Rehab is not an easy experience, but it also, in a way, represents a shelter from the world. Closed off from the workaday life that presents them with numerous temptations and enticements to indulge in substance abuse, the addict can wean themselves off of their addiction and, furthermore, through their isolation, remain apart from those things that might see them return to addiction. But it’s not a situation that can last. The recovering addict, on completing treatment, must return to the outside world and be prepared to endure the temptations of addiction once more.
Only through proper preparation for recovery can the patient successfully pull off transitioning from rehab to everyday life.
While sheltered in rehab, the patient is, in essence, in between worlds, no longer caught within the snares of addiction, but not in an environment where addiction can attempt to reclaim them, either. Shut off from people who might try to entice them back into substance abuse, isolated from cravings and temptations that their normal life may present, they are protected from themselves and their worst natures as influenced by their prior substance abuse and ongoing addiction.
But this is not a permanent state. A person cannot remain shut off from the world forever, and rehab is treatment, not a calling. You’re not shut away in a monastery trying to avoid the sins of the world. You’re receiving medical care to prepare you to return to the world you left behind.
Which means, eventually, you will return to your life, and once again encounter people who might try to convince you to relapse or be tempted by some unexpected trigger into craving a return to addiction.
Luckily, rehab is not just treatment for the chemical addiction you had going into the program, but also training to better prepare you for the ongoing struggles of addiction when you leave the program.
Transitioning from rehab to everyday life is one of the hardest struggles the recovering addict can face, but an unavoidable one. And it’s one the addict can face and survive with the right preparation.
The addict must learn coping mechanisms for cravings and triggers. They may need to make plans for continuing treatment and therapy, whether through one-on-one counseling with a professional or group meetings with fellow addicts. They must be prepared to make adjustments to their life, cutting out people, places and things that threaten to bring about relapse, while embracing the people and actions that reinforce their sobriety and help to maintain their recovery.
At Good Landing Recovery, preparing patients for this vital transition period is one of the primary elements of addiction treatment. By better equipping the recovering addict to make the transition from rehab to life after treatment, they ensure that more patients remain in recovery and do not return to rehab in the wake of a tragic relapse.
The recovering addict may cling to the protective cocoon of rehab before they’re done, but the metamorphosis from addiction to recovery cannot be complete while the patient remains in rehab itself. Only by emerging into their life before rehab can they truly begin the recovery process and navigate the world without addiction once more.