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The Problem with Overused Recovery Phrases

24 Jan 2025 · 1 min

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Amber Hollingsworth (speaker) critiques the use of repetitive recovery phrases and simplistic advice in support-group settings. In this excerpt she notes that well-meaning responses like "if you work it," "keep coming back," and "keep it simple, stupid" can be damaging: they may feel insulting or frustrating when a person faces complex, difficult problems because they reduce nuance and can come across as dismissive.

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Another thing that happens with people in recovery that can be pretty damaging is that repeat recovery phrases and advice that have been told to them. It's almost like a lot of times somebody's in with a problem and you don't know what the answer is. Somebody shares this big sharing group or something, and they're, like, struggling, and then all they can get back from the other people is, it works. If you work it, keep coming back. Keep it simple. Stupid. Right. And we just repeat these recovery phrases or almost like these little quips or sometimes even pieces of advice. And there's a couple. Couple of issues with that. Number one, sometimes that can feel a little bit insulting or frustrating when you're dealing with a very complex and difficult situation. And then somebody just throws this super, like, simplistic thing at you.