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7 Ways Peer Support Can Help You Maintain Sobriety After Treatment

Getting treatment for addiction, whether through inpatient or outpatient rehab, is crucial. By the end of your treatment, you should be far along on your journey, having learned how to work on staying sober. However, your recovery journey does not end there. In fact, treatment provides a new beginning for you, and it is necessary to embrace the opportunity by committing to continue doing the work.

People leaving rehab often worry that they will relapse once they go back to their normal daily lives. This is understandable as there is a real risk. Your treatment center should provide an aftercare program which helps you make the transition. But there are additional changes you can make in your own life in order to maintain sobriety.

Peer support is one of the most effective ways to ensure your recovery is sustainable. A robust support system can help you through the toughest times with its positive impact.

Peer Support for Recovery

Here are 7 ways peer support can help you stay sober.

1. A Shoulder to Cry On

A difficult reality for many recovering addicts is that they need to find new friends. A major reason for this is that the people they spent time with while addicted were their enablers. Yes, they could share their struggles with these friends, but instead of providing an ear and showing empathy, they encouraged them to stick to their unhealthy habits, or even used substances with them.

Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on and it is particularly important for those who are working hard to manage their mental health. As such, it’s crucial to build a support system you can turn to when you need to share your emotions, both positive and negative.

2. Keeping You on Track

Shame is toxic for people recovering from addiction and it is important to distance yourself from anyone trying to make you feel bad about yourself because of what you went through. But this is not the same as accountability. Accountability is crucial if you are to maintain your sobriety.

A good support system consists of friends who are non-judgmental but care enough to be honest with you, even when it’s tough. They don’t look down on you for your struggles but rather acknowledge that you are facing significant challenges and help you get through them.

You might have heard about a concept called body-doubling – people are better able to stay motivated and focus on work when they are in the same room as someone else who is working. The mere existence of a support system rooting for you has this effect, keeping you motivated by providing a sense of accountability.

3. Community

The author Kurt Vonnegut spoke of the silver lining of addiction: people in recovery build communities. He points out that an effect of modernity has been to isolate individuals ever further from one another. Community is rare and we all suffer for it.

Why is community so important? For people who are not addicted, it increases a sense of meaning in life, helps them feel less overwhelmed as they can lean on others for support, and provides a sense of belonging. For people recovering from addiction, it also provides a self-esteem boost. With the acceptance of a community, the shame you may still hold regarding your struggle with addiction begins to fade.

4. Guidance

It is always important to be selective in whose advice you listen to, but having a support system at least gives you the opportunity to bounce your challenges off others. They can offer their thoughts and suggestions and you can use your skills from rehab to integrate their best ideas into your life. By sharing your own thoughts with them about a situation, you can also test whether you are looking at things objectively or acting based on emotion.

5. A Shared Journey

Getting through challenges in life is much easier if you’re not doing it alone. Having others around who are going through a similar journey not only makes you feel more at ease, but also ensures there are people to remind you of the concepts and skills you learned in treatment. With the support of peers who you have met in treatment or support groups, you can better sustain your recovery, leaving you best-placed to avoid relapse.

6. Sharing Activities

Boredom can be an insidious obstacle in recovery. It might seem unimportant to some, but when you are bored, cravings can feel stronger. Your resistance to them becomes more limited as you have nothing to distract yourself with.

A peer support system ensures you have people to do shared activities with. Instead of staying at home on the weekend, or only engaging fully at work, you have people with whom you can hang out, exercise, enjoy nature, and do so many other activities to keep your mind occupied and improve your wellness.

7. Mutual Inspiration

Finally, you and your peers can provide inspiration to each other. Their victories can give you a reminder that recovery can be sustained. They can show you a path towards your own success if you face similar situations. Your victories can do the same for them. In addition, you have people with whom you can celebrate your successes, validating how well you are doing rather than having to process your progress on your own.

Conclusion

Peer support is crucial for maintaining sobriety after treatment. We have long understood the importance of shared recovery, which is why all treatment centers prioritize group sessions as a core part of their programs. Once you leave formal treatment, your peer support will remain a significant factor in sustaining your recovery.

Your peers will not only provide encouragement, but also give you a sense of belonging, a shoulder to cry on, and continued motivation. Your presence will do the same for them, and this sense of reciprocity goes a long way towards maintaining balance in your life after treatment.

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