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I’ve heard several times from people with significant time lengths of sobriety that its not a good idea to get into a relationship the first year of sobriety. It piggy backs off the don’t make any major life changes in early recovery, like change jobs, move to a different state, or leave your loved one, and getting into a relationship would fall under that category of a major life change. First of all, we alcoholics don’t have much to contribute on an emotional level to a relationship in early sobriety, but what if this relationship goes wrong and we end up in a desperate situation where we are eager to make the pain disappear and a drink seems like not a bad option at the time.

The main issue is that this first year of sobriety should be about self exploration with the focus on yourself and not a different person.

6 ways to be successful in dating while in recovery. These came from a great article called 6 Tips for Dating in Recovery by Pro Talk.

1. Don’t stop your recovery
2. Be honest about your recovery and fast
3. Have at least 6 months to 1 year of sobriety
4. Take it slow
5. Understand your priorities and sobriety comes first
6. Don’t date someone that could rock your routine

Also in this episode I interview Anthony Alvarado, with nearly 3 years of sobriety,  who is a man on a mission aiming to eliminate the stigmas associated with addiction and people in recovery. Anthony is a founder of Rise Together and has spoken to over 70,000 students!