Many people who struggle with addiction and/or mental illness experience a lot of conditional love – they have been neglected, abused, abandoned, forgotten, ignored, or disengaged. As humans, we all experience pain, but it can be particularly painful to experience the pain of conditional love. A treatment center should not be a place where these painful feelings continue – it should be a place of love, acceptance, and nurturing to promote optimal growth in a supportive environment.
In many cases, both addiction and mental illness have developed out of feelings of anger, isolation, shame, loneliness, grief, sadness, and more. Treatment programs that focus strictly on changing outward behavior, or ones that only provide support for the direct addiction or mental illness cannot offer unconditional love because they reject all the other parts that need nurturing – the parts that make you human. Your family relationships, financial and employment status, general health, and home life may all need attention, too, which is why unconditional love is so incredibly important.
Dr. Mark Willenbring, former director of the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, stated in an interview,
“You don’t treat a chronic illness for four weeks and then send the patient to a support group. People with a chronic form of addiction need multimodal treatment that is individualized and offered continuously or intermittently for as long as they need it.”
You deserve to have full support throughout your recovery. Not receiving this could be very detrimental to your success in recovery; Dr. Willenbring cited a case of a 43-year-old woman who had been in and out of rehabilitation 42 times because she wasn’t receiving the proper medical and support services that she needed. This case, as well as previous research, underlines the importance of full love and support as you work to better yourself in recovery. You should feel that your voice is heard and that your preferences – if they are in line with what you need – are met.
The journey to recovery is a lifelong endeavor and should not be taken lightly. It all begins with treatment, making the right treatment center a crucial foundation point.
If you’re seeking a mental health and/or substance abuse recovery treatment center, call us today at 855-412-2426. Avalon Malibu is a world-renowned, California state-licensed treatment center with licensed, experienced professionals who care about your recovery. We have a variety of methods that we can try with you to see what works and will help you develop a customized treatment plan to best suit your needs. Make the decision to place your health and happiness as top priority and call us for a consultation.
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