Recovering from addiction is a continuous process of not only maintaining sobriety, but pursuing overall wellness and creating a life worth living. Although the path may feel unclear, it’s important to acknowledge where you are at in your journey, and focus on the next step to recovery ahead.
Steps to Recovery
For those in active addiction, recovery may seem impossible. Many do not know where they can receive help, or feel they have failed by not being able to remain free from substances on their own. While recovery will require help, hard work, and overcoming many challenges, it is possible and worth the effort.
The following steps to begin recovery include:
Recognize Addiction Exists
It is important to accept the reality that alcohol or drug use has become out of control, life has become unmanageable, and you are suffering from addiction.
Of course, the first step to solving any problem and receiving help is to acknowledge that there is a problem. This might come from a moment of clarity, criminal or child protective services involvement, or loved ones intervening on your behalf to show you the harmful effects of addiction.
Learn About Addiction
Addiction is not a moral failing. It is not easily explained away as a choice of substances over all other priorities: family, friends, work, and life. It is a disease of the brain where the brain is quite literally hijacked by the substance, and in the process, you become physically, emotionally, and mentally dependent on them. This rewires the brain so that the substance is interpreted as the primary need for survival – more than food or water.
While the first step begins with understanding that there is a problem, the next steps require you to educate yourself on the choices that you are making that support your habit, and what you could be doing instead to support your recovery.
Prepare for Recovery
This includes sharing with trusted individuals about your difficulty with addiction and asking for support, researching treatment options, and coming up with some goals for recovery. This can also include finding a new place to live, changing employment, and cutting off potentially detrimental relationships.
Seek Treatment
There are multiple pathways to recovery and various treatment options to address addiction. Typically, treatment may progress through a series of stages, beginning with detox to allow the body to safely withdraw from substances, and create a clear-headed foundation upon which to build your recovery. You may be appropriate at this point for some combination of residential treatment, partial hospitalization (PHP), intensive outpatient programs (IOP), as well as daily or weekly support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous.
Your recovery will involve therapy (both individual and group), medication management (or medication-assisted treatment), and help getting set up with community supports. As you move throughout treatment, you’ll gain new insights about yourself and learn how to create a life for yourself that is supportive of your ultimate goal: recovery.
Sober Living in West LA
While you’re in IOP or PHP or transitioning to even fewer hours of treatment a week, you may want to take advantage of a sober living community such as Riviera Recovery.
As a sober house in Los Angeles, we provide support to those dealing with alcohol and drug use, mental health, and co-occurring disorders. We offer holistic services such as nutritionist meetings, weekly mentor meetings, sponsor contacts, weekly social activities, and more to help you find long term recovery.
Call us today at (855) 207-9708 and let us help you live a healthy, fulfilling life.
