Bryan Hullihen

The trite expression of “old habits die hard” could not be any more true than it is for those in early recovery. When an individual is learning how to live a life of sobriety after several years of self-centered thinking their new life is often viewed through a lens of distorted perceptions. Attempting to let go of the things that we think we know about what we need in this process was the hardest part for me. When I, Bryan Hullihen , was in early recovery I still thought that I knew best regarding what I needed to be successful in beating my addiction. I can laugh, to myself, when I am working with someone in early recovery when they say the same things I did when I was where they are. I often hear, “I just need to finish college, get a job, meet a nice girl, and hang around a better crowd”. Although all of these things are good they were not what I “needed”. It wasn’t until I had undergone a paradigm shift where my new declaration of what I needed became, “I just need to focus on m

My name is Bryan Hullihen and today I’d like to talk about staying teachable. I have worked in the field of substance abuse treatment since 2008 and have facilitated countless intakes into varying degrees of treatment. One of the primary indicators of how successful one’s stay will be is compliance to the treatment plan while the other is the therapeutic alliance. A client is ultimately given an entire team of professionals to assist them in their road to recovery; however, in many cases those seeking treatment set out to tell their team what they need in order to recover. I compare this type of behavior to a below average golfer taking lessons from Tiger Woods while telling Mr. Woods he doesn’t know what he is talking about. The more an individual in early recovery can get out of their own way and allow those tasked with guiding them do what they do, the better off one will be. Letting go of the tiller or getting out of the driver’s seat is not an easy thing to do for someone in ear

My name is Bryan Hullihen and I have worked in the field of substance abuse treatment, in one way or another, since 2008. Prior to that I battled my own addiction at progressing levels since I was thirteen. I didn’t recover until I learned that, while in active addiction or early recovery, my thinking could not be trusted. Although addiction infiltrates mind, body, and spirit it was my thinking that kept me sick. Some of my best plans lead me back to addictive behaviors until I began to take direction from those who knew better long enough for my brain to heal and for my recovery to become established on solid ground. The purpose of this blog is to provide a forum for discussing the insidious nature of addiction and the precarious nature of early recovery. I look forward to reading your comments and feel free to post your own personal stories. Remember that this blog is public so don’t post anything confidential or things that you do not want others to read. Sincerely, Bryan