“Solitude is fine but you need someone to tell that solitude is fine.” ~ Honre de Balzac As the common sentiment goes, addiction recovery is a personal process that starts with the individual; but this does not mean that you have to attempt achieving sobriety or abstinence completely on your own. Counseling is an extremely helpful resource for those struggling with addiction and alcoholism, particularly as a first response and as a way of seeking out continued care in the long term. However, individual therapy sometimes is not enough for addicts struggling to stay on the road to recovery. Besides therapy, there are many unique alternative ways to address your addiction and seek out substance abuse treatment. Meditation, exercise, acupuncture, art-based therapy, gardening, and even pet therapy have all been shown to have a positive role in substance abuse treatment. Of course, the effectiveness of each of these approaches is a matter of personal taste and personality. If you’re not looking to go too far out of the box, these three options you can turn to when therapy isn’t cutting it for keeping you sober and moving toward recovery.
#1: Attend Support Groups & Meetings on Top of Therapy
Just because getting one-on-one counseling is not enough for your recovery process does not mean that you should avoid seeking out support altogether. In fact, support is an integral aspect of any successful addiction recovery treatment. Committing to attending support group meetings on a regular basis puts you on the right track toward surrounding yourself with supportive people. It also gives you the chance to voice your own struggles, opens up a line of defense during difficult chapters in your recovery, and provides a healthy form of peer pressure from both your sponsor and others in the group. In short, being part of an addiction or alcoholics support gives you a whole new set of tools for staying clean.
#2: Enroll in an Outpatient Program for a More Intensive Form of Therapy
Addiction therapy is a great place to start recovery, but sometimes recovering addicts and alcoholics need a more intensive approach to get on the right footing. Outpatient programs are available all throughout Idaho, and represent a healthy “in-between” option: they are more intensive than support groups or individual therapy, but not quite as intensive as residential rehab. Outpatient programs allow participants to stay at home and even keep working while simultaneously teaching the skills necessary for recovery. The duration and intensity of outpatient programs vary but usually last at least several weeks with intensive sessions multiple days a week. These programs can give you the jumpstart you need for recovery, keeping you accountable along the way.
#3: Consider Residential Rehab if Therapy Alone is Not Enough
Sometimes support groups, individual therapy, and even outpatient programs just are not enough to leave drugs and alcohol in the dust. It may look like a scary term, but residential rehab can be the best way for those who have a long history of drug or alcohol addiction to start on the road to recovery. If your mantra has been “Just one more hit and then I’ll quit,” residential rehab may be a necessary step. Some of the signs that inpatient care is necessary to include:
- If you have had prior outpatient care
- If you have low levels of personal motivation for recovery
- If you do not have a safe place to recovery (i.e. drug-free, regular meals, and supportive people)
- If you have preexisting mental or physical illnesses
There is no right approach to recovery – what matters most is that you stay committed to staying clean. If individual therapy is not working, consider one of the approaches discussed above.