It can be hard to continue to be motivated when overcoming an alcohol addiction. Though positive change is possible. Always remember to replace and re-engage!
When it comes to alcoholism and the struggle it is often surrounded by anger, pain, and frustration. You might have in the past tried to overcome your alcoholism but have relapsed which has ultimately made you feel like a failure and has made you feel like giving up.
Coping mechanisms, detoxification systems, relapse prevention techniques, and support groups all might seem like words and simple phrases that might seem overwhelming and even abrasive at this point under the circumstances.
Maybe you can even be realizing for the first time ever that you might actually have an alcohol addiction. Though you have no idea where to start to know for sure or where to begin to try to solve it, if in fact you actually do in fact have one. Or maybe you have a friend you strongly feel has an alcohol problem or at least in your opinion is struggling and you want to help. Whatever the situation or case, any type of recovery in itself can feel like a complex process. Each individual’s circumstance and situation is unique and has many factors.
More than half, 64% sought outside sources to help end their alcohol use, in a recent poll. Whether it be through their doctor, a support group, or getting into some kind of alcohol addiction rehab treatment facility.
Maintaining long-term sobriety and having enduring motivation can be very challenging and difficult. Though, positive change with lasting endurance is possible! Practical steps, each and every day taken towards recovery counts! Remember, replace and re-engage!
1. Remember
It’s not about remembering or dwelling on your pain or your mistakes. However, it is about the two key elements of remembering, which can help you see the situation more clearly and come out of it more quickly.
Evaluating Where You Are
Seeing where you are in your recovery can help support your clarity while you evaluate your next step. Ask yourself questions that can assist you in understanding your circumstances.
- Is drinking a real issue for you, or is it a borderline issue?
- Have you seen an undesirable effect of alcohol on your life?
- What do I personally think about the amount of alcohol that I use?
- When was the last time I wasn’t constantly drinking?
- What have family and friends said about my drinking?
Trying to identify on a spectrum where you land on alcohol addiction can help you determine what alcohol addiction rehab treatment options could be ideal for your circumstances. With your addiction, the severity should be taken into consideration in your treatment search.
With detoxification, a partial hospitalization, inpatient program, or outpatient program needs to be determined. You possibly should consider being evaluated for a recommendation for the detox method is that detox can be dangerous and life-threatening, and in some cases should be medically supervised.
Aside from traditional therapies, there are also holistic therapies that are beneficial in the treatment of addiction. Those therapies include art therapy, yoga, and recreational therapy.
Your Personality: Introvert or Extrovert?
Apart from determining which alcohol addiction rehab treatment option is best for you is thinking about how you function. This is not about how you generally feel today, but in general how you overall respond in a usual sense.
For counseling, there are two main types of treatment options. There are individualized and also group therapy options. For those who are more introverted, an individualized therapy option might be more comfortable. A group therapy counseling option might be more desirable for someone who has a more extroverted personality.
Different therapies in general cater to your personality type and generally how your overall response can help strengthen your recovery progress. It can also help you maintain your activity and participation in continuing therapy overall which would be beneficial in your long-term sobriety.
2. Replace
Replacing the habit of drinking with another habit is easy. Although this is a practical and necessary step, it can get to the crossroads of not taking care of another aspect of overcoming alcoholism. Which are the importance of thoughts.
These thoughts tend to be negative thoughts about others and even yourself. It can be crippling to motivation:
- Disproportionate fears
- Helplessness about future changes
- Self-condemnation over past actions
- Pessimism about previous failures
- Stress about challenges of overcoming addictions
Mental health conditions often co-occur with alcoholism. These mental health conditions can be anxiety or depression for example. Therapists often help guide patients to help replace negative thoughts when they happen.
Finding
Making progress is when you are able to find ways to identify your negative thoughts.
- Do places or people trigger these negative thoughts?
- When do these negative thoughts occur most frequently?
- Do you have negative thoughts that are followed by the strong urge to drink?
It can be difficult to identify negative thoughts. However, it can be helpful to have someone aside from yourself to help you identify them. Having a family member or a support person to help would be beneficial. Though for many, a counselor or therapist or professionally trained. Properly qualified in helping to identify and helping ultimately resolve these negative thought patterns altogether.
Replacing
Replacement of these negative thoughts is necessary once they are identified and found. If there is an urge to drink connected to a negative thought, a positive thought in theory can replace it.
If all you see is a failure, and it feels like no progress is being made, you can replace it by targeting the positive progress that you have personally made. Even though that positive progress may have seemed small to you. A small bit of progress acknowledged, can still fuel your recovery!
Alcohol addiction rehab treatment is one particular psychotherapeutic approach used in substance abuse treatment. There are other treatments as well, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT).
3. Re-engage
Positive thoughts should be connected with action if especially negative thoughts are connected with the obvious urge to drink. Replace the urge to drink by finding stress outlets that can greatly help with your recovery. Relaxation techniques and even vigorous exercise can be beneficial in helping you move forward in a more positive direction.
Giving back to a community or people is another valuable outlet in recovery. Taking a break from your own thoughts and struggles helps to refocus your own thoughts while helping to serve others. Helping to volunteer at an organization or helping out friends or family, as well as other peers in recovery as well can be a valuable outlet.
Change is possible, even though it may be complicated at times and even difficult in the full process of recovery as a whole. The three tools of remembering, replacing and then re-engaging will help you on your personal journey to overcoming your addiction.
You don’t have to overcome addiction alone, we understand it isn’t easy, and we know having a medically trained support group is beneficial for your success in the long term. Here at Harmony Oaks Recovery, we believe you can have a healthy life without drugs and alcohol. We also believe this is your given right and we want to help you achieve that long-term success! Contact us today to get started on the life of long-term sobriety you deserve, (865) 217-2883.