A Robin Recovery publication
Perspectives on treatment, mental health, and life in recovery.
Recovery in practice · Featured read
When sober evenings feel endless, small changes can help. A practical, research-informed look at boredom, motivation, connection, and when to seek support.
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Supporting someone you love
Understanding care
A reading guide
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Different questions. A place for each conversation.
Selected reading from our archivePrograms, people, and the practical questions about getting help.
A place to begin
A guide to the questions worth asking about benefits, coverage, and treatment costs.
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Understanding emotions and mental health alongside recovery.
A place to begin
An introduction to the relationship between anxiety, substance use, and getting support.
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Boundaries, connection, and the work of moving forward.
A place to begin
A closer look at personal limits, communication, and the people around you.
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For the people walking beside someone in recovery.
A place to begin
Ways to think about connection, shared support, and a loved one’s independence.
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The good in the week
Week of September 21, 2026
Community & connection
Four years into recovery, Mike now volunteers with recovery groups, helping others find support. Emerging Futures shares how counseling, family connection, and a renewed sense of purpose became part of his journey. He also describes reaching out again after a setback.
Today, giving back is part of moving forward—a reminder that recovery can include connection, contribution, and new possibilities.
Source: Emerging Futures · September 21, 2026
Read the original storyMike is a pseudonym used by the original publisher. This is an independently published story, not a Robin patient testimonial; individual experiences vary.
THE READING ROOM · BOOKS & IDEAS
25 books on recovery, mental health and the people we love. Browse at your own pace.
Understanding addiction
Explores pleasure, reward, and compulsive behavior through clinical stories. Lembke considers why rewarding experiences can become difficult to control, offering a starting point for reflection on cravings and everyday habits.
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Understanding addiction
Combines addiction research with the author’s recovery story, examining learning, development, and social context. Its perspective invites people in recovery and their families to consider experiences beyond blame or moral judgment.
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Building recovery and supporting a loved one
Explores constructive communication, kindness, and ways families can encourage change. Written for loved ones, it considers practical alternatives to confrontation and the assumption that someone must reach rock bottom before receiving support.
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Mental health and practical emotional skills
Introduces acceptance and commitment therapy through ways of responding to difficult thoughts and feelings while acting on personal values. Harris explores a meaningful life without making constant positive thinking the goal.
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Mental health and practical emotional skills
Connects depression with patterns involving sleep, movement, thinking, and relationships. Korb’s discussion of small, manageable changes offers readers a way to explore everyday routines without attempting to overhaul their lives at once.
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Mindfulness, acceptance, and working with anxiety
Introduces mindful awareness through ordinary moments and daily experience. Its reflective approach offers an entry point for readers curious about mindfulness who prefer short explorations and observation to a technical workbook.
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Understanding addiction
A story-driven examination of addiction, emotional pain, trauma, and social circumstances. Maté presents a trauma-centered perspective that readers can explore alongside other explanations of addiction and individual experiences of recovery.
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Understanding addiction
Examines beliefs, habits, and cultural messages surrounding alcohol. Its conversational approach offers material for readers questioning their relationship with drinking, including those who do not connect with traditional recovery language.
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Understanding addiction
The foundational Alcoholics Anonymous text introduces the Twelve Steps alongside personal recovery stories. Its spiritual framework provides context for readers exploring AA or seeking to understand the program’s approach to recovery.
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Building recovery and supporting a loved one
An exercise-based resource organized around motivation, coping with urges, managing thoughts and emotions, and building a balanced life. It introduces SMART Recovery’s tools for readers interested in a structured, self-management approach.
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Building recovery and supporting a loved one
Connects mindfulness with the grief, stress, and anger that can accompany addictive behavior. Practical exercises invite readers to explore emotional coping skills and bring mindful attention into their recovery routines.
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Building recovery and supporting a loved one
Blends personal experience and practical reflections on alcohol-free living. Gray uses humor and warmth to explore what sobriety can offer, including everyday enjoyment, for readers wondering how life might change without drinking.
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Building recovery and supporting a loved one
A father’s account of his son’s addiction and its effects on their family. The memoir explores fear, uncertainty, and hope, offering a personal perspective on loving someone through difficult periods.
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Mental health and practical emotional skills
Introduces cognitive therapy and tools for examining patterns of thought associated with depression, self-criticism, and low self-esteem. Its practical focus invites readers to notice and question harsh or unhelpful interpretations.
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Mental health and practical emotional skills
A structured cognitive behavioral therapy workbook exploring connections among situations, thoughts, emotions, and behavior. Worksheets and examples give readers a step-by-step format for practicing skills and reflecting on their experiences.
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Mental health and practical emotional skills
Offers exercises in mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and effective communication. Its structured format introduces dialectical behavior therapy skills for readers interested in understanding intense emotions and practicing different responses in relationships.
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Trauma, self-compassion, and rebuilding meaning
Explores trauma’s effects on the mind and body and discusses approaches to healing. This is background reading for understanding traumatic stress, with perspectives to discuss further rather than a personal treatment plan.
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Trauma, self-compassion, and rebuilding meaning
Examines trauma in relation to violence, personal relationships, and wider social circumstances. Herman’s substantial discussion offers deeper background for readers exploring traumatic experiences and the processes involved in rebuilding safety and connection.
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Trauma, self-compassion, and rebuilding meaning
Explores responding to mistakes, suffering, and perceived inadequacy with kindness. Neff considers an alternative to relentless self-criticism, offering readers language for reflecting on shame, perfectionism, and the way they speak to themselves.
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Trauma, self-compassion, and rebuilding meaning
A psychotherapist writes about working with patients and becoming a patient herself. Humor, vulnerability, and personal stories offer a human view of counseling for readers curious about what therapy can feel like.
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Trauma, self-compassion, and rebuilding meaning
Drawing on his experiences in Nazi concentration camps, Frankl reflects on meaning, suffering, and purpose. This memoir and philosophical exploration considers larger questions that may arise while a person is rebuilding their life.
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Mindfulness, acceptance, and working with anxiety
Introduces meditation through everyday activities, stories, and practical exercises. Rooted in Buddhist teaching, it invites readers to bring attention and presence to daily routines as part of an ongoing contemplative practice.
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Mindfulness, acceptance, and working with anxiety
Combines Buddhist teachings, meditation, and stories about shame, fear, and feelings of unworthiness. Brach offers a contemplative exploration of self-acceptance for readers drawn to compassion and a different relationship with difficult feelings.
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Mindfulness, acceptance, and working with anxiety
Introduces mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and explores responses to sadness and repetitive negative thinking. The book connects mindfulness and mental health, inviting readers to examine their relationship with difficult thoughts and feelings.
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Mindfulness, acceptance, and working with anxiety
Explores the connections among worry, habit, and attempts to find relief. Awareness and curiosity are central to Brewer’s approach, offering readers a framework for noticing recurring patterns of anxiety and avoidance.
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Selected reading, not a sales ranking or an endorsement of every recommendation. Books support learning and reflection; they do not replace individualized care. Links go to official authors or publishers and contain no affiliate tags. Cover art comes from the linked authors or publishers; editions may vary.
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