Ingredients to Increase the Effectiveness of Addiction Treatment - Guest Blog Entry
This entry by a guest contributor discusses some of the ingredients that make a long term recovery more likely.
The first step (and sometimes the greatest hurdle) in overcoming an addiction is admitting that you have a problem. Usually, by the time this is accomplished, the person is ready for change and the treatment of the addiction becomes easier.
When a man or woman is really ready to change, he or she will agree to receive addiction treatment at a program like ours. Here are just a few thoughts about things that indicate that addiction treatment will really work for the long haul:
• The effort must be continuous and conscious: Going to a treatment center is just the first tiny step towards overcoming an addiction. However, for the process to really work, you need to make a conscious effort to accept the guidance of those who can help you. It might seem counter intuitive at times but the key is to trust the process.
• There must be adequate external support: It’s very difficult to overcome addictive behaviors without a support system. Without adequate external support from family members and loved ones, there is a high risk that you’re going to relapse and go back to your old ways. It is helpful to involve close friends and/or family members to support you through the rehab and the recovery process. Your support system must be patient yet firm with you, and they should be willing to learn about the process of recovery and how they can be a positive influence (through a program like Al Anon). The presence and support of family members and loved ones matters a great deal during the initial few days when you’ve finished residential treatment and have returned home to the family system from where you came.
• The desire to overcome the addiction should be sincere and overwhelming: Unless the need to overcome the addiction is all-pervasive, you’re not going to make much of an effort to get rid of the habit that is dragging you down. It is possible you can find motivation from the fact that your health has been affected to a dangerous degree. For some people, they've made a promise to a loved one and that they want to keep it at all costs. Some people have hit a "bottom" where they've lost all their money, their job, and their reputation. This can be very motivating as well. Whatever the reason, it must drive and push you to clean up your act for good.
If you’ve been through an addiction, you know what the tunnel feels like – you despair of ever seeing the light at the end of it because you seem to be slipping two steps behind for every single step you take forward. But if you just hold on to your resolve and plod steadily ahead, the going gets easier with time, and you’re soon out of the darkness and into the light.
- Susan white
This article is contributed by Susan White, who regularly writes on the subject of rad tech schools. She invites your questions, comments at her email address: susan.white33@gmail.com.
