Entering into a drug and alcohol addiction treatment center can be both exciting and unnerving. After all, you’ll be taking the first and most important step towards reclaiming your life. You’ll also be tackling the greatest challenge that you’ve ever faced. For many people, the idea of spending one or more months focusing solely on addiction and the strategies for overcoming it is less than appealing. In reality, however, treatment centers are designed to address a very broad range of issues.
That’s because the most common underlying causes of addiction are both diverse and widespread. From living environments and enabling family members to past traumatic events and co-existing disorders, there’s a lot that counselors and other onsite professionals must cover to fully prepare their clients for re-entry into the outside world. As such, these programs often take a very multi-pronged approach to creating lifestyles, life habits, and mindsets that will support long-term success in recovery. You’ll also be excited to know that drug and alcohol addiction treatment places a very strong focus on helping people find a sense of purpose, and establish stable and successful lives.
Once you exit treatment, you’ll want to have ample reasons and plenty of motivation for keeping your sobriety on track. Some of the most common reasons why people relapse are:
- Financial instability
- Lack of stable housing
- Lack of meaningful relationships
- Insufficient ongoing support
Preventative strategies for removing these and other stumbling-blocks are constantly leveraged as part of treatment. Thus, although your treatment will invariably start with supported detox and therapies for helping you get through the challenging period of withdrawal, these services will quickly move towards helping your better yourself, and helping you find ways to safely and healthily enjoy your life more fully. Read on to learn more about the many things that your treatment will focus on as you move closer towards becoming the sober, successful, and ultimately happy person that you’ve always wanted to be.
Addressing Comorbidity, Life Habits, Personal Goals, And Relationships
Drug and alcohol addiction are now medically termed as substance use disorder. More often than not, substance use disorder coexists with other mental health issues. For instance, a lot of people begin drinking heavily or using drugs as a way to dull overwhelming emotional angst or pain. People who live with undiagnosed issues such as anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, bi-polar disorder, and depression frequently treat themselves. By medically addressing the problems that these individuals have been trying to self-treat, rehab professionals can essentially eliminate their underlying reasons for using. Learning how to safely manage co-occurring illnesses or comorbidity makes it easier for patients to maintain their sobriety long-term.
Although very common, comorbidity certainly isn’t the only reason why people turn to drugs or alcohol. During your time in treatment, you’ll have the opportunity talk about traumatic life events, negative behavioral conditioning, low self-esteem, guilt, and any other issues that may have led you to use. Working with licensed counselors in both private and group settings, you’ll learn how to identify the different triggers, enablers, relationships, and environments that have ultimately contributed to your substance abuse in the past. You will also learn strategies for coping with discomfort and pain that align with your recovery goals. Stress management techniques and therapies for naturally improving both your physical and emotional well-being will also be shared. Learning how to establish positive and healthy relationships is also a key part of the recovery process.
Group therapy will improve your listening and communication skills even as it gives you the chance to make like-minded friends. Patients are taught about the importance of boundary-setting and other strategies for keeping themselves and their recovery efforts protected. Group therapy meetings are also a great time for patients to start the process of life-planning. Life-planning sessions are all about creating stability post-treatment so that recovery isn’t challenged by preventable stress. If you’ve ever wanted to pursue a specific job or career, you’ll be given the right tips, tools and resources for doing so. Counselors will give you in-depth information on finding affordable and needs-specific housing opportunities, legal aid, and various forms of post-treatment support.
By the time your treatment is over, you’ll be more well-rounded, more confident, and far better able to face the challenges of the outside world without relapsing. If you’re eager to start working towards a positive, healthy, and addiction-free future, we can help you get started. Call us today at 833-364-0736.