When we’re in recovery, it’s important to give thought to planning our after-care regimen. We don’t want to fall into the trap of thinking that our work is done once we’ve finished treatment. In fact, our recovery journey is lifelong, and we’ll want to bolster our recovery with as much support and as many resources as possible. Usually, when we’re thinking of our after-care plan, we’re deciding what programs we’ll continue to do, and which new ones we’d like to try. We’re attending our support group meetings regularly, and considering whether additional support groups might be helpful to us. We’re seeing our therapist. Another very beneficial thing we can do for ourselves is to stay in touch with our treatment centers. Many facilities offer alumni the opportunity to continue to work with them, and often with the same care providers, to give you a full continuum of care, both during and after treatment. Is it helpful to stay in touch with our treatment center?
Many treatment centers encourage alumni to stay in touch, to keep them updated on our progress, to be a safe, trustworthy place for us to check-in, and to provide us with people we can reach out to for help if we need to. Many treatment centers offer continued care services as well. They provide help with career placement and guidance counseling. They offer therapy services, both psychotherapy and other programs such as recreational and occupational therapies designed to help us build and practice our life skills and coping strategies. Many offer holistic education, in mindfulness, relapse prevention, yoga, and meditation. We can take advantage of all the helpful resources our treatment center offers, and we can let ourselves receive the continued support, which strengthens and empowers us as we continue to heal ourselves.
Our treatment centers are there for us to rely on, not just when we’re in inpatient programs, but long after, to help us stay on track with our sobriety. We don’t need to feel as though we have to do everything on our own. It’s okay to seek out support. We don’t want to deny ourselves the help if we need it. There is no shame in going back and asking for help, however many times we might need to. We should make use of all the helpful resources available to us, whenever we find ourselves needing support. We don’t need to feel as though once we’ve graduated from one step, we can’t get help if ever we need it moving forward. It’s a sign of strength, not weakness, to go back to our treatment center for support.
Riverside Recovery is a drug and alcohol treatment center offering a full continuum of care for people suffering from addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders. Call us today for more information: (800) 871-5440.