Addiction Recovery Services

12/16/2025

Why does motivation fade?

Motivation feels compelling at first but it was never meant to carry long-term change on its own.

1. Motivation is temporary
It’s an emotional state, not a strategy. Emotions fluctuate. Especially under stress, exhaustion, or pressure.

2. Life doesn’t pause for recovery
Work stress, family tension, boredom and daily responsibilities keep moving. Most setbacks happen during normal, busy weeks and not during crises.

3. Willpower isn’t the fix
Relying on discipline alone turns recovery into a constant test. When willpower fades, people blame themselves instead of the approach.

4. Structure replaces motivation
Routines, schedules, and external support carry you forward when motivation dips. Structure removes the need to decide in high-risk moments.

5. Skills beat inspiration
Cravings and stress don’t wait for you to feel "ready". Practical skills give you options when real-life triggers show up.

You don’t need more motivation
You need support that works on ordinary days, not just the good ones.

Lasting change starts with understanding your habits: how they form, what triggers them, and what keeps them going. When you understand the pattern, you can change it.

If you’re looking for help building consistency and long-term habit change, our IOP and Private Counseling programs are designed to fit into real life.

Learn more about your options at arsnh.com or call (978) 228-5853.

12/13/2025

Conversations like this are what keep the work meaningful. Thank you for the opportunity to collaborate and serve our community together!

Today we had a great conversation with John and Addiction Recovery Services. Talking about ways we can help eachother and work together to serve our community is what inspires us to continue this work. Thank you Addiction Recovery Services for the work you do💛

12/12/2025

Every recovery journey is personal, but no one should have to do it alone.

"Their onsite psychiatrist and NP are also very helpful and an excellent added bonus to the program. I found I learned the same if not more than from the other group members and finally felt like I WAS NOT ALONE in this struggle. They also have an aftercare program for those who complete their IOP treatment for afterwards, which I personally find very helpful. I couldn’t recommend this program or the people enough.”

We’re grateful to be trusted with such an important part of people’s lives, and honored to walk alongside them during treatment and beyond through aftercare and alumni support. 💚

If you’re looking for recovery that feels supportive, human, and sustainable, we’re here to help.

12/09/2025

Even Spider Man didn’t win this battle overnight.
A month of struggle… six months of growth… a year of becoming unstoppable.

Tom Holland shows that even heroes fight silent villains like addiction, alcohol dependence, the urge to escape… and still rise.

Recovery isn’t instant. Sobriety is a process. But you don’t have to fight substance use on your own.

Learn about our IOP and Private Counseling options at arsnh.com

12/05/2025

Alcohol use in the U.S. has dropped to its lowest level in 80+ years. And it’s not a coincidence.

More people are questioning old habits, choosing clarity over coping, and realizing that drinking less (or not at all) actually feels better.

📉 Only 54% of U.S. adults drink alcohol now — the lowest level since Gallup began tracking in 1939.
📉 Among young adults (18–34), drinking has fallen to just 50%, marking the first time younger generations are drinking less than older ones.
📉 Even regular drinkers are cutting back: just 24% drank in the past 24 hours, and 40% hadn’t had a drink in a week.
📉 Average weekly alcohol intake has dropped to 2.8 drinks, the lowest since the 1990s.

And it’s not just behavior that’s changing, beliefs are too.
🍷 53% of Americans now say even “moderate drinking” (one or two drinks per day) is bad for your health, a dramatic shift from a decade ago.

If you’ve been rethinking your relationship with alcohol, you’re not alone.
The culture is changing — and you’re allowed to change with it.

More people are choosing clarity over coping. More are asking for help.
And help is here.

Curious what a healthier, more grounded life could look like?
We’re here to support you whenever you’re ready.

Explore our IOP and Private Coaching options at arsnh.com or call us directly at (978) 228-5853.

11/30/2025

There’s a moment in recovery when you stop trying to out-run everything and finally let yourself breathe.
It doesn’t feel dramatic. It doesn’t feel cinematic.
It just feels honest.

For a long time, many people think surrender means giving up.
But in reality, it’s the moment you stop pretending you can hold everything together on your own.

It’s the moment you realize the drinking, the hiding, the fighting for control…
was taking more from you than the truth ever could.

Surrender is this quiet shift inside you
when surviving isn’t enough anymore,
and living becomes the only thing that makes sense.

You stop carrying the wreckage alone.
You stop choosing numbness over connection.
You let yourself be helped.

And that’s where real recovery begins.

If you’re in that in-between space
tired of running, unsure how to start
You’re not broken. You’re right on time.

Your turning point may be quieter than you expected,
but it’s still the beginning of something real.

If you want support as you take that next step, we offer both IOP and Private Counseling:
structured help that fits your life, not the other way around.

You can reach out anytime at (978) 228-5853

11/29/2025

The holidays have a way of slowing you down just enough to notice things you might’ve missed all year: the small moments, the people right in front of us…

Sobriety makes those little things feel big again, and I’m grateful I get to actually be present for them.

And if a year from now you hope to feel more grounded, more yourself, but you’re not sure where to start, we can help make that path a lot clearer.

Learn more about our IOP and Private Counseling options at arsnh.com. You don’t have to figure this out alone.

11/28/2025

Whether this is your first sober Thanksgiving or your 15th, it’s worth noticing the things sobriety gives back…

+ Rewriting old holiday patterns.
You don’t have to repeat what last year looked like. This season can feel different — calmer, clearer, and more your own.

+ Moments you actually remember.
Being present at the table. Hearing conversations instead of the noise in your head. No spiral, no shame, just a steady start to the day.

+ Trust finding its way back.
When you’re sober, people don’t have to walk on eggshells around you. The old jokes come back. The connection starts to feel real again.

+ Family time that feels good again.
No side-eyes. No “Are you okay?” whispers. Just being around the people you love without the extra heaviness or guilt.

+ Showing up as you.
Not the version hiding. Not the version trying to manage or “ride it out.”
The version that’s grounded, honest, and someone others are proud of.

If you want more days like these — not just on holidays, but every day — we’re here to help.

We offer Intensive Outpatient (IOP) and Private Coaching programs designed to support steady, sustainable recovery without stepping away from your life.

Learn more at arsnh.com or call (978) 228-5853.

11/25/2025

“I was an addict of 10 years before going to this program. I am now drug and alcohol free over a year after completing.”

Here’s what real recovery can look like, in one of our alumni’s own words:

“I have the respect of my family back, I am gainfully and respectively employed, engaged and expecting a child soon. Without the help of ARS and the tender support of a group I am certain I would have none of this.

Getting my life back and making connections with people that want what is best for you is what this program is all about. You will find educated and nurturing staff willing to help you however they can.

I am certain of I can do it, you can too.

Please do right by yourselves and your loved ones and call ARS today. It will be a decision you will be glad you made from the day you start. Flexible scheduling makes it work for any schedule.

Alive. Happy. Thriving.”

Stories like this are why we do what we do.
Recovery isn’t just about stopping. It’s about rebuilding a life you’re proud to live.

If this sounds like the kind of change you want, we’re here to help.

Learn more about our IOP and Private Coaching programs at arsnh.com or call (978) 228-5853. You don’t have to do this alone.

11/23/2025

Drew Barrymore’s honesty hits even harder when you remember where her story began.

She wasn’t just someone who “partied too much.”

She was a kid who grew up in addiction. Taken to clubs at 9 years old, exposed to drugs before she even understood what they were, and placed into treatment by 13. Her relationship with alcohol didn’t start as a choice. It started as survival inside a world she never should’ve been in.

So when she says:

“I’m never going to be that cool girl with one glass of wine. I’ll want three bottles,”

she’s speaking from a lifetime of patterns formed long before adulthood.

And when she finally said, “I can’t do this anymore,” it wasn’t just about stopping drinking. It was about breaking a cycle of behaviors that began in childhood.

Addiction often starts long before the first drink. But healing starts the moment you choose a different path, no matter how long you’ve carried the weight of the old one.

If you’re tired of repeating the same patterns… if you can feel that something needs to change… if you’re finally done fighting yourself:

You don’t have to do this alone.

Explore our IOP and private coaching options at arsnh.com.

11/21/2025

Addiction risk begins far earlier than most people think — often before age 12.
And the latest neuroscience is showing us why.

New research on kids ages 9–11 found that even before any substance use, their brains already display patterns linked to future addiction risk — especially when there’s a family history of substance use disorder.

But what’s most striking is how boys and girls differ:

- Girls
Show higher “transition energy” in brain networks tied to self-reflection and rumination.
They can get emotionally “stuck,” looping through intense thoughts — the same neural circuits associated with anxiety and depression, both of which correlate with addiction risk.

- Boys
Show reduced energy in networks linked to control and focus.
Their brains react more intensely to rewards and disruptions, making them more prone to impulsive or sensation-seeking behavior.

These differences appear before any drug or alcohol use.
That means addiction vulnerability is not just behavioral — it’s biological, inherited, and shaped early.

But here’s the most important takeaway:

👉 For both boys and girls, the strongest protective factor is having a sober parent.

Substance use in adults doesn’t just impact the home — it reshapes a child’s brain.
When a parent chooses sobriety, it can interrupt a generational pattern long before it emerges.

Breaking the cycle doesn’t start in crisis.
It starts with parents choosing a healthier path — for themselves, and for the future their kids will grow into.

If you need support, we’re here. Explore our IOP and private recovery programs at arsnh.com.

11/18/2025

ARS wants to congratulate our very own Olivia Dupell on 12 years in recovery!

Olivia has been a cornerstone of our mission for more than six years. She knows our program as well as anyone and has stepped into nearly every role—including practice administrator—guiding our operations through thick and thin.

She’s helped write our values, trained staff and interns, moved us into an electronic medical record, audited charts for compliance, improved documentation and insurance workflows, led groups, created curriculum… and tackled everything in between. Olivia is a true Swiss Army knife of logistics, leadership, and compassion.

And she has done all of this while raising two young children and an adult male (just kidding—thank you for supporting her, Kyle).

We couldn’t be more grateful to have her on our team, or more inspired by her recovery, her compassion, and her sense of humor.

Our community is better because of the work you’ve done — and continue to do — every day 💚