Author: Charles Frank

15 Tips for Staying Sober After Rehab

Sessions are typically conducted on a weekly basis, depending on the individual. These meetings are meant to help you adjust back into your personal and professional responsibilities. Remaining alcohol-free for six months after rehab is a huge milestone.

1. There are many strategies and ways to get clean and stay sober.
2. Research suggests that relapse happens in stages, often starting with difficult emotions and obsessive thinking.
3. Some of the immediate changes you will need to make will be obvious—like not hanging around the people that you used with or obtained drugs from.
4. Support and continuing care after rehab can help to maintain long-term recovery.
5. They teach strategies to help you deal with hard situations and maintain recovery.

When you’re feeling tempted to slip back into old habits, remember why you wanted to get sober in the first place. If you’re wondering if you should go back to rehab or need help staying on a sober path after rehab, there is help available. Contact a treatment provider, today, to discuss rehab options.

More on Substance Abuse and Addiction

We do not receive any commission or fee that is dependent upon which treatment provider a caller chooses. Cravings should be an aspect of your relapse prevention plan, but you may need to flesh out this part of your plan as you experience post-rehab life. Research suggests that relapse happens in stages, often starting with difficult emotions and obsessive thinking. Avoid people, places, and things that encourage these feelings and thoughts. Alcohol support groups are a great way to create new friendships with others who understand the challenges you’re going through. These relationships provide a support system when you need it most and give you an opportunity to help those around you.

We can experience feelings above and beyond what we thought possible. Celebrate Recovery, Rational Recovery, SMART Recovery and Refuge Recovery are the most common. Asking mental health facilities or rehabilitation centers may also provide groups you can join. It’s best to make any financial decisions with the support of your financial advisor or certified public accountant (CPA).

Sobriety Milestones

These social supports should be people you can trust and who support you and your recovery journey. With so many recovery programs out there, it can be challenging to narrow your list down to just one. Reach out to a treatment provider for free today for immediate assistance. Support and continuing care after rehab can help to maintain long-term recovery. Most people who make their way into recovery have left a lot of pain and suffering in their wake. Feeling guilty or ashamed of past behavior or actions during active addiction is natural and healthy.

However, transitioning to normal life after rehab has a tendency to leave people feeling a bit anxious and full of questions about what comes next. Cravings are a perfectly normal part of recovery, especially if you used alcohol or drugs for a long time. You don’t need to be frightened of them, but you do need to have a plan to overcome them. You’ll find that, over time, cravings are reduced, and you have less of an emotional response to them. Social support is critical to long-term alcohol addiction recovery.

Start by making a plan for what to do if you or someone you care about has a relapse. Having a plan can help in quickly finding support or getting back into treatment. The sooner someone who has relapsed gets into treatment, the more likely they are to continue their recovery. Build relationships after rehab with people who can help you stick to your plan for recovery. At the same time, avoid people in your life who misuse alcohol or other drugs. Every journey starts with a small step in the right direction.

Some therapists will even suggest you call them if you experience triggers and need advice on how to cope. The term “relapse” can often feel negative and stigmatizing when used to describe substance use. In fact, with many health conditions, “relapse” is used to indicate that an undesired symptom or outcome has occurred. It’s important to remember that substance use disorders are medical conditions, and a relapse can be a normal part of recovery. People in recovery from a substance use disorder frequently have problems meeting work-related responsibilities, maintaining employment, and managing money.

Develop a mix of social support that includes family members, close friends, partners, and friends in recovery. It can include other people in treatment, such as members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or participants in a group therapy group. Your relapse prevention plan is an action plan you develop in rehab. Your team helps you put together a plan that includes resources, relapse triggers and warning signs, and places where you can get support.

The process of making amends is really helpful to our mental health too, because we no longer have that sense of dread, guilt, or shame that we’ve been carrying around. Unresolved trauma is a risk factor for returning to use so it is critical to work on this. Strategies might include meditating, talking it through with a recovery friend, going to a peer support meeting, talking to your therapist, or exercising. In order to adjust to your new life outside the rehab bubble, here are 15 tried and true tips to help keep you sober and thriving in long-term recovery.

For many people with a substance use disorder, it’s simply a matter of never having learned the appropriate way to manage anger. Talk to your therapist, other healthcare provider, or sponsor about how to deal with your anger in ways that won’t cause you to harm yourself or others or turn to alcohol or drugs. Treatment providers are available 24/7 to answer your questions about rehab, whether it’s for you or a loved one. Submit your number and receive a free call today from a treatment provider. Long-term lifestyle changes, such as diet and exercise, have proven benefits for people in recovery. Exercise can help you feel better, provide a distraction from cravings, and help reduce stress — which can be a trigger for resuming substance use after rehab.

Online Therapy

This is especially beneficial for those involved in an unstable home environment before treatment. Sober living homes not only provide a safe, alcohol-free environment, they also encourage individuals to seek help from local alcoholism groups and counselors. Call now to connect with a treatment provider and start your recovery journey. But for most people, staying sober isn’t that straightforward. The more strategies you learn to identify triggers, cope with stress, and manage your new sober life, the easier it is to prevent relapse. You can try to avoid the conversation, but it’s good to have a response ready in case that’s not possible.

Take your time to organize a balanced schedule and set boundaries that will help you maintain sobriety. Fortunately, by recognizing temptations you may face after you leave the rehab facility, you can learn how to avoid or manage these triggers. We’re here 24/7 to help guide you or your loved on through rehab and recovery. Submit your number to receive a call today from a treatment provider. Rebuilding relationships with family and friends takes patience and determination.

If you’re in recovery from a substance use disorder, you already know how much work it took to achieve sobriety, and you’ll want to do everything possible to avoid having a relapse. It may seem that relapse is the last thing that could happen to you, but the truth is they are very common for people new to recovery. When you call our team, you will speak to a Recovery Advocate who will answer any questions and perform a pre-assessment to determine your eligibility for treatment.

Your intentions may be good, but it takes more than willpower to avoid having a relapse. Aftercare program can provide those that are sober with the tools and resources to prevent relapse, as well as offer a support network. Moving on from rehab can be a very exciting time, but it may also bring up new challenges when learning how to navigate a brand new, sober lifestyle.