Being ready for recovery doesn't mean just finishing addiction treatment. It means making sure all other aspects of someone's life are ready to make the transition to sober living. This is a multi-step process that can take time to complete. Often, people work on this while they are still in treatment, as part of addiction treatment is learning how to stay in recovery. This process is made easier with the help of qualified mental health care professionals.
Even with the help of these professionals, this transitional time can be overwhelming and sometimes even scary for those preparing to finish treatment. That is why addiction treatment facilities work to make this transition as smooth as possible. The more confident the person is in the abilities and skills that they have learned, the longer they will stay in recovery. This is especially true at Pathways Wellness Center, where we utilize several programs to help our clients get ready for recovery.
One way to build confidence is to prepare one's home for a sober life. Someone's home should be a place where they feel secure and safe. People don't often have to think about the safety of their homes besides making sure their smoke detectors work and the doors are locked. For someone in recovery, it requires a different set of criteria to make sure it's safe. This includes enforcing boundaries, removing addiction triggers, and learning how to practice healthy techniques to manage stress.
Those who learn how to keep their homes safe and ready for sober living go on to have long-lasting recovery. For clients to understand how Pathways Wellness Center can help them prepare for recovery, they must first know what a healthy home looks like.
As mentioned above, a home should be safe and comforting to those who live in it. For those in recovery, it means having a space that will reinforce their recovery and give them the strength they need to resist peer pressure and cravings. Perhaps the most obvious thing that must be done to make a home ready for recovery is to remove and not allow the presence of addictive substances. This also includes the removal of paraphernalia, the most common example being pipes for smoking substances. A home ready for recovery should be free of substances that may trigger a relapse.
To have a healthy home, there needs to be firm and healthy boundaries in place. These boundaries are there to allow the individual to be comfortable in their own home and not jeopardize their recovery. An example of a healthy boundary is to request that visitors refrain from consuming addictive substances in their homes. Another is to not pressure the individual to go to places where they may be triggered, such as bars that serve alcohol. Each boundary is different for each person, but they must be respected to have a healthy and safe home.
Another aspect of a healthy home is the removal of toxic people who may jeopardize someone's recovery. Toxic people are defined as those who harm someone by their actions, either deliberately or by willful ignorance. They often pressure those in recovery to use substances again or completely walk all over their boundaries. Such individuals may even berate, judge, or manipulate the person in recovery to suit their own needs. Learning how to cut these people out of one's life is an important part of addiction treatment and recovery.
A healthy home should also have spaces where a person can practice self-care. These are actions someone takes to maintain a healthy mind and body. Self-care tools can range from having an indoor garden to care for to having a basket of fun bath bombs. How someone practices self-care is unique to each individual, but they are still important in reducing stress and promoting relaxation. A home ready for recovery will have places where a person can go to rejuvenate themselves so they can continue their recovery journey, refreshed and renewed.
A relapse is when someone begins to use substances again after stopping for some time. Sometimes it can take years for someone to experience a relapse. At other times, it can be shorter, such as days or weeks. Regardless, a relapse can happen to anyone, and it's important for those ready for recovery to understand how and why they happen. It's why at Pathways Wellness Center, a lot of emphasis is placed on relapse prevention. This is a program that teaches clients how to recognize, navigate, and prevent a relapse.
The most common reasons why a person may relapse is because of peer pressure and being overwhelmed by stress or difficulties. Having a safe and supportive home can help mitigate these causes. Clients at Pathways Wellness Center are indeed taught stress management techniques, but it's hard to practice them properly in a chaotic and equally stressful environment. Having a home with minimal stress and places to properly unwind can go a long way in relapse prevention. Utilizing strong boundaries is another, as well as learning how to remove problematic people from their homes.
Being ready for recovery means that a person can surround themself with supportive and loving people. Having a home full of people who care and engage in exciting, sober activities also helps in relapse prevention. It's easier to resist a craving if someone is too busy white water rafting or riding a horse. Being active and engaged with others allows people to fill their lives with joy, leaving little room for addictive substances. Even those who are more introverted can still experience a healthy home by engaging in quieter, but still exciting, activities, such as hiking and bird watching.
An often overlooked aspect of recovery is healthy living. This means eating well, getting proper rest and sleep, and engaging in a form of exercise. Someone ready for recovery isn't just removing addiction from their lives, it's improving their lives overall. Others may find going to school or learning a new skill or trade to be deeply satisfying. When someone feels better in both mind and body, they are less likely to engage in substance use.
As mentioned before, part of addiction treatment is learning the skills needed to navigate life after treatment has finished. Much of this boils down to stress management and building mental fortitude. This allows someone to face the troubles that come with life without resorting to substance use. For many people, addictions happen because they are attempting to treat their stress, pain, or grief through substance use. Once they became tolerant of the substance, they were forced to use it more and more until they developed an addiction. The underlying pain that causes the addiction is addressed in treatment. Learning how to prevent pain from resulting in substance use is part of treatment as well.
The two main treatments used to help build these skills are cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). Both are types of psychotherapy, but each plays a different role in addiction treatment. CBT helps people recognize and change harmful thinking patterns and behaviors as well as teaches coping skills. DBT helps people regulate their emotions and build up distress tolerance, which helps them manage and accept painful emotions. Using one or both goes a long way in helping someone get ready for recovery.
Pathways Wellness Center also offers other programs that promote healthy living. Perhaps one of the most well-known of these is art therapy. This is a program that utilizes art to help clients express complicated emotions that may otherwise be difficult to verbalize. It promotes creativity and gives clients a healthy hobby to occupy their time during and after treatment. Adventure therapy is also suitable to help a client get ready for recovery. Adventure therapy uses the healing power of nature to promote mindfulness, self-discovery, and joy. When someone finds genuine happiness, it makes it easier to resist and ignore the cravings that come with post-treatment.
Perhaps the most useful program that helps clients get ready for recovery is the peer network program. This connects clients with others currently in or who have finished addiction treatment so they can build a support network. It allows clients to interact with people who are in a similar situation. From there, they can support each other and share hard-earned wisdom. Not only can this help someone prepare their home for a sober life, but it can also offer lifelong and satisfying friendships. Humans need companionship to be healthy, and a support network of other sober individuals can help someone stay in recovery.
What makes Pathways Wellness Center stand out as an addiction treatment facility is our individual and personalized treatment programs. Clients are not just shoved into a generic plan with no oversight or customization. Instead, every individual is treated with care to help them get ready for recovery. Every client is individually evaluated with the help of a case manager, who works closely with the client to come up with a personalized treatment program. These programs are a collaborative effort, and clients have a lot of power over their treatment.
Clients also can simply talk with their treatment providers and expect to be listened to fully. It's okay to have a lot of questions. Addiction treatment can be scary and it's normal to feel unsure. That is why the staff at Pathways Wellness Center are open to discuss whatever a client needs. Usually, this is done through psychotherapy, as a treatment session can be spent on asking questions. Addiction treatment goes on as long as it has to, so clients don't have to feel rushed or hurried when it comes to their treatment. They can take their time so they can feel ready for recovery.
Treatment may be individualized, but some therapies take place in groups. Clients have a choice to participate in therapies such as group therapy and family therapy to help them recover from addiction and build healthy relationships. They can and often do help clients prepare for life after treatment. It's during these therapies that they can repair relationships or recognize toxic ones. Learning how to navigate personal and familial relationships is important to having a healthy sober home.
Throughout addiction treatment, the mental health care professionals and treatment providers at Pathways Wellness Center work hard to prepare clients the best they can. Workshops are common, where clients can learn life skills such as creating a resume or keeping a home clean. Clients are introduced to local hobbies where they can take advantage of the sober community in Glendora. It's here that a client can understand when they are truly ready for recovery and, subsequently, a sober life.
This is a question everyone will ask themselves at some point in their recovery journey. It's highly personal and only an individual can truly know when they are ready for recovery. A mental health care professional can do all they can to prepare someone for recovery, but it's up to the individual to make the changes needed to accomplish it. This question is often asked before and during treatment, and both are the catalysts needed to make healthy life changes.
When someone is struggling with addiction, they hit a point in their lives when they realize that they have a problem. These realizations can come from many places, but most often they come from facing legal troubles, losing a job, or harming their relationships with their loved ones. Being ready for recovery before treatment involves facing some hard truths, which are:
Someone in treatment may have some personal criteria that they feel they need to meet before they feel ready for recovery. They have already put in the work to beat their addiction, it's now about preparing to begin a sober life. Some common examples of criteria that show a client may be ready are:
Again, it's up to the individual to know for sure if they are ready or not. However, there is a safety net in place to help clients transition fully from post-treatment to sober living. With the skills learned in treatment and the support provided, anyone can stay in recovery.
The most important thing a client can learn at Pathways Wellness Center is that they are never truly alone. Clients at Pathways Wellness Center have access to a wealth of support and information. Mostly, this is access to fellow alumni who are glad to help new alumni live a fulfilling sober life. Other times this comes in the form of resources to help someone learn how to manage their home, school, and work life. For the most part, it's helping clients see the community they have missed while they were trapped in their addiction.
Just because a client has finished treatment doesn't mean that they can't continue receiving help. Many people who complete addiction treatment may still utilize individual therapy, such as psychotherapy, to help them navigate their lives. This is quite common, and it's not a mark of failure or shame to continue to need help. Sometimes an individual will complete addiction treatment and receive psychotherapy afterward for a few months to a year, just to make sure they feel confident in their recovery.
However, recovery cannot begin without someone first receiving treatment for their addiction. There is hope, as anyone can recover from an addiction if they truly want to. All it takes is for someone to reach out for help to take the first step toward living a sober life.
It's always a cause for celebration when someone finishes their addiction treatment and achieves recovery. However, it is important to make sure that their environment is healthy and will support their recovery. Sometimes it causes people anxiety, as they worry that they have missed something important needed for a healthy, post-treatment life. Here at Pathways Wellness Center in Glendora, California, clients learn how to prepare their homes for recovery under the guidance of mental health care professionals. Our experts help clients understand what makes a healthy environment and how to maintain it to prevent the likelihood of a relapse. To learn more about addiction treatment and post-treatment programs offered at Pathways Wellness Center, call (888) 771-0966 today.
