The recovery process can be a complicated one, and it is a lifelong commitment that lasts long after we’ve completed treatment. When we’re recently finished with a treatment program, we can be presented with unique challenges that can threaten our sobriety. We’re reintegrating into our regular lives, with the old routines, lifestyles and relationships that may have contributed to our addictive patterns. We’re faced with temptation in the form of addictive urges and compulsions. We can feel especially depressed and scared. We can feel isolated, like no one in the outside world can understand what we’re going through. While in treatment, we had the support of a team of professionals. We had other patients to keep us company and work our program alongside us. Outpatient programs are designed to give you the support of being in treatment once you’ve finished and returned home. You’ll be continuing to work your program with the help of people who are committed to helping you stay on track. You’ll benefit from being in a totally sober environment, especially when members of your household aren’t sober. Outpatient programs work with you on relapse prevention, helping you to design a plan for yourself to cope with urges, non-sober loved ones, triggers such as anger and depression, and particularly difficult life events. Our work in recovery continues long after we leave the facility. We can’t hope to heal all of our longstanding issues in the short time we’re in rehab. We’ll start the work, and we’ll create a foundation for ourselves for our recovery, but we will still have important mental, emotional, physical and spiritual healing to do. We’ll want to continue working with a therapist and attending support group meetings. We’ll want to keep in contact with our sponsor. We’ll want to enlist the help of a recovery coach or mentor. All of these things will help us keep ourselves on track, and outpatient programs can help facilitate them. When we finish treatment, we can feel totally overwhelmed, lost and alone. We might not have other friends or family members also in recovery. We might feel afraid to be on our own. We might be inclined to want to isolate ourselves. We might be battling depression and anxiety. Leaving treatment, we can struggle to hold onto the hopefulness we worked so hard to achieve. Outpatient programs can provide the community we need to feel supported and understood while we keep doing the work of recovering from addiction and addressing our mental health issues.
Riverside Recovery offers outpatient programs to support you as you continue your work in recovery. Call (800) 871-5440 for more information.
