Making the decision to go to rehab can be overwhelming. Not knowing what happens after rehab can be even scarier. Here are a few things you can expect after rehab.
What Happens After Rehab?
Life after rehab is what you make of it. However, when you choose the right rehab, you’ll be supplied with the tools and techniques you need to cope with the challenges that come with life after rehab. A good portion of your time following rehab may be making an effort every day to stay sober. This may include avoiding certain environments or people who encouraged you to use substances before.
However, over time, you’ll have the chance to redefine your life and achieve the goals and accomplishments you once aspired towards. You’ll have the chance to repair old relationships and focus on who you are. No two journeys to recovery are the same. That’s why rehab can be beneficial: it takes into account your life circumstances and environments, helping you overcome your personal challenges. Rehab helps you learn more about yourself, including your dreams, hopes, and goals.
Using New Coping Mechanisms and Support Systems
Rehab may not take away the challenges in your life, but it will provide you with the coping mechanisms to deal with them. With a new perspective on life, you can take each new challenge as it comes. You’ll learn techniques that help you control anger, relax despite a stressful environment, focus on the present, and build healthy support systems.
Transitioning from an inpatient rehab center, where you’re surrounded by people who know what you’re going through, to life on the outside can be incredibly overwhelming. However, when you leave the Canadian Centre for Addictions, you’re not alone. You’ll still have access to the community support system you built to help you with the challenges you deal with in life after rehab.
While it may feel good being surrounded by other people who are in a similar situation as you when you’re in rehab, continuing these relationships as you learn to navigate life after rehab can be even more rewarding. It’s important to recognize that people who are recovering are in different phases, and life after rehab is another one of these phases. You’ll learn to turn to those who are further in their recovery than you and discover how to offer support to those just starting out.
Committing To Slow Progress and Ongoing Treatment
While progress may be slow, the ability to be introspective and review each challenge as it comes can be helpful in your recovery. Working on yourself and moving toward recovery shouldn’t stop once you leave rehab. Recovery is an ongoing process that you may work toward for the rest of your life. An inpatient rehab setting can provide you with the foundation you need to begin this difficult, but incredibly rewarding journey.
When you leave rehab, progress may be slower. You may not be able to dedicate every hour of every day to overcoming addiction. However, you’ll learn to celebrate each milestone as you shape your new life. Rather than recovery being a race toward a finish line, you may realize it’s an ongoing process with many ups and downs. Some days may seem easier, and others, you may have to rely more on the community and resources you built while in rehab to get by. It’s also important to keep in mind that each sober day is a success in itself.
Finding Opportunities To Rebuild Relationships
If a substance abuse disorder has affected your relationships, as it often does, you’ll have the chance to repair and rebuild these relationships. Your loved ones can provide you with the support you need as you transition from life in rehab to a sober life, especially if you decide to leave certain relationships behind.
Without substance use on your mind at all times, you’ll have the chance to be there for your family and friends and follow through on plans and promises you make. A healthy social life can be highly impactful when navigating life after rehab.
Redefining Your Life
When you enter rehab, you have the chance to reinvent yourself. Your time spent in rehab is the first step toward your new life. Once rehab teaches you the coping techniques that can help you deal with life’s challenges, you have the opportunity to redefine your life. Rehab can also provide you with the time you need to re-imagine your ideal life.
You may decide that you want to pursue a new career. You may choose to go back to school to further your education. Joining a church may provide you with the purpose you desire. It’s also possible that you may choose to take things slowly and focus on each day as it comes. It’s your life, and there’s no wrong definition of it, as long as you can find a path that doesn’t require you to turn to substances.
Getting To Know Yourself
One of the best parts of rehab is the opportunity to begin exploring yourself. When you leave rehab, you’ll likely have a good idea of who you are, including your challenges and interests. You’ll learn the events that may have contributed to your addiction. You’ll learn how to recognize and overcome your most common triggers of addiction.
Without the use of substances, you can also explore new hobbies. You may decide to make diet changes or begin a new exercise routine. By removing the obligations and time requirements that come with sourcing and using substances, you’ll have more time to fill with healthier things that you enjoy. You may find that you enjoy singing, gardening, volunteering, or yoga. The great thing about rehab is that you have the chance and time to learn more about yourself.
Making the decision to go into rehab is a big and life-changing one. Instead of focusing on the unknown of what happens after rehab, imagine the many possibilities that can come with a sober life.
