People who participate in residential treatment programs for substance use disorder (SUD) often have unrealistic recovery expectations. Treatment can help you set healthy, achievable goals that will give you the tools to achieve long-term sobriety. According to the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, “Goal setting and monitoring are a collaborative means of mapping and tracking a course of mutually accountable treatment.” Spero Recovery uses peer engagement, community support, skill development, and the 12-Step philosophy to help clients set meaningful and realistic goals to ensure they succeed at thriving in recovery.
What Does Thriving in Recovery Mean?
Thriving means something different to everyone. One person may feel the need to connect with others on a deeper level and achieve physical and emotional stability, while others may feel confident simply maintaining sobriety. No matter what thriving means to you, the care team at Spero Recovery can help you heal and move forward.
Resilience is part of what helps people thrive in treatment and ongoing recovery. According to Elsevier, “Individual resilience is the ability of individuals to absorb the stress that arises from adversity to function back to a ‘normal’ level (what we refer to as ‘bouncing back after adversity’) and to emerge from the adversity stronger than before (what we refer to as ‘thriving despite adversity’).” Developing skills that improve resiliency can decrease the risk of relapse and improve overall health.
For many people, thriving and resiliency mean the following:
- Making positive choices to ensure healthy lifestyle changes
- Feeling fulfilled and accepting present circumstances
- Choosing to prioritize personal well-being and self-care
You can collaborate with the care team and peers to find new and healthy ways to engage with the recovery community. Success in recovery means more than simply maintaining sobriety and developing coping skills. You also need to make changes to the fundamental thoughts and behaviors that contributed to substance misuse.
3 Ways to Maintain Positive Changes in Recovery
Recovery looks different for everyone. However, the feeling of succeeding at various treatment goals can motivate greater change and personal growth. Developing new skills and learning to take advantage of community resources can reduce the risk of relapse and help you continue to improve your mental and physical health. Below are three ways to maintain positive change and thrive in recovery.
#1. Thriving in Recovery Means Self-Acceptance
Self-acceptance and finding ways to acknowledge your present circumstances without judgment can help you feel more confident about long-term recovery. For most people, learning to accept their situation makes it easier to do the following:
- Establish and maintain personal boundaries
- Increase self-awareness and self-esteem
- Release negative emotions like guilt or shame
- Reduce self-stigma
You can work with the care team and peers to find positive ways to embrace your recovery journey. Although it might take time and practice, you can learn to fully accept yourself and your current circumstances, allowing you to thrive.
#2. A Sponsor Can Guide Personal Growth
Everyone participating in treatment programs at Spero Recovery has access to a sponsor to help them navigate the recovery process. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), “Research shows that meeting attendance and engagement, and having a sponsor, are the strongest predictors of abstinence over time.”
A sponsor or mentor relationship positively impacts recovery in several ways, including:
- Reduced risk of relapse or other risk-taking behaviors
- Increased accountability and self-awareness
- Better treatment outcomes
Rehabilitation is often more effective for individuals with sponsors to help them maintain sobriety. However, Spero Recovery meets everyone where they are today, and some people may not feel ready for a mentor yet.
#3. Taking Advantage of the ‘Big Book’ and Peer Engagement
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has a self-titled book often called The Big Book by people who attend 12-Step meetings. Information provided in the book allows individuals to look at their recovery in a new way that encourages them to become part of the sober community.
The 12 tenets include acceptance, patience, honesty, integrity, humility, service, hope, willingness, faith, and fellowship. Sponsors within the peer group and the care team help people in early recovery embrace these tenets in a way that makes sense to them.
The Big Book contains the following:
- Information on the origins of AA
- Stories of hope and recovery
- Details about the steps and how to incorporate them into everyday life
The program engages people from all walks of life and helps them find healthy ways to heal from substance misuse.
How Does Spero Recovery Help People Thrive?
Thriving in recovery requires a new way of thinking about life and personal health. Treatment programs at Spero Recovery provide a beautiful natural setting and plenty of emotional and practical support to ensure people develop the tools and skills they need to thrive.
The person-centered approach and holistic therapies provide a solid foundation for personal healing and growth. Individuals participating in treatment are given the information and resources they need to successfully achieve and maintain sobriety after treatment.
Everyone has a different idea of what thriving in recovery looks like on the outside. However, genuinely thriving and achieving personal growth requires changes to both behaviors and thought patterns. For many people, successful recovery means being financially stable and living a drug-free life. However, others may have a very different idea of what thriving means. Spero Recovery uses peer support alongside evidence-based and alternative holistic therapies to help people heal from the effects of substance misuse. Success means meeting your goals, staying sober, and being the person you want to be in your new life. If you struggle to find this feeling of success while on your recovery journey, call us at (303) 351-7888.
