Sobriety and Recovery Resources
Welcome! This page features resources and books about recovery from addition to alcohol or other drugs. It also provides resources for persons interested in taking a break from substances. There are also resources for friends and family of persons recovering from addiction, or for friends and family concerned about a loved one's use of substances.
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UConn has several resources available to students in recovery from substance use disorders, students contemplating a recovering lifestyle, or students looking to take a break from substance use.
UConn also offers Recovery Ally Training: an interactive 2 hour session, the Recovery Ally Training program exists to expand awareness, sensitivity and support to any individual on the University of Connecticut campuses in (or seeking) recovery from substance use disorders.
- UConn SHaW Resources for RecoveryStudent Health and Wellness believes in the transformative power of recovery. We provide recovery support services to students in or seeking recovery. This includes one on one recovery coaching, peer all recovery meetings, friends and family recovery meetings, recovery housing, and a wide array of social and service opportunities. In addition, we support and advocate for the continued growth, expansion, and accessibility of collegiate recovery through our recovery-friendly campus initiative. Recovery is a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live self-directed lives, and strive to reach their full potential. (SAMHSA)
- How Are You Feeling? : Take a Moment to H.A.L.T for Your HealthWebpage that reviews the HALT, Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired acronym. These feelings can make people more tempted to abuse substances. If you feel these emotions, then it is time to engage in some self care to feel better, or reach out to a friend.
- SAMHSA Website and Helpline LinkSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services national helpline (SAMHSA) from the US Department of Health & Human Services. The helpline is free and available 24/7.
Digital Book Resources on Addiction & Recovery at UConn Library
We Are the Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life by ISBN: 9781608686544Publication Date: 2020-01-07The people who got to drink normally, she thought, were so damn lucky. But in the midst of early sobriety, when no longer able to anesthetize her pain and anxiety, she realized that she was actually the lucky one. Lucky to feel her feelings, live honestly, really be with her daughter, change her legacy. She recognized that "those of us who answer the invitation to wake up, whatever our invitation, are really the luckiest of all." Here, in straight-talking chapters filled with personal stories, McKowen addresses issues such as facing facts, the question of AA, and other people's drinking. Without sugarcoating the struggles of sobriety, she relentlessly emphasizes the many blessings of an honest life, one without secrets and debilitating shame.
Twelve Secular Steps: An Addiction Recovery Guide by ISBN: 9780999643518Publication Date: 2018-09-1312 Secular Steps: An Addiction Recovery Guide is a Step working guidebook for agnostics, atheists, and others who believe addicts should be active in and accountable for their recovery. Unlike traditional Twelve Step literature, this secular adaptation of 12 Step approach neither promotes nor rejects religion and spirituality; it de-emphasizes the active role of God or a Higher Power in favor of a secular, cognitive-behavioral framework. The adapted methodologies are grounded in a biology-based foundation and philosophy.
The Addiction Recovery Skills Workbook by ISBN: 9781626252783Publication Date: 2015-12-01If you struggle with addiction, seeking treatment is a powerful, positive first step toward eventual recovery. But gaining an understanding of the causes of addiction--such as feelings of helplessness or loss of control--is also crucial for recovery. In this book, addiction expert Suzette Glasner-Edwards offers evidence-based techniques fusing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing, and mindfulness-based relapse prevention to help you move past your addictive behaviors. On the long road to addiction recovery, you need as many tools as possible to help you stay sober and reach your destination. That's why this is the first book to combine research-proven motivational techniques, CBT, and mindfulness-based strategies to help you create your own unique recovery plan. The book can be used on its own or as an adjunct to rehab or therapy. It also makes a wonderful resource for loved ones and professionals treating addiction. If you're ready to take that important first step toward recovery, this book can help you beat your addiction and get back to living a full, meaningful life.
It Will Never Happen to Me: Growing Up with Addiction as Youngsters, Adolescents, and Adults by ISBN: 1949481417Publication Date: 2020 Central Recovery PressFirst published 20 years ago, It Will Never Happen to Me is the definitive book/workbook for adult children of alcoholics.With her reassuring and informative approach, Claudia Black expertly identifies common issues faced by children who grew up in alcoholic families--shame, neglect, unreasonable role expectations, and physical abuse. Using narratives and profiles, she describes survival techniques characteristic of children raised in alcoholic families, including the unspoken laws of don't talk, don't trust, and don't feel. First explaining how such learned responses cause difficulties in adulthood, Black carefully guides readers in identifying self-defeating, destructive behaviors and finding a healthier, happier way to live
Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice Not to Drink In a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol by ISBN: 9781984825070Publication Date: 2021-01-12An unflinching examination of how our drinking culture hurts women and a gorgeous memoir of how one woman healed herself
The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction by ISBN: 1608823415Publication Date: 2012-08-01Most addictive behavior is rooted in some type of loss, be it the death of a loved one, coming to terms with limitations set by chronic health problems, or the end of a relationship. By turning to drugs and alcohol, people who have suffered a loss can numb their grief. In the process, they postpone their healing and can drive themselves further into addiction. The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction offers readers an effective program for working through their addiction and grief with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). Created by a psychologist who works for the Department of Veterans Affairs and a marriage and family therapist who works for Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital, this mindfulness training workbook is effective for treating the emotion dysregulation, stress, depression, and grief that lie at the heart of addiction.
Never Enough: the neuroscience and experience of addiction by ISBN: 9781912854578Publication Date: 2019From a renowned behavioural neuroscientist and recovering addict, a rare, page-turning work of science that draws on personal insights to reveal how drugs work, the dangerous hold they can take on the brain, and a surprising way to combat today’s epidemic of addiction.
Physical Library Books
The Sober Lush: a hedonist's guide to living a decadent, adventurous, soulful life--alcohol free by ISBN: 9780593084823Publication Date: 2020-06-02In a culture where sipping "rosé all day" is seen as the epitome of relaxation, "grabbing a drink" the only way to network; and meeting at a bar the quintessential "first date," many of us are left wondering if drinking alcohol really is the only way to cultivate joy and connection in life. In The Sober Lush, Libaire and Ward provide a road map for living a lush and sensual life without booze. For anyone curious about lowering their alcohol consumption or quitting drinking altogether, or anyone established in sobriety who wants inspiration, this shimmering and sumptuous book will show you how to keep indulging in life even if you stop indulging in alcohol.
The Recovering: Intoxication and It's Aftermath by ISBN: 9781783781522Publication Date: 2018 London GrantaIn The Recovering, Leslie Jamison draws on her own life and the lives of addicts of extraordinary talent - John Cheever, John Berryman, Jean Rhys and Amy Winehouse among them - to take us inside the experience of addiction, exposing the contours, edges and wholes of an intoxicated life. Part memoir, part group biography, part literary history and part definitive analysis of cultural and social considerations of addiction, The Recovering is a significant moment in the history of post-war narrative non-fiction.
Disclaimer: This content guide is meant to be solely informational in nature. It is not meant to provide professional care or recommendations. It includes general considerations, but readers should contact their medical provider for individualized advice, treatment, and recommendations.
If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, call 911 or go to your local hospital. If you are in crisis, please call 860-486-4705 to be directed to the UConn on-call therapist. During winter breaks, crisis support is available only during business hours.
