Pura Vida Recovery Services

Recovery is built one decision, one connection, and one day at a time.

These words from Pura Vida alumni and their families reflect what compassionate, consistent support can make possible: a safe place to begin, people who do not give up on you, practical tools for life, and a community that continues celebrating your progress.

We are deeply grateful to every person who has trusted Pura Vida to be part of their recovery journey. Your stories are why we do this work.

If you or someone you love is ready to explore treatment and recovery support, visit PVRecovery.com.

Recovery is not just about abstaining from drugs or alcohol. It is about rebuilding a life filled with connection, purpose, opportunity, and joy.

We’re honored to be featured in the North Bay Bohemian for the work Pura Vida Recovery Services is doing throughout Sonoma County. The article explores our real-world approach to treatment, including individualized clinical care, community involvement, recreation, vocational opportunities, and support across every stage of recovery.

Since opening our first sober living home in 2015, we have grown into a comprehensive recovery community guided by one principle: When someone trusts you enough to ask for help, go above and beyond to honor that trust.

In the words of our co-founder, Ben Pahlavan, “Getting sober is only the beginning of something so much bigger and better.”

Thank you to our clients, alumni, staff, community partners, and referral providers who continue to show what is possible with the right care and support.

Read the full feature in the North Bay Bohemian.

https://bohemian.com/pura-vida-recovery-builds-community-through-experienced-care/

Meet our team: Collin Hoctor, LMFT

Collin Hoctor is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with over a decade of experience working in substance use and co-occurring mental health treatment. His career has spanned both inpatient and outpatient levels of care, where he has supported individuals and families navigating the challenges of recovery.

Collin served as Clinical Director for intensive outpatient and residential treatment programs, overseeing multidisciplinary teams and developing evidence-based programming to support long-term sobriety. His leadership emphasized integrating trauma-informed care, family systems, and relapse-prevention strategies into treatment, helping clients build the skills and resilience necessary for sustainable recovery.

In his clinical work, Collin draws from Internal Family Systems (IFS), somatic psychology, polyvagal theory, and Buddhist psychology. He integrates mindfulness and compassion-based practices to help clients cultivate awareness of craving, develop healthier relationships with difficult emotions, and deepen their connection to the present moment.

With a holistic and compassionate approach, Collin has a particular passion for supporting individuals who feel stuck in cycles of addiction, helping them reconnect with their inner resources and rediscover meaning beyond substance use. He believes recovery is not just about abstinence but about cultivating a life rooted in connection, self-compassion, and purpose.

https://pvrecovery.com/about/treatment-team/

Every day, someone walks through our doors looking for a way out of active addiction. And every day, our team shows up to help them find one.

That's the whole job, really — more than the therapy modalities, beyond the accreditations & awards, or the level-of-care acronyms, it's about people showing up for other people on the hardest day of their lives, then the next day, and the one after that.

To our clients doing the hardest work of their lives on purpose: we see you. To their families rebuilding trust one day at a time: we see you too. And to every counselor, nurse, and case manager on this team who keeps showing up — thank you for making Joy for Living more than a mission statement.

You are not responsible for your loved one's addiction. Say that again if you need to.

Educating yourself on what substance use disorder actually is — a combination of genetics, environment, mental health, and other factors, not a personal failing — can replace self-blame with realistic expectations. Setting boundaries and following through on the consequences when they're crossed, even when it's hard, even when you're begged to let it slide "just this once," protects you and your family, and it doesn't require your loved one to hit rock bottom first, just to become genuinely uncomfortable enough to want change.

Joining a support group like Al-Anon or Nar-Anon connects you with people living the same reality, often for free. And practicing self-compassion — allowing yourself to feel angry, embarrassed, or exhausted without judgment — isn't optional. None of this is selfish. It's what makes it possible to keep showing up without burning out completely, and your happiness was never supposed to depend on someone else's choices, or vice versa.

Our Friends & Family program exists for the person in the family, not just the person in treatment.

Read the full post: https://pvrecovery.com/blog/self-care-tips-for-families-of-individuals-with-substance-use-disorders/

Grateful people report fewer headaches, less sleep trouble, and fewer digestive complaints than people who don't practice gratitude, according to published research — plus lower stress, more resilience, and better self-esteem. Researchers at UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center have even linked gratitude to activation of the parasympathetic nervous system — the part of the body responsible for rest, digestion, and calm.

It's not about pretending things are fine. It's a practice: keep a gratitude journal, jot down a daily list of people and moments you're thankful for, or try gratitude meditation to ground your attention on what's actually going right. Even something as simple as naming five honest things about yourself — "I am strong, disciplined, kind" — after a hard day counts.

Over time, this retrains attention that addiction spent years pointing exclusively at what's missing or what hurts. Joy for Living starts with actually noticing the joy — and the research says that's not just a nice idea, it's measurable.

Read the full post: https://pvrecovery.com/blog/gratitude-and-addiction-recovery/

Addiction rarely affects just one person — it affects the whole family system.

That's why Pura Vida offers family & couples counseling, alongside a free-for-life family program, to every client we treat. Loved ones learn how to support someone in early recovery through clear communication and healthy boundaries — skills that don't come naturally just because someone got sober.

Treating the person without treating the family around them only gets you halfway there. Call today to learn more.

“If I go to treatment, am I going to lose my job — or my paycheck?”

These are actually two different questions, with two different answers.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) protects your job, not your paycheck. If you're eligible — generally, you've worked for your employer at least 12 months and logged at least 1,250 hours, and your employer has 50+ employees within 75 miles — FMLA guarantees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for treatment. Your position has to be there when you get back. It just doesn't pay you while you're gone.

That's where Short-Term Disability (STD) insurance comes in — a separate, optional benefit that protects your income instead. Addiction treatment, especially inpatient rehab or an intensive outpatient program, is generally considered a valid reason for a short-term disability claim. Depending on your policy, STD can replace roughly 40-70% of your salary for a period that's often longer than FMLA's 12 weeks — commonly 3 to 6 months.

Used together, FMLA and STD can protect both your job and a real portion of your income while you're in treatment. Neither one is automatic — eligibility depends on your specific employer, plan, and situation — but both exist for exactly this reason, and more people qualify than realize it.

Our admissions team can walk through what this might actually look like for your specific job and policy.