The Importance of Exploring Your Identity

At Avalon Malibu, we know that addiction can be damaging to your overall well-being. This can make it difficult to have a good understanding of who you are or who you are without your addiction. However, having a good sense of self can be crucial to your addiction recovery. We understand that addiction can also be very time-consuming, which means other aspects of what makes you who you are can be set aside. Addiction treatment can be a great safe space to begin exploring your identity. This can be an important step and help ensure a long-term recovery.

Addiction Recovery and Exploring Your Identity

Exploring your identity can be a crucial step to your addiction recovery as it can help give you a sense of who you are outside of addiction. Since addiction can be so time-consuming, taking time in your recovery to learn about who you are without your addiction might feel uncomfortable at first. There are many different ways you can ease into exploring your identity. One tip could be to think about activities you have enjoyed in the past. These can include activities you saw on television or games you played as a child. The next step would be to plan to try that activity. 

Hobbies are just one aspect of life that makes us who we are. Another piece that makes up our identities could include careers. It is not uncommon for careers or jobs to be put on hold when you need to seek help for addiction. Your recovery must come first, and getting help is a brave decision. If you need to put a job or your career on hold, this may be an opportunity to evaluate if your job or career path is the one for you. It is never too late to try something new. 

Family and friends can also be part of what makes up your identity. Addiction can often damage relationships, even with those we love the most. In recovery from addiction, it can be a good opportunity to work on your relationships. If you receive treatment from us, we offer family and couples therapy, which could benefit everyone involved. 

Exploring Your Identity in Treatment

If treatment at Avalon Malibu is right for you, we can help support the exploration of your identity in many different ways. One-on-one therapy can be a safe space for you to talk to your therapist and begin exploring who you are without your addiction. Group therapy can also be a great place to talk to peers about your identity. Keep in mind that you do not necessarily need to know immediately who you want to be without your addiction. Sometimes, figuring out what you enjoy in your newfound recovered life can take time and some experimenting. Again, treatment is a safe space to begin this process. 

Some examples of therapies we offer at Avalon Malibu that could help you explore your identity include:

• Yoga
• Music therapy
• Art therapy
• Physical fitness
• Writing therapy

The therapies mentioned above could be places where you try new ways of self-expression. These therapies, although designed to help you in your recovery from addiction, could also be new, enjoyable hobbies for you to try. Trying new hobbies, or even hobbies that you’ve done previously, can be ways you figure out what makes you who you are. Knowing what you dislike can also be part of what makes up part of your identity. For example, you may find that a hobby you have done for years is no longer of interest to you. There are plenty of others you can take on. 

Long-Term Recovery and Your Identity

Knowing who you are outside of your addiction could be a vital piece to your recovery. We understand addiction can take away the things you value in life. At Avalon Malibu, we believe you deserve to recover and have the ability to live a life free of addiction long-term. Exploring your identity could be one way you set yourself up for that success. 

The journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence published an article that discussed how individuals with addiction struggle with their identities. This article confirms the importance of exploring your identity. The Journal of Psychoactive Drugs also published an article on December 20, 2022, which stated:

Long-term recovery from substance use disorders has been described as a process of identity construction, through which the stigma of being a substance user is replaced by a new identity of a non-user. Identity construction has been widely acknowledged as a significant factor in different pathways of substance use cessation, such as self-change and treatment-change.

From this article, we can conclude the importance of identity and long-term recovery. To reiterate, exploring your identity can take time, but it will be worth it. 

At Avalon Malibu, we understand that addiction can be damaging to your well-being. Addiction can make it difficult to know who you are without it, especially when other aspects of life get set aside. Seeking help for your addiction is brave and commendable. Treatment with us is a safe space to begin the process of exploring your identity. Figuring out who you are without your addiction could be an important step to your recovery and can help set you up for a successful long-term recovery. We believe you are worthy of recovery, and we can support you through beginning the process of finding who you are without addiction. Please call (844) 857-5992 for more information.