24  STAR App Features and Content

==List All Features and add short blurb==

24.1 Members

24.2 Settings

High Risk Locations - Users can add “High Risk Locations” for places that they think may be harmful to their recovery. Adding a high-risk location sets up an alert from Star that will go off when they are at the location.

Lock Screen Settings - Users can set, change, or delete a lock screen pin for STAR. If you add create a PIN, you will need to type in that PIN when you open STAR after it has been closed for several minutes.

To set a pin tap “Lock Screen Settings” and then “Setup”. To change an existing PIN, tap “Reset your PIN”. Using the number pad, tap out a four-digit number, then tap “Enter”. Follow the instructions to confirm your new PIN by retyping the same four-digit number and tapping “Enter”.

Information from CHESS:

  • It is not possible to recover a pin if they are using the pin lock. However, you can log out from that screen where you enter the pin and log back in to reset the pin. Also, if you log out and log back in, the pin should be reset.

  • People’s PIN is not something we can ever see and it’s not saved on the STAR server, just locally.

  • If a user moves the app to the background, such as if they open a new app, and doesn’t return to the app within 10 minutes then they will be required to enter their pin again. If they completely close the app i.e. swipe the app away, they will need to enter their pin again.

Notification Settings - Users can control push notifications from STAR. Turn different notifications on or off by tapping the check box next to the notification. To receive all notifications, you should check all the boxes. To receive no notifications, you should uncheck all the boxes. Turning off your Notification settings will not affect your participation; however, you may find that having them turned on is helpful for remembering to complete the tasks. When you are done customizing your notification settings, tap the “Save” button

Research Study Settings Users change their data sharing permissions by tapping the “Research Study Settings” button.

If you tap “Change Settings” you will see a message warning you that turning off GPS and Phone/SMS data sharing will reduce your next bonus by up to $15 and asking you if would like to continue.

If you tap “Yes” you will be directed to your phone’s settings where you can change the STAR permissions.

Admin Setting Admin accounts can choose whether to make their account visible to client users by changing their Admin Settings.

24.3 Recovery Resources

24.3.1 Podcasts

“A Sober Girls Guide” - Jessica Jeboult is a Sober Girl. After trying to get sober for nearly 10 years, Jessica is here to share her experiences along the way to complete and utter sobriety.

“Common Peril Podcast” -A sarcastic take on sobriety and life as sober young-adults in Los Angeles. We got tired of hearing recovery podcasts that sounded like you were in another rehab group so we decided to do something about it. “Like a speaker-tape, but more fun.”

“Elevation Recovery Podcast”- Strategies for individuals in recovery from opioids, alcohol, prescription drugs, meth, or any other drugs. The Elevation Recovery Podcast’s Mission is to help people transcend drug use as well as to rapidly progress the field of recovery and treatment.

“In Recovery With Dr. Nzinga Harrison”- If you have a heart attack, you go to the hospital. Kid is sick? Call the pediatrician. So why do the rules change when it comes to recovery? When you or a loved one needs immediate help, it’s hard to know where to go or what to do. Start here. Join Dr. Nzinga Harrison, a physician board-certified in psychiatry and recovery medicine, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Eleanor Health, who believes in a comprehensive, compassionate approach to treating drug use. Whether it’s heroin, pain pills, alcohol, meth, food, sex, or anything under the sun–it’s time to shift our thinking away from 28 days and onto recovery for life. From the creators of Last Day, this is your weekly go-to for any and all questions about addiction, treatment, mental health, recovery, and everything in between.

“NAPod: An (unofficial) Narcotics Anonymous Podcast”- An (unofficial) Narcotics Anonymous podcast featuring NA speaker meetings and workshops. This is not a discussion podcast, simply speaker meetings and workshops in a podcast format.

“ODAAT Chat Recovery Podcast” - The ODAAT (One Day At A Time) Chat Podcast is about recovery from alcohol and drug use, and the journey of recovery, community, and healing. Guests tell their stories of what it was like, what happened, and where they are now. The recovery stories they share are inspiring, funny and touching, providing hope to help others feel like they are not alone.

“Real Recovery Talk Podcast” - Our podcast features real interviews of individuals in recovery from substance use as well as therapists, parents, loved ones, experts from around the industry, and others involved in the recovery process.

“SHAIR Podcast: Sharing Helps All in Recovery”- Sharing Helps All in Recovery. For lasting recovery, the most important ingredients are community and connection. SHAIR is not only a Sobriety Podcast, it is a global recovery Network. Join us each week as we interview individuals from all over the world who SHAIR how they overcame adversity and navigated through their journey of recovery. Learn how to live, how to love, and how to heal. Welcome to the SHAIR Podcast Recovery Network

“Talk Recovery Radio”- Live from Vancouver’s Infamous Downtown Eastside, a block away from North America’s first safe injection site. Join us live every Thursday for Talk Recovery Radio 100.5 FM. We bring addiction and recovery issues to the airways every Thursday on Vancouver Co-op Radio.

“That Sober Guy Podcast”- That Sober Guy Podcast was created by Producer Shane Ramer. Shane battled a 17 year alcohol and drug addiction and in 2013 he sought treatment. Less than a year later, he started That Sober Guy Podcast as a way to share his own recovery and allow others to share theirs

“The Addictionary Podcast”- Boston’s own father-daughter recovered team bring it to you straight, no chaser! Maegan and Boddy give an uncensored, open-minded, and unconventional take on all things recovery, and holistic health!

“The Unrufled Podcast”- Sondra Primeaux and Tammi Salas host this weekly show. Their aim is to explore all of the topics that are related to creativity in recovery. Cool, right?
Here’s their thinking: “When a habit is removed, there is a void that is left.” This show’s aim is to find ways to fill that void through creative pursuits. In each episode, they interview someone in recovery about their journey and creative pursuits.

“The Wagon Podcast”- As we are uniquely woven we must be uniquely unwoven. On the wagon, off the wagon, chasing the wagon, what wagon? Join Minnesota’s own recovery duo, Kyla Olson and Patrick Farley, as they talk about and celebrate the many pathways of recovery

“The Way Out Podcast”- Powerful Topics and Powerful Recovery Stories in every episode.

24.3.2 Games and Apps

Recovery related

“Breathe by Dr. Jud” -Breathe by Dr. Jud was created by psychiatrist Dr. Jud Brewer (MD PhD) and the team at MindSciences, based on his work in the field of habit change and the “science of self-mastery”, combining over 20 years of experience with mindfulness training and a career in scientific research. He is passionate about understanding how our brains work, and how to use that knowledge to help people make deep, permanent change in their lives — with the goal of reducing suffering in the world at large.

“I Am Sober”

“In The Rooms”-In The Rooms is a free, digital meeting website and social network for the recovery community. With over 600,000 members, In The Rooms provides a virtual space for people to connect with others in recovery around the globe. Our community offers support for those in recovery from alcohol or drug use, as well as behavioral addictions such as love and relationships, sex and gambling. Our newly-redesigned app gives you recovery at your fingertips, with easy access to virtual meetings, social networking tools, blogs, and recovery guides.

“NA Meeting Search” NA Meeting Search is an application developed to help you locate Narcotics Anonymous Meetings anywhere around the world. Also bundled with this app are the daily Just For Today meditations. Websites and helplines for your area are also listed.

“Sober Grid”- The Worlds Largest Recovery App”-

This app is geared to recovery. It teaches the user how to identify thoughts and feelings which can lead to drug use. Then it leads the user to a daily reading geared to what they are currently experiencing which helps change “relapse” thinking into “recovery” thinking. It was developed by a licensed chemical dependency counselor who personally has over 27 years of successful recovery.

“Sober Meditations”- Sober Meditations is a 100% free resource that contains over 400 contemplative alcohol recovery meditations on a variety of topics.

“All Trails: Hiking, Running, And Mountain Bike Trails”- Explore the outdoors with AllTrails! Discover nature with hiking, biking, backpacking and running trails around the world. Log your hike, walk, run or mountain bike ride with our GPS activity tracker. Looking for a good spot for camping or backpacking? The AllTrails community is a great place to get inspired.

“CBT Thought Diary” - Do you feel like you’re always stressed, anxious, sad, frustrated, or unmotivated? The centerpiece of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is learning to identify negative and distorted thinking patterns to change your emotions and your behaviors for the better. In CBT, a “thought record” guides you through the steps of identifying, challenging, and reinterpreting negative thinking patterns. With Thought Diary, you can document your negative emotions, analyze flaws in your thinking, and re-evaluate your negative thoughts into more balanced ones. It may even help you recognize helpful ways to deal with your negative behaviors and emotions for future situations.

“Happify”- Happify’s science-based activities and games can help reduce stress, overcome negative thoughts, and build greater resilience by providing effective tools and programs to improve emotional well-being.

“Headspace Meditation and Sleep”- Headspace is your guide to mindfulness for your everyday life. Learn meditation and mindfulness skills from world-class experts like Headspace co-founder Andy Puddicombe, and develop tools to help you focus, breathe, stay calm, and create balance in your life — whether you need stress relief or help to get restful sleep.

“Insight Timer”- The number 1 free meditation app. Guided meditations, sleep music tracks and talks led by the top meditation and mindfulness experts, neuroscientists, psychologists and teachers from Stanford, Harvard, the University of Oxford and more. Music tracks from world-renowned artists. Join millions learning to meditate on Insight Timer to help calm the mind, reduce anxiety, manage stress, and sleep deeply.

“Nike Training Club”- Made for everybody and every body, Nike Training Club offers 185+ free workouts including invigorating yoga classes, HIT, bodyweight-only workouts you can do with minimum to no equipment, and cardio that gets your heart rate pounding. We also have trainer-led programs and workout collections to serve every kind of athlete in order to get specific results, but still be flexible enough to fit into your life.

“Yoga; Down Dog”

Just for Fun

Angry Birds

Library Audiobooks and ebooks app- Libby

Solitaire

Soduku

Tetris

24.3.3 Guided Relaxation

“10 Minute Guided Meditation for Cravings (no music)” -10 minute guided mindfulness meditation to help deal with cravings and cope with addictions, without music and voice only.

“20 Minute Guided Meditation for Cravings (no music)”-20 minute guided mindfulness meditation to help deal with cravings and cope with addictions, without music and voice only

“20 Minute urge surfing practice” - Use this exercise for any urge that compels you to carry out a behavior that you want to give up, reduce, or that has a negative impact on your life.

“7 minute urge surfing practice” - Welcome to this short guided meditation for grounding and centering yourself in the midst of an urge to engage in any behavior that you do not want to act out on. This practice is commonly called urge-surfing.

“8 minute urge surfing practice”-8 minute, audio only, urge surfing guided meditation. Urge surfing is a technique to get through a craving or urge.

“Guided meditation for recovery: Gulf Breeze Recovery” - Becky Nichols, therapist at Gulf Breeze Recovery, walks you through a guided meditation to bring a sense of calmness to those struggling with addiction.

“Refuge Recovery: Guided Breathing meditation” This is a 20 minute, guided mindfulness of breathing meditation. By watching our breath, we can cultivate concentration and a sense of peace that will help us get through the hard moments in life. The script for this meditation comes from the Refuge Recovery program.

“S.O.B.E.R. Breathing Space”- This is an exercise you can do during a high-risk or stressful situation, if you are upset about something, or when you are expericing urges and cravings to use.

“Series: Sober Meditations”- A series of guided meditation videos focused on supporting recovery from drug use

“5 Minute Meditation” -In just 5 minutes you can reset your day in a positive way.

“Body Scan For Sleep”- 14 minute audio guided meditation to help you fall asleep.

“Body Scan for Anxiety”- Feel more settled and calm by bringing awareness to each part of your body, noticing your experience with a sense of curiosity and openness. A Body Scan mindfulness meditation created by Stop, Breathe & Think.

“Easy 5 minute Meditation”- Audio only - 5 minute breathing meditation

“Meditations for difficult emotions”- 7 minute audio meditation aimed at coping with difficult emotions.

“Commpassionate body scan guided meditations” - Kayleigh Pleas, MAPP, Wellness & Positive Psychology Coach who leads the mindfulness meditation group at the Ruttenberg Treatment Center, narrates this 20 minute-long guided meditation video entitled “Compassionate Body Scan.”

“meditation for Positive Energy - A Deepak Chopra Guided Meditation”-
During this guided meditation Deepak will help you centering yourself to find your daily dose of positive energy. So close your eyes, start breathing. And follow Deepak voice in this Guided Meditation for Positive Energy

“Meditation for positive thoughts- mind body soul” - Do you want to fight off the negatives in your life? Are negative thoughts being a hurdle in your journey to success? This meditation will unravel your ability to manifest positive energy and help you reach a higher level of consciousness.

“Short and sweet gratitude meditation”- 3 minute, simple and sweet meditation.
Really there is no going wrong with gratitude.
Please enjoy this short break from your day as you call in all the things, people, anything, and everything that brings your joy and that you are grateful for.

24.3.4 Videos

Ted talks

“Addiction is a disease. We should treat it as one.”- Only one in nine people in the United States gets the care and treatment they need for drug abuse. A former Director of National Drug Control Policy, Michael Botticelli is working to end this epidemic and treat people with addictions with kindness, compassion and fairness. In a personal, thoughtful talk, he encourages the millions of Americans in recovery today to make their voices heard and confront the stigma associated with drug abuse.

“Disconnected brains: How isolation fuels opioid addiction”- Opioids abuse is now officially a national emergency. But why are drug use rates spiking and what can we do about it? Neuroscientist Rachel Wurzman shares new research about how the brain reacts to opioids, replacing the sense of community and belonging human beings are losing. We are beginning to understand that solving the opioid epidemic will require us to focus on social factors surrounding those affected. Dr. Rachel Wurzman is a Fellow with the Center for Neuroscience and Society, and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Neurology with the Laboratory for Cognition and Neural Stimulation at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong.” - What really causes addiction — to everything from cocaine to smart-phones? And how can we overcome it? Johann Hari has seen our current methods fail firsthand, as he has watched loved ones struggle to manage their drug use. As he shares in this deeply personal talk, his questions took him around the world, and unearthed some surprising and hopeful ways of thinking about an age-old problem.

“From genes to addiction: How risk unfolds across the lifespan” - What does it mean when something like drug use or depression is genetically influenced? Are people who are at risk destined to develop problems? Psychologist Danielle Dick explores how our genes and our environments come together across the lifespan to create multiple pathways that can influence addiction.

“How genetics and enviroment wok together to shape our destiny” -A young scientist in Bulgaria with lots of prestigious awards for best scientific excellence practices I put my all energy in revealing the secrets of the way our DNA functions.
The way we live, the way we talk, the way we breathe and the environment is what shapes our destinies and is controlling our genomes…..and as I breathe in and out with science, it might be interesting to follow my endeavours on the battlefield of Molecular Biology.

“How isolation fuels opioid addiction” - What do Tourette syndrome, heroin addiction and social media obsession all have in common? They converge in an area of the brain called the striatum, says neuroscientist Rachel Wurzman — and this critical discovery could reshape our understanding of the opioid crisis. Sharing insights from her research, Wurzman shows how social isolation contributes to opioid use and overdose rates and reveals how meaningful human connection could offer a potentially powerful source of recovery.

“Listening to shame” -Shame is an unspoken epidemic, the secret behind many forms of broken behavior. Brené Brown, whose earlier talk on vulnerability became a viral hit, explores what can happen when people confront their shame head-on. Her own humor, humanity and vulnerability shine through every word.

“Six steps to life -altering change” -Maurice (Moe) Egan grew up in East Oakland surrounded by drugs and crime. Even though he found success in sports and later working for Coretta Scott King at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center, his drug use and criminal behavior spiraled out of control. He found himself homeless and asleep standing up in the middle of a busy San Francisco intersection soon to be arrested for the seventh time. Moe and Tim Stay share six steps for transformational behavioral change that have helped Moe and the tens of thousands of others like him change their lives. Together, Moe and Tim share the philosophy taught at The Other Side Academy to help others who are lost obtain lives of sobriety, integrity, and fulfillment.

“The harm reduction model of drug addiction treatment” “What causes opioid addiction, and why it is so tough to combat?”-In the 1980s and 90s, pharmaceutical companies began to market opioid painkillers aggressively, while actively downplaying their addictive potential. The number of prescriptions skyrocketed, and so did cases of addiction, beginning a crisis that continues today. Mike Davis explains what we can do to reverse the skyrocketing rates of drug use and overdose. [Directed by Good Bad Habits, narrated by Addison Anderson, music by Landon Trimble/ Playdate].

“Why we need to end the wat on drugs.” -Is the War on Drugs doing more harm than good? In a bold talk, drug policy reformist Ethan Nadelmann makes an impassioned plea to end the “backward, heartless, disastrous” movement to stamp out the drug trade. He gives two big reasons we should focus on intelligent regulation instead

Recovery Related

“A cognitive behavioral therapy exercise for addiction recovery” - A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Exercise for Addiction Recovery. Dr. KJ Foster shares a CBT relapse prevention exercise from her Fostering Resilience Relapse Prevention program.

“Counselor tips: Finding support” - Making connections with people who will support your recovery is an important part of treatment but easier said then done. Laura Fabick, Program Manager at ARC Community Services in Madison, WI, talks about how to find support or make new connections.

“Counselor tips: It’s okay to struggle” - Laura Fabick, Program Manager at ARC Community Services in Madison, WI, discusses how struggling and feeling challenged is a normal part of recovery.

“Counselor tips: Preventing drug use” - Melissa is a recovery manager at Gosnold on Cape Cod and shares some advice and strategies to help prevent drug use.

“Healthy path to victory” - A YouTube channel with helpful recovery tips, video testimonials and helpful strategies.

“Put the shovel down” - A YouTube channel designed to help you understand the science and psychology of drug use so you can conquer drug use, recover yourself or your loved one from drug use, and get back to living the life you want to live.

“Stop drug cravings with exercise”- We all know that exercise is good for you, but what you probably don’t know is that there is a lot of emerging research that shows how exercise changes your neurochemistry. The really exciting thing is you can actually use exercise to literally change your brain chemistry to reduce drug cravings in real time.
Join Dr. John Ratey, Harvard professor, author and expert on the effects of exercise and the brain, as he explains the science of exercise for treating drug use with Tree House and Dr. Dan Hendrick.

“Struggling with addiction” - Struggling with Addiction takes information for qualified authors & presents it for individuals and their families looking for information on how to live life after drug abuse.

General Wellbeing

“Brene Brown on empathy” - What is the best way to ease someone’s pain and suffering? In this beautifully animated RSA Short, Dr Brené Brown reminds us that we can only create a genuine empathic connection if we are brave enough to really get in touch with our own fragilities.

“counselor Carl” -Counselor Carl Benedict offers videos explaining issues of life, such as codependency, grief, anger, addiction, depression, anxiety, and stress, while teaching healthy-living skills, such as mindfulness, conflict resolution, setting boundaries, assertiveness, meditation, relapse prevention, healthy self-talk, principles of recovery, and reparenting the wounded child.

“How mindfulness empowers us: An animation narrated by Sharon Salzburg” -Learn about mindfulness in under 3 minutes. Mindfulness allows us to see our thoughts and feelings as they really are, freeing us from old ways of thinking.

“How to defeat negative thinking: An animation” -Negative thinking can get the best of us at the worst of times. But there’s hope! Positive psychology Coach Derrick Carpenter reveals two key tactics that will intercept and defeat these thoughts before they have a chance to infiltrate your life.

“Meditation 101: A beginner’s guide” -A two minute animated video introduction to meditation. Are you new to meditation, and interested in finding out how to start a practice? We’ll walk you through the basics!

“Self compassion” -It’s all too easy to be extremely tough on ourselves; we need – at points – to get better at self-compassion. This animated video provides steps to lessen negative thinking in a stressful world.

“The problem of shame”-Underlying so many of our emotional problems lies one phenomenon above any other; shame. Feeling misguidedly and disproportionately ashamed of who we are is at the root of an extraordinary amount of disturbance, rendering us harmful to ourselves and to the world.

“Where does compassion really come from” -Can compassion be learned? The answer is yes! Sometimes, all it takes is truly paying attention to the people around us.

“Why mindfulness is a superpower: An animation” -Practicing mindfulness is one of the single most powerful things you can do for your wellbeing. This short animated video explains the power and benefits of mindfulness.

“Yoga with Adriene” -WELCOME to Yoga With Adriene! Our mission is to connect as many people as possible through high-quality free yoga videos.
We welcome all levels, all bodies, all genders, all souls!

24.3.4.1 Articles

Learn about recovery

“Can addiction be treated sucessfully” - Yes. Addiction is a treatable, chronic disorder that can be managed successfully.
Research shows that combining behavioral therapy with medications, if available, is the best way to ensure success for most patients.
The combination of medications and behavioral interventions to treat a substance use disorder is known as medication-assisted treatment. Treatment approaches must be tailored to address each patient’s drug use patterns and drug-related medical, psychiatric, environmental, and social problems.

“Does drug and alcohol abuse cause mental disorders, or vice versa” - Drug and alcohol abuse and mental disorders often occur at the same time. This is referred to as co-existing conditions or comorbidities. Over half of the people with a drug and alcohol abuse also have another mental health issue. This doesn’t necessarily mean that one caused the other.
There are three ways to look at this; In some cases mental illness can lead to addiction. In other cases, drug and alcohol abuse can cause a mental illness or lastly both drug abuse and a mental disorder are both caused by a common risk factor.

“Does it really matter how we talk about addiction?” -The old adage, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” implies words cannot convey harm. Today, however, more and more research on stigma is showing that words truly can hurt people, and in ways that the users of those words may not anticipate. This seems to be especially true when those words serve to reinforce misconceptions and misrepresentations of already heavily stigmatized medical conditions.

“From pills to fentanyl: Three personal stories that show how the opioid crisis evolved”- Three drugs are responsible for creating the deadly U.S. opioid epidemic: prescription pain pills, heroin and fentanyl. As of 2018, the crisis had claimed more than 400,000 lives.
Yet the faces of some victims remain hidden. Grieving families embarrassed by the stigma of drug abuse write “passed peacefully at home” in obituaries.The Washington Post spoke with families and friends of more than 70 victims that span the epidemic. Here are some of their stories, remembered through the lens of their families.

“Recovery research institute: Resources” - The Recovery Research Institute is a leading nonprofit research institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, dedicated to the advancement of drug use treatment and recovery.

“Soberocity: Connecting with people and sharing stories of recovery”-We are a one-of-a-kind community, created especially for those who are living a sober life and are looking for sober events to attend and for a like-minded community.
Soberocity is for people from all walks of life who can now connect, and share their individual journeys of recovery while encouraging sobriety and sober-living in others. In other words, Soberocity is a place where individuals who are invigorated about all the opportunities that come from living a healthy lifestyle.

“Stages of addiction and recovery” - While more research is needed, recovery models remain an effective means for understanding change behavior and the process of moving from active drug use into long-term recovery.
This article from recoveryanswers.org discusses 3 models:

  • Transtheoretical Stages of Change Model

  • The Life Course Perspective

  • The Hierarchy of Needs Perspective

“Straight up information about addiction and recovery”- The Fix is a great resource for facts and support. On the blog, readers can browse first-person recovery journeys, new and alternative treatment information, current research and studies, and much more.

“The brain in recovery”- There are 3 key things to know about the brain in recovery.

  1. Some characteristics of drug use are similar to other chronic diseases

  2. Substances of misuse trick the brains reward system

  3. The Brain Can Recover- but it takes time!

“Unraveling: How women are surviving the opioid crisis.” - Each day, more than 130 lives will be lost to an opioid overdose. A year after the crisis was declared a public health emergency, it was reported that Americans are more likely to die from an opioid overdose than from a car crash. Women, who are most often the center of our care networks, have been affected in profound and myriad ways. They’ve buried children or taken in those of family members unfit to care for them. They’ve been overprescribed for pain management and underserved when the addiction set in. Over the course of the next eight weeks, we’ll be sharing their stories.

“What is the impact of addiction” - Issues related to drug use are among the top public health problems in the U.S. and other nations around the world.

  1. Drug use can have an impact on health for the user, their social network, their community, society, and the economy.

  2. According to studies involving clinical experts and scientists (Nutt et al., 2010), alcohol is considered to be the most harmful drug due its indirect effects involving other people, followed by heroin and cocaine. Alcohol is also considered to be the third most harmful in terms of effects directly impacting the user, after heroin and cocaine.

  3. The impact of drug use may be reduced with early intervention (Dennis et al., 2004). Alcohol and other drug use is the principle contributor to disability-adjusted life years lost for young people (Mokdad et al., 2016).

  4. Early intervention may help minimize substance use disorder in adulthood, as 90% of adults with substance use disorder first used before the age of 18, and 50% started before the age of 15.

Workbooks

“Challenging Automatic Thoughts”

“Decisional Balance Exercise” - When people make decisions, they look at the costs and benefits of choices they could make. Decisional balance is a useful tool to help you make tough decisions during your recovery.

“Journaling in recovery: A list of recovery journal prompts & tips to get started” - Journaling in recovery can be a helpful tool to guide your healing process. You may use a journal to record your struggles through the recovery process or to identify accomplishments in healing. Journals are even useful to help you work through painful or difficult emotions that may be hard to annunciate to a counselor or therapist, but easier to jot down on paper/or digital device. No matter what you decide to put in your journal, the writing process can be therapeutic in a variety of different ways

“MAP: My Action Plan for Relapse Prevention” - Through assessing the relapse prevention needs of patients, reviewing the literature on relapse, and evaluating available relapse prevention resources, Montgomery County Emergency Services developed this workbook as a tool to empower individuals to begin to build a MAP to support emotional, mental and spiritual well being.

“Missions Consumer Recovery Workbook” - This free recovery workbook contains exercises multiple exercises to help those in recovery: for example, to name and conquer adversaries within and without, to face your fears, to think through your options in difficult situations, and to realize what can cause relapse and what can help you avoid “slips.” There are no right answers. Your answers are your answers and no one else’s. Hearing others who are also courageously exploring what is true for them is important, though: hearing them can often help you hear yourself.

“Risk-Reward Analysis For Drug Use”- This exercise is an important tool for establishing motivation if you are contemplating quitting drug use. It will also have value as you work toward quitting your drug use or other maladaptive behavior. During challenging situations, your Risk-Reward Analysis can be an anchor for you to refresh your memory of your reasons for quitting.

“Seemingly Irrelevant Decision (SID)”

General Wellbeing

“Attentive Listening”

“Body Language (Non-verbal Communication)

“Criticisms”

“Expressing Yourself Assertively”

“Giving and Receiving Compliments”

“Try the 5-3-1 -practice- Center for Healthy Minds.”

“9 facts about addiction people usually get wrong”

“Life after relapse- How to bounce back and start over”

“Preventing opioid overdose”

“Repairing relationship after rehab”

“What are the most common drug use triggers”

Quick Recovery Tips

“9 Facts about addiction people usually get wrong”-This article comes from the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids so it’s aimed at parents, but there’s a lot of great information that’s relevant to anyone struggling with drug use.

“Life after relapse- How to bounce back and start over”-According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 40 to 60 percent of people who go through addiction treatment programs go on to relapse at least once. In fact, many people relapse multiple times before finally achieving a full recovery.

You can take some comfort in knowing relapse is common. But how do you handle it? Click on this link for some tips from smartrecovery.org

“Preventing an opioid overdose”-Know the signs. Save a life. This fact sheet gives you the factors that could cause an opioid overdose, the common signs and symptoms of an opioid overdose, and tips on what to do if you think someone is overdosing

“Repairing relationships after rehab”- Rebuilding connections and mending broken ties is not easy. Here are 5 tips to help you get started.

“What are the most common drug use triggers?”-The 10 most common drug use triggers include:

  1. Being around drugs or alcohol, drug or alcohol users, or places where you used or bought drugs or alcohol

  2. Feelings we perceive as negative: anger, sadness, loneliness, guilt, fear, and anxiety

  3. Positive feelings that make you want to celebrate

  4. Boredom

  5. Getting high on any drug

  6. Physical pain

  7. Listening to alcohol and drug stories and just dwelling on getting high

  8. Suddenly having a lot of cash

  9. Using prescription drugs that can get you high even if you use them properly

  10. Believing that you no longer have to worry and that it is safe for you to use occasionally. That is, that you are no longer addicted and will not crave drugs or alcohol when you are in any of the above situations, or by anything else.

Book Recommendations

“A Million Little Pieces” By James Frey-A story of drug and alcohol use and rehabilitation as it has never been told before. Recounted in visceral, kinetic prose, and crafted with a forthrightness that rejects piety, cynicism, and self-pity, it brings us face-to-face with a provocative new understanding of the nature and the meaning of recovery.
By the time he entered a drug and alcohol treatment facility, James Frey had taken his addictions to near-deadly extremes. He had so thoroughly ravaged his body that the facility’s doctors were shocked he was still alive. The ensuing torments of withdrawal, and the never-ending urge to use chemicals, are captured with a vitality and directness that recalls the seminal eye-opening power of William Burroughs’s Junky.
But A Million Little Pieces refuses to fit any mold of drug literature. Inside the clinic, James is surrounded by patients as troubled as he is – including a judge, a mobster, a one-time world-champion boxer, and a fragile former prostitute to whom he is not allowed to speak ó but their friendship and advice strikes James as stronger and truer than the clinic’s droning dogma of How to Recover. James refuses to consider himself a victim of anything but his own bad decisions, and insists on accepting sole accountability for the person he has been and the person he may become–which runs directly counter to his counselors’ recipes for recovery.
James has to fight to find his own way to confront the consequences of the life he has lived so far, and to determine what future, if any, he holds. It is this fight, told with the charismatic energy and power of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, that is at the heart of A Million Little Pieces: the fight between one young man’s will and the ever-tempting chemical trip to oblivion, the fight to survive on his own terms, for reasons close to his own heart.
A Million Little Pieces is an uncommonly genuine account of a life destroyed and a life reconstructed. It is also the introduction of a bold and talented literary voice.

“Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget”- For Sarah Hepola, alcohol was “the gasoline of all adventure.” She spent her evenings at cocktail parties and dark bars where she proudly stayed till last call. Drinking felt like freedom, part of her birthright as a strong, enlightened twenty-first-century woman.
But there was a price. She often blacked out, waking up with a blank space where four hours should be. Mornings became detective work on her own life. What did I say last night? How did I meet that guy? She apologized for things she couldn’t remember doing, as though she were cleaning up after an evil twin. Publicly, she covered her shame with self-deprecating jokes, and her career flourished, but as the blackouts accumulated, she could no longer avoid a sinking truth. The fuel she thought she needed was draining her spirit instead.
A memoir of unblinking honesty and poignant, laugh-out-loud humor, Blackout is the story of a woman stumbling into a new kind of adventure – the sober life she never wanted. Shining a light into her blackouts, she discovers the person she buried, as well as the confidence, intimacy, and creativity she once believed came only from a bottle. Her tale will resonate with anyone who has been forced to reinvent or struggled in the face of necessary change. It’s about giving up the thing you cherish most – but getting yourself back in return.

“Delicious Foods- By James Hannaham” -Held captive by her employers – and by her own demons – on a mysterious farm, a widow struggles to reunite with her young son in this uniquely American story of freedom, perseverance, and survival.
Darlene, once an exemplary wife and a loving mother to her young son, Eddie, finds herself devastated by the unforeseen death of her husband. Unable to cope with her grief, she turns to drugs, and quickly forms an addiction. One day she disappears without a trace.
Unbeknownst to eleven-year-old Eddie, now left behind in a panic-stricken search for her, Darlene has been lured away with false promises of a good job and a rosy life. A shady company named Delicious Foods shuttles her to a remote farm, where she is held captive, performing hard labor in the fields to pay off the supposed debt for her food, lodging, and the constant stream of drugs the farm provides to her and the other unfortunates imprisoned there.
In Delicious Foods, James Hannaham tells the gripping story of three unforgettable characters: a mother, her son, and the drug that threatens to destroy them. Through Darlene’s haunted struggle to reunite with Eddie, through the efforts of both to triumph over those who would enslave them, and through the irreverent and mischievous voice of the drug that narrates Darlene’s travails, Hannaham’s daring and shape-shifting prose infuses this harrowing experience with grace and humor.
The desperate circumstances that test the unshakeable bond between this mother and son unfold into myth, and Hannaham’s treatment of their ordeal spills over with compassion. Along the way we experience a tale at once contemporary and historical that wrestles with timeless questions of love and freedom, forgiveness and redemption, tenacity and the will to survive.

“Drinking a Love Story- by Caroline Knapp” -Fifteen million Americans a year are plagued with alcoholism. Five million of them are women. Many of them, like Caroline Knapp, started in their early teens and began to use alcohol as “liquid armor,” a way to protect themselves against the difficult realities of life. In this extraordinarily candid and revealing memoir, Knapp offers important insights not only about alcoholism, but about life itself and how we learn to cope with it.
It was love at first sight. The beads of moisture on a chilled bottle. The way the glasses clinked and the conversation flowed. Then it became obsession. The way she hid her bottles behind her lover’s refrigerator. The way she slipped from the dinner table to the bathroom, from work to the bar. And then, like so many love stories, it fell apart. Drinking is Caroline Kapp’s harrowing chronicle of her twenty-year love affair with alcohol.
Caroline had her first drink at fourteen. She drank through her years at an Ivy League college, and through an award-winning career as an editor and columnist. Publicly she was a dutiful daughter, a sophisticated professional. Privately she was drinking herself into oblivion. This startlingly honest memoir lays bare the secrecy, family myths, and destructive relationships that go hand in hand with drinking. And it is, above all, a love story for our times—full of passion and heartbreak, betrayal and desire—a triumph over the pain and deception that mark an alcoholic life.

“Graceland- by Chris Abani” -The sprawling, swampy, cacophonous city of Lagos, Nigeria, provides the backdrop to the story of Elvis, a teenage Elvis impersonator hoping to make his way out of the ghetto. Broke, beset by floods, and beatings by his alcoholic father, and with no job opportunities in sight, Elvis is tempted by a life of crime. Thus begins his odyssey into the dangerous underworld of Lagos, guided by his friend Redemption and accompanied by a restless hybrid of voices including The King of Beggars, Sunday, Innocent and Comfort. Ultimately, young Elvis, drenched in reggae and jazz, and besotted with American film heroes and images, must find his way to a GraceLand of his own.
Nuanced, lyrical, and pitch perfect, Abani has created a remarkable story of a son and his father, and an examination of postcolonial Nigeria where the trappings of American culture reign supreme.

“Gun, Needle, Spoon- By Patrick O’Neil” - This memoir follows a punk rock pioneer on his slide into drug abuse and life as an armed robber, all the way through life in recovery and what it’s like to look back on those times, knowing all the while that he is still under the threat of three strikes, a twenty-five-to-life prison sentence waiting. He has no choice but to deal with it all drug free.

“Guts- By Kristen Johnston”- A harrowing and hysterical memoir by the two-time Emmy Award-winning actress from the hit television show 3rd Rock from the Sun.
“It felt like I was speeding on the Autobahn toward hell, trapped inside a DeLorean with no brakes. And even if I could somehow stop, I’d still be screwed, because there’s no way I’d ever be able to figure out how to open those insane, cocaine-designed doors.”

“High on Arrival- By Makenzie Phillips”- Not long before her fiftieth birthday, Mackenzie Phillips walked into Los Angeles International Airport. She was on her way to a reunion for One Day at a Time, the hugely popular 70s sitcom on which she once starred as the lovable rebel Julie Cooper. Within minutes of entering the security checkpoint, Mackenzie was in handcuffs, arrested for possession of cocaine and heroin.
Born into rock and roll royalty, flying in Lear jets to the Virgin Islands at five, making pot brownies with her father’s friends at eleven, Mackenzie grew up in an all-access kingdom of hippie freedom and heroin cool. It was a kingdom over which her father, the legendary John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, presided, often in absentia, as a spellbinding, visionary phantom.
When Mackenzie was a teenager, Hollywood and the world took notice of the charming, talented, precocious child actor after her star-making turn in American Graffiti. As a young woman she joined the nonstop party in the hedonistic pleasure dome her father created for himself and his fellow revelers, and a rapt TV audience watched as Julie Cooper wasted away before their eyes. By the time Mackenzie discovered how deep and dark her father’s trip was going, it was too late. And as an adult, she has paid dearly for a lifetime of excess, working tirelessly to reconcile a wonderful, terrible past in which she succumbed to the power of drug use and the pull of her magnetic father.
As her astounding, outrageous, and often tender life story unfolds, the actor-musician-mother shares her lifelong battle with personal demons. She overcomes seemingly impossible obstacles again and again and journeys toward redemption and peace. By exposing the shadows and secrets of the past to the light of day, the star who turned up High on Arrival has finally come back down to earth – to stay.

“How to grow up- By Michelle Tea”-As an aspiring young writer in San Francisco, Michelle Tea lived in a scuzzy communal house: she drank; she smoked; she snorted anything she got her hands on; she toiled for the minimum wage; she dated men and women, and sometimes both at once. But between hangovers and dead-end jobs, she scrawled in notebooks and organized dive bar poetry readings, working to make her literary dreams a reality.
In How to Grow Up, Tea shares her awkward stumble towards the life of a Bona Fide Grown-Up: healthy, responsible, self-aware, and stable. She writes about passion, about her fraught relationship with money, about adoring Barney’s while shopping at thrift stores, about breakups and the fertile ground between relationships, about roommates and rent, and about being superstitious (“why not, it imbues this harsh world of ours with a bit of magic”). At once heartwarming and darkly comic, How to Grow Up proves that the road less traveled may be a difficult one, but if you embrace life’s uncertainty and dust yourself off after every screw up, slowly but surely, you just might make it to adulthood.

“In Pain: A Bioethicist’s Personal Strugfle with Opioids- By Travis N Rieder” - A bioethicist’s harrowing memoir of opioid dependence and withdrawal–and a clarion call to challenge the status quo of healthcare and of medicine itself–[this book] reveals the lack of crucial resources and structures to responsibly manage pain in America. Travis Rieder’s terrifying journey down the rabbit hole of opioid dependence began with a motorcycle accident in 2015. One month and several surgeries later, Travis was on painkillers around the clock. The drugs he received were both miraculous and essential to his recovery–for a time. But the most profound suffering Travis would endure arrived months after the accident, when he went into acute opioid withdrawal while following his physician’s orders. Over the course of four excruciating weeks, Rieder experienced firsthand, all day long and through the night, what it means to be ‘dope sick’–the absolute physical and mental agony that is opioid withdrawal. Clueless how to taper off these intensely powerful painkillers, Travis turned to his doctors, who suggested that he go back on the drugs and simply try again later. Rieder’s experience exposes a dark secret of American healthcare: the crisis currently facing us is actually an unsurprising and inevitable consequence of a culture deeply conflicted about opioids and a system grossly inept at managing them. As he recounts his own brutal story of pain and pills, Rieder provides the fascinating history and trajectory of these drugs, from their invention in the 1800s through a long period of opiophobia to the eventual warm embrace of these medications that led to an environment of aggressive, even reckless, prescribing. Here rigorous examinations of the science of pain and addiction are considered alongside analyses of the systemic and cultural barriers we must overcome if we are to address the problem effectively on both a local and a global scale.

[This book] is not only a gripping personal account of drug dependence, but also a groundbreaking exploration of the complex causes of our opioid epidemic and a path to resolving the crisis through provider education, policy, and alternative treatment advocacy. Rieder makes very clear that the opioid crisis exists against a backdrop of real, debilitating pain that providers cannot ignore but can learn to treat more effectively and safely. Pain management is profoundly broken in America, and the result is devastating for both patients and those at risk for addiction. But we do not, Rieder argues, have to accept this situation. By changing medical practice, adopting reasonable drug policies, and altering the way we view those who take drugs (both prescription and not), we can reduce suffering and save lives; we can give people the care they deserve.

“Permanent Midnight- By Jerry Stahl”- Jerry Stahl’s seminal memoir of drug addiction and a career in Hollywood, Permanent Midnight is a classic along the lines of Hubert Selby, Jr.’s Last Exit to Brooklyn. Illuminating the self-loathing and self-destruction of an addict’s inner life, Permanent Midnight follows Stahl through the dregs of addiction and into recovery. In 1998, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, and Maria Bello starred in a film version of Permanent Midnight to much acclaim. Nic Sheff, author of Tweak, writes the introduction to this edition.

“Terry: My Daughter’s Life- and- Death Struggle with Alcoholism- By George McGovern” -Just before Christmas 1994 Terry McGovern was found frozen to death in a snowbank in Madison, Wisconsin, where she had stumbled out of a bar and fallen asleep in the cold. Just forty-five years old, she had been an alcoholic most of her life. Now, in this harrowing and intimate reminiscence, her father, former Senator George McGovern, examines her diaries, interviews her friends and doctors, sifts through medical records, and searches for the lovely but fragile young woman who had waged a desperate, lifelong battle with her illness.

What emerges is the portrait of a woman who was loved by everyone but herself. Surrounded by devoted parents, caring siblings, and two young daughters of her own, Terry maintained an appearance of control but was haunted by the twin demons of alcohol and depression. Her story is a heartbreaking tale of her attempts at sobriety, the McGovern family’s efforts to help her—and the failure of both. With courage and compassion, George McGovern addresses a private tragedy with an honesty rarely achieved by a public figure, looking candidly at his inability to save his child. A primer for other families who live with addiction, McGovern’s book is filled with wisdom and an understanding that can come only from sharing his tremendous loss with others.

“Unwifeable: A memoir- By Mandy Stadmiller” - Provocative, fearless, and dizzyingly uncensored, Mandy spills every secret she knows about dating, networking, comedy, celebrity, media, psychology, relationships, addiction, and the quest to find one’s true nature. She takes readers behind the scenes (and name names) as she relays her utterly addictive journey.

Starting in 2005, Mandy picks up everything to move across the country to Manhattan, looking for a fresh start. She is newly divorced, thirty-years-old, with a dream job at the New York Post. She is ready to conquer the city, the industry, the world. But underneath the glitz and glamour, there is a darker side threatening to surface. The drug-fueled, never-ending party starts off as thrilling…but grows ever-terrifying. Too many blackout nights and scary decisions begin to add up. As she searches for the truth behind the façade, Mandy realizes that falling in love won’t fix her—until she learns to accept herself first.

24.3.4.2 Resources Near You

Treatment Resources

“Addiction Center: Locate a treatment center near you” - Recovery on your own is not only dangerous during the initial detox, it is also more likely to result in drug use later on. Addiction treatment centers provide a monitored environment where you will get the medical attention you need, as well as the emotional support to overcome drug or alcohol use. Addiction Center provides information about different types of treatment programs, provides a treatment locator to find centers in your area, and has treatment providers on call (833-523-1311) or available over instant messaging on their website to help you locate treatment resources near you.

“FindTreatment.gov” -FindTreatment.gov helps you find substance use treatment resources near you and provides useful information about what to expect during treatment, paying for treatment, different types of treatment, and other commonly asked questions about the treatment process. Enter your zip code online or call 1-800-662-HELP (4357) to talk to someone to help locate services in your area.

“Google Recover Together: Find Local Support”-Google Recover offers a simple way to find local drug use treatment and support in your state. Select your state from the drop-down box to under “Find local support” to learn how to connect to information and resources if you or someone you know is seeking help.
“SAMHSA Behavioral health treatment”- Check out the SAMHSA Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator, a confidential and anonymous source of information for persons seeking treatment facilities in the United States or U.S. Territories for substance use/addiction and/or mental health problems.

“SAMHSA- Opioid treatment program directory” -Use this search tool to view the opioid treatment programs in your state.

“Start your recovery: Find local treatment options”- Find local substance use recovery centers, counseling, and support groups.

Recovery Support

“Google’s recovery resource tool”-Even when apart, our voices are united. The #RecoveryMovement celebrates the 23 million Americans recovering from drug use, and paves the way for the 20 million still struggling to seek treatment. Our voices matter.

“In the rooms- A global recovery community”-Ken Pomerance and Ron Tannebaum started In The Rooms (ITR) with a simple goal in mind: to give those in recovery a place to meet and socialize when they’re not in face-to-face meetings. This basic concept has grown into a global online community with over 650,000 members who share their strength and experience with one another daily. Through live meetings, discussion groups, and all the other tools In the Rooms has to offer, people from around the world connect with one another and help each other along their recovery journeys.

“LifeRing secular recovery”- LifeRing Secular Recovery is an abstinence-based, anonymous organization dedicated to providing a safe meeting space where you can experience a non-judgmental recovery conversation with your peers. They do this through the lens of LifeRing’s “3-S” philosophy of Sobriety, Secularity, and Self-Help. Click below to read more.

“Narcotics Anonymous- Meeting locator”-Use this search tool to locate meetings near you or to locate helplines and websites for local groups near you.

“National harm reduction coalition- Find harm reduction resources near you”- Harm reduction aims to connect people who use drugs to resources and community to thrive. Whether you use drugs, or love someone who does, this page is an access point to resources that support safer drug use.

“Never use alone” -If you are going to use by yourself, call us! You will be asked for your first name, location, and the number you are calling from. An operator will stay on the line with you while you use. If you stop responding after using, the operator will notify emergency services of an \“unresponsive person\” at your location.

“SHE RECOVERS foundation” - A non-profit charity that seeks to connect women in recovery through virtual platforms and encourages women to “develop their own holistic recovery patchwork”

“Smart recovery resource page”- Self-Management And Recovery Training (SMART) is a global community of mutual-support groups. At meetings, participants help one another resolve problems with drugs and alcohol, or to activities such as gambling or over-eating). Participants find and develop the power within themselves to change and lead fulfilling and balanced lives guided by our science-based and sensible 4-Point Program

“Virtual recovery resources”-Tip sheet created by SAMHSA in response to the COVID epidemic and the need for virtual recovery support.

General Support

“Crisis text line” -Text HOME to 741741 from anywhere in the United States, anytime. Crisis Text Line is here for any crisis. A live, trained Crisis Counselor receives the text and responds, all from our secure online platform. The volunteer Crisis Counselor will help you move from a hot moment to a cool moment.

“For issues with housing, food, other survival needs”- The 211 network in the United States responds to more than 14 million requests for help every year. Most calls, web chats, and text messages are from people looking for help meeting basic needs like housing, food, transportation, and health care.
211 connects you to expert, caring help. Every call is completely confidential

“Lifeline: National suicide prevention line” -Phone: 1-800-273-8255
The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals.

“Manage your wellness during the COVID-19 outbreak”

“Mental health resources for Black, Indigenous, People of color” - Your local Mental Health America affiliate is an excellent resource for information about local programs and services including affordable mental health treatment services. Enter your city, state, or zip code to find options to get connected to mental health resources in your area.

“National domestic violence hotline” - Advocates at the National Domestic Violence Hotline are here to listen without judgement and help you begin to address what’s going on in your relationship. Their services are always free and available 24/7.

“Psychology today therapy directory”- You can use Psychology Today’s Therapy Directory to search for mental health professionals in your area. You can search by zip code, city, last name, etc. For each provider listed, you can read about their therapy approach, specialty areas, information about their fees including whether they accept insurance and whether they offer sliding scale fees, as well as their credentials and contact information. There are a variety of options for sorting your results to find providers who most closely match your needs. You can also send them an initial e-mail.

“Warmlines- Need to talk to someone?” - Warmlines were created to give people support when they just need to talk to someone. Speaking to someone on these calls are typically free, confidential, and run by people who understand what it’s like to struggle with mental health problems.

Drug/medication disposal

“Google Maps: Drug Disposal locations near you”- Uses your location to show you nearby places to drop off unused drugs.

“How to safely dispose of unused or expired medicine”- Learn how to properly get rid of old, expired, unwanted, or unused medicines. This video describes health risks—including potential overdose—for your family of keeping unused medicines in your home. It explains your drug disposal options, which include drug take-back locations, flushing, and household trash.

“safe needle disposal”- Each year approximately 9 million sharps users will administer at least 3 billion injections outside health care facilities. SafeNeedleDisposal.org provides a one-stop shop for people to learn how to safely dispose of used sharps wherever they are.

24.3.4.3 My Motivation

24.3.4.4 My Gratitude

24.3.5 Coping with Cravings

Cravings are a normal part of the recovery process. While cravings can feel extremely powerful in the moment, it is important to remember that cravings do not last forever. In fact, most cravings usually only last a few minutes. Here are some things that help people cope with cravings:

  1. Distraction. Distracting activities can help keep your mind off of your cravings until they pass. Here are some ideas:
  • Exercise or go for a walk
  • Play a game on your phone
  • Listen to a recovery podcast
  • Read a book or article
  • List to your favorite music
  • Watch a TED talk or other video
  1. Talking with others. Talking with friends and family, or listening to others discuss their own recovery experiences, can help you feel supported while waiting for cravings to pass. Here are some ideas:
  • Post a message to the discussion group
  • Listen to a podcast sharing recovery stories
  • Find a recovery meeting or support group
  • Text or call a support line
  1. Mental Techniques. There are a number of mindfulness and positive thinking skills that help individuals learn to let go of cravings, accept them for what they are, and cope with cravings until they pass. Here are some ideas:
  • Try urge surfing
  • Review your motivations for recovery
  • Do a short mindfulness meditation
  • Review your gratitude list
  • Watch a motivational video
  • Journal about your recovery progress

24.4 Study Information

24.4.1 STAR Guidelines

The purpose of the STAR Guidelines is to set expectations for Participant interactions with the discussion board and in communication with STAR Staff.

By joining STAR, you agree to abide by all rules and guidelines when communicating on STAR message boards, direct messages, and during phone calls with STAR staff. Our Guidelines are designed to ensure all participants and staff are protected and are treated professionally and with respect. All in-app messages, posts, and phone calls with staff are regularly reviewed by the STAR team, and staff will remove any discussion post, comment, or individual member who does not adhere to stated rules and guidelines.

Guideline 1: Always Use Respectful Language - It is important to us that the STAR app and procedures create a space where individuals feel comfortable, safe, and empowered to communicate while supporting their recovery. Therefore, STAR will not tolerate harassment, hate speech, violent or vulgar remarks, or exclusionary language of any kind on app discussion boards, direct messages, or via phone/email/direct message communications with STAR staff. This includes hurtful or targeted language against someone on the basis of their race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, financial class, religious affiliation, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other individual characteristics. Whenever you are posting on message boards, sending direct messages, or talking on the phone with STAR Staff, remember that there’s a human being on the other end.

What we expect from you: For the safety and comfort of all study staff and participants in the STAR study, we expect you to use respectful language in all communication. This includes not making any inappropriate, flirtatious, threatening, or rude comments to study staff or other study participants.
In Direct Messages with study staff and in posts to the Discussion Board, do not use offensive, obscene, or sexually explicit language, jokes, or stories. Do not use derogatory names or labels (directly or implied) when referring to individuals or groups. Any use of this language will result in an immediate warning and possible subsequent removal from the STAR Study

What you can expect from us: Every member of the STAR team is committed to maintaining a high standard for communication with participants. We will always use polite and respectful language as outlined above when communicating with you. If you are ever concerned that a member of the STAR team is not meeting this standard, please to not hesitate to share that concern. Our team will review all language from staff and participants and remove content that does not meet this standard.

Guideline 2: Use a Professional Communication Style

All posts should be professional and courteous. Accepted internet standards for professional online communication include not using all-caps (or SHOUTING) in your posts, maintaining a civil tone, respecting the privacy of others, and staying on-topic.

What we expect from you: Please communicate with staff and other STAR participants as you would in a professional work setting. You may send direct messages to staff with questions, comments, or concerns about the STAR study at any time. However, all Direct Messages to staff should be on topic and professional in tone. Similarly, posts and replies to topics on discussion boards should remain on topic and maintain a professional tone. To stay on topic, please do not overshare personal information or ask personal questions to STAR staff or other participants and limit your communication to STAR procedures or posted discussion topics. To maintain professional tone, we ask that you do not post or comment on discussion boards, direct message staff, or call/email STAR staff when you are feeling highly emotional or are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Please wait to send all communication until you feel you are in a calm and comfortable state of mind.

What you can expect from us: Our team is committed to responding to all messages from our participants in a prompt and professional manner. In addition to the standards outlined above, you can expect that any direct message or phone call received by STAR staff to be responded to within 1 - 2 business days of the message being received. If you are ever reaching out to report an issue with the STAR app, you will not be penalized for study tasks missed while waiting for a response from study staff.

Guideline 3: Safe Communication/Privacy

Communications on the STAR app and with STAR staff are secure to protect your privacy. Since posts and comments on message boards are able to be viewed by other authorized STAR users, we request that all users follow general internet safety guidelines to prevent unintentional sharing of personal information to others. When writing on STAR discussion boards, avoid sharing personal or private information that you would not be willing to share with a total stranger. For example, you should never share your full name, your phone number, your address, or your social security number. If you would shred it, don’t share it. STAR staff will remove any posts where someone is attempting to gather personal or private information from other users on the platform.

What we expect from you: Due to the personal nature of the STAR study, we ask that you avoid sharing personal identifying information about yourself or any other participants. In the course of your participation, you may discover that you know other people also participating in the study. While you are free to discuss details of your participation in the study with people on other platforms, please be mindful of the information you are sharing within the STAR app to make sure that you are not accidentally sharing personal information about someone else. The STAR team reserves the right to remove anything that that they deem to contain or attempt to gather personal identifying information. Any questions about what may be too sensitive to post to discussion boards should be directed to the STAR Help account via DM.

What you expect from us: You should expect that we will always consider your safety to be our top priority. This includes having multiple protocols in place to protect your privacy, including storing your contact information in a locked location that is separate from your data, restricting access to your contact information, and labeling all of your data with an anonymous id number, (a full list of the privacy protections can be found in the Consent Form). Additionally, we will never post or share any information about you with any other STAR participants. Even if you know other participants in the STAR study, we will never share any information about participants with any other participants.

Review Process - We maintain a record of all messages and posts sent within the STAR app, as well as all phone and email conversations with STAR staff outside of the app. These records are regularly reviewed by our STAR team to ensure communication follows our stated guidelines. If a member of the STAR team detects language or behavior that does not follow our guidelines, a private written warning will be sent to individuals following their first offense. A second offense may result in the person’s account being removed from the app and withdrawal from the STAR study. Study staff will always be available to discuss decisions about warnings or withdrawal. These guidelines are meant to serve as general rules for the type of behavior that will result in a warning or possible withdrawal from the STAR study. This is not an exclusive list. The STAR team reserves the right to determine if a participant has behaved inappropriately.

24.4.2 How To

24.5 Peer Support

  • In order to have regular engagement from users, the app needs someone in a dedicated role of maintaining activity in the public forum, who can populate it with content (youtube videos, quotations) and motivate positive content and get rid of negative posts. Staff and RAs will be responsible for routine moderation. Participants are instructed that inappropriate posts will be removed, and repeated violations may result in withdrawal. We do not plan on spending time populating the message boards.