Pura Vida Recovery Services

One month of showing up for this community — here's what we're grateful for.

Every family who trusted us with someone they love. Every scholarship donor who covered a bed we couldn't have funded alone. Every staff member who chose this work again today, including the ones doing it in their own recovery.

Joy for Living was never just our tagline. It's what all of you built with us this month. See you in the next one.

“It's just weed” is one of the more common things families say to minimize a loved one's use — and one of the more common things that delays someone getting help.

Cannabis use disorder is real, clinically recognized, and can absolutely warrant treatment — especially with today's higher-potency products. Minimizing it doesn't protect anyone; it just postpones the conversation.

If something in your family doesn't add up, trust that instinct. Full post linked in bio.



https://pvrecovery.com/blog/marijuana-addiction-is-real-heres-what-to-know/

Recovery isn't just about what you stop doing. It's about what you start doing instead.

Community service and shared experience outside the facility are part of how clients practice being useful, connected, and present again — skills that don't come back automatically just because the substance use stopped.

Getting to treatment shouldn't be the reason someone doesn't go.

Through our partnership with Recovery Transportation Systems, clients without reliable transportation can still get to detox, residential, or outpatient care — free of charge. It's one of the more unglamorous parts of what we do, and one of the most practical.

Recovery Transportation Systems is a California 501(c)(3) non-profit that collaborates with addiction recovery centers to create unique transportation systems for their needs. Our systems allow recovery centers to tap into both ride share companies and volunteers, so they can provide reliable and efficient transportation for program participants committed to long term recovery.

Access isn't just about insurance. Sometimes it's just about a ride.

Meet our team: Dr. Amizetta Clark — Psychiatrist

Dr. Clark leads psychiatric care for clients managing both a substance use disorder and a co-occurring mental health condition — anxiety, depression, trauma, and more. Treating one without the other rarely works; she treats both at once.

In her own words: “I've watched too many people get sober, get sent home, and relapse within a month because nobody ever treated what was underneath. That's not a failure of willpower — that's a failure of care. People don't walk in with separate problems; they walk in with one life. That's why I treat both — it's important.”

📍 Santa Rosa, CA

Grief and addiction share more overlap than most people realize.

Loss — of a person, a relationship, an old version of yourself — can trigger substance use even years into recovery, because grief and craving activate a lot of the same emotional machinery. That's not a character flaw. It's a nervous system looking for the fastest available relief.

Naming that connection early is one of the most protective things you can do for your own recovery. Full post linked in bio.



https://pvrecovery.com/blog/how-grief-can-trigger-substance-use-and-ways-to-cope-healthily/

The honest answer: longer than you want, shorter than you fear.

Early recovery can feel like walking around in someone else's life for a while — new routines, new coping tools, old relationships renegotiated. Most people describe some sense of “normal” returning somewhere between a few months and a year — not because something is broken until then, but because rebuilding an entire life takes the time it takes.

If you're in that in-between place right now: it is temporary, even when it doesn't feel like it.

Not every coping skill we teach is loud.

Cravings and anxiety both spike the nervous system in similar ways — which means learning to slow your breathing on purpose is a real, practical relapse-prevention tool, not just a wellness buzzword. It's simple, it's free, and clients can use it for the rest of their lives.

Pura Vida is a certified Veteran Ready organization through PsychArmor — and we work directly with TriWest as part of the VA's Community Care Network.

Veterans and first responders carry a specific kind of weight into addiction, often tied to things they can't talk about with just anyone. Our team includes people with military and law-enforcement backgrounds themselves — not just clinical training, but lived context.

If that's you or someone you love, we built a track with you specifically in mind.

“I probably can't afford this” is the single biggest reason people wait to get help. Often, it's not true.

Pura Vida is in-network with Kaiser Permanente, Blue Shield of California, TriWest/TriCare (veterans), Aetna, Anthem, Cigna, United Healthcare — and approved for Medi-Cal IOP in Sonoma County.

Send us your plan. We'll tell you exactly what's covered before you commit to anything.