Building a support network in recovery is critical to your journey. Your network will offer guidance, comfort, relief, and some tough love as you progress in your recovery from substance abuse. When selecting the friends, family, and mental health professionals to comprise your support network, make sure to choose people who will help you move forward in your journey rather than allow you to stand still.
Friends
A friendship can be one of the most intimate relationships in your life, or it can be a casual office connection. Both could be valuable additions to your support network. You know which friends to include in your network based on their willingness to put your needs above their own in situations that pose a risk to your recovery.
If one of your oldest friends frequently engages with substances, they probably are not the right person for your support group. A new friend at work who understands that you are triggered by stressors at your job may be the perfect fit.
Family
We all love our families, but we don’t need to share every part of our lives. Invite family members that make you feel proud of your recovery into your support network. The efforts you make to promote your mental and emotional wellness in recovery are enormous, and you deserve to surround yourself with people who understand and applaud that. Family members may also provide some old-fashioned tough love you need to stay on track.
Mental Health Professionals
Finding the right therapist can take time, and the process will quickly become tedious. Even when you come across the perfect therapist for you, you may need several sessions to realize this. On the other hand, you may think you found the right match, but, after a few sessions, you decide that you need to keep looking.
The goal of every mental health professional is to guide you to wellness, even when they are not the right person to help you. They will direct you to a colleague or a facility to help you find somebody else. The search is not easy, but the benefits of working with professionals who know how to treat your unique needs are innumerable.
We want to offer you the support you need at Alta Loma Transformational Services. Our dedicated team of mental health professionals and recovery specialists will work with you to develop a plan for lifelong mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness. We understand that recovery is an active process, and we want to equip you with the tools you need to build and sustain progress. If you are interested, please call us today at (866) 457-3843 for a consultation.
