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.

The Alcoholic Addict and Dealing with Other Addictions in Sobriety

As alcoholics in recovery we may or may not encounter other forms of addiction that can pop up throughout our sobriety. There are some alcoholics that only need alcohol addiction help or some addicts that only need a 30 day rehab, AA, or a Los Angeles rehab because they don’t experience the addictive behavior with things other than alcohol or drugs. Then there is the other type who after getting sober realizes that  either they’ve replaced their main addiction with  something else or have  began to see that they have had problems in other areas all along but weren’t aware of them until now. For this kind of alcoholic it seems sometimes more difficult to address these situations then it was to address our alcoholism partially because the devastation and wreckage from alcoholism was perhaps more noticeable then these other addictions. Addictions can begin to surface in areas least expected such as food, men, women, shopping, excersising etc. Though not necessarily shocking. After all we as alcoholics are constantly seeking elevated moods. Whatever it is we pray and work the steps around it the way we do with alcohol. We begin to realize that if we have faith and do the work the battle with any addiction can be won. We begin to get more connected to our truest , and purest selves and start to see that if we love ourselves then we don’t need to constantly try to fill the hole with people, places, and things  that not only hurt us but also never really fix us either.

The Alcoholic Addict and Step Ten

“Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.”

“This brings us to step 10, which suggests we continue to take personal inventory and continue to right any new mistakes as we go along. We vigorously commenced this way of living as we cleaned up the past. We have entered the world of the spirit. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime.” – Into action pg 84 from the Big book of Alcoholics Anonymous

In step ten we continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear. When they crop up we ask God at once to remove them. Step 10 is a maintenance step. We review our fears, resentments, and parts on paper. We then look at where we had been selfish, self seeking, and dishonest. We ask ourselves where had we been dishonest? Did we arouse jealousy? Whom had we hurt? If anyone was harmed we immediately make it right. We admit our faults and amend our behavior. When we sought alcohol addiction help we agreed to go to any lengths to stay sober. Cleaning our wreckage up is a small price to pay as well as a rewarding experience. Through places like drug addiction detox, 12 step programs, or perhaps a drug addiction facility in LA we are taught how to work the steps, and adapt to this new way of living. Those of us in recovery are given an amazing life beyond our wildest dreams. All we have to do is ask for help and be willing to do the footwork.

The Alcoholic Addict and Step Five

STEP FIVE: “Admitted to God, to ourselves, and another human being the exact natures of our wrongs.”

In step five we take our inventory we did and sit down with another person (usually our sponsor. However in the past people have chosen to read it to others as well i.e. clergymen. This is fine provided there is trust in and a working knowledge of the steps in regard to the other person.) We then read our inventory making sure we left out nothing including our deepest darkest secrets. This step separates the people that are serious about getting and staying sober vs. the ones that aren’t serious about getting alcohol addiction help. This might seem like a pointless and scary step. Many might ask what’s the point? Or what if the person I read this too tells my secrets? This step requires a huge amount of trust and faith. If steps one, two, and three were done thoroughly faith and trust shouldn’t be an issue. If you find you are struggling with it you can always go back and do more work on step 3.Many places such as an affordable rehab, AA, or a drug rehab facility in LA can point you in the right direction as far as starting and continuing step work in a safe environment. As far as what the point of this step is or the benefits go there are many. You finally get to be rid of all your secrets and skeletons that have been holding you down. After all your secrets keep you sick. You get a sense of freedom, you get a sense of relief that only the people that have taken this step could imagine, and you can begin to hold your head up high and look people in the eyes again with dignity and grace and you can finally be free.

Powerlessness and Asking for Addiction Help

“Lack of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a power greater than ourselves. Obviously. But where and how were we to find this power?”  We Agnostics pg 45 from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.

As alcoholics we spend our whole drinking career searching for power and control. We try many different methods to gain control and power over our drinking, but the last place we usually look are places we can get addiction help such as an affordable rehab, AA, or treatment centers in California. We would rather defend our right to drink or use to the death than accept alcohol addiction help. We continue to seek out power until we exhaust all of our option. At that point we can finally surrender. It’s when we don’t have any other choice than an alcoholic finally truly surrender and can get sober. In recovery we find what we have been searching for our whole lives… POWER. We start to build a relationship with a power greater than ourselves and in return regain control of our lives but the question still remains, where do we find this power? That’s easy by doing the work available through various 12 step programs or  a Los Angeles rehab. You can start on the path toward regaining power in your life. Through recovery you’ll be able, not only to regain control, but also mend broken relationships, and become happily and usefully whole. Through this lifestyle you will find a sense of purpose and joy for life that many of us have been searching for long before we got sober.

The Benefits Of California Alcohol Rehab

Once an individual has committed his or herself to the California alcohol rehab process, a line of obstacles lie in wait. Alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex addiction, are all real world issues that will likely present themselves in one form or another once the addict has left treatment. In order to avoid relapse, rehab patients must make the most of their rehabilitation experience. In this entry, we will offer up a few tips to help you get the most from your treatment plan.

Step 1 – Make sure to keep in touch with your treatment counselors, while keeping close friends and family members up to date on your progress. Having a strong support system following treatment is vital to the success of any program.

Step 2 – During your stay, you will be provided with a variety of print materials to help you through your recovery. Make a point to digest these resources, write down your thoughts and reflect on your emotions on a daily basis while in treatment.

Step 3 – Education is key. Many addicts may be initially unaware of the battle they’re involved in. In order to combat the addiction disease, it’s important for patients to educate themselves about their individual condition. Discuss your findings in group/individual therapy sessions and with peers to gain an sense of camaraderie and support with in your addiction program.

Step 4 – Relapse, depression and codependency are all real possibilities in any recovery. Make sure you are aware of the potential triggers and warning signs associated with each to keep yourself grounded. If possible, encourage friends and family members to seek help of their own to better aid in your recovery and their own. In this way, your support group will be properly prepared to deal with these types of issues if and when they come to light.

Step 5 – Express yourself with a daily journal during your Los Angeles rehab stay. This will serve as a valuable resource if relapse happens to occur or is under consideration. By reading the emotions and lessons gained during recovery, addicts may be able to postpone and avoid the potential of relapse.

Step 6 – Choose a new activity. Boredom is often a trigger for relapse. By keeping occupied and stimulated with healthy and productive hobbies, recovering addicts will lessen the chance of boredom, which may aid in avoiding relapse down the road.

The Alcoholic Allergy

“These allergic types can never safely use alcohol in any form at all; and once having formed the habit and found they cannot break it , once having lost their self-confidence their problems pile up on them and become astonishing difficult to solve.” xxviii Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

This is an idea often times that doesn’t sink in for us. We may read drug rehab blogs, searching for answers but we know all too well the feelings of problems piling up on us and them becoming too difficult to solve, we also are no stranger to reliance upon all things human. However when it comes to the understanding that we can never use alcohol safely in any form we have a hard time accepting it. When people enter into recovery there is often a search for loopholes. We find ourselves asking questions or saying things like maybe I was too young, maybe it was just a phase, or I’ve been sober for a little bit maybe I can control it now. There are several stories about this in the big book. Some part of the alcoholic wants to believe that eventually they can drink or use normally. This is not the case. There might be a sense of loss over this realization and the decision to go to a Los Angeles rehab but that will eventually be met with a sense of joy and comfort when one realizes they are giving up drinking for a life beyond their wildest dreams. A life full of fun, happiness, love, fulfillment, and well being.

Best of luck as you find the right drug rehab centers CA and start this journey toward self love!

Addiction Treatment Centers and Help for the Alcoholic

“An illness of this sort –and we have come to believe it an illness –involves those about us in a way no other human sickness can. If a person has cancer all are sorry for him and no one is angry or hurt. But not so with the alcoholic illness. For with it there goes annihilation of all things worthwhile in life” – There is a solution pg. 17 Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Alcoholism is a disease not so easily understood by many; even an alcoholic might have a hard time grasping the true meaning. Often times it doesn’t just affect the alcoholic, but their loved ones suffer as well. This can make it hard for them to forgive an alcoholic or have empathy. It becomes a vicious cycle. The alcoholic harms or wrongs a loved one, forgets or gets over it, the loved one is still upset and resentful, and the alcoholic doesn’t understand why they are resentful or being mean, and then proceeds to harm them again in retaliation. This continues well into early recovery for some people, which is why support for families is so important when you are seeking addiction treatment. The alcoholic in the throes of their disease has a knack for assuming the victim role. It talks about this in the big book. It says…”we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate seemingly without provocation.” We don’t do this intentionally. After all, if we can’t love or care for ourselves how are supposed to love or care for our fellows? If we are unable to show up for life or trust ourselves how is it possible to show up for and trust others? It’s a disease that centers in the mind as much as it is a spiritual malady. The disease may be out of our control but the solution is not. There are several solutions available that can be found using drug rehab blogs. You can find rehabs that take insurance, check out California rehab centers, and discover AA meetings. When the alcoholic makes the decision to get help, the benefits are felt through the entire family.

Substance Abuse Rehabilitation – What To Expect

Addicts may make the decision to address their addictions through substance abuse rehabilitation for a number of reasons. Progressive in nature, addiction poses a variety of negative consequences to addicts who continue using over time. Some people simply wake up with a desire to obtain treatment, while others are pressured into recovery by legal issues, loved ones or an employer. Once the commitment is made, the decision as to where treatment should be obtained will ultimately depend on a individual needs, financial restrictions and insurance coverage.

Before treatment can begin, patients must complete an intake assessment. During this process, a facility specialist asks the patient a series of questions to best determine a plan of action. Common questions include a use history, current use habits and use amounts. Dual diagnosis can also be employed to address a co-occurring mental health issue. As such, the intake process will typically cover patient mental health histories, including current medications and symptoms.

In some instances, a detoxification process must be completed to wean the patient from their physical dependence in a safe, effective and medically monitored manner. Alcohol, opiates, tranquilizers, heroin and Xanax are all substances requiring detox to ease withdrawal symptoms and avoid complications. Without the proper care, patients are at risk for experiencing serious physical harm or even death. Most detoxification programs last between 3 and 7 days, with 24-hour care. An addiction program will offer patients various medications to help make the process both comfortable and safe for the patient.

In cases where detoxification is not required, patients may be afforded the option of outpatient drug rehab help. This allows patients to obtain evening, weekend or full day treatment while still keeping a job and living at home. Outpatient programs are generally only available to individuals deemed able to function and attend treatment while continuing to reside at home. Random drug testing is employed to ensure that the patient is receiving the proper amount of care. Individual and group therapy is also common.

When more in-depth help is required, residential treatment centers are often the best option. Programs in an inpatient facility can range between 30 to 180 days, with longer programs allowing patients to increase their responsibilities and freedoms as treatment moves forward. Inpatient facilities provide patients with a removal from the day-to-day routine, places and people that have triggered abuse in the past. In addition to group, individual and family therapy sessions, the inpatient community provides a more structured environment than that found in many outpatient programs, enabling patients to build life skills to use once treatment is complete.

Upon program completion, aftercare is vital in avoiding relapse. Most facilities provide patients with on-going support in the form of regular meetings to afford attendees an area to discuss their addiction, the challenges being faced outside the facility, and the transition back into society.