Life picks up speed when we get clean and sober. As a result, we are given many gifts and blessings which often have to do with recovery. It’s easy to confuse recovery with our personal recovery programs. Ongoing, it’s always important to continue going to meetings, working with a therapist, and participating in a recovery fellowship which works for you.
Helping Others Is Part Of Recovery, Not Recovery
Being of service is a primary theme in recovery and one of the many tools we utilize to maintain our sobriety. Helping others is always a fast way out of self and into the less self-centered shoes of empathy and compassion. There is a reward which comes from helping others. We can get a certain kind of high which is deeply validating of who we are and our recovery. Too quickly, our recovery can become focused around helping others. Firstly, we create an ego-based recovery this way, feeling as though we are an ultimate authority to help people. Second, we ignore the true principle of helping people in recovery, which is that people in recovery need to be helped, including you. When helping others becomes your entire recovery program instead of just a part, you leave out room for you to be helped and taken care of, which is what happens through other areas of recovery.
Working In Recovery Is A Job, Not Recovery
Recovery is supported by people in recovery. Most people who work in the treatment industry once went to treatment themselves or are recovering addicts and alcoholics. Giving back to the world of treatment which gives so much to us is a rewarding experience. Working as a counselor, a coordinator, a therapist, an activities director, a treatment center owner, or whatever it is we find ourselves doing can quickly take up our time. Being a part of recovery is not a recovery program, it is one more special part of your recovery lifestyle.
Being In Recovery Doesn’t Make You A Therapist
Having gone through so much therapy in treatment and after treatment, you might feel like you could be anyone’s therapist. Despite your keen insight and awareness when it comes to matters of the psyche, you aren’t a licensed and trained professional who has undergone countless hours of schooling and training to work with other people’s minds. It’s true you’ll be one of the better listeners and advice givers, but you still won’t be a professional. Mental health is a sensitive and vulnerable place which can trigger all kinds of reactions. Offer your experience, strength, and hope, then encourage the person you are supporting to seek out a licensed therapist.
Lakehouse Recovery Center focuses on creating a lifestyle which does not necessitate the use of mind altering substances as a way of coping with life. Our private residential treatment programs help clients heal clinically as well as through integrative therapies. For information on our detox, inpatient, and aftercare programs, call 877.762.3707.