For some, the idea of sober living can be impossible. With how tight the grip of addiction can be, it's hard for some to believe that such a life can be possible. Many people struggling with addiction right now may feel as though they are beyond help, or are undeserving of it. The truth is that anyone can achieve recovery. It takes hard work, proper treatment, and time, but recovery is not out of reach for those willing to accept the help to achieve it. Living a healthy, sober lifestyle is a goal anyone can achieve. It's never too late for addiction treatment, and everyone deserves compassionate and quality health care.
Looking to the future at the best of times can be frightening, even more so for those undergoing addiction treatment. There is a lot of uncertainty that can color someone's perspective and make them give up before they even try. That is why at Pathways Wellness Center, care is taken to encourage our clients to keep going. Many of the staff members who work at Pathways Wellness Center are in recovery themselves, proving that recovery is certainly possible. A sober lifestyle while in recovery may be the end goal, but the journey is just as important.
But what does a sober lifestyle mean, and why might someone be intimidated by the idea of transitioning to it? To understand why, someone must understand the changes that must be made, and what must be done to continue living in sobriety.
Simply put, a sober lifestyle means living while completely abstaining from addictive substances. This is especially important for those who are struggling with or have recovered from an addiction. The goal of treatment is to help someone not just recover from the addiction itself, but also teach them how to use healthy coping skills when life becomes difficult. This way, someone doesn't feel like they have to have to use substances to make themselves feel temporarily better.
A sober lifestyle also means staying away from triggers that can cause a relapse. A relapse is when someone begins to use substances again after they have stopped for a while. Pathways Wellness Center spends a good portion of addiction treatment teaching clients how to avoid them. Each trigger is unique to every individual, but there are universal triggers that can harm those who are in recovery. For example, a person in recovery from alcoholism should avoid bars and someone recovering from a nicotine addiction should avoid places where people heavily smoke.
People living a sober lifestyle also need to be careful of the company they keep. Many times a relapse is caused by peer pressure and the ignoring of boundaries. Sometimes it's necessary to cut toxic people out of one's life to protect themselves and their recovery. It can be difficult to do, but sometimes a friend is not a friend. Learning how to distinguish who is a toxic person and who is a supportive person is another part of addiction treatment at Pathways Wellness Center.
Living a sober lifestyle takes a lot of serious life changes. It means sometimes having to rethink friendships or moving to a healthier environment. Some people have even needed to cut out toxic families and build one of their choosing. People living a sober lifestyle have to make decisions every day to stay sober, and sometimes, they are hard decisions. But, there is more to living a sober lifestyle than making serious life changes. It's learning why it's important to live in the first place.
Living a sober lifestyle is important for those in addiction treatment to strive for because it brings hope that life can get better. When someone is trapped in an addiction, it's all they can think about. There's no time to discover a new hobby or learn a new skill. It's just the addiction and the all-consuming need to satisfy that addiction. Once someone is in recovery, they are free. Of course, recovery is a life-long battle, and people do experience cravings from time to time. However, with the right support, people go on to live full and happy lives.
This leaves time for those in recovery to do whatever they want. They can choose to pursue an education or a career. Some take on exciting hobbies, like paintball or horseback riding. Others may find comfort in creating a simple box garden in their window. Addiction takes up a lot of time, money, and health. Once the addiction is broken, there is a surplus of time and money now available for self-discovery and fun. People also tend to feel better and healthier once they begin living a sober lifestyle.
Many times, people work to give back to the communities that have helped them. Some do this because they want to leave a positive impact on the world now that they can do so. Others want to help others avoid the same difficulties they faced and become mentors to those working on their recovery. As people build up their confidence from addiction treatment, they learn that their lives have meaning and they can make a change in the world. These feelings of self-worth and belonging must be cultivated, and whole communities around living a sober lifestyle exist to foster these feelings.
Living a sober lifestyle does involve making a lot of serious life changes. It can also mean becoming an example to others, and that can be difficult for some people to come to terms with. Recovery and sobriety, however, are well worth the time and effort it takes to complete treatment. But how does one learn to live a sober life? How does an individual make the changes they need to stay in recovery? The answer to these questions is to seek professional help.
Those who enter addiction treatment at Pathways Wellness Center will have access to several treatments and therapies that help prepare them for a sober lifestyle. Every single treatment is designed to teach the client the skills they need to succeed outside of treatment.
For example, some of the most popular therapies offered at Pathways Wellness Center are art therapy and adventure therapy. They help clients build up confidence and express their feelings during treatment so they can focus on healing. However, it also teaches clients a way to manage their feelings when treatment is finished. Learning how to put paint on a canvas instead of taking a substance to deal with a negative emotion is valuable in keeping someone in recovery.
Pathways Wellness Center also treats underlying mental health disorders that may co-occur with addiction. Disorders like depression and anxiety disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are all common co-occurring mental health disorders. By providing treatment for them alongside addiction, we help our clients heal. Some disorders are life-long, but clients can learn how to manage their disorders healthily, instead of using substances to self-medicate. Many times, these disorders can be masked under an addiction. Only by seeking help from a mental health care professional can someone get an accurate diagnosis.
Relapse prevention is another important part of addiction treatment at Pathways Wellness Center. Clients are not ready to live a sober life if they don't know what a relapse is and how to recognize when they may be in danger of a relapse. Care is taken to teach clients how to manage triggers, resist peer pressure, and set healthy boundaries. It's also emphasized that people are not bad or a failure for experiencing a relapse. They just need to seek help right away to get further treatment. There is no shame in asking for help at any time, even after addiction treatment is finished.
Pathways Wellness Center also has a wealth of collected resources and knowledge that is available to clients at any time. Many staff members are in recovery themselves and can give real-world advice about what it's like to be in recovery. It's perfectly acceptable to ask staff members about what living sober means and what it took to change their lives to achieve it. Coupled with quality addiction treatment, clients are given as much preparation as possible before it's time for them to begin their new lives.
Before clients leave the care of Pathways Wellness Center, they will have a support network established. Usually, this is done through family therapy, which helps families understand addiction and support their loved one receiving addiction treatment. Sometimes this is not enough, or a person doesn't have a family to fall back on. That is why there is an extensive peer support network throughout Pathways Wellness Center. It's made up of peers, alumni, and others who have experienced addiction and its treatment. There, they can give someone the healthy support and companionship they need to remain sober.
Therapists and other treatment providers will also help the client examine their living situation and determine if it is beneficial or detrimental to their recovery. If someone needs to move out of an unhealthy environment, a therapist can help the client by pointing them to specific resources or helping them make healthy choices. Living a sober life means being in a place that encourages healing, peace, and comfort. If a current home provides neither of those, a therapist can help the client find a place that does, such as a sober living residential environment. This also includes examining current relationships and determining if they are toxic or not.
Pathways Wellness Center is also heavily involved in the surrounding community. If someone doesn't know what to do after treatment, a staff member will be able to give them advice. They will sometimes know about upcoming community events, new hobby clubs, and volunteer opportunities. This allows clients and alumni to find new activities to do that promote positivity and a healthy, sober lifestyle.
Treatment also doesn't suddenly stop. It's instead tapered out, needing less and less time as the client improves. Clients don't need to fear being suddenly kicked to the curb. Treatments last as long as the client needs them to. When they do end, clients are encouraged to check in at any time they need help. Think of it like training wheels on a bike. Pathways Wellness Center will offer support to a client until they feel ready to go off on their own. Once they are gone, they know that they can always return should they ever need additional help.
A sober lifestyle is a lot of work. Sometimes it can even be intimidating to people, especially those still struggling with an addiction. Through addiction treatment, people learn valuable skills that can make life a little easier. It takes less time and effort to utilize a healthy coping skill compared to an unhealthy one. Through therapy and treatment, clients at Pathways Wellness Center don't just beat their addiction, they learn how to be healthy people.
Another aspect of living a sober lifestyle is understanding that everyone deserves to have a sober life. Addiction is not a punishment for a moral failing. It's also not the mark of a bad person. Addictions can happen for a multitude of reasons, many of which are beyond a person's control. It can be difficult for some to accept that it's okay to be happy, especially if they made several mistakes in the past. Living a sober lifestyle offers the opportunity to begin again with the ability to make healthier choices. It also offers alumni the chance to prove to others that they can make amends to those they may have hurt and forge stronger relationships in the process.
It's also important for those who want to live a sober life to find what brings them joy. Pathways Wellness Center can certainly help someone explore experiences and hobbies to help them find happiness. However, it's up to the individual to determine what happiness means to them. It can be anything from reading a good book during a rainstorm to building houses for those in need. Living a sober lifestyle means abstaining from substances, but it also means finding reasons why one doesn't need substances to artificially create happiness.
It's okay for someone to take time to consider what it means to live, as it's a question that everyone asks themselves from time to time. For those recovering from addiction, it can take a while to fully process what it means to live without their addiction. It becomes such a huge part of someone's life that some may think that their addiction is a fundamental part of their personality. Untangling these unhealthy thoughts takes time, understanding, and support. But once they are gone, people can finally see that there is more to life than their addiction.
Achieving recovery and a healthy, sober lifestyle is not an impossible feat. Anyone, regardless of who they are and where they come from, can learn how to live a sober life. Step one is to admit to oneself that they need help for their addiction. The second step is to reach out to a qualified addiction treatment facility to receive treatment, such as Pathways Wellness Center. These are places staffed with qualified mental health care professionals who work hard to help people recover from their addiction.
For those afraid of judgment or ridicule, know that no mental health care professional will ever judge someone for struggling with an addiction. They understand that those struggling with addiction are people, and are worthy of compassion and care. If an addiction treatment facility cannot treat a particular addiction, it will help the person in need find a facility that can. They are also available to answer questions that someone may have or point them to much-needed resources.
It's never too late to get help. As long as a person wants to recover, they can eventually beat their addiction and live a sober life. All it takes to start the journey is to reach out and ask for help.
Learning how to transition into a sober lifestyle is an important part of the recovery process. Once someone finishes treatment, they must know how to navigate all the triggers and pitfalls that could potentially cause a relapse. Luckily, nobody has to make this transition by themselves. Here at Pathways Wellness Center in Glendora, California, we give our clients the tools they need to succeed during and after treatment. Our clients can utilize a wide variety of treatments and therapies with compassionate, and quality care. Even when treatment is finished, clients are always welcome to return for advice, resources, or even a sympathetic ear. Anyone can live a sober, happy life, so don't delay. Call (888) 771-0966 today.
