What kind of support do you need in an Addiction Recovery Solution?

There aren’t many recovering addicts who started, stuck through, and ended a recovery journey successfully without any help.  You make it to the easier place at the end of the process by having support and a plan at the beginning. I like the term Addiction Recovery Solution because it feels big enough to cover all of the best support systems available for the point you are at. These are not the only steps or the most important, necessarily.

In my opinion, a great addiction recovery solution will consider 5 unique time periods, each with unique options.

1. Going Public (enough). You don’t have to tell everyone what is going on in order to be serious and get help. Not everybody comes to a point where they want a majority of people in their lives to know. Or maybe you aren’t private in that way and don’t mind at all. Either way, it is important to ask for help from the people you trust to help you get better. Surround yourself with these people, as much as you are able. Clean self, clean house. Don’t save any paraphernalia, phone numbers or anything else that will make it easy to go back to doing drugs. As you clean out the old, pack a bag with what you will need at rehab.
2. Immediately Before Rehabilitation. There are options to help you stick with your decision to get treatment. When you want all the help you can get, moving into a Sobriety House is a good choice. Structure and therapy in an understanding, home-like environment helps keep you focused on recovery.
3. Rehabilitation. This is different for everyone. Detoxing / medically managed withdrawal, partial hospitalization, full hospitalization, psycho-therapy and other treatment programs aimed at getting you clean and back in control are options, depending on your situation. For some people free clinics and low cost treatment programs are the only options. There are luxury clinics and spa like atmosphere treatment programs, too.
4. Immediately After Rehabilitation.  There are a ton of great reasons for staying at a recovery residence instead of going from treatment straight back into ‘normal life’. First, you can learn to stay fortified against relapse during this time. Next, it is the natural progression from being watched 24/7 and never being watched. Some people feel a stigma about halfway houses.  While there are great alternatives to using that term, such as Sober House or Recovery Residence, I think Halfway House is a great name. When you stay at a halfway house you halfway to where you planned and surrounded by a network of people and resources dedicated to seeing you get the rest of the way.
5. Rejoin Society. Move forward with an independent life, using new skills to keep making the right decisions. Go to support meetings or therapy regularly, it helps you to have that check-in.

When there are holes in your plan, there are more ways for it to not work. Insure you have support and someone holding you accountable every step of the way. The times immediately before and after treatment are vital. Deciding you are getting treatment and walking through the door on the day appointed for it to begin are different.

Hold on tight, take one day at a time.