The Ultimate Guide to Returning Home After Drug Rehab

After several sober weeks or months, the big day has arrived. It’s time to go home. But what will life after drug rehab be like? Can you remain sober without the group support and friendly daily encouragement you found in drug rehab?

Returning home after rehab is filled with both hope and fear. You may feel hopeful about your new life after completing your first 30, 60 or 90 days in recovery. Suddenly, life without drugs and alcohol not only seems possible, but like it might be fun, too.

But there’s fear mingled with hope. Rebuilding life after addiction can be tough. Relationships after drug rehab may be strained, especially if you’ve hurt those closest to you by your drug addiction. You may need to find a place to live, or you may need to return to school, find a new job, and discover new ways to spend your time.

Fortunately, many people have successfully walked this path before you. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel when you’re coming home after rehab.

The Ultimate Guide to Returning Home After Drug Rehab

This guide to returning home after drug rehab covers many facets of life after rehab. It answers questions you may have about how to successfully move from the sheltered healing environment of rehab back into the world. Aspects of your physical, mental, and spiritual recovery are discussed, including healing relationships, taking better care of yourself, and finding new ways of living.

• Positive mindset: A successful transition from drug rehab back into society begins with you. You can be your own best friend or your own worst enemy. Success starts not with where you are, but with what’s going on between your ears – in other words, what you’re thinking. Thoughts precede action, and keeping a positive mental outlook, holding fast to hope, and keeping in mind all of the things you learned in rehab is important for a successful transition back into society.

• Plan for success: There’s an old saying, “People don’t plan to fail – they fail to plan.”  Your rehab center should work with you to create an aftercare plan that acts as a blueprint for your life. Finding a purpose or mission for your life, creating your action plan, and setting goals and milestones are all important parts of planning for success.

• Healing relationships: One of the great things about rehab is learning the 12 Steps of recovery. Based on the original 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and adapted for drug rehab, Steps 4 through 9 help you heal relationships that may have been damaged by your behavior during your using days. Rebuilding relationships is covered in this section, since having a strong support network of family and friends is important to maintaining sobriety.

• Let’s get physical: One thing you probably learned in rehab is the importance of taking care of yourself physically. A plan to maintain your physical health, including exercise, diet, and rest, is an important part of your aftercare, too.
• Emotional and spiritual health: A rich, full and rewarding life after addiction is waiting for you. Attending 12 step meetings, finding new and rewarding hobbies, learning how to manage stress and developing your spiritual side are all integral to a successful recovery.

• Work and home: From navigating gaps in your resume to finding a new place to live, there are also practical aspects of returning from rehab that must be addressed. This section includes everything you need to know about returning to work, finding a place to live and more.

• Relapse and continued growth: Relapse is a serious situation. Learn some of the warning signs of an impending relapse, and how to avoid relapsing. Also, learn more about the importance of continued growth in recovery.

Sobriety, recovery and a full, rewarding and satisfying life are waiting for you. You’ve already come so far in your recovery journey. Now it’s time to take another step forward and embrace life after addiction treatment.

Recovery Begins with You: Keeping a Positive Attitude

The first step as you embark on your new lifestyle out of recovery takes place in your head and heart: keeping a positive attitude.

Many recovering addicts overlook the fact that what you think eventually becomes what you do, and what you do is who you become over time. So to maintain your new, healthy and sober lifestyle, you first need to think of yourself as a successfully recovering addict.

That’s not to say that you haven’t made mistakes in the past. Acknowledging your mistakes and moving on is part of the healing process. The 12 steps, especially Steps 4 through 9, are intended to help you accept your shortcomings, mistakes and personal failings, make amends, and move on so that they don’t hold you back or weigh you down.

Be proud of how far you’ve come. Not everyone who needs help seeks it, or sticks to recovery. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 23.5 million people age 12 and over need help for drug addiction. Yet only 2.6 million actually seek help. You’re one of the lucky ones who admitted a problem and found help. Give yourself a pat on the back!

Make a pact with yourself that no matter what, no matter how tough the going gets, you won’t back down. You’ll stick to your new way of living and plan for life. Although your old lifestyle may beckon, nothing is worth returning to drug addiction and losing your sobriety. Choosing recovery means choosing life.

In order to continue with a successful recovery, however, it’s also important to get real about sobriety. Research about rehab and recovery talk about the “pink cloud” of recovery. The “pink cloud” can also be thought of as looking at life through rose-colored glasses. It’s an overly optimistic view of recovery.

Often people who are in the early stages of sobriety feel hope and optimism for the first time in many years. This carries them through the difficult early stages of detox, rehab, and sobriety. But recovery is a lifelong process. After the pink cloud dissipates and the optimism wears off, or life throws you a curve ball, a strong recovery is what will hold you up, not the good feelings engendered by being newly sober.

To keep your recovery on solid footing, you need a positive mental outlook, a strong plan of recovery, and a commitment to keeping your program fresh and vital, one day at a time.

It’s easy to become complacent and rely on repetition for recovery. You find a plan of action that works to keep you sober, and you follow it. But after a while, plans feel stale. You may grow restless. That’s a signal that it’s time for you to shake up your program of recovery. Attending a new meeting, going to a recovery retreat or workshop, volunteering for intergroup service, or offering your time through the gift of sponsorship are all positive ways to deepen your recovery, help others, and help yourself in the process.

Relapse isn’t inevitable, but it is something to watch out for. Like caution or danger signs on the highway, triggers are things that can precipitate a relapse. Recognizing both the signs of a stale program of recovery and potential relapse triggers helps you avoid them and maintain sobriety.

Triggers are both universal and unique. They’re universal in that many drug addicts struggle with general triggers that challenge their recovery. General triggers include:

• Strong emotions: It can be difficult for people in recovery to handle strong emotional states effectively. It’s not only anger or fear that can become triggers. Often, addicts have trouble handling joy, elation and even plain old happiness. Any strong emotion can be a relapse trigger.
• Stress and control: Everyone experiences stress in life. It can be as simple as sleeping through the alarm in the morning or as complex as dealing with illness, divorce, or loss of a job. Whatever the case, dealing with stress means handling life on life’s terms.  You can’t control every aspect of your life, but addicts are notorious for struggling to control people, places and things around them. The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous describes it as being like both the actor and director of a play; addicts want to arrange the set, design the costumes and music, write the script and direct the actors to go where they want. People don’t want to be controlled, however, and they rebel, which causes more stress in an addict’s life. Having a sponsor to reflect back to you the issues in your life and help you find ways to cope with them can make a great difference in your new recovered lifestyle.
• Personal triggers: Specific people, places or situations may serve as your own personal triggers. You may want to drink or use drugs whenever you’re around specific people, or facing a certain situation. Hanging out with your old crowd of friends may trigger the urge to relapse, or you may want to take drugs again to fit in. Listing your own set of personal triggers and sharing them with your sponsor can help you create a personal plan of recovery that includes avoiding or dealing with these triggers.

Whatever you do, don’t give up. When you feel your commitment to recovery waning, or you think you’re “cured” and don’t need to continue with your plan, that’s a giant warning sign that you’re heading down the wrong path. Stay on the right path and continue with your recovery.

Planning for Success: Goals, Values, and Milestones

People tend to do better with lifestyle changes when they have a plan for how to achieve them. Most people drift when they don’t have a set course of action. Addicts are no different. A success plan or action plan for your recovery can be a great tool to help you embrace a successful new lifestyle.

Think of your action plan like a business plan. The Big Book talks about the fact that once you’re sober, you have a “new employer”. You are also taking personal inventory in Step 4, which uses the analogy of a shopkeeper taking inventory of his merchandise in order to know what he has on hand and what he wants to keep or give away. Your action plan is like a personal “business plan” for your “new employer” – your Higher Power!

A successful recovery plan includes five parts:

1. Finding your purpose: Like the mission statement for a business, finding your life’s purpose is an important guiding statement for your personal action plan. It’s not easy, and may take time to figure out. Don’t rush it. Often you can define your own life’s mission or purpose by thinking about the gifts you found in your Step 4 inventory and considering how to use them. It may take several weeks or months to identify your personal mission or purpose, and even then, it can change over time. It’s helpful to work with program friends or your sponsor to identify a purpose and to get feedback when you feel it’s time to change it.
2. Set goals: Now that you’re sober, what will you give back to both the recovery community and to others in your life? People with a strong recovery know that when you give away what you have in the program, or help other people, your own recovery benefits. It’s a paradox and a truism in recovery that the more service you render to others, the deeper your recovery. So how will you help people? What are your goals? At first, your goals for life may simply to be a productive citizen, a good student, an honest worker and a helpful family member. You may set goals around becoming a better parent, friend, or mentor. It can feel scary to set goals in your newly recovered life, but setting goals helps you keep your eye on what’s important, and gives you something to aim for in recovery.
3. Create a plan: Now that you have an idea of what you can give back to life now that you are in recovery, and you know how you want to go about it, write it down. You can write it in your recovery journal, or simply write it down and share it with a program friend, sponsor or therapist. But do write it down. The act of writing something down tells your subconscious mind that you’re committed to it.
4. Stick to the plan: This is the hardest point on the list. A plan can only take you so far. You have to live your plan. It may be helpful to ask your Higher Power each day how you can be helpful and useful to others. Seek guidance in how to achieve your personal mission or purpose in life. Each day is made up of little events that lead to achieving your goals. The trick is to be aware of them and respond to them as the opportunities arise.
5. Celebrate success:  You don’t need to wait to achieve a big goal to celebrate success. Small milestones, such as reconciling with a loved one, exploring career options or schools, or calling someone to explore a step in your life’s purpose are all milestones on the road to success. Celebrate by indulging in a favorite sober activity. Enjoy time with a good friend, read a good book, or rent your favorite movies.

In order to get to any destination, you need a plan and a guide. Your recovery plan for success can lead you to new and exciting places. Discovering your purpose, creating a plan, enacting it and celebrating everyday successes are all positive ways to reinforce your recovery.

Healing Relationships

Relationships after drug rehab can be tricky. Healing relationships, however, is at the heart of the 12 step movement, because it is in relationships with others that we develop our potential.

According to a study reported in Psychology Today, the more ties you have to others, the happier you will be. Both strong ties (close, personal relationships) and weak ties (simply being around people you know) can both influence happiness. Relationships are indeed an important aspect of happiness, a buffer against stress, and an important part of recovery.

But what if your past is a checkered mess of hurt feelings and broken relationships? Steps 4 through 9 give recovering addicts the tools they need to mend and heal those broken relationships. Working slowly and thoughtfully through family and friendships, you can offer your apologies and make your amends. Whether or not the other person accepts and reciprocates isn’t under your control, but you can keep your side of the street clean and work your program to the best of your ability.

Give others time to come to terms with your recovery. For a long time, they worried over you, stressed over you, fretted over you. Now you’re coming out of rehab and asking to pick up the broken threads of old relationships. It takes time to knit those threads together again.

Avoiding toxic relationships is also an important part of recovery. What are toxic relationships? These are relationships that bring you down and trigger you back into a relapse state of mind. They may be people who try to manipulate you, make you feel bad about yourself, or “push your buttons.”

To avoid toxic relationships, you first have to identify them. If you suspect a relationship isn’t helping but is instead harming you, ask yourself:

• Does this person support my recovery? Someone who loves you wants the best for you. They’ll give you the time and space you need for recovery. If this person urges you to return to your old lifestyle, they’re not for you now. They are toxic to your recovery.
• Is this person still using? If someone is still using drugs or alcohol, they may not be a good influence on you. The may still be stuck in the old mental mindset that you’re trying to leave behind. It’s important to find sober friends who don’t take drugs or drink alcohol in order for you to keep your recovery going strong.
• Can I count on them? Trust is fragile. You need people in your life who you can trust. If you can’t count on someone, chances are the relationship is toxic.
• Does this person trigger me? If every time you’re around someone you leave and want to take drugs again, this person is triggering something in you. Explore these triggers with your therapist, sponsor or someone you trust. The relationship may be toxic to your recovery.

Finding New Friends

One often overlooked aspect of coming home after rehab is that you may need to find new friends. If your entire old circle is still using drugs, it’s not smart to hang out with them.

This is where finding new hobbies, shared experiences, and making new friends comes into play. Many rehab centers offer new activities to help you explore potential hobbies. The idea is that after rehab, you’ll have something to enjoy once you’re back at home, and a place where you can make new friends. Joining a gym, taking classes, attending the house of worship of your choice, and yes, going to meetings are all great ways to make new, sober friends.

Romance in Recovery

Now we get to the tricky subject of romance in recovery. Often, you’ll hear sponsors caution newly recovered people from jumping into new relationships. The reason for this is simple: it’s hard to build a new relationship when your own personality is still evolving out of the fog of drugs and alcohol.

Relationships and romance can bring up all sorts of emotions and personal issues. The elation of a budding romance gives way to tension as you work out the many normal, natural bumps in the road that all relationships undergo. Save your energy for your recovery. In time, you’ll be on more solid footing in recovering and able to expand your life to include new romantic partners.

Build Your Support System

The key to forging new friendships is to build a strong, sober support system. There’s a reason that studies like the one previously cited in Psychology Today point to both close, personal relationships and general friendships as the key to good mental health. People need people to be happy!

To build your support system:

• Find people in recovery with whom you feel a kinship to build new friendships.
• Repair broken or damaged personal relationships through step work and making amends.
• Make rigorous honesty in all personal relationships your hallmark. People will learn to trust you when they see that you are honest.
• Embrace and enjoy new hobbies, especially those that bring you into contact with other people.
• Even casual contact with people through crowds, sporting events, church services or other events is a mood lifter. Don’t isolate!
• Of course, attend meetings. They’re one of the best ways to continue your recovery.
• Avoid old friends who are still using drugs or alcohol, as well as people who tend to trigger your emotions or cravings to use.
• Wait a while before entering into a romantic or sexual relationship with someone. You want to expend your energy on recovery first so that you can bring a healthy psyche to your next relationship.

Relationships are kind of like a beautiful old oak tree. They start with a small acorn, and over time, develop deep roots and a strong trunk to support many branches. You need to put down deep roots in recovery, give yourself time to grow, and then your many branches or relationships can strengthen and support others. Give yourself that time in recovery and your relationships will blossom.

Take Good Care of Yourself: Physical Health

Coming home after rehab, you may feel overwhelmed by all the things on your to-do list. But one aspect of caring for yourself during recovery should not be overlooked. Caring for your physical health means that you’ll be well enough to support the intense emotional work of recovery as well as reach out to others to help them.

Physical recovery includes:

• Eating a nutritious diet: During your time in rehab, you were relearning how to eat a healthy diet. Take good care of yourself by eating a nutritious diet of fruits, vegetables, protein, and other foods your doctor recommends to help your body heal from the effects of drugs and alcohol.
• Exercise: Exercise may be as simple as taking a daily walk or as intense as competing in a marathon. It’s up to you to develop an exercise program that both satisfies you and is easy to stick to. Check out mind-body workouts like t’ai chi and yoga, or explore new sports. Your body needs physical exercise to stay healthy and repair itself, and it’s a great stress reliever, too.
• Sleep: Sleep isn’t a luxury, but a necessity. Don’t shortchange yourself on sleep. When people get tired, they tend to make poor decisions and neglect their health, and shortchanging yourself on sleep can set up a negative spiral that you want to avoid. Not everyone needs eight hours of sleep each night, but getting plenty of rest is just as important as eating your vegetables.

Mental and Emotional Health

Along with the action steps you need to care for your physical body, don’t neglect your mind and spirit, either. Mental and emotional health are both important parts of your recovery.

Many people in recovery choose to work with a therapist, either through private counseling or group work. Either is fine. Make sure that you’ve found a therapist who both understands the recovery movement and with whom you feel comfortable.

To safeguard your emotional health, be sure to:

• Take time for yourself: Everyone needs down time. Each person defines that differently, but we all need some time to relax. Make sure your day includes at least some time for recreation.
• Use positive affirmations: Affirmations can help you push negative thoughts out of your head and replace them with positive ones. An affirmation is a positive, personal statement that you can repeat privately to yourself whenever you feel the old mindset creeping in. Affirmations are great ways to keep negative thoughts from derailing your recovery.
• Discover spiritual practices: As you’ve discovered, your Higher Power can be defined any way that serves your recovery. Spiritual practices such as prayer and meditation are all part of learning to “let go and let God”, or let your Higher Power lead you. There are many ways to meditate without invoking a specific religious tradition. Alternatively, you can explore the numerous mainstream spiritual traditions and religious denominations to find one that fits you. The important part of spirituality in recovery isn’t finding the ‘right’ one but finding what’s right for you.
• Learn stress management: Everyone deals with stress. You can’t avoid it. But you can learn how to deal with it positively and productively, and not let it halt your recovery. Stress management tips include learning how to communicate proactively, relearning personal boundaries, and even changing how you think about situations through cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). These and other stress management tips can help you maintain an even emotional keel throughout recovery.

Spiritual, mental and physical health are like the three legs of a stool. If one leg is wobbly or shorter than the others, the stool won’t support you. But if you give proper attention to all three legs, and work your program to incorporate growth and healing into all three aspects, you’ll build a solid, supportive place for your recovery.

Work, Life and Home: Finding a Job, a House, and a Life

Finding a new job is hard for anyone, but for those finding a job after drug rehab, it can include additional challenges above and beyond what a typical job seeker faces. Coming home after rehab often includes finding new work, changing careers, or simply finding a job to tide you over until you figure out the direction you want to take your life.

Resume Gaps

It may surprise you to learn that many people have gaps on their resume. Common reasons why people have gaps on their resume include:

• Maternity and child care leave
• Time off to care for a sick relative or friend
• Recovery from a serious accident, injury or illness
• Travel
• Completing a degree or returning to school to obtain an advanced degree
• Volunteer service
• Rehab treatment

You have several options for handling gaps on your resume as you write it up in preparation for the job hunt. You can:

• Use a skills-based, rather than chronological style resume. Skills-based resumes list skills first but do not include dates.
• Don’t include dates of employment, just the positions and companies where you worked.
• List “Medical absence” next to the dates when you were away.

You don’t need to tell recruiters or interviewers your entire life story. By law, they can’t ask for personal details, like previous drug or alcohol use, time spent in psychiatrist hospitals or rehab, or other personal details. In the spirit of honesty and transparency, you can simply tell anyone who questions a gap on your resume that you were sick and needed time off to recover. That’s the truth, and it’s an honest and simple way to handle the issue.

Finding Work

Life after drug abuse includes finding work. At first, you may just need a job to pay for your rehab or to pay your living expenses. You can find work through classified ads online, networking with old colleagues or friends, visiting your school’s alumni network if you went to college, or looking in the old-fashioned newspaper.

You may also consider becoming an entrepreneur. Many former “unemployable” people went on to become successful entrepreneurs or independent contractors. If you have a specific skill set, such as graphic design, computer programming or repair, creative writing or even administrative skills, you can set up your own virtual office and business. Your local Small Business Association chapter can help you through the startup phase of a new business.

Where to Live After Drug Rehab

Finding a place to live after drug rehab is one of the first things you may need to consider as your departure date arrives. If you lived with your family before entering rehab, that’s the first place to consider. Talk to your family first about returning home.

If you lived independently but have lost your apartment or house, explore options for temporary living arrangements until you get back on your feet financially. You may be able to room with a sober friend from your rehab days, or simply with a friend who knows you’re serious about rehab. Family may also open their doors and guest rooms to you.

Unfortunately, some rentals won’t consider someone with either a felony drug conviction or rehab release on their record. But local churches, counseling groups and others may know of rental facilities that allow former addicts to rent. There are even colonies or communities set up as sober villages or houses where all of the residents are former addicts. These long-term rehab centers offer a supportive, 100 percent sober environment.

Enjoying a Social Life without Substances

Rebuilding your life after addiction also includes returning to a full and satisfying social life without substances. If every party, every gathering and every event in your past life involved drugs or alcohol, it may feel weird at first to join in the festivities without a drink in your hand.

Obviously, you should avoid going to bars or clubs if at all possible. Sober nights are a great way to enjoy a night at a club dancing with friends without the temptation to drink. Many local 12-step groups learn which local bars offer “booze free” nights and share the information at meetings. It’s a great way to enjoy dancing or socializing with friends without substances.

There are some legitimate reasons why you may find yourself at a bar or club. Weddings, business meetings, awards dinners and other events often include drinks or gatherings at places that serve alcohol or where drugs may be obtained.

To enjoy a social, sober lifestyle, try the following tips:

• Practice saying no to alcohol: Think of ways to turn down drinks politely. One way is to say, “My doctor tells me I can’t drink” or “I’m not drinking tonight.” Both are honest, positive responses.
• Take along a program friend: A friend from rehab can remind you that recovery comes first, and that nothing is worth giving up your sobriety.
• Bring non-alcoholic treats: If you’re going to a friend’s house for a gathering or party, bring along some non-alcoholic treats to ensure you’ve got something to enjoy. Chances are good that others will want to enjoy them, too.
• Leave early: It’s fine to leave early if it gets rough for you. Better to leave early and remain sober than to stay late and relapse.
• Go to a meeting: Go to a meeting before the event, or immediately after leaving. This reinforces your commitment to abstinence and to a strong program. Knowing you’ll see your sponsor and program friends after the party can also keep you from being tempted.

If you still have trouble attending parties or social events because your anxiety levels rise to an uncomfortable level, consider talking to your doctor or therapist about it. Many addicts have a dual diagnosis that includes anxiety, depression or social anxiety that can be controlled in various ways.

Relapse: The Thing Nobody Wants to Talk About (But You Have To)

Relapse is dangerous. Drug addicts who relapse are at risk of death, either imminent death or long-term death. If that scares you, it should.

Relapse statistics show that drug and alcohol relapse is on par with other serious yet manageable illnesses. Compare the rate of relapse from drug recovery to diabetes or hypertension recovery. All three are diseases that must be managed by lifestyle changes, so people often relapse into old habits that can harm their health.

• Drug addicts relapse 40 to 60 percent of the time.
• Type I diabetics relapse 30 to 50 percent of the time.
• Hypertension patients relapse 50 to 70 percent of the time.

Notice the similarities? In all three serious, chronic illnesses, relapse can hover around 50 percent, yet many people still harbor the unfortunate myth that drug addicts “always” relapse.
You don’t have to be part of the statistics. You can prevent a relapse. If you find yourself in the middle of a relapse, you can get help.

Preventing Relapse

There are several warning signs of a relapse. One way to remember the warning signs is with the acronym HALT. HALT stands for never letting yourself get too…

• Hungry
• Angry
• Lonely
• Tired

HALT is a reminder to take care of yourself. Taking care of your body and mind is the best way to prevent a relapse.

People can be hungry for both food as well as companionship. Loneliness happens when you isolate, or neglect relationships. Anger hurts relationships. Above all, if you’re tired, you’re not up to going out and socializing, so you isolate more. Can you see the cycle?

Each feeds into the other into a downward spiral, or each letter of the acronym can be supportive and lift up the other. Get plenty of rest, and you will have more energy to socialize, so you won’t feel lonely. When you’re not lonely, you won’t be ‘hungry’ for companionship, and you’ll have more energy to deal effectively with anger. Recovery can travel both ways – up to sobriety or down to relapse.

Other ways to prevent relapse include:

• Continue to go to meetings, or go to more meetings: Meetings remind you of the promises of recovery and keep you in touch with other successfully recovered addicts.
• Take good care of yourself through sleep, exercise, and diet.
• Read program literature, including stories of recovery.
• Attend therapy to improve your mental health.
• Pray and meditate daily.
• Work the 12 steps!
• Avoid temptation and don’t put yourself in the way of temptation.
• Pick up the phone when cravings strike. Call program friends or your sponsor and talk it out. If no one is available, write it out.

What to Do If You Relapse

No matter what, don’t give up. If you find yourself in the middle of a relapse, get help immediately. The longer you wait, the more time is lost. You want to get back on track as soon as possible.

Recovery involves learning many new skills. Sometimes you master them all at once, but for others, mastery happens more slowly. You make mistakes. We all do. The important thing isn’t to dwell on the mistakes, but to pick up the phone and call your sponsor and the rehab center from which you graduated and ask for help.

You may need to start again from scratch. You may just need to reset your mental mindset back to recovery. Whatever you do, don’t give up. Talk to someone in recovery who can help.

Growth Continues

Creating a sober social life includes finding ways to grow and use all of your skills and abilities. As you continue on the road of recovery, finding new ways to improve yourself becomes fun.

Applying your unique talents, skills and abilities to the world’s problems outside of recovery can also be part of your growth. Some of the most successful philanthropists and helpers in this world are in recovery. Recovery teaches so many important life skills, including patience, compassion, forgiveness and acceptance, that the world needs more of it. The more you can bring what you’ve learned in recovery to others, the better.

Growth in recovery occurs when you give away what you’ve learned. Consider giving the gift of sponsorship if your recovery is strong. There are so many hurting people out there who need what you have. Sharing the message of recovery with others, volunteering at your local meetings and speaking to others are all ways in which you can continue your growth and give back what you’ve received from others in your program.
Personal growth, however, can extend beyond the recovery movement. Deepening your spirituality may also include extending a helping hand to others. Volunteer work offers a satisfying way to help others outside of your program and may support your personal mission or vision statement for your life. Working at a soup kitchen, volunteering at the local animal shelter, or helping teens and children may all be what makes your life worth living.

There’s a huge world out there for you to explore after returning home after rehab. No matter what, your drug rehab center is there to help you when the going gets tough. If you have questions, concerns, or simply need help finding your way, your friends there are waiting for you.

12 Keys Rehab offers holistic drug treatment to help you overcome addiction. If you’d like to speak to someone who understand what you’re going through and wants to help you recover, contact us today.