There are four stages to the recovery or rehab process: treatment initiation, early abstinence, maintaining abstinence and advanced recovery. The principals are here for all substances and understand that everyone has a different experience in recovery, due to overuse, mixing of different drugs and alcohol, etc..
When you finish the rehabilitation process from any substance and begin the recovery process, you might have the tools or have an idea what to expect in the beginning days or weeks. The rehabilitation process is different for each addict and everyone has a different roadmap to recovery. As the real world begins to hinder or get in the way of recovery, the tools that were acquired in treatment begin to kick in. These include a commitment to recovery, where you are mentally and physically, your support system, home environment, and job. For those in recovery, the process is a long one and you must participate or create new habits to abstain so you do not go back to old habits, behaviors in a time stress, crisis or boredom.
Early Abstinence in the Early recovery stage:
This stage usually occurs while the patient is in residential treatment for 90 days, so this usually can start the motivation of abstaining and a large number of addicts have great success as well. This is a team effort with a client and the addition professionals and this includes:
- Recognizing the medical and psychological aspects of withdrawal
- Identifying triggers for the alcohol or drug use and developing techniques for avoiding them
- Learning how to handle cravings without using
The critical stage of this process is the transition from residential treatment where your recovery team plans your daily schedule and it may seem a little overwhelming to start doing your recovery on your own. The recommendation is to move on to outpatient and mix in some 12-step meeting on your own and you can still be monitored by a counselor while you are in this transition period. Another recommendation is to find a sponsor in this process when you are attending a few different meetings and seeing how you relate to other individuals in the meeting. To talk with someone who has gone through what you have and they can give them ideas or suggestions on how to deal with it.
Recovery Challenges
The return back to your living situation will cause a major shift in the family situation. Depending on the support you have at home will be key to your continued success and open communication with your spouse or partner about sticking to a recovery schedule. In this stage try to avoid taking on large projects, this may cause a trigger to arise from stress, lack of completion and relapse may occur. Your recovery must be the number one priority. A common occurrence is during this time is depression can set in the first year. This cannot interfere with recovery and it needs to be communicated with your sponsor, medical professional or in your meetings. More likely than not someone is feeling the same way or there will be someone who will reach out to help you.
Staying Abstinence
This stage of the recovery process begins about 4 months following rehab. In this time period, in recovery, the addict is using all the tools and strategies to avoid stress, daily triggers, emotional triggers and turn to the healthy coping strategies to handle the daily stress. Acceptance is key to having great success in recovery and understanding the power their addiction can have over them.
If you or a loved one is experiencing any side effects of heroin use or is suffering from addiction seek treatment today. Asana recovery is here to help. Contact us at 949-438-4504.
