Supporting Hope, Healing, & Wellness in the New Year!
Hope Monthly – January 2026
Mental wellness, treatment that works, and support for families.
Mental Wellness Month
January is Mental Wellness Month, but the new year often comes with pressure to reset, improve, or get everything right. But at The Virtue Center, we believe in a different approach.
We believe in progress over perfection. Healing is not about dramatic changes overnight. It is about steady steps, consistent support, and meeting people where they are.
One way to support mental and physical wellness is through movement. Our free yoga classes are designed to be accessible and grounding, offering space to slow down, reconnect, and build strength without pressure.
Free Gentle Yoga is hosted every Tuesday from 12:00–12:45 PM at The Virtue Center.
Anyone is free to join. Mats and yoga blocks are provided.
Another way to support mental wellness for family members and friends of those facing substance use challenges is through our free group, Family Pathways.
Family Pathways resumes every Tuesday beginning January 13th from 5:30 to 7:00 PM.
Registration is free. To sign up, please call our office at 405-321-0022.
People Aren’t Projects (including you)
Written by Sarah West, LPC
The New Year’s holiday is actually one of my favorites of the season. At its best, new years can be an opportunity to recall the past year, assess whether you’ve been living according to your values, and commit to making adjustments in a fresh new calendar in a spirit of self-care.
At its worst, however, new years can become an annual checkbox of all the ways I haven’t measured up this year. A yearly rejection of who I am right in this moment in favor of who I could become in the next 12 months with the right to-do list. We then set off in a spirit of anxious striving to meet these unrealistic expectations.
Those who struggle with codependency have a tendency to psychologically turn the people they are helping into “projects”. It’s evident in phrases such as, “I need ___ to realize…” or simply holding expectations for who this person will become after I’ve made my investment. It starts with charitable empathy, but twists into resentment, control, and disappointment.
I realized this tendency with horror early on in my own codependency recovery and have diligently worked to avoid it in my relationships with others since, only to realize that it didn’t go away: it snuck into my relationship with myself instead.
A downside of our self-improvement culture is that for some, making goals and reflecting on progress has shifted from being a formal, conscious activity that we engage in quarterly or yearly to being a continual, subconscious sense of being our own constant project.
It’s not fun to feel like a project, when people do it to you or when we do it to ourselves. Celebration of “progress” or accomplishing goals fades quickly because there’s always a next benchmark to hit. The self-care intention of setting goals turns into an exercise in covert self-neglect by pushing the reward of self-acceptance always just around the corner.
New Year’s reminds me that I’m not a project, I’m a person, and I don’t have to overcome this fact before being content. Before dreaming big for 2026, I plan to take plenty of time in gratitude for positive change I’ve already made and practice mindful stillness for how things are right now. While it’s true that we’ve never quite arrived, that doesn’t mean that I’m “never quite enough”.
Substance Use Disorder Treatment Month
January is Substance Use Disorder Treatment Month, and the 2026 theme from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reminds us of a simple but powerful truth: treatment works.
In Oklahoma, opioid-related harm continues to affect individuals, families, and communities. Access to treatment can be the difference between ongoing struggle and the opportunity for stability, recovery, and healing.
At The Virtue Center, we see this impact firsthand. When people receive consistent care, whether through therapy, group support, or recovery services, outcomes improve. Lives stabilize. Families grow stronger. Communities become safer.
Treatment works when it is accessible, compassionate, and supported. That is the work we remain committed to every day.
Club Hope Donor Spotlight: Koree Vanzant
Our first Club Hope member joined with intention and without hesitation.
“I first met Teresa through BNI, a networking group we both attend. The moment I learned what The Virtue Center was about, I knew I wanted to help in some way.
I have struggled with substance use since my youth and am now four years sober. It was people and places like this that helped save my life, my marriage, my family, and my career.
When Teresa told me about Club Hope, there was no hesitation in joining. Substance use impacts not only the individual, but families as well. I encourage others to consider joining. The mission is a worthy one.”
Club Hope is a community of donors giving $25 or more each month to help hope grow through treatment and recovery.
As we begin the year, thank you for standing with us. Your support helps make progress possible, one step at a time, and ensures that care remains accessible throughout our community.
