The objective of treatment is to get clean and stay sober. Because addiction is a chronic disease, relapse (or the return to use during sobriety) is common and often times a phase of sobriety.
During treatment, you will learn and develop tools prevent relapse, but almost more importantly, we learn how to pick ourselves up after a relapse. Preventative measures are always better than reactive, which is why we hope this article can help you after your time in treatment ends.
Treatment is a controlled environment with the intention of limiting urges and triggers. Once an individual leaves this environment, the potential for relapse is greatly increased! Without professional guidance and the addition of life stressors through relapse prevention therapy, surviving the first couple weeks can be crucial for long-term sobriety.
Tips for Staying Sober After Leaving Treatment
“Staying sober can be just as hard as getting sober!”
Treatment is a lot of self-reflection – learning who you are, and how the world affects you. You develop techniques to help manage your addiction and keep it at bay and maybe more importantly how your addiction itself was formed. This knowledge and understanding is what will help you overcome your addiction and stay sober-strong. Post-treatment is where you put everything you have learned in treatment to practice. Hopefully, your time in drug or alcohol rehabilitation has taught you to live in a way that keeps you strong and you can conquer any stressor without the crutch of drugs. While we hope this is the case, there are ways to make it easier on yourself. Reemerging into everyday life will be challenging at first – your clean and sober, but your lifestyle has changed. This can prove difficult with relationships, work, and your mental state. Fortunately, if you follow these tips, you can alleviate some of these things and set yourself up for your best chance of success.
Participating in Continuing Care Programs
There are a variety of different types of continuing care programs out there. The most common forms are community-based programs like Alcoholics Anonymous. Many treatment centers offer their own kind of programs as well – such as outpatient care and group counseling meetings! To be successful in your sobriety, it takes effort and practice every day. Many decisions are made based on being mindful of your sobriety. This can seem daunting at first, but over time it becomes second-nature. Continual reinforcement of this mindset is a good idea – especially for the first couple years of sobriety. The purpose of these continuing care programs is to maintain this mindset. These programs teach people strategies to cope with post-rehab problems, stress management, tips for maintaining sobriety and avoiding relapse. This is done through counseling sessions – either groups or one-on-one sessions. Gaining a sponsor is also highly suggested. This is primarily done through AA meetings, but it doesn’t have to be. For instance, at Coalition Recovery, we utilize our alumni program and connect newly graduated individuals with previous alumni to help them during there first couple days. Often times you’ll find you need support (usually at odd hours of the day) and you’ll need someone you can rely on and who understands what you are going through. This is why these programs and sponsors are so important.
Halfway Houses
Post-treatment means everything learned during your time in rehab has to be put into effect. This can be difficult when social triggers are too often available. These can be finances, relationships, or work. Often times, those who we love may unintentionally be triggers for us. Halfway houses become a great transition into everyday life. They give people freedom of choice while also surrounding them with like-minded people who also want to be clean. This is not often the case when moving back home or into a prior neighborhood or environment. The first couple months post-treatment are incredibly pivotal for long-term recovery. By being surrounded with other people in recovery, there is no stress against guarding your sobriety. A conventional person’s idea of having fun might be going out to a club or bar. By avoiding these scenarios, you can alleviate a lot of stress. Stress is the major contributor to relapse – and who doesn’t want to be stress-free?
Participate in Sober Activities
It might be sort of strange the first couple days outside of treatment. Friends and family are going to congratulate you and tell you how much they are proud of you – but the overall best feeling is going to be how you feel. You will begin to enjoy and appreciate the little things in life like a coffee with a friend or a jog in the park. Life is going to be bright – which is good obviously – but you also have to remember there will be times when you’ll be reminded of your sobriety. People may unintentionally invite you to places that may not be in your best interest, but realize that having fun does not have to include drinking or doing drugs. The beauty of sobriety is that you’ll be able to experience every activity and place sober – which will feel more authentic and meaningful than before. During sobriety, it is important to keep engaged and not to let yourself be monotnized and bored. Here are some suggested activities:
- Become a member at a gym. It is a good way to met people and keeps you accountable.
- Meditate
- Join a rec sports league in your area. Golf is also a great one!
- Read
- Go back to school or start an online course.
- Learn a new language
- Plant a garden
- Volunteer
- Learn a new hobby – like an instrument or join a chess club
- Boating and fishing. These can be a great therapeutic stress reliever.
Keep your Head up and Stay Motivated
A large part of success is knowing you are walking in the right direction. Looking back on progress can be great motivation for the future. Counting your blessings and always reminding yourself of where you use to be and where you are today will be a great tool for encouragement. Its always good to know how your sobriety is enriching your life – such as improved health, better relationships, improved focus, concentration, efficiency and confidence, better social life etc. A tool we tell our guest here is to journal every day or as much as possible. This is mainly for meditative purposes – it helps ground us as we clearly focus on our goals. There are also a variety of other purposes, like being able to look back and see how far you have come. If you relapse (which can and might happen – it’s a part of the process), you can use your journal as motivation to get back on that horse. Relapse is not a failure, but you must learn from it and come out stronger!
“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
The first couple weeks are the most crucial times for your potential relapse. At Coalition Recovery in Tampa, we understand the importance of setting up for success. Treatment should be much more than just the treatment itself. Preparing our guests for post-treatment life is all a part of our process. Along with the skills you gain to use outside of treatment, we will set you up with a local continuing care program and a delegated sponsor/alumni. If you would like other resources like halfway houses or ongoing clinical support we assist you with these as well. Treatment is about getting clean, but your long-term success depends on what happens after. Set yourself up for success – you got this!!
