Recovery

Looking at one’s thought patterns is a significant component of the recovery process. Addiction can alter one’s perception and create patterns or draw conclusions in a destructive or otherwise illogical way. Often the individual suffering from addiction does not recognize the change in their thought patterns. Overcoming irrational thinking is difficult, and learning to challenge the impulse to act upon irrational thoughts is essential in creating a genuine portrait of one’s progress through recovery. Still, it begins with first identifying how specific thoughts are irrational and then working on a strategy to consciously challenge them.

What makes the difference between someone able to accomplish the long-term goals they set for themselves and someone who can’t? Does it boil down to something predetermined like intelligence, luck, physical capabilities, or is it something else? It turns out that your ability to persist through challenges and stay focused on achieving your goals is something that you have more hand in creating for yourself, and it is known as mental toughness. What is Mental Toughness? Having mental toughness is important because it is what allows you to persevere through adversity to reach your goals. Mental toughness is defined as the capacity of an individual to deal with stressors, pressures, and challenges and perform at the best of their ability, regardless of difficult circumstances. Possessing mental toughness comes with a strong ability to effectively manage your thoughts and emotions to act in alignment towards achieving your goals. 3 Aspects of Mental Toughness in Recovery Cultivating mental toughness will help you through any challenge you encounter in life, but it can be an especially helpful trait to have if you are in recovery. Aspects of mental toughness that help someone achieve a goal like sobriety are seen below:

What sounds easier to you—committing to remaining sober for the next 24 hours or a lifetime? The principle of living one day at a time originates from Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). This principle is especially beneficial in the early days of recovery when someone’s daily goals are solely focused on maintaining their sobriety. Tackling your sobriety in 24-hour increments will help you to pay attention to how you feel in the present moment and to ask yourself what resources you may need to employ to stay sober. Dealing With Emotions as They Come Living one day at a time allows you to be fully present for what you are experiencing in the present moment. Dealing with only what problems you face in the present, as opposed to compounding them by worrying about future issues, will make you more likely to solve the challenges of today. In recovery, this looks like calling your sponsor, going to a meeting or therapy when you are having a hard day struggling with negative thoughts of relapsing. You look at how you can make yourself feel better and avoid using for today instead of spiraling deeper into worry about how you will stay sober day after day. Not Looking to the Past or Future By tuning in to the present day, you aren’t engaging with the past or future. Reflecting too much on either of these can be triggering and overwhelming for someone in recovery and ultimately does not serve them. Spending time mad at yourself about past mistakes or worrying about things that may never happen to you in the future makes for an unproductive use of your time and doesn't give you time to be actionable on today’s needs. Lessons Beyond Substance Abuse Although the idea of living one day at a time was popularized by AA, as seen in their popular Just For Today card, which many members carry around in their pocket to read and remind them of their daily promises to do everything mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, they need to remain sober. By learning the principle of living one day at a time, you can learn to better tackle life’s challenges outside of recovery as well. You can more effectively handle work, home, and relationship problems by taking them on one at a time. Learning to live one day at a time will help you better handle the challenges in recovery as they come. Recovery is a non-linear journey offering obstacles and moments of struggle along the way, but having a sound mindset will help you navigate the journey with clarity. If you or a loved one are struggling to get or remain sober, call Avalon Malibu. At Avalon, we look at the needs of the whole person and focus on providing effective treatment on every level of your needs. Between our dedicated staff of professionals and our continuum of integrative care, we find a treatment plan that is right for you so you can achieve lasting recovery. Call us today at (844) 857-5992.

Addiction recovery is an ongoing process, and there is no definitive date or time where someone should expect themselves to be “cured” of the disease. New coping strategies continuously need to be learned and implemented to new stressors, urges, and other changes in one’s life. This difficult journey can be a lot to take in, and frustration can arise if an individual feels as if they are not making the progress they are “supposed” to. Because of the fluid and individualized nature of the process, recovery isn’t measured on a pass-fail metric. It is a complicated, continuous evaluation. This also means that the idea that recovery can be “failed” is a fallacy, and thinking of one’s life in binary outcomes can be detrimental to one’s prolonged sobriety.

No matter how many times you’ve been warned that relapse is part of recovery, the sting of a loved one repeatedly relapsing hurts every time. When a loved one is in recovery and your full attention is on their recovery needs, it is easy to forget about maintaining your well-being around the recovery process. Setting up appropriate boundaries and reminding yourself that it is not your fault when someone relapses are important steps to take when a loved one is in recovery and relapses. Doing this will help maintain your mental health and well-being so you can remain strong on the sidelines for the many ups and downs that are a natural part of the recovery process.

Does the phrase “stuffing your emotions” resonate with how you handle your feelings and emotions? In case you aren’t familiar with this phrase, stuffing your emotions refers to burying hurt feelings down only for them to resurface later on as unresolved pain that still needs to be felt and heard. When you stuff your emotions, you will have to deal with many unintended consequences down the line. If you learn how to avoid stuffing your feelings, it will help you build strong relationships, enjoy better mental health, let you healthily deal with your emotions, and you will feel better without repressed feelings weighing you down. Why We Stuff Our Emotions Stuffing our emotions isn’t a healthy way to deal with our emotions, but it is a pattern that many of us fall into regardless. There can be many reasons a person can stuff their emotions, and usually, it is a combination of several factors.

No two people are the same, and no two addictions are the same. Knowing this to be true, why should any addiction treatment be the same for two individuals? That is why at Avalon Malibu, we tailor our treatments to the needs of each client. Unlike a one-size-fits-all approach to addiction recovery, a personalized treatment approach allows for a flexible practice that addresses the needs of the whole person on the levels of mind, body, and spirit. The benefits of individualized treatment go much further than what first meets the eye. Reasons and Benefits to Seeking Personalized Addiction Treatment

Dedication. Obsession. Addiction. When you think about these three terms, you may notice that they run in the same vein with methodical, intense behavior surrounding them. Indeed, there are some key similarities between their meanings and the behaviors they elicit. Yet, understanding how they differ is necessary because one can often be mistaken for the other. One way to better understand how dedication, addiction, and compulsion differ is by distinguishing the intentions behind the efforts of someone when they are practicing these three things.

Recovery from addiction and mental illness is already a complicated venture, and one’s mindset can play a crucial role in the success of one’s recovery program. It is essential to keep an open, optimistic mind about the future and avoid succumbing to a victimized mentality while moving through the recovery process. Not only can a victim mentality paralyze progress in recovery, but it is also an incredibly stressful state of mind that can introduce unwanted additional hurdles through the recovery process. Avoiding or overcoming this kind of mindset is crucial for continued progress and maintaining many of the life-changing decisions made in the name of recovery.

We all have that side of ourselves, the parts of our personalities or life experiences that we don’t want to look at or want others to see. Maybe we’re afraid of how it makes us feel or how others could perceive it. All of this explains our “shadow,” coined and studied by the influential psychiatrist Carl Jung. It was his belief and theory that the more we repress and ignore our shadow, the more power and influence it has over us. For those in addiction recovery, they have pushed away from their inner shadow for years or decades when their suppressed shadow may be what manifested as their addiction in the first place.

Even if just one individual is suffering from an addiction to drugs or alcohol, it can affect the whole family. While addiction can feel incredibly isolating, each family member or individual living with someone suffering from addiction will feel the effects in their own way. Recovery from addiction is a complicated process, but an individual doesn’t have to go through it alone. Working to heal as a family can help achieve prolonged sobriety and maintain the life-changing practices needed to continue through a sober future.

Journaling is one of the most common forms of writing therapy for those in recovery, and with good reason. It offers writers space to freely process and express themselves and their story, something which the emotional numbing of addiction works directly against. Beginning a regular journaling practice in recovery will invite a time for consistent self-reflection and self-development to help grow the connection to yourself. Journaling can make sense of the chaos in early recovery and continue to be a powerful stress-relieving tool in aftercare.