Forming a Plan For a Recovering Drug Addict

Any recovering drug addict needs a plan. Without one, you're going to be extremely vulnerable to relapse. What makes up a good recovery plan? Let's take a look:

1. Getting through stage one

First, you need a plan to get you through stage one recovery. This is the initial stage in recovery when you are detoxing from the drugs themselves and are looking to string together a few weeks of sobriety. You are transitioning from a life of drug and alcohol addiction into the shock of living without self medicating all of a sudden.

Some people need more help than others with this initial phase. Many will have to go to a medical facility to help them detox from the drugs or alcohol. Others will also need short term residential treatment in order to establish a firm footing in sobriety. This stage is not about living the rest of your life in sobriety. It's just about getting clean and sober and getting your bearings so that you can start thinking clearly again.

Many people struggle to get clean and sober and never find successful footing in this early stage of recovery. The solution for this is to step up your efforts and attack the problem with increasing force. This eventually means living in a long term treatment facility if nothing else will work.

2. Formulating a strategy

In this case, strategy means the same thing as philosophy. The AA philosophy can be summarized from the 12 steps as: "Find God, clean house, and help others." There are other philosophies out there that can guide people to success in recovery. The creative theory of recovery has 3 strategies that are quite powerful in their simplicity: "Caring for self, networking with others, and personal growth."

Each of these 3 strategies are broad and universal in that they can be applied to our day-to-day decisions. Caring for ourselves is important from a holistic standpoint in both short and long term sobriety. Networking with others can be especially critical for support in early recovery. And the push for personal growth is needed for a sense of accomplishment and the building of valuable self esteem that can be an insurance against relapse.

3. Transitioning to holistic living

In stage one recovery, the goal is only to string together a sufficient period of sobriety so that we can get our bearings, start thinking clearly, and start to work on transitioning to a holistic approach to recovery.

This holistic approach to recovery is about much more than just spiritual growth. Instead, it is a strategy of treating the whole person when considering addiction, and striving to make progress in a number of different areas, including physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual areas.

This becomes increasingly important as we progress in our recovery and accumulate more and more clean time. Tactics for staying clean become routine and automatic and the real enemy becomes complacency and a lack of holistic growth. That's when you know you need to push yourself to grow in new areas and start thinking outside of the traditional "recovery box." Exercise, quitting smoking, meditation, emotional balance, and educational pursuits can all be examples of holistic growth in recovery.

To the newcomer, these things might not seem to be relevant to staying off of the drugs and alcohol. But in long term sobriety, we can see clearly that a lack of growth in these and other areas can eventually lead to relapse.

Interview of a Recovering Drug Addict

Why did you end up at a drug treatment center?

I ended up in a drug treatment center because I had been drinking on a daily basis. I started getting arrested. I got in a physical altercation with my father and as a result of that social services stepped in and required that I go to an impatient drug treatment center.

So it was not your idea to go to a drug treatment center?

No.

How long was your stay at the drug treatment center?

I was there 5 ½ months.

What kinds of things did the drug treatment center address during your 5 ½ month stay?

We had both family and group counseling as well as 1 on 1 counseling with certified drug and alcohol counselors. Family counseling created a safe environment for me and my family to express our feelings about life situations. The drug treatment center provided a safe environment for me to detach myself from the chaotic environment I had been living in. The most important thing the drug treatment center did for me is introduce me a twelve step program.

Looking back on it now, do you regret going to the drug treatment center?

No, not at all! The treatment center introduced me to Alcoholics Anonymous which is what ultimately saved my life.

Based on your experience, what would you suggest to someone who thinks they might have a drug or alcohol problem?

I would suggest that if you think you have a drug and/or alcohol problem that you search fro help. An impatient drug treatment center would allow you the opportunity to separate yourself from the addiction you are living in and build a foundation for a sober and drug free life.

Alright, well thank you for your time here Jay!

No problem! Any time!

Recovering From Drug Addiction at a Residential Treatment Centre

In-patient treatment center, commonly abbreviated as RTC, is a live-in facility for treatment and rehabilitation of people with problems between drug or alcohol addiction on several behavioral problems. It is very important to choose carefully and choose an inpatient treatment center for your loved ones.

They should be treated easily with the techniques used there for the patient. Ask the management and staff at an RTC for your questionsSatisfaction. Only when you are fully satisfied with the atmosphere of the facility and the concepts used there you should bring your loved ones there. This is important because it is as a home to yours, as long as he / she is loved there under treatment.

For a person recovering from drug addiction, is the support of other people is very important. These people should not be enablers, but proactive people in person would help to completeAbstinence. For this reason, RTCs are a good idea. Here is a recovering drug addict is found many other people who are going through the same pain as he / she goes through. These people can provide support for each other. You can relate to each other, and they all share the same goal - abstinence.

Also located in a residential treatment is a patient under 24-hour observation. So that the rehabilitation process is a much safer here. Many addicts try to hurtphysically or their family members. If they are removed in an inpatient treatment, they can not hurt, their families, because either professionals or regulate their meetings, the professionals are in the vicinity.

On the other hand, the addict can not hurt themselves, because they always intervene under observation and, above all, if they intend to continue to do with him, someone, before it is too bad. In addition, the penalty / reward system is so living in many --Treatment centers, once a patient learns about the consequences of his / her harming themselves, they tend to be neglected gradually from him.

However, no inpatient treatment centers do not come without controversy. There is some concern about the discipline techniques used in some RTCs. In addition, some RTCs are able to offer free treatment, but may not give, advice and follow-up for patients, so that there is a high likelihood of relapse. Some people say that there is a lack ofRegulations in such institutions, and it is medical neglect.

For this reason it is very important that you carefully research through the Center into consideration. Make sure that the place where you go your loved ones to spend time is satisfactory. Visit to see if it is clean, if the staff there are happy and if the families of patients who were treated and left are with the results they achieved asserted. There are things you can be founddifficult, but they actually help your loved ones. Other families really help with this analysis.