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You can also join online accountability groups to provide additional support in between your regular support group meetings. You may also want to include people in your network who aren’t necessarily familiar with your whole recovery story, but will help you develop healthy habits that promote sobriety. For example, studies have shown regular exercise reduces the risk of relapse.
Coming home means there’s potential to fall back into old habits that may have contributed to your substance or alcohol use. Trying new things whether it’s a new gym, hobby or activity helps you stay busy and break out of established patterns of behavior. As support works both ways, it is important to remember to check in with those in your support network too. Doing so will enable you to help those in need, which will leave you feeling positive too.
Understanding Support Networks in Recovery from Addiction
If you want to find support in recovery, you need to learn how to ask for help. Following a drug detox, early addiction recovery can be a vulnerable time in your life that you should not have to go through alone. It is okay to ask for help to make sure you stay on the right track. Go to a meeting and make it your home group, and introduce yourself at the business meeting and tell members you are looking to build a strong support network. We promise, you will leave the business meeting with many new friends. A support system is a network of people that you build into your life for support, guidance, companionship, advice, and socialization.
Self-care practices, ultimately are activities or practices that help you feel safe and replenished. Being around people who have a shared experience of substance abuse but are now sober, or working towards sobriety, will also help you feel empowered and motivated to do the same. Amanda is a prolific medical content writer specializing in eating disorders and addiction treatment. She graduated Magnum Cum Laude from Purdue University with a B.S. As a person in recovery from disordered eating, she is passionate about seeing people heal and transform.
Sober Activities to Ring in the New Year
Some facilities like Emerald Isle offer direct counseling services for clients who need that professional support. For addicts that attended and completed a rehab program, there may be an opportunity to join an alumni association for that particular treatment center. Reaching sobriety is a journey, and it is never easy to take the first steps. However, having a supportive and understanding network of people https://ecosoberhouse.com/ can make all the difference in making that journey easier. Having friends, family members, social services professionals, or even an online support group can create an atmosphere of understanding that can make your sobriety journey less challenging. Additionally, having people you can turn to removes feelings of isolation or alienation during difficult times and encourages progress toward lasting sobriety.
If you attempt to go through recovery without the support of people to help you understand your situation, you may not be able to move forward as easily. There are lots of reasons that it’s important to have a social support network. Speaking of reviews, before we end this episode, I want you to go to the review section on YouTube, Apple, Spotify and type in one thing that resonated with you. Every comment counts and what you share could resonate with someone else that is struggling and potentially save their life.
Inpatient Facility
It’s critical to have a friend or group of friends who are sober and share a hobby or interest with you. Having people on hand to go to an escape room, hike or bake with makes resisting cravings a little easier. When you choose a rehab facility, make sure it offers aftercare and that you can join an alumni group. That means the facility makes referrals and connects you with resources for continued recovery. Plus, with an alumni group, you can form lifelong bonds and share in successes as everyone progresses along the healing journey.
- Developing relationships takes time, and building a sober support network is by no means easy.
- When an addict has an “emergency”, it often means they are about to relapse.
- They can also mitigate any negative influences that substance-using friends may have on you moving forward.
- The overall responsibility will always be with the recovering person, but the task does require help from external sources.
- We aren’t saying that you need to become the perfect model of sobriety before you can begin building your support network.
Sometimes, a quick thank you may be enough while at other times you may wish to communicate in greater detail how the individual helped and supported you. Be prepared to be willing to forgive minor mistakes that the people who would like to support you may make as they learn how to be there for you. Remember to check in regularly with the people in your support sober networking network. Relationships are a two-way street, and it’s just as important for you to check in with your loved ones to see how they are doing. It’s important to practice the skills of discernment, especially when you are working with friends and family. Encourage your support network to learn more about addiction and the challenges that you are facing.
One of the most important things to do once you start your recovery is develop a sober support network. This support network will be one of the most important foundations upon which your recovery rests. The power of fellowship is felt in nearly all groups that gather for a specific purpose; especially groups with powerful missions like those dedicated to the recovery of addicts and alcoholics. Humans are innately social creatures that need to be around other people that share the same goals and interests. Located in Central Ohio, our comprehensive addiction treatment facility offers several levels of care to fit the needs of each individual.