I graduated from college in May 1995 and immediately departed the East Coast for Wyoming, where I had lined up a job cleaning cabins at a dude ranch. I had earned two degrees but had no idea what I wanted to do in the world, or what I wanted to say to the world. The...
When she was three years old, my friend Christina refused to hug her grandfather. From that moment on, she was known in her family as someone who did not like hugs. She does not have a memory of this moment. It is a story she was told, and retold about herself, many...
You can listen to this blog here: This story has a happy ending. I need to tell you that here at the top of the page, because things will happen in the paragraphs below that will make you doubt the ending. I don’t care for tension, so I am taking it out here for both...
A few years ago I started a new job and during my first staff meeting, I was asked to share one unusual thing about myself. Without hesitation I shared with my new coworkers my love of Suzanne Somers. Now, to the unenlightened, Suzanne Somers is best known as the...
Thank you terror Thank you disillusionment Thank you frailty Thank you consequence Thank you, thank you silence – Alanis Morrissett Oprah Winfrey has given us three of my favorite phrases: vajayjay, Ah ha, and woo woo. Vajayjay and Ah ha are fairly well known...
“Your birth altered my whole posture on this planet … because of you, I couldn’t die and couldn’t monster myself, either. So you were the agent of my rescue – not a job for somebody barely three feet tall.” –– Mary Karr writing about her son in Lit: A Memoir Last...
The fallacy of the ideal mother I was a reluctant mother. Unless they are just bathed, dressed in clean pajamas and holding their own warm bottle in their tiny hands, I don’t like babies very much. Before I had my two sons, I would see moms in the Walmart with their...
Show me a woman in her late 30s/40s, whose life partnership is at least a decade old and whose kid(s) is out of diapers, and I’ll show you a woman who is about to say, “Wait. What?” to her life. This woman has done life mostly by the rules. She did both what was...
This is a guest post written by Lori Ann H., who lives in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada and has been writing/ blogging privately about her recovery since 2016. Mindful Meditation It is fascinating to me the succession of events that come together in our lives by...
My sons are 12 and 14, and they are fully and completely their ages. This means they are constantly engaged in testing both their limits and mine. A few weeks ago, report cards came home. Things escalated quickly and I could feel my 12-year-old digging his heels into...
“To succeed, most people need a community of support.” – Cheryl Strayed Many of us are working on our recovery alone or piecing it together from various programs, therapies and online resources. These tools are powerful, but they do not replace the need for actual...
When we decide to make hard changes in our lives, we find ourselves facing down our own personal demons. These demons – or Big Bads – come in all different shapes and sizes. My demon was alcohol. (Or at least that is how it first presented itself.) Your demon may be...
It’s Day Six of 2018. Is your resolve shaky? Are you rethinking your decision to change? To stay sober, stay sane, stay steady on your new course? Are you starting to give into the voice that says: “Maybe it wasn’t that bad. Maybe I can stay the same.” I get it. I...
Keeping track of it all Last weekend I was at a Christmas party at the home of a couple who have two children with special needs. Stephanie, age 7, was born with only one hand. Christopher, age 5, has Down Syndrome. The parents warmly greeted their guests. You could...
Braving the Wilderness In the history of me, there is before 2017 and after 2017. With every passing day of this year, I have taken my words and intentions and used them as a weapon – first against other people and then, in a much better use of my energies, against my...
The truth pattern of recovery: Clarity. Rock Bottom. Acceptance. Gratitude. Lately I have developed a healthy fear of answers. Answers seem to have too much rigidity around them. Black and White. You’re Wrong, I’m Right. Answers tend to turn ugly, quickly. I much...
“Relationships change.” My father-in-law’s new wife gifted me with this life truth a few months after she married into our family. I had just honestly and gently shared with her that my husband, her new son-in-law, and his brothers were feeling abandoned by their...
The post below, originally published at The Fix, was written by Rebecca Rush who attended a She Recovers retreat in Bali earlier this year. (This fantastic picture is a favorite from that trip!) “I knew something needed to change in my life and originally signed up...
You do not have to spend too much time in recovery before the Good Things come. Refugees from a foreign land, they arrive slowly. Just one tiny, quiet Good Thing at first. Then, because word gets out that you are accepting Good Things, others follow. Faster. Bigger....
Please help us welcome Erin W. who will be writing for and managing our She Recovers blog. She is amazing. Read on and see for yourself. ~Dawn~ The Reasons It started with Baby #1. I like a routine; a schedule. And I read that babies do, too. So every night at...
Guest Blog Post by Caroline McGraw Oh honey, I know what you’re like. You are a driven, high-achieving woman trying so very hard to be perfect. You have a staggering helping of responsibilities on your plate. You’re the conscientious planner, the purposeful...
Shelly Dimitrijevic’s professional and philanthropic activities have always focused on improving the lives of others. She began her nursing career at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis and went on to become a LifeFlight nurse specializing in neonatal, pediatric, and cardiovascular intensive care.
Shelly has been involved with numerous charities focusing on children and education including the Charlee and the Chocolate Factory gala, The Venus Orbit, Design For A Cure, Jackson Memorial, and Impact Oasis. In 2010 she founded the Lotus program, a program that focused on educating parents on the nutritional needs of children and basic child development. Shelly also served on the Frost Science Museum gala committee for 7 years before Co-Chairing the event in 2015.
After a diagnosis of Celiac disease and subsequently receiving Certification as a Nutritional Consultant, Shelly recognized that topically applied products have an effect on her Celiac Disease and overall health. She turned her focus to developing skincare that was free of toxic and hormone-disrupting ingredients.
Since she lost her only sibling in 2012 Shelly has been determined to find a way to contribute to the recovery community in a way that can make a great impact and ensure that others have the resources necessary when they are struggling.
Shelly's substantial contributions to SHE RECOVERS of both time and resources have been instrumental and deeply appreciated.
As a result of being introduced to SHE RECOVERS through retreats and meet-ups, Kirsten will be starting her yoga teacher training in the fall. These retreats also led her to become more deeply involved with SHE RECOVERS in a volunteer capacity. Kirsten was instrumental in setting up some of the Foundation's grassroots groups and currently volunteers her time helping SHE RECOVERS Foundation to design and implement the Volunteer Chapter Network.
Kirsten and her husband recently moved from Southern California to Roswell, Georgia to be closer to Kirsten's sister and two young nieces. When she isn't spending time being an aunt, you can find Kirsten hanging out with their rescue Labrador or exploring their new state.
Mary Beth is a founding member of SHE RECOVERS Support for Legal Professionals and is active at the local level with SHE RECOVERS in the Bay Area. Mary Beth has been living a sober life in recovery for over 26 years. She also has a history of trauma and abuse, from which she’s worked hard to recover as well. 6 years into her recovery, Mary Beth attended Berkeley Law. She worked at a large firm in Silicon Valley, then litigated class actions for the federal government. In 2014 Mary Beth was appointed an Administrative Law Judge. She recently retired, so she could devote her time to completing her writing and being more active in the recovery community.
She regularly speaks on behalf of LifeRing and develops relationships with organizations supportive of the multiple pathways approach. In August 2020, Mary Beth had an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, I Beat Addiction without God, where she described building a personal recovery plan by combining ideas from LifeRing, Women for Sobriety, and Narcotics Anonymous. In November 2020 she had an op-ed published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, I was a federal judge, and I support Safehouse. Here’s why. She is currently working on a full-length memoir.
Taryn Strong is a founder of SHE RECOVERS® Foundation as well as a trauma-informed yoga instructor, recovery coach, aromatherapist, and herbalist (and daughter to Mama Dawn). Taryn has developed a unique yoga retreat program and led over 40 yoga for recovery retreats since 2012. She is also the host of the SHE RECOVERS Podcast and most recently created and taught the inaugural trauma-informed SHE RECOVERS Yoga Teacher Training Program. Operating from a trauma-informed lens and a firm believer in anti-oppressive practices, Taryn brings an empathic and invitational approach to healing - empowering women to find and follow individualized pathways and patchworks of recovery.
Taryn's courageous vulnerability and passion for recovering out-loud has made her an influential voice in the global recovery movement - smashing the stigma often associated with substance use and mental health issues. Taryn creates and lives with her beloved and two dogs within the ancestral and unceded traditional territory of the Hul’qumi’num and SENĆOŦEN speaking peoples (Saltspring Island).
Susan is an architect of hope and healing with over 30 years of experience in providing executive-level leadership to heart-centered teams in the non-profit realm. Since joining SHE RECOVERS® Foundation as Executive Director in April 2020, Susan continues to weave her experience with her passion to help other women receive what she has been so graciously given – long-term recovery from substance use disorder, body image issues, codependency, perfectionism, and moral injury.
Susan’s work in the treatment industry quickly revealed how stigma kept women struggling with mental health issues and addiction from seeking help, and the lack of resources available to them once they did. Having served as a founding employee of Susan G. Komen for the Cure for 20 years, playing an integral role in creating the global grassroots movement that changed the way breast cancer is talked about and treated, she felt called to utilize that experience to do the same for women struggling with mental health and substance use disorders.
Celebrating more than 27 years of continuous sobriety, Susan is a Certified Peer Support Worker (CPSW) in the state of New Mexico to provide resources and peer support to those in or seeking recovery. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her fur family of four, Alex, Chaco, Bodhi, and Gracie.
Dawn Nickel, Founder of SHE RECOVERS® Foundation, is a thought leader in the women's recovery sphere as well as an accomplished leader, dedicated researcher, and visionary in the recovery moment. She holds a Ph.D. in health care policy with extensive experience in researching and writing about women experiencing substance use disorders, mental health challenges, and intimate partner violence. Dawn started her own journey of recovery from a substance use disorder and domestic violence in 1987. She is also in recovery from anxiety, grief, trauma, overworking, and cancer. Dawn's tell-it-like-it-is wisdom has created a ripple effect where you will often hear her quotes "the shit you did is just the shit you did - it's not who you are" and "recovering from all the things" resonating throughout many recovery realms.
Currently working on her first book, Dawn is living proof that in a world where all women in or seeking recovery are celebrated, supported, and deemed essential to healthy communities - anything is possible. She is fondly referred to as Mama Dawn in the SHE RECOVERS Community and to her daughters Taryn and Ashley. Dawn lives, works, and plays with her beloved grandchildren on the traditional territories of the Lkwungen speaking peoples on Vancouver Island.
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