How Community Can Help Your Recovery

Addiction recovery is a journey to a better life, full of both challenges and victories. It’s a personal journey, but not one that can be taken alone. You need a community of support, meaning people who are with you to handle the challenges and to celebrate the victories.

What Is a Recovery Community?

A recovery community, which also may be called a sober support network, is the group of people in your life after treatment who understand what you’re going through and are there to support you. Some of these people should be peers who are also in recovery and have firsthand knowledge of the challenges you’re facing. Others may be family, friends, or professionals that you can turn to when you’re struggling.

Why Community Is Important to Your Recovery

Having a recovery community is vital to your success, offering a plethora of important benefits.

Shoulders to Lean On

Arguably the most important benefit of community is having people to lean on when you have difficult moments. If you’re stressed and feeling temptations, or just having a bad day, you’ll have people that you can call on to offer words of support, or a shoulder to cry on.

A Sense of Belonging

Knowing that you have a community gives you a sense of belonging and security. The people you surround yourself with should accept you for who you are and not judge you. They are all like an extended family that welcomes you with open arms.

Reduced Risk of Relapse

Research shows that people with a strong recovery community for support have a reduced risk of relapse. Knowing that you are not alone in facing the challenges of recovery can give you the confidence to push through your cravings and struggles.

Motivation

When you have people who are cheering you on, you’ll be more motivated to work hard to achieve your recovery goals. It’s like having a team behind you to help you win the game.

Reduced Risk of Isolation

One of the biggest risk factors for relapse during recovery is time spent in isolation. Those are the times when your thoughts can get away from you, letting cravings set in. If you have a strong community, you never have to be isolated. You’ll always have someone that you can visit or talk to on the phone.

Accountability

In recovery, you have to hold yourself accountable, but your community will hold you accountable as well. If they see you doing anything to endanger your recovery, they will call you out. Knowing that other people are invested in your recovery will make you feel accountable to them.

Practical Support

In addition to emotional support, your recovery community can offer practical support. This can be anything from taking you to therapy appointments or support group meetings, to helping you find a job or enroll in classes.

Celebrating Milestones

In recovery, it’s important to celebrate your milestones, such as your days sober or beating a moment of temptation. Your community can help you to celebrate, which provides you with positive reinforcement and a sense of pride because your support people are proud of you.

Building a Recovery Community

You’re in charge of who is in your recovery community, as long as they are willing. You can find people from many different sources.

Family and Friends

While your relationships with family and friends may have suffered during your active addiction, hopefully some or all of those relationships are on the mend, and those people are supportive of your recovery. Again, you’re in charge and you can choose which family members and friends that you’ll turn to when you need support.

A Therapist

Many people in recovery find it helpful to continue to see a therapist after treatment. This can give you a professional outlet to turn to and also reinforce the coping mechanisms that you learned while in treatment.

Connections from Treatment

Many people form close connections during treatment and stay in touch after treatment is over. These people can offer a special kind of support, because they are at the same stage of recovery that you are. You also learned together during treatment, so you can remind each other of what you learned and help each other to stay on track. Supporting someone else in a mutually supportive relationship can also be invaluable to your recovery.

Support Groups

Peer support groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, can in and of themselves be part of your recovery community. You can also, however, form lifelong friendships within these groups. You may also find a sponsor, meaning a dedicated person from the group that you can call on in times of need.

Group Therapy

Group therapy is an integral part of addiction treatment, and you can continue it on an outpatient basis if you choose. This is another way to build peer relationships as part of your recovery community.

Peer Support Networks

Many treatment programs refer clients to peer support networks, which connect you with a peer to interact with one on one. These peer support workers are also in recovery and are, in some programs, trained to be peer mentors. To find a peer support network and other resources, you can visit the SAMHSA website.

Alumni Groups

Many treatment facilities encourage former residents to form peer alumni groups that connect online through a medium like Facebook pages and sometimes hold in person meetings or events. This allows you to connect with people who you were in treatment with, and others who have been through the same treatment experience.

In Closing

Sometimes it takes a village, as the saying goes. In recovery, having a community of support will give you the strength and motivation to be successful. If you need resources to help build your recovery community, Bridges of Hope can help. Give us a call today to learn more.