morning peacefully learning how to do something new while sober. Some clients become very skilled fishers during their stay and continue the activity long after their treatment ends. Eric fondly remembers a client named Al S. who still fishes regularly to this day.

Eric has been kind enough to extend the offer to take our alumni fishing - whether or not they know how to fish from their time here or if it will be their first time. Alumni who want to participate can call our alumni hotline: 949-675-6107. We will tell you how to meet up with Eric bright and early on Sunday morning to go fishing!

Quitting Smoking at Same Time as Drugs and Alcohol is Recommended

In our last blog entry we discussed how cigarette smoking is common in the field of recovery < >.

Today we are going to discuss recent studies that show that abstaining from all mood altering chemicals (including tobacco and other cigarette by products) actually increases the likelihood of a recovering alcoholic or addict maintaining sobriety for the long term.

Nicotine is a Powerful Drug and Powerfully Addictive

Nicotine is a powerfully mood altering substance. It is also cheap and easily available. Nicotine costs about 2 cents per "hit." It is very potent and has been masterfully packaged and marketed by "big tobacco." It is even fashionable in some circles to smoke cigarettes (although less so over time).

The Nicotine Treatment Myth

It is believed by many (myself included) that smoking is a "crutch" with which a recovering alcoholic or drug addict will be able to rely on to manage stress in early sobriety. It is very common at the A.A. clubs around the world to have caffeine drinks handy and ashtrays for the recovering people. This myth leads to the assumption that quitting smoking at the same time as alcohol (or drugs) will lead to higher relapse rates

The Fact of Quitting Both Nicotine and Alcohol (or Drugs) at the Same Time

Almost everyone who is addicted to cigarettes wants to quit smoking. Studies have shown that relapse rates are higher for recovering addicts (and alcoholics) who
continue to smoke in sobriety than it is for those who don't smoke.

Quitting Smoking Requires a Treatment Program

It is critical for the treatment industry to address this deadly habit and start to provide the opportunity for newly recovering people to free themselves from the cigarette habit in addition to the substance they are in a rehab program for.

Cigarette cessation is important enough to justify creating a special recovery program of its own. Cigarette Smoking kills more people than alcohol, cocaine, heroin,homicide, suicide, care accidents, fire, and AIDS - COMBINED. Approximately 25 million citizens of the US who are alive today will most likelydie of a smoking related disease.

People in recovery who are attempting to quit smoking should also be given a program for the smoking cessation that integrates the smoking abstinence into the planning for:

• counseling


• support meetings


• journaling


• medication (there are products like Zyban and Chantix which can aid newly quit smokers)


• Nicotine replacement supplement (the patch and the gum)
  

There are special support groups for smokers who want to quit like nicotine anonymous ; contact your local hospital for more information.

The Benefit of Simultaneously Quitting Smoking and Drugs/Alcohol

The benefits of quitting both smoking tobacco and drugs/alcohol are that the person in recovery will feel better physically so much sooner, and the entire person will be healing in mind body and spirit. By clinging to another addictive substance (ie tobacco) during recovery, the recovering man or woman mentally, physically, and spiritually knows that they are still substituting one addiction for another. If they are able to quit all addictions at once, they will more easily have the spiritually rewarding experience of finding a healthy and fulfilling relationship with a higher power allowing them to abstain from smoking cigarettes. In this way the "life style" change is complete and the former cigarette addict will have so much more momentum in recovery, have so much more to lose in the event of a relapse, and therefore will remain more likely to maintain their sobriety.

Virtual Tour of Sober Living by the Sea's Neighborhood

Sober Living by the Sea is located in the vibrant recovery community of Newport Beach California, and we offer the entire continuum of care from from detox to outpatient care based out of one central campus.

Thanks to technology being offered by google maps you can see the neighborhood in which our treatment center operates, all of our facilities (except the Sunrise Recovery Ranch which is a primary care drug rehab for men in Riverside) are located on the Newport Beach peninsula. Click around on the image below and you can explore the Newport Beach area.


Please keep in mind that the Newport Beach setting is a great place for our extended care clients to experience long term rehab and integrate back into society in our transitional work program or T.E.A.C.H. college rehab program, we also offer extremely structured and highly supervised primary care treatments (including drug and alcohol detox) in Newport Beach and this phase of treatment is always gender specific which is why we offer men's rehab programs, women's rehab programs, and an eating disorder and addiction treatment program here in Newport Beach, California. The men and women who are in our Landing, Rose Rehab, or Victorian Eating Disorder Treatment House will find the structure and support they need for sobriety and abstinence, while still getting to live in the beautiful and inspiring surroundings right on the ocean.

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