How Family Holidays Can Impact Recovery Drug Rehab Austin

Now that you’re sober, you have so many holidays to look forward to that won’t be tainted by alcohol or drug abuse. You’ll have the opportunity to enjoy the festivities with a clear mind and a healthy body, fully able to engage with family members and friends. Have a plan – It’s important to have a plan going into the holidays. What will you do if you’re offered a drink or if a trigger arises and drugs or alcohol are available? If you start feeling uncomfortable at a party or gathering, will you have a way to leave? Thinking through potential situations that could possibly lead to alcohol or drug use will help you prepare for the unplanned and unexpected. Recovering from an eating disorder requires a lot of unlearning and reframing.

Reframing Holidays in Early Recovery

It’s a time of transition, so have realistic expectations. If your loved one uses multiple substances, use the “functional analysis” to understand which substance to focus on first. Start small, by changing your own behavior in response to your loved one’s use. Study CRAFT modules 3, 5, and 6 closely to help make your plans. Radical acceptance involves understanding that much of what happens is out of your control, and using strategies to calm, distract, and soothe yourself.

Alcohol Treatment

The goal is to avoid catastrophizing — envisioning and preparing for the worst outcomes. Radical acceptance means letting go of what you can’t control, experiencing feelings and pain, but without increasing agitation, reactivity, and suffering.

Laurie, Kayla, and Dominique offer an overview of the first twelve weeks of CRAFT, discussing what it can accomplish quickly, and what becomes a lifetime practice. After any treatment, when someone is in early recovery, check your expectations. Your loved one is likely in a fragile state, uncomfortable, edgy, body wrecked after dependency, and disregulated physically and emotionally.

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Each week this podcast does a deep dive into an exploration of what a booze free life might look like from various perspectives and opinions. If you are sick and tired of alcohol making you sick and tired, we invite you to listen to Recovery Elevator. Check out what an alcohol free life can look like as others share their own stories of sobriety. If you are sober curious, newly sober, supporting a loved one or living your best life already in recovery, then you are in the right place. This podcast addresses what to do if you’re addicted to alcohol, or if you think you’re an alcoholic. Other topics include, does moderate drinking work, does addiction serve a purpose, what happens to the brain when we quit drinking, should you track sobriety time, is A.A.

  • For example, you may feel like you need to give the perfect gift, host the perfect event, or that your life needs to meet certain expectations that your parents have.
  • During this time, there are three general steps you can take to improve the mental and emotional strength of your family.
  • She has expanded her spiritual practice and is learning to be consistent.
  • It conflicts with some of the pillars of the CRAFT method, but it’s also sometimes unavoidable.
  • She would start to feel better and didn’t know how to deal with feeling better.

When we remove alcohol, we also remove the veil of illusion. Paul shares some helpful hints from listeners to develop a game plan for the holidays. There are 54 days left in 2021 and Paul is encouraging you to start now with your plan to ditch the booze. Paul shares that when we make the decision to not drink, an unbelievable amount of energy is released. This is less about staying away from alcohol and more about creating a life that doesn’t require alcohol.

How To Create An Addiction Recovery Resolution For 2022

Facing the past creates motivation to change and lead a sober life, and this is an extremely uncomfortable process at times. A good rule of thumb for families is to communicate, set boundaries, and recognize the different needs of those in early or long-term recovery. Whether this is the first holiday with a loved one in recovery, or one of many holidays shared in recovery, the best celebration for all will come with mindful planning to meet multiple needs. Holiday festivities are a big part of what makes the holiday season so fun. However, these events often feature alcohol as a main event, making them difficult for newly sober people to enjoy.

  • Northern Virginia Centrally located, safe and discreet outpatient behavioral rehab, including group and one-on-one therapy.
  • If you’re in early recovery, your task is not unlike someone without substance use disorder.
  • Each week this podcast does a deep dive into an exploration of what a booze free life might look like from various perspectives and opinions.
  • His drinking slowed, but extra income became an opportunity to start taking drugs again.
  • As a psychotherapist, it’s easy for me to forget that not everyone has a therapist.
  • Planning to be able to have an identified person who supports your treatment and recovery can help within the moment decisions or upcoming triggering conversations.

As you continue to make decisions throughout the day, you have less willpower. When you make a plan prior to St. Patrick’s Day, you’ve reduced some of that cognitive load, which gives you a better chance of staying sober than trying to figure out a plan the day of. Have a plan for the holiday, including mutual aid meetings and calls to those central to your recovery. Recovery changes family dynamics as each family member learns about the disease of addiction and their own need for support. Recovery Unplugged is in-network with most insurance companies to help make your or your loved one’s care more accessible.

Enjoy this podcast, and so much more

Perfectionism and attempts to recreate “what used to be” can create a lot of sadness and, in turn, high-risk situations for people dealing with drug and alcohol issues. From my earliest memories, I loved the holidays – staring at electric candles in the windows and big colored bulbs on the tree, then imagining that I heard Santa’s bells on the roof on Christmas Eve. However, as I grew older, the holidays became entwined with a sense of melancholy and often depression. But perfectionistic burdens I placed upon myself – such as having to make arty homemade cards, gifts, and a plethora of treats for everyone close to me – didn’t help.

Reframing Holidays in Early Recovery

Self-care is more than just taking a bubble bath; it’s about making sure your batteries are charged. For me, that means spending extra time outside gardening. This checks all the boxes, as I’m physically active and have time for introspection. As we bustle through our days, it’s easy to forget mindfulness activities.

The Risks of Families Enabling in Recovery during the Holidays

We offer treatment for chemical dependencies such as cocaine addiction, drug addiction and alcoholism. It is extremely important to us that you receive the highest quality medical care from our qualified staff during your stay. Gift Mindfully – A good option to avoid enabling is to not give gifts. Gifts and gift cards can be converted https://ecosoberhouse.com/ easily into money to buy drugs or alcohol. It may seem harsh to not exchange gifts over the holidays but putting money into a savings account they cannot access or planning future trips may be a better way to think of gifts. At the same time, a loved one may feel out of place at a table where everyone has a glass of wine.

After multiple treatment centers, I entered Casa and feel like a switch clicked. I learned some great tools I can use when I’m feeling down and I had a great support team here. Playing board games can bring your friends together in a sober-friendly way. If you cannot meet in person, there are several virtual gaming options available for free or you can host a group video chat and play that way.

How Family Holidays Can Impact Recovery and Create Opportunities for Change

There are plenty of fun things you can do without having a single sip of alcohol. One of the most common misconceptions about people in recovery is that they don’t have fun, but this couldn’t be further Reframing Holidays in Early Recovery from the truth. On St. Patty’s Day, you and your friends in recovery can get together to cook, watch movies, and even make alcohol-free drinks with some green coloring to get into the holiday spirit.