Happy 2019!…Wishing everyone 365 days of abstinence and inner peace one day at a time.

Want to start this year full of peace, serenity and abstinence? (yes, please!). Check out the 5 reasons to attend a Acorn Intensive below and then register for one of our upcoming events. What a huge gift you would be giving yourself, your friends and your family.

1. STABILIZE – Whether you are stable in your recovery and abstinence, feeling shaky and vulnerable or in full-on relapse…the Acorn Intensive is a fantastic place to get ‘back to basics’ and review the fundamental components of devising a strong food addiction recovery program. Throughout the six days and when writing your aftercare plan you will be able to reformulate and reassess your program of recovery to ensure you are utilizing each tool to the best of your ability. Are you getting to enough in-person meetings? Are you still vigilantly following your weighed and measured food plan? Are you working the steps daily? The Acorn Intensive is a fantastic place to get answers and feedback around these questions. We are confident you will leave feeling more stable than when you walked in; 3. regardless of where you are in your recovery journey!

2. “KEEP THE GRASS GREEN” – As addicts it is in our nature and often easy to forget the unfortunate and sometimes life-threatening conditions which brought us to our first SHiFT event. Through the rigorous Step 1 work assigned during the Primary Intensive, we promise to help you ‘keep the grass green’ and aid in the recollection of the seriousness and severity of your food addiction. The assignments will help you review many parts of your Step 1 including: ways you’ve tried to control your eating and weight, what convinces you you’re a food addict, incidents of powerlessness, lists of binge foods…and more! Step 1 work lays the foundation for all remaining steps…wouldn’t you agree this is an important step to review? Come to the Intensive and we will help you do this!

3. RECONNECT & REKINDLE – Do you feel sad thinking about how after past SHiFT events the group texts and phone calls (sometimes) slowly dwindled after a few weeks? The Primary Intensive is such an awesome way to reconnect with alumni and rekindle friendships that may have subsided. Connection is a key component of a strong recovery program. What better way to connect with other food addicts than at a Primary Intensive? The lack of electronic devices and very thorough nature of the Primary Intensive fosters a deep connection among the group. You will leave the event feeling rejuvenated with fellowship and connection.

4. EMOTIONAL WORK –  Let’s face it…wherever we are in our recovery journey…there are emotions happening! The Primary Intensive will o?er you a safe space to process any emotions that are ‘up’ for you in your life. Around your family, your friends, your job, your ‘disease’, your program, your sponsor. There are few (if any) places in our everyday lives that allow us to fully experience our emotions with the support and acceptance of other food addicts who just bear witness to it! What a beautiful gift! Come one, come all! And bring all your emotions too! No emotion is too big for us to handle. Leave the event feeling a bit ‘lighter’ after moving through some anger or fear work. Moving through emotions is such a healing part of recovery. Grant yourself the opportunity to freely express your emotions.

5. FEEDBACK – Interacting with other food addicts and receiving feedback from them regarding your various writings, your personal relationships, your communication style, your body language…and more is extremely beneficial wherever you are in your recovery journey. The Primary Intensive is one of the very few ‘hubs’ that allows food addicts to interact in this way. Most 12  Step meetings do not allow ‘cross-talk’ or speaking directly to another person regarding their share. At the Intensive we give each participant an abundance of constructive feedback from one food addict to another. It is so helpful to get feedback from others and to hear how they relate to you as a reminder that you are not alone!