Top 10 Healthy Habits You Should Learn in Outpatient Therapy

For people who don’t attend a residential rehab, outpatient therapy is crucial for recovering from addiction. Therapy is helpful for people struggling with all kinds of problems and mental illnesses, and addiction is no different. It is in therapy that a person starts to understand themselves better and find a route towards a meaningful life without substances.

Part of the benefit of regular outpatient therapy sessions is that you learn skills that help prevent relapse and ensure your continued growth. While work needs to be done between therapy sessions, it is the guidance of your therapist that will shine light on the path ahead.

Here are the top 10 healthy habits you should learn in outpatient therapy:

1. Consistency in Recovery

The benefits of therapy are not limited to what you discuss in your sessions, but rather begin in the process of therapy itself. Outpatient therapy is a structured process, requiring a commitment on your part to actively doing the work that is necessary. A significant display of that commitment is in attending every session.

By going to every scheduled outpatient therapy session, you start to see the benefits of consistency in recovery. You recognize that it is the consistent implementation and reinforcement of the skills you are learning that brings about change.

It becomes easier to be consistent in recovery even outside of therapy with the knowledge that the process works, bit by bit, as long as you remain committed.

2. Building Emotional Awareness

Every person experiences emotions, and for people struggling with addiction they can be particularly intense. However, it is not always easy to identify exactly what you are feeling. In addition, many people are not aware of their emotions until they become particularly strong – at which point it is already difficult to regulate them.

In therapy, you will build emotional awareness, making it a habit to check in with yourself throughout the day. This way, you will notice emotions when they arise, giving you the chance to manage them before they intensify.

3. Establishing Healthy Boundaries

Boundaries are difficult for people with addiction to establish. A lack of boundaries in relationships is both a contributing factor to addiction as well as an outcome of it. Boundaries are crucial for recovery, as they allow you to focus on what you need without taking on the emotions and burdens of other people.

Therapy teaches you to implement boundaries in existing relationships, as well as the habit of establishing boundaries in new relationships.

4. Effective Communication

Let’s face it. No one is perfectly adept at communicating effectively. Whether or not someone has struggled with addiction, they will have trouble being honest, managing conflict, and getting their point of view across. However, it is particularly important for recovering addicts to learn effective communication skills in order to improve relationships and combat isolation.

Outpatient therapy will teach you healthy habits for communicating, including how to identify the purpose of a difficult conversation so as to approach it in the best way possible.

5. Managing Stress Proactively

Stress is a natural part of our fast-paced modern lives. Even the most dedicated person, with tremendous stamina, finds themselves burning out after a while due to high stress. Yet, despite being aware of it, very few people try managing their stress until they are already in crisis.

The habit of managing stress proactively rather than reactively is crucial for keeping oneself balanced. Therapy will help identify the triggers of stress, along with stress management techniques like breathing exercises and better time management.

6. Balanced Living

Another thing we all know is an issue is that we tend to forget about balance in our lives. We work too hard and neglect hobbies. We give too much time to family and neglect ourselves. Alternatively, we are very focused on our own journey and don’t know how to balance everything else in our lives.

Therapy teaches you how to make the pursuit of balance a habit. It is possible to integrate work, therapy, self-care, relationships, and hobbies into a holistic lifestyle.

7. Healthy Coping Mechanisms

People with addiction use substances in order to cope. Without the substances, alternative coping mechanisms are needed. Replacing substances with unhealthy coping mechanisms, however, can create new issues.

In therapy, you will learn healthy coping mechanisms. You will also learn how to make them habitual, so that you start to implement them without having to think about it every time.

8. Leaning on Your Support Network

Relationships struggle when a person suffers from addiction. At the same time, isolation and loneliness are significant drivers of addiction. Getting back into the habit of engaging in healthy, supportive relationships takes work.

Therapy will help you identify who you can lean on for support. It will also give you ways to maintain these relationships with a sense of reciprocity, nurturing the relationship by integrating your loved ones into your day-to-day life.

9. Self-Care

A lot of the work of recovery is done on one’s own. While therapy will bring you forward in your growth journey, you have to live your own life. Part of keeping yourself mentally healthy in your regular life is engaging in consistent self-care.

Self-care includes creating regular sleep patterns, good nutrition habits, and recognizing when you need to relax. Outpatient therapy can help you identify how to implement self-care in your particular lifestyle and circumstances.

10. Setting and Achieving Realistic Goals

Finally, one of the biggest challenges for recovering addicts is the sense that they need to be far ahead in their careers, relationships, and lifestyles. It can be especially difficult when seeing loved ones and colleagues who haven’t struggled with addiction achieving things that are out of your reach.

The pressure can lead you to set unrealistic goals which demotivate you when you inevitably do not achieve them. Vague goals, such as succeeding in your career or falling in love, are particularly problematic. Therapy will help you learn to set realistic goals, with an actionable plan to achieve them.

Conclusion

Addiction leads to many bad habits and unhealthy lifestyles. Outpatient therapy helps you learn new habits which contribute to your recovery journey. Learning the above 10 habits in therapy will help you find a meaningful and sustainable way to live without the use of substances.