Author Archives: Tim Ringgold

This is the first video and post in a series focusing on what I call my S.O.B.E.R. method that I outline in my book, Sonic Recovery: Harness the Power of Music to Stay SOBER. This week we focus on the “S” in SOBER, which stands for – Stay Present. S = Stay Present Clinical Outcome: […]

The Problem They sat the kids down in front of a math problem with a timer. “Hit the timer when you either quit, or solve the problem,” were the instructions, but none of the researchers told the kids that they were staring at an unsolvable problem (such is often the way with psychological research studies). […]

How to Chill the F*ck Out The clients at the treatment center walk into my group room. Some skulk, some bounce, but they all laugh a little when they look up and see the following written on the whiteboard: How to chill the f*ck out. I tell them THIS is the goal of the day. […]

Few of us call ourselves musicians, but in western culture, we are all expert music listeners. Music listening can be a good tool, but it can also be a dangerous tool in recovery. I’m a board-certified music therapist who works in addiction treatment centers, but I’m also in long term recovery. In this blog post, […]

This week I wanted to share a list of podcasts for people in recovery. If this describes you, you know that getting and staying sober is not transactional. It takes ongoing effort. Adding a podcast or two to your regular listening schedule is a great tool to help you strengthen your recovery. I’ve shared a few […]

“People often say motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar “Hygiene: noun. conditions or practices conducive to maintaining health and preventing disease, especially through cleanliness.” I think about hygiene as a rhythm for health, since a rhythm is just a repeated pattern of behavior. So, if […]

Living Into The Future Last week’s blog post was all about completing the past. This week, it’s time to talk about composing the future. “It’s the future we’re living into that gives us being in the present.” – Introduction to the Landmark Forum. I remember either reading that quote or hearing it back in roughly […]

Three Phases Of Recovery Over the next three blog posts, I’m going to talk about three phases of recovery that I have found are critical in a person’s journey if they really want to leave a behavior behind. However, my concern is that because of our stigma-filled culture, you MIGHT find yourself saying, I don’t […]

“You are your attention.” – Deepak Chopra I heard Deepak say this on a cassette tape in 1996.  He then said to clarify, “You are what you attend to.”  Sooo…. As we celebrate what we are thankful for TODAY… I’m thankful for this quote, and here’s why.  In that moment, I realized that my experience […]