Although it is the same general process, the experience of addiction recovery is different for everyone. We are all unique in our makeup, with different strengths, weaknesses, pasts, futures, skills, and talents. What may work for one person, another may struggle with. And while we can learn from each other through the recovery process, it really and truly is an individual journey. No one can give you a successful addition recovery except you.
Yet, despite all of this, there are a few fundamental success factors that can give you the best starting point for a successful journey to recovery. Without them, you may find that a piece of the puzzle is missing.
Willingness to Achieve & Maintain Sobriety
If you don’t want to successfully leave the life of an addict, then you never will. Just as with any goal, you must have the willingness to achieve and maintain sobriety. This is, perhaps, the first most important fundamental factor of addiction recovery success.
Your treatment and your journey are all steps to a greater goal: recovery. Wanting to achieve this goal is what will give you the motivation and the drive to get it done. When you fall – and you likely will – it is your focus on the goal that will help you get back up, dust yourself off, and try again.
Strength-Based Focus
You will likely hear this over and over again. Why? Because your strengths are incredibly important to your recovery success. It is so easy to get lost in the negatives by focusing on your weaknesses and beating yourself up for your past mistakes. It is a lot more difficult to focus on using your strengths, as well as how to recognize and understand your skills and abilities.
With a strength-based approach, you will:
- Come to understand just how capable you are in your ability to achieve successful recovery.
- Learn to disregard the tools you don’t have and focus on how you can use what you do have to overcome your struggles and obstacles. This includes yourself, your support system, and any services that are available to you.
- Begin to feel empowered and strong.
- Understand that you are ultimately the one in charge of your own well-being – and you will learn how torely on yourself.
- Know your resources and how to use them.
Self-reliance is a large part of overcoming an addiction. You control what you do. The more empowered you feel and the more tools and skills you possess or have access to, the more likely you are to find yourself as a recovery success.
Strong Support System
Although you play the largest role in your recovery process, it is also important that you have a solid support system. Just as discussed in the above strengths-based approach, having a support system provides a tool and resource for you to utilize for your benefit. This system may include your family members, some good friends, your mentor, your therapist, your doctors, etc.
Support systems are built on the principle that you will encounter times when you can no longer hold yourself up. These individuals will be there for you, offering support and a safe place to land. They should:
- Understand the entire recovery process.
- Understand their role in your recovery process.
- Have the tools and resources to assist you with any struggle you come to them with. Or, if they are not able to, they should have the resources to reach out to get you help.
- Be free of judgment and opinion. Your well-being is what they are to care for.
Attempting to ride out your recovery process without this fundamental factor can leave you with alone and in trouble. If you are looking for a successful recovery, you will want to ensure yourself by putting together a well-built support system.
Healthy & Structured Lifestyle
Believe it or not, having structure is important for your recovery success. Consider this: what happens when you have too much free time? Many times, this is when individuals find themselves in trouble. Wandering aimlessly without structure or any set guidelines to follow may lead you to places you shouldn’t go. On the other hand, if you are busy and in a structured routine, any deviation can throw everything off.
Structure can help set boundaries – both with your time and within your living space. For instance, you will obtain a job that will keep you productive and occupied for so many hours per day. Then, you will have cooking, chores, an exercise regime, and other daily living skills. Of course, the set structure will differ for each individual, but the purpose is the same.
Set a routine for your life and stick to it. Get used to where you are supposed to be or what you need to be doing at a specific time – and you will begin doing it as though it is second nature. It will keep you organized, balanced, and accountable.
Your support system is also beneficial in helping you build your structure – and hold you to it.
Hope & Resilience
What is hope? It is the feeling you get when you want something; the excitement, the thrill, the anticipation as you wait for the desired outcome is what hope is. When it comes to a successful recovery, the more hope you have in yourself and your future, then more likely you are to achieve it.
Having hope can make you feel as though you are still moving forward – and you still have a chance. It is common for those in recovery to hit strong hurdles that lead to negative feelings and moments of doom or giving up. However, possessing a sense of hope means that you know you can still succeed, despite any setbacks. And, quite honestly, is an incredible trait to hold on to.
Being successful with your addiction recovery is based on more than just being handed a certificate of completion for your treatment program. It is having fundamental factors in place that will enhance your recovery process – giving you the best opportunity for success that you can find.
Dr. Deena is the Chief Clinical Officer of Westwind Recovery®, an award-winning outpatient treatment center in Los Angeles where she oversees the clinical and administrative program and treatment methods. Dr. Deena is a doctor of psychology and licensed clinical social worker since 1993. LCSW #20628. Originally from the East Coast, Dr. Deena has worked running treatment centers, worked as a therapist in psychiatric hospitals as well as school settings and currently has a thriving private practice in the LA area. Dr. Deena has appeared regularly on the Dr. Phil Show as an expert since 2003. She has also been featured on many other TV shows, podcasts and has contributed to written publications as well as podcasts.
