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Leaving treatment is scary. You have to learn how to face old life challenges without the readily available support found in the treatment setting. The important thing to remember is treatment has equipped you with the ability to face the triggers and stressors of your life with success. However, treatment did not eradicate all of the problems, nor did it make your stressors easier to face. Understanding the importance of staying recovery-focused will enable you to better address the changes you need to keep making to ensure continued recovery.
As you leave treatment, you need to be prepared to face your old life. However, your life will be dramatically different. You will have learned how to change people, places, and things. Upon leaving treatment, you will need to enact those plans and start building your new life.
As you begin your adventure into wellness, remember that you are allowed to take up space. Recovery does not happen overnight. You now need to allow yourself to make those changes that will ensure your success.
Changes That Need to Be Made
#1. Get Rid of Paraphernalia
Having items in the house that make using alcohol or other substances more likely to occur will destroy your recovery. Get rid of alcohol, bongs, needles, unnecessary medical supplies, and anything that makes it easy to return to your addiction. You want to have as much distance between yourself and old behaviors as possible. Do you need to have those items? If you take your promise to yourself to recover, then the answer is no.
#2. Change Your Patterns
If you know that going by the bar or a certain part of town will set you up for relapse, then find another way to get to where you are going. Going out of your way to avoid those triggers is more beneficial than relapsing because you were unwilling to change your travel patterns.
If you know that sitting in your favorite chair next to your favorite side table will make you want to use alcohol or other substances, rearrange your furniture, or even get rid of the chair and table. Find a new favorite way of relaxing that does not bring up memories of using or makes you more likely to relapse.
There are multiple patterns in your life that you will have to change to ensure your success. You will have to relearn how to relax and how to deal with everyday events. These triggers were not present when you were in treatment, but now, you have to face them head-on. The best thing you can do is eradicate them. Change your patterns and improve your recovery.
#3. Adapt Your Coping Skills
You learned coping skills in treatment and practiced them. Do not think that you can quit practicing your coping skills. Now, you need them to face your daily stressors. Adapt how you cope with each stressor. If you find yourself wanting to use alcohol or other substances to avoid lashing out or to relax, you need to think about what helped you in treatment and how you can use them in your life of recovery outside of treatment. Try writing a letter, or going for a walk. Join a gym to let out your extra energy and boost your endorphins. Exercise will only help your recovery and your ability to tolerate stress.
#4. Evaluate Your Self-Talk
Your recovery mindset is a reflection of how you talk to yourself. If you are belittling yourself for struggling, you are more likely to relapse. Believing yourself to be less than you are strengthens the idea that you cannot recover nor are deserving of the life you want.
Change your self-talk. When you believe in yourself, you are improving your recovery and your chances of success. No one is perfect, and encouraging yourself amid a struggle is more likely to help you through the struggle than beating yourself up will.
Keeping a recovery mindset is all-encompassing at the beginning of life outside of treatment. It requires an active pursuit of wellness. Recovery is never easy but can be accomplished by evaluating the items in your life that promote relapse and evaluating thoughts and actions that lead to either relapse or recovery. You are in charge of your life and your decisions. Those decisions can either lead to building a better life or can hinder your recovery. You cannot be responsible for anyone else’s recovery, but you can make solid decisions to maintain your own.
A recovery mindset is built during treatment but must be maintained after leaving treatment. Having the skills to make the right decisions is a part of treatment, but ultimately you are in charge of your own recovery. Keeping this in mind, you will need to make effective changes to ensure your success. At Renaissance Ranch, we help you through making these decisions. Whether you are just now considering recovery or have been pursuing recovery for a while, we offer support for every stage of the process. We offer inpatient detoxification, residential, and outpatient (in-person and online) programs. We also offer family services, a sober living home, and the Band of Brothers alumni support group for those who complete our program. You are not alone in your pursuit of recovery. If you or someone you know needs additional help in recovery, reach out to Renaissance Ranch today at (801) 308-8898 and learn how to develop a recovery mindset today.