Kim Rosenthal, MD
Psychiatrist and Author
Outside-the-Box Recovery
Welcome to kimrosenthalmd.com, a world where recovery and mental health reign and everyone wins the lottery at least once/year.
I’m Dr. Kim, and my website features over 120+ mental health articles and more than a dozen Outside-the-Box Recovery booklets. Here you’ll find the unexpected: illustrations, cartoons, art therapy, creative writing, puzzles, coloring pages, and an odd sense of humor.
We’re also home to the OTB Recovery movement, the purpose to promote sober living through creativity, fun, and clinically-relevant recovery workbooks, a great resource for providers and their SUD clients! Check out our bookstore for more information.
Thanks for visiting — and don’t move. Your lottery ticket is on its way.
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Available now on Amazon!!
The Second OTB Recovery Workbook!!

Illustrated, humored, and clinically-relevant, The Second Outside-the-Box Recovery Workbook offers a unique, friendly, and creative approach to early recovery.
As book and reader figure out how to survive the devastation of addiction, we also laugh a bit. Recovery needs a smile, doesn’t it? Surely there’s room for play, even silliness? Over time, readers will find joy in who they are, the people they’ve chosen in their lives, and a future with great potential — if only they reach for it. This workbook walks alongside as they embark on this journey.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT OTB 2
I have the FIRST OTB Recovery Workbook. Apart from the shiny new name, how is the SECOND different?
Like the first, the SECOND book houses the basic framework of relapse prevention. It explores the reader’s relationship with their substance use disorder and reasons for pursuing recovery. However, the SECOND workbook in inspired by the Matrix Model, and it includes new themes, like gratitude, mindfulness, journaling, honesty, and self-worth. It also explores CBT and urge management from a fresh, new perspective.
How long is the book? How many worksheets?
We’re measuring 164 pages, twenty-five worksheets. You’ll also find a recovery plan, three extra worksheets, and nine “Take-a-Break” puzzle sheets, as well as an extended “For Professionals” Section, where each worksheet is discussed.
When are you going to write a different type of book, like OTB Car Repair or OTB Studies in Karate?
Hmmmn. Good question. We’ve already written Outside-the-Box Colorful Socks, but that wasn’t all that successful. Sorry, we can’t sell Outside-the-Box Confessing All Secrets, no matter what they say. As for car repair and karate, uhm… let me know if you’re interested.
Where can I get a copy of the workbook?
That’s easy! It’s available on Amazon. Just click on the button below.
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Curious about Asperger’s, Antidepressants, Cognitive therapy, or Healing Relationships? Mental Health and You is a blog with 120+ articles devoted to improving understanding and resilience. If you need something to read, start here.
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About the Author
I’ve worked with people with substance use disorders for many years. They tell me quitting drugs is painful. Often they feel broadsided by recovery, the holy grail that comes with lots of rules, lectures from well-meaning family members, and mundane addiction treatment manuals. “Newbies” crave motivation. They need sober excitement and humor. Instead, they struggle with futility. The past is too dangerous to visit. The future is unknown and frightening. The “now” is overrun with obstacles and consequences. Recovery is no easy voyage. It takes strength to survive this journey. Many don’t.
As professionals, we see a high relapse rate. We also lose patients. It’s disheartening. What can we do differently? How can we motivate our clients? How can we spice things up?
I started Outside-the-Box Recovery to help professionals help clients outlive drug and alcohol problems. OTB Recovery walks alongside providers and clients during difficult moments, offering a unique, friendly, and hopeful approach to a challenging task. Together we figure out how to survive the devastation of addiction. Together we laugh a bit and seek joy too. There’s a place for play, even silliness, because early recovery isn’t necessarily filled with humor. But we need humor, don’t we?
For more information about me, check out my About page.
Testimonials
“Dr. Rosenthal’s best strength was her tremendous amount of empathy and humanistic qualities that she showed to all of our patients.”
– Austin Williams, MD. Internal Medicine. Houston, TX.
“Kim Rosenthal has a lively and curious mind linked to vigorous standards of patient care. I have always been impressed with her thoroughness and thoughtfulness in formulating diagnoses and treatment…. I could always count on Dr. Rosenthal to go the extra mile, the extra minute with a patient, a pause for the medical student, time to reflect and wonder with her colleagues. Dr. Rosenthal is multilingual and multicultural, bringing many personal gifts to her work.”
– Kathleen Schwarz, MD. Psychiatrist/internal medicine. Charlottesville, Virginia