Acceptance is the answer to all my problems

by Lisa Kohn | Aug 19, 2019 | Recovery

Many, many years ago, when I was at an all-time low, someone shared with me page 449 of the Alcoholics Anonymous “big book.” “Read it,” they said. “Read it and reread it and reread it and remember it.” It reads like this: “And acceptance is the answer to all my...

You can’t feel bad and good in the same moment (and you get to choose)

by Lisa Kohn | Jul 15, 2019 | Recovery

Sometimes it feels just too plain simple for me. And sometimes it makes sense and works. Well, actually it always works, when I actually do it. I’ve found it to be very true that I can’t feel good and bad in the same moment. I can only have one feeling coursing...

Soothe yourself as often as you can

by Lisa Kohn | Jun 25, 2019 | Recovery

It’s a simple thought. It’s an important thought. Soothe yourself as often as you can. The more I connect with other Second Gens (people born and/or raised in cults or extremist situations). The more I connect with other people who have faced childhood challenges (or...

I spoke at a workshop on extremist groups last week

by Lisa Kohn | Jun 17, 2019 | Recovery

It was an amazing week. I was in Scotland, where I hadn’t been since the late 80s when I went back to visit my friends from when I spent a semester at the Uni there in the early 80s. I was in Stirling and walked the Uni. I was in Edinburgh. I saw old friends and made...

Beauty is all around me…am I noticing it?

by Lisa Kohn | Jun 10, 2019 | Recovery

The sun is shining. The breeze is whispering through the trees. The wind chimes are chiming. The birds are chirping. There is so much beauty all around me. Am I noticing it? Each day – each moment – I have a choice. Left to its own devices, my mind can swirl with...

What are the other dumb things that I believe?

by Lisa Kohn | Jun 3, 2019 | Recovery

Whenever my clients tell me it’s like they have me whispering in their ears – like the cartoon angels and devils sitting on the shoulders of cartoon characters and whispering in their ears – I apologize wholeheartedly. I know my mind can be a scary place to be inside...