Recovering from addiction is a long and difficult process but many patients find comfort in the structure and form of the treatment process. To truly comprehend what treatment does for the patient, however, and how it can guide the patient through the recovery process, it’s vital for the patient to understand the stages of recovery in drug and alcohol rehab.
Now, even the phrase “stages of recovery” can be confusing for a patient new to the rehab process. For one, different rehab programs use different criteria for treatment and recovery, which means there’s not even universal consensus on how many stages of recovery there are. You’ll see as little as four touted and as many as 12. None of these numbers are wrong, but it is important to note that the stages of recovery can differ depending on the process.
Ultimately, however, the stages are often fairly similar. Some programs split certain stages into multiple, smaller steps, and this granular approach has its merits, while others use more broad categories for easier comprehension. But, overall, every recovering addict is going through the same things, just with a different lens on the process than others might be using.
Here, we’ll describe the recovery process using a 5-stage recovery process. The five stages of recovery are, in this model, awareness, consideration, exploration, early recovery and active recovery and maintenance.
In the first stage, awareness, the addict first acknowledges their addiction as a disease and realizes it is a problem in their life. As long as the addict refuses to admit to a problem, considering their addiction simply recreational or a temporary phase, something they could leave behind, they cannot confront addiction and overcome it.
Once they are aware of their addiction, however, they can enter phase 2, consideration. Here they start to think about how to address their addiction and find help for the problem they no longer deny they have.
The next stage of recovery is exploration. The addict is actively looking for assistance in ending their substance abuse, up to and including entering treatment for their addiction. This is where the rehab process truly begins as the patient enters a program of some kind equipped to deal with their addiction.
In early recovery, the fourth stage of recovery, the patient is in the late stages of rehab and the early days of post-rehab life after active treatment ends. What most people think of actual recovery begins here: the patient is now sober and working to remain so.
Finally there is the final phase of the five stages of recovery, active recovery and maintenance. This is a persistent phase for the recovering addict, in which the patient works consistently to avoid relapse and maintain their sobriety. This stage never really ends, as addiction always remains a danger, but careful work can ensure sobriety is maintained and the patient does not have to return to an earlier phase of recovery.
Good Landing Recovery can help guide patients through the five stages of recovery, their program aiding the addict in shedding addiction and finding sobriety as a lasting condition.