3 Hard Questions to Ask Yourself Before Integration

Jun 22, 2021

3 Hard Questions to Ask Yourself Before Integration

Addiction recovery requires lots of soul-searching — and that’s no easy task. Soul-searching requires you to dig deep into the worst parts of yourself, the best parts of yourself, and everything in between. This process comes with lots of conviction, lots of wrestling, and lots of hard work.

Odds are, this far along in your addiction recovery process, you’ve already done lots of soul-searching. You’ve asked hard questions, faced tough answers, and made the incredible, humbling decision to find help. At Renaissance Ranch, we applaud this big step in your healing journey.

Just as you had to come face-to-face with some hard questions at the beginning of this process, you must now come back to that same place of humility and ask yourself a few more questions. Unfortunately, these questions don’t get any easier.

Meanwhile, thanks to treatment and all the hard work you’ve put into recovery, you have so many more tools to not only face these questions but work through some healthy answers. As a way to ease some of the intensity and walk alongside you in this part of integration prep, we invite you to check out a few hard questions. You can begin to wrestle through these as you prepare to graduate the program and lead a new, healthy, substance abuse-free life:

1. How can I best approach/handle those whom I hurt?

Unfortunately, substance abuse doesn’t just affect the abuser, but it impacts loved ones, too. Once you’ve gone through treatment and learned to forgive yourself, it’s time to not only integrate back into your community but to decide how to approach and/or handle loved ones who were hurt before.

This isn’t only hard, it’s scary. It’s intimidating, unsettling, and quite humbling — but part of your healing process includes how you navigate former relationships and prepare to create new ones.

Before integration is in full swing, talk with staff members or a trusted counselor about the best avenues for working through hurt with different family and friends. Since different people have different personalities (and different experiences with you), it’s important to address each person in a unique way suited best for them and you.

Be patient and understanding as you step out and ask for a chance to ask forgiveness or have a conversation over coffee. Understand that they are healing too, but take pride in how far you’ve come and invite loved ones into a place of appreciation and celebration.

2. Who am I?

Treatment has given you the chance to wrestle with this question, but, no doubt, the answer hasn’t come overnight. In fact, you might still be in a place where you don’t fully understand who you are. You’ve undergone a drastic change, challenging your spirit, your beliefs, the core of who you are, and now that you’ve done the grunt work, you get to sit back and piece together just who you are.

This is a tough one, so take your time — no need to rush fully understanding yourself. After all, nearly everyone spends their entire lives discovering this. Meanwhile, sit down and recognize what’s most important to you and list out those values. It’s important to visualize those values on a daily basis, as it serves as a tool of encouragement and endurance.

3. Who will I be?

This is another not-so-black-and-white answer since no one knows the future, and while the thought of relapse, mess-ups, or severed relationships creates fear, this isn’t the time or place to let fear rule how you make life decisions, thus shaping your tomorrow.

This is a time to recognize how far you’ve come, the moves you’re making now to continue healing and growing, and the rewards that will come in the future as you continue to put healthy rhythms and routines into practice.

Who you will be is part of who you are now; the person who’s valuing what they’ve learned and choosing to nurture healthy habits and foster healthy relationships. Have faith in the process, faith in the practice, faith in the people who are supporting you, and faith in yourself as you continue to prioritize the overall healing of mind, body, and spirit.

Reintegration is both exciting and nerve-wracking, and while there are so many questions that need to be wrestled through, you don’t have to do it alone. Feel free to ask someone you trust to walk through these tough questions with you, providing insight from the outside that won’t be skewed with any of the fear and anxiety you might carry. Let someone who believes in you speak truth into your present and future.

Here at Renaissance Ranch, we value not only your addiction recovery, but we value your passions and interests that will take you so far in life, even after completing our program. It’s important to understand what your next steps are with your career, education, and community involvement, but before you can get to any of that, you must first face a few tough questions about who you are and where you’re going — and you must wrestle through the answers, too. While this can be intimidating and scary, we at Renaissance Ranch are happy to help you map out answers and solutions to some of your toughest questions. You put in all the hard work, took all the necessary steps to make recovery such a vital priority in your journey, and now, we celebrate this next step with you. It’s important to be mindful of not only what you’ve accomplished, but what you will accomplish in the future. With programs ranging from alumni retreats to family recovery treatment, you are sure to find the support that suits your individual needs at Renaissance Ranch. For more information, call us today at (801) 308-8898.