6 Helpful Tips to Get Most Out of
Drug Rehab Experience
Attending rehabilitation centres and meetings will definitely help, and I genuinely believe you will be as successfully clean as you want to be. However, being an active participant, every step of the way will take you even closer to your goal of being happily sober. Here are several tips for making the most use out of your experience in drug rehab.
1. Group Meetings
Most rehab centres have group meetings – they’re par for the course, because they have proven to be incredibly successful. It simply helps to share with other people your inner thoughts and emotions freely. A large part of recovery comes from the insights and experiences that other addicts have had – and vice versa. Don’t be afraid to tell your stories in group meetings.
2. Learn Everyday
For the most part, we’re worrywarts about circumstances we have no control over. This is why it is crucial for you to focus on what’s happening in the moment, so you can pounce on those valuable opportunities to learn something new about overcoming addiction. You won’t find those opportunities without asking what is expected of you.
3. Personal Therapist
I was given a personal therapist during my time in rehab. Early on she became my top-level exclusive VIP. The relationship we build with our personal therapists is paramount for opening up about our battles, struggles, burns, scars and wounds. Because then we’re given knowledge, we can use to address those issues and surmount them when the time comes.
4. Be Patient
Michael Phelps didn’t become a decorated Olympian winner of 28 medals the first time he started swimming. Embracing any journey takes a significant amount of time – addiction recovery doesn’t have a finish line. Give yourself permission to be kind to yourself; the time you spend in recovery doesn’t end the moment you leave rehab. Give yourself freedom to grow at your own pace so your goals remain realistic and achievable.
5. Stay Open
One of the goals of rehab is to help us expand our minds and develop new “mind layers” of seeing and interacting with the world. With these new insights, we then realise our role in society and how we can function inside it, without giving up our identities in the process. No matter how old you are, please practice accepting everything that goes on in rehab and let it happen; going with the flow helps you open up your mind.
6. Reflect
This experience is full of emotional turbulence. You will save yourself by keeping a reflection journal – so you can express, process and analyse your inner world. This will also be a good time to plan out, in minute detail, what you plan to do once you’re walking around in the outside world. This exercise will give you opportunities to write down certain inflection points of temptation that may cause you to slip up, and how to deal with them.
Conclusion
Can you think of someone who ever said rehab would be easy? It’s an arduous journey that will seriously test your willpower, your patience and your belief. However, the path towards a life free from the shackles of drugs and alcohol starts at alcohol rehab. Just remember, one day your dreams will call you and ask you where you are – don’t leave your dreams hanging.