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Click here to get the book Cognitive Recovery


We can't think our way out of this by ourselves because it is our thinking that is the problem.


We must recognize the addictive voice that leads us astray and learn to silence it.


Self knowledge is immensely valuable but is rendered useless if not shared with others.

Welcome to the Cognitive Recovery site!



Cognitive Recovery (CR) is a program to help you recognize, accept, take responsibility for, and live freely with your addiction. Addiction is a psychobiological disease that cannot be cured but can certainly be put into remission. CR recognizes that no specific higher power is required to recover from addiction but some of us believe in a higher power or are fervent members of a major religion. CR does not demand you believe in a god and does not demand you be a non-believer.

CR is intended as both an alternative to 12-Step programs and as a supplemental program for 12-Step and other recovery programs. There are many paths to sobriety and from long experience with AA we know that a large percentage of 12-Steppers look outside the program for methods and techniques to enhance their own sobriety and personal growth. CR will certainly allow you to achieve and keep sobriety by just following it's own program but one of the strengths of the CR program is that it can be used in conjunction with just about any other mix of recovery techniques.

The concept of acceptance is the rock solid base of mindful living, of happiness. Acceptance of your addiction, acceptance that abstinence is the only way to be free of your addiction, acceptance of life as it comes to you. Living mindfully is living aware, with your eyes open, accepting life as it comes non-judgmentally.

Rather than teach people to be powerless, we need to teach people to be responsible for themselves. Can you ever responsibly drink/smoke/use again once you have become addicted? We do not believe that is possible. Perhaps medical science will come up with some marvelous treatment that will free individuals from addiction but right now, abstinence is critical.

Living a sober and clean life is a wonderful thing and it is really quite simple. The addictive mind is part of you and always will be so what you need to do is learn how to recognize it, learn how to resolve conflict and avoid the negative behaviors that most humans seem to wallow in, and learn to accept life on life's terms. It is not a complex thing to do but it can be difficult since we have trained ourselves to fight life for so long. If we just stop fighting and accept it all, we find our days becoming brighter and freer.

Don't Use, No Matter What!

The Wolves Within

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

How To Order From CreateSpace

A few people have expressed confusion over CreateSpace's order process. It isn't really intuitive!

CreateSpace does not use Amazon's ordering process, unfortunately. Amazon pioneered an easy, effective method for online sales processing. It is too bad they didn't share it completely with their subsidiary.

Click the "Add to Cart" button on the book order page.

You now see a page that contains the contents of your shopping cart. Click the "Check Out" button at the bottom.

Create a profile for billing information and click the Save and Continue button at the bottom.

Select your shipping option on the next page and hit the Save and Continue button

Select the Billing address profile you just created earlier and click "Create a New Profile"...

You now get to the Billing options page and the rest is straightforward.
The CR logo alludes to the infinite mind we all possess. As advanced as human science thinks it is, the mind is still a scarcely understood phenomenon. The physical structure of the brain has been mapped and still studied intensely but how it all works to produce the various states of consciousness, insight, memory, and creativity is a mystery. The C.R. on top of the infinity symbol suggests that only through an awareness of the cognitive process can we even begin to understand and treat the disease of addiction which is a product of our physical brain and non-physical mind.