Acceptance (Part 2)

“Shakespeare said ‘All the worlds a stage, and all the men and women merely players.’ He forgot to mention that I was the chief critic. I was always able to see the flaw in every person, every situation. And I was always glad to point it out, because I knew you wanted perfection, just as I did.”- Acceptance was the Answer pg 417 from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Acceptance can be difficult when it comes to seeking alcohol addiction help and getting sober, especially because of the feelings of powerlessness that are usually involved. Often times we have an idea or expectations of what our life should look like, how our friends should act, what we “deserve”, what type of job we should have etc. our expectations all come down to people places and things and can greatly affect our ability to accept things as being exactly how they should be in that moment. We rob ourselves of happiness that way because while we may be getting what we need it’s not always what we want. Many alcoholics think we have better plans for ourselves then our higher power but when we step back and let things just happen then we can see exactly how things work out better then we could have ever imagined if we accept life on life’s terms. Many of us don’t know how to do that but through the help of places like a Los Angeles rehab or other California rehab centers there is hope; a light at the end of the tunnel for all of us.

Acceptance (Part 1)

An acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation- some fact of my life- unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is suppose to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in god’s will by mistake. Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I accept life completely on life’s terms I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and on my attitudes.

When we first get sober there is potentially a lot of willingness and desperation, but very little acceptance. Most of us are full of fear when we get sober. How are we suppose to accept life on life’s terms sober when the only way we know how to live and cope is through drinking and using? The whole idea of acceptance is a hard thing to grasp when first seeking alcohol addiction help. It is something that we can begin to understand fully and incorporate into our everyday lives the longer we stay sober through the help of places like an addiction program in Los Angeles, AA, or other forms of 12 step program addiction help. Once we learn how to truly accept things we can begin to appreciate the blessings we do have in life. Instead of worrying about what we don’t have or what we have lost we can begin to live in the moment and be grateful for what we do have.

What To Do After Rehab

Following your release from Above It All, you may be anxious in regard to the direction you should head next. In order to achieve the happy and fulfilling lifestyle you’re after, you’ll need to place a heavy emphasis on implementing the lessons learned throughout your substance abuse rehabilitation experience. If you do not continue your efforts once you’ve arrived home, the chances of maintaining your sobriety will quickly diminish. In this entry, we will offer up a few tips to help you through the transition from rehab back to everyday life.

Therapy

Locate a support group. Hop online and search for local 12-step meetings in your area. Most every region has meetings available, and membership is free of charge. Consider asking your Above It All addiction counselor for a recommendation on area groups. Not only will these meetings help maintain your commitment to sobriety, but they often provide members with a forum to express themselves openly while meeting and engaging with new friends.

Financial Rehab

Obtain a job that does not require you to handle alcohol or drugs. Your addiction counselor and family should be able to point you in the direct direction, but you must be driven to work. Sit yourself down and write out a plan to help pay off your expenses and debt. Stick to your plan, keeping a budget and paying off your debts one by one over time.

Relationship Rehab

Write out a list of the people that have been hurt by your actions prior to obtaining drug and alcohol addiction help. Next to each name, jot down the ways in which you hurt the individual, along with a way to rectify the situation. It’s important to note that not every situation may be fixable. In certain instances, the only way to make things right is to focus on your recovery, and show the individual how you’ve changed.

Sober Living

Make sure to determine your living arrangements prior to leaving Above It All. If you already have a home in mind, be sure to consider the potential outcomes of the arrangement. Does your family mind having you back? Do your friends have space available? Do your friends use alcohol or drugs?

Research local sober living homes and call a few to locate one that suits your needs and goals. Most homes will have a list of rules and guidelines to follow in order to maintain your residence. Rent will be due each month. Can you meet these requirements?

Relapse Prevention

Perhaps the most important concentration area post rehab is relapse prevention. Know your triggers and avoid situations that may include them. If certain triggers are unavoidable, be sure to have a plan set in place to deal with them properly. By sticking to your sobriety and the support system you arrange, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish.

 

Alcoholics and Resentment

“Resentment is the number one offender. It destroys more alcoholics than anything else. From it stems all forms of spiritual disease for we have been spiritually sick. When the spiritually malady is overcome we straighten out mentally and physically.” – How It Works pg. 64 from The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Resentments are bitter indignation’s at having been treated unfairly. Resentments can either be real or imagined, for example it can be based off of an event that actually happened, or it can be based off of thoughts that we have involving other people’s actions and our interpretation of their actions which may or may not be accurate. Both situations can lead us to the boiling point if we hang onto the anger, fear, and hurt or if we don’t change our behavior or do inventory around it. An affordable rehab, AA, and a 30 day rehab can help with giving you the tools you need to deal with resentment as well as alcohol addiction help. There are negative and positive resentments the above mentioned are examples of negative resentments. Examples of resentments being a positive thing are when they motivate us to make positive changes or when they keep us sober because of pride/ego this is not necessarily a healthy place to stay in and there is still work/inventory to be done; nevertheless, it can be beneficial. Resentments have the power to destroy alcoholics or to force them into making good/healthy life changing decisions. At the end of the day it is our choice what we do with them.

How Family Counseling Aids In Addiction Recovery

By the time an addict has reached our drug rehab center in LA, the families are typically through with the heartache and drama that’s been caused. Though the family still loves and supports the addict, it’s not uncommon for members to feel as though their attempts to help the individual only serve in making the situation worse. Why would a stay at Above It All be any different?

Support for family of addicts is one of the main focuses at Above It All. Here, friends and relatives of the addict are invited to take part in the recovery process with the aid of a licensed addiction specialist. In this way, family members are better able to understand what their loved one is going through, and the efforts being made to combat the addiction as a whole. Counseling can take place either in person or over the phone, and can take place as often as 1x per week.

Truth be told, the single greatest thing you can do to help your loved one succeed in their recovery is making a commitment to attend Al-Anon meetings. These environments provide participants with the knowledge and support they need to fully recognize their own involvement in the addiction. As the old saying goes, “your only as good as the company you keep”. By making a concerted effort to better yourself, you will in effect be doing your part to aid the individual in question. Addiction is never a solo journey… and the same rules should apply to recovery.

Even with family counseling and Al-Anon meetings, it’s important to know that there are no guarantees for complete recovery. In some cases, it may even take years for the addict to truly commit to the recovery process.  Make a point to keep tabs on the addict’s attendance in regard to 12 step meetings once they have completed their treatment. A willingness to continue maintaining their sobriety through counseling and support groups is a good sign that the individual is invested in a positive change.

If you’re considering your rehabilitation options, take a moment to contact one of our licensed addiction counselors. He or she will be best able to assess the situation at hand and provide you with available options in addressing the addiction.

Deep breaths… Postive thoughts… Love & Compassion… We’ll get through this yet!

Intervention – Step By Step

Once friends and family members have exhausted their energy, efforts and resources on a struggling addict, an intervention is often the best and last available hope. When it comes to locating the best intervention help Los Angeles has to offer, Above It All is the name to trust. If you are considering an intervention for a friend or loved one, the following entry will provide you with an idea of what to expect when hiring Above It All’s team of intervention specialists.

Once you’ve made the decision to seek out professional help, it only takes a quick phone call to our substance abuse rehabilitation facility set the plan in motion. You will be promptly connected with a professional intervention specialist who can answer your questions and schedule a time to meet with you and your family.

During your initial meeting, your invention specialist will walk you and the other participants through the process involved in staging an intervention. Participants will be afforded the opportunity to ask questions, pose concerns and communicate exactly how the addict has impacted their life in a negative fashion. Participants will also be encouraged to write letters to the individual in question, which will be read during the actual intervention. With everything in place, there’s nothing left but to hope for a positive outcome.

Intervention participants will meet up at a neutral location alongside the intervention specialist. In addition to planning and organizing the intervention, your specialist will also serve as a moderator during the actual intervention.

When the subject arrives at the intervention, participants are encouraged to receive them with positive embrace. Though centered around a somewhat negative focus, a negative attitude will do little to aid the process.

If and when a “yes” answer is uttered, your intervention specialist will place the individual on a plane or drive them personally to our beautiful California mountain facility to begin immediate treatment.

Sobriety vs. Abstinence

There are many different ways in which alcoholics can choose to go about getting and staying sober. Recovery is such a personal experience and it varies from person to person. The most important thing despite no matter what our sobriety looks like or doesn’t look like is that we sought alcohol addiction help, and got/stayed sober. With that being said there is a huge difference between sobriety and abstinence. Sobriety is when we do things like go to a Los Angeles rehab, work the steps, or perhaps go to a California alcohol rehab program. It’s when we are taking a proactive approach to our recovery and go to any lengths to stay sober. When we do this our lives start to blossom and we are at peace, start loving life, and know happiness. Whereas abstinence is simply abstaining from alcohol. This type of alcoholic is also known as a “dry drunk.” There’s not much involvement in their recovery and often times they are grasping onto their sobriety while barely hanging in there. They are often miserable and, whether they are aware of it or not, they are in the grips of their disease. They can be well restless, irritable, and discontent until they either do the work or drink. They go back to blaming others and acting out. The dry drunk becomes the poster child once again of self–will run riot. It is often time inevitable that they will indeed drink again if they dont change. The good news is that no matter what category we fall under we get the chance to change it. We don’t have to drink to start over. We can simply pick ourselves back up and start with the basics again. In AA it is often said that we never have to feel the way we felt before we got sober ever again and we don’t. What a beautiful blessing!

Getting Addiction Help When You’re Young

Making the decision to get sober is already a difficult thing. It’s already hard enough sometimes to hit a bottom when were older let alone when were young. Since alcoholics have a tendency to defend our right to drink and use to the death many of us don’t receive or ask for alcohol addiction help until we are older. However these days there are a lot more young people getting sober through the help of places like AA, or California rehab centers. We see more and more young people getting here at such an early age such as 16,17,18 years old or even younger that work the steps, go to some sort of drug rehab facility in LA, and as a result of one or both things achieve long lasting recovery. It’s a beautiful thing. some people that get sober young might have the lingering questions such as was it just a phase?, did I get sober too young?, do I have another drinking spree left in me because I’m so young?, or how can I be or admit I’m  an alcoholic when I’ve never had a legal drink? We as alcoholics are always trying to prove ourselves exceptions to the rules or terminally unique. These thoughts to a young alcoholic are only icing on the cake when it comes to trying to be the exception. While it might seem more difficult the fact is that if you get the opportunity to get sober young and you take it you too can recover the same way all of us have. Not only that but there will have been most likely less wreckage caused and an amazing long life ahead of you. There are several young people’s events and meetings available to you if you’re young and ready to get sober. As young people in recovery we don’t suffer through sobriety. Instead we insist on enjoying every second of it. For we are grateful, know how blessed we are, and know that our sober lives are way too valuable to take for granted.

Creating Healthy Boundaries

Boundaries work to help individuals assert who we are in relation to others. They aid us in our quest for understanding in regard to responsibility in our own lives as well as the lives of those surrounding us. When an individual is admitted to a rehabilitation facility, it’s crucial to establish healthy boundaries in order to get the most from the experience. In this entry, we will provide a few tips to help create these boundaries.

Instructions

1 – Get in touch with your counselor to determine a healthy set of boundaries. If you are to be successful in setting boundaries with other people, you must first gain a basic understanding as to what they are. Your counselor should be able to provide you with reading materials and worksheets to help in the education process.

2 – Avoid substituting your addictions. When making the transition into a sober lifestyle, it’s not uncommon for repressed emotions to come out. Though the experience can seem overwhelming, it’s important to work though your emotions without covering them up with a new addiction. Immerse yourself in the treatment experience and treatment program activities to ensure a positive and healthy transition into sobriety.

3 – As feelings surface, it’s important to face them head-on. Confront your emotions by keeping a journal and sharing your feelings in group and private therapy sessions. This will not only allow you to work through emotions in a positive manner, but will open the door to positive peer support with other individuals working toward similar goals.

4 – Remember the golden rule? The same basic principal applies at our California alcohol rehab facility. Write out a list of your personal boundaries and hold yourself to them in regard to your interactions with others. What types of responsibilities to you have? What do other people do that make you nervous? Having a firm grasp of your own boundaries will help you respect the boundaries of others.

5 – Communication is key. If you’re ever in doubt, it’s never a bad idea to ask others whether their boundaries are being crossed. Different people hold different values and different levels of comfort. Though one person may enjoy a good hug, another may find the advance a little strong. Play it safe and make sure to ask before acting on impulse. The results of your continued communication and respectful manner will ultimately help you on the road toward the happier, sober and fulfilling lifestyle you’re after.

A Closer Look At Our Addiction Center Activities

At Above It All, our addiction center activities seek to help patient rehabilitate the body, mind and spirit. Located in the San Bernardino Mountain range, with full access to nature’s unsurpassed elegance, serenity and beauty, our wealth of outdoor activities affords patients the ability to appreciate both themselves and their surroundings in a positive supportive and sober mindset. Below, we will provide you with a general outlook in regard to what patients should expect from our rehab and recovery activities program.

A large number of our treatment program activities revolve around the idea that experience can be utilized as a way to enhance the rehabilitation process. Nature is implemented in a wide array of activities, including boating trips, day outings and hiking. The activities available to patients typically change with the season, but whether it’s the height of summer of depths of winter, we make certain to include nature as a viable and constant treatment asset.

It’s not uncommon for various aspects throughout the addiction treatment process to become overwhelming for residents. As such, it’s important for patients to commit themselves fully to the activity – yoga, boating, meditation, etc. – at hand. In this way, the individual is best able to focus and reflect on their struggles, recovery and pursuit of happiness.

Keeping a solid balance between activity participation and therapy serves in helping patients move past the negativities associated with their addictions. Our structured activity platform allows clients the opportunity to relieve the stresses of old, while working towards a positive and happy tomorrow. When combined with daily counseling and group therapy sessions, this platform is capable of establishing a foundation from which patients can make a healthy transition back into society.