Recovery Month: The Importance of Connection in Recovery
Recovery is defined as the ongoing process of stopping the unhealthy use of drugs, alcohol and/or behaviors, and building or rebuilding a healthy, happy life. This is not possible to do in isolation. We know that isolation can lead to both mental and physical health issues. It raises the risk of anxiety, high blood pressure, weakened immunity and cognitive decline.
Addiction in any form tends to isolate people. The shame itself is enough to keep people alone with nothing except their feelings and thoughts, most of them negative. In order to build or rebuild a rich, full, meaningful life, those with addictions must overcome this shame and share those feelings which ultimately make them feel more and more alone. It is imperative to long term recovery to build community. There are many ways to do so. Utilizing recovery groups allows one to learn to manage feelings, reduce shame, and learn more about themselves.
The most well-known and oldest paths to community are 12-step programs. These are self-help groups designed to lessen shame and stigma while longer term members share how they improved their lives. These are not therapy groups and have no leadership but rather are free mutual aid networks where members help one another to remain abstinent, learn to have fun, and take part in helping others.
Celebrate Recovery meetings are those with a Christian perspective of recovery. While they do use the 12 steps, there is no search for a higher power, but rather focus on faith as the basis for recovery.
More secular meetings include:
Life Ring, which builds personal recovery programs based on individual goals and peer encouragement.
All Recovery, where members support one another in abstinence and learning to socialize while not using.
SMART recovery, which uses cognitive behavioral therapy tools focused on self-empowerment and self-management
Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS), which emphasizes a self-empowerment and science-based approach without higher power language.
Once a person has achieved sustained abstinence, they can begin to seek out other ways to build connections. These can include churches, groups based on interests, or volunteer and service organizations.
The goal of recovery is not stopping something, but rather building a richer fuller life that allows a person to contribute to and enjoy life to the fullest.
Kelly Steed