Evolving into a sober and productive member of society doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process. You can’t commit yourself to a decade or two of alcohol-induced or drug-fueled mayhem and expect everything to be normal and back on track on your own timeline.
It’s like they say in recovery, “If you walk 10 miles into the forest, you have to walk 10 miles to get out.”
Nothing about the addiction recovery process is set in concrete, because the timing is going to be different for each person who finally chooses to trudge the road of happy destiny. There’s no book somewhere that says you should be finished with this phase by now, so begin on this phase of recovery tomorrow morning. Some people “catch” sobriety their first time out, others relapse, but keep coming back until they get it. Unfortunately, many of those addicted to drink or drugs don’t make it back.
Some parts of the recovery process take longer than others. Let’s take, for example, the first step in recovery, which is overcoming denial and admitting your life is unmanageable. For many of us, surrender doesn’t happen until we’ve run out of options. Some in AA say that “Pain is good, and extreme pain is extremely good.” That means you can’t start the addiction recovery process until you hit bottom, either through the court system, a family intervention, a health issue, or you lose your job because of your addiction.
The road to recovery begins with the admission that you have not done that great a job managing your life. Once you’ve admitted there’s a problem, you need to seek help. That requires action on your part. And there are plenty of options available, some more effective than others.
Among these options are residential alcohol or drug treatment programs. There are literally thousands of such centers throughout the United States and they provide many advantages. Top among those is getting you out of an environment that encourages continued use of your drug or drugs of choice. Other recovery options you might explore include intensive outpatient treatment. And many alcoholics and drug addicts find a sober lifestyle when they start attending 12-step meetings, church programs or receiving individual counseling or therapy.
The next step for those seeking recovery is to complete a detoxification program, if necessary. You must be physically healthy and clear of mind to attend to your own sobriety, and some people need to go through a medical detoxification before starting treatment. It’s a process of eliminating harmful substances from the body.
Morningside Recovery in Newport Beach, California, has a staff of medical professionals that specializes in the detoxification process. Of paramount importance is safety, and Morningside has comprehensive detox programs for those suffering alcoholism as well as withdrawal from opiates, benzodiazepines, cocaine, methamphetamines and methadone. Because of modern-day pharmacology, these medically supervised detoxifications are much more comfortable than in years past.
Next on the list is actually entering or participating in an addiction recovery program. The program should be staffed by professional medical personnel, clinicians, therapists, counselors and case managers who know their way around the recovery process. It is through the efforts of these skilled professionals that an alcoholic can work through their issues and gain long-term sobriety.
Treatment should last 30 to 90 days or more and include all the tools necessary to gain – and hold onto sobriety. These include physical and mental assessments of each client, individual counseling, group sessions, counseling with the family, lectures about addiction, educational programs, and individual meetings on a regular basis with psychologists, psychiatrists and caseworkers.
Last, and doubtless the most important step on this short list of recovery tips, is maintaining sobriety after you’ve left the rehab center, or after you’ve got a little sobriety under your belt through counseling and other recovery options. Sobriety is not a goal, it’s a destination. It’s a lifelong process that doesn’t end with a diploma or a 90-day chip.
For one thing, you should pretty much make up your mind that 12-step meetings are going to be a way of life for you. You desperately need to stay in constant contact with other recovering alcoholics and addicts. We call this building a picket fence of support around you to protect you from that next drink or drug.
