How to Balance the Demands of Aftercare While Maintaining Sobriety

February 18, 2020

Harmony Place Team

Maintaining sobriety can feel like a full-time job for many people after they leave rehabilitation. You’ll need to balance living a full life with a job and relationships alongside your continued treatment and commitment to sobriety. Sobriety can’t take over your life, but it still needs to remain a top priority.

With the right balance in your day-to-day life, everything you do can support your continued abstinence by boosting your mental health and strengthening your support system.

As you leave rehab, you can continue maintaining sobriety and achieve balance with these tips:

Set the Right Priorities

You’ll need to complete a few crucial tasks early, possibly before you leave rehab, to help you stay sober longer.

First, focus on the things you need to live. For instance, you need a place to stay and perhaps a new job to earn money and feed yourself. If you cannot stay with friends or family, there may be resources and shelters in your area that will help you stay safe and even find employment. Shelter and employment are vital to helping you stay sober. You may also need support such as temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) or food stamps until you can get back on your feet.

Second, repair any damaged relationships and reach out to your support system. You’ll need friends and family members to help you when you are feeling tempted to use and to help keep you accountable. While you should avoid any people who may trigger you to use again, you should build up relationships with loved ones who can offer you support. You should also avoid people who add to your stress level or are unwilling to provide empathetic support.

Finally, be sure you have a plan to receive aftercare, either through continued check-ins with your counselor or therapist, by attending a support group, or joining a 12-step program. You need people in your life who understand what you are going through and can offer support when you need it most. They will help you in hard times and cheer for you in the good times.

Be Careful Making Commitments

Stress may be a big factor in your drug or alcohol use. Making new commitments, whether to a relationship, job, or activity, can put a strain on your time or mental health. You need to leave time in your day just for you, where you can participate in healthy activities that leave you feeling calm and relaxed.

New commitments can also make it difficult to keep up with your counselor and support groups. Your sobriety needs to be your number one priority; nothing should keep you from aftercare activities. If you need more time for other activities, talk to your counselor to see if they feel you can reduce your participation in aftercare or to make a plan to receive continued support that takes less time out of your schedule.

Try Self-Care Activities

Self-care means doing little things that make you feel good. It may mean taking a long bath, participating in yoga, going for a jog, or even just having a quiet moment in the morning with a good cup of coffee. Carve out time in your day that is just for you, not for anyone else, so you can reflect on yourself and your achievements.

One key self-care activity is practicing gratitude. As you care for yourself, think of the things you are thankful for. You may be thankful for your friends, your sobriety, your improved health, or even just a particularly nice breeze. Making note of the things you are thankful for remind you why you are abstinent and help you rededicate yourself to your sobriety. Framing your life in a positive way through gratitude is more beneficial to maintaining abstinence than focusing on negative things that would happen if you relapsed.

Find a Good Aftercare Program

A good aftercare program through your treatment center or other resource gives you the long-term support you need without asking too much from you. It helps you easily achieve balance between maintaining sobriety and keeping up with all your responsibilities.

A good aftercare program should have a relapse prevention plan that you receive before you even leave rehab. Your plan may include numbers to call or people to reach out to when you are tempted to use, a schedule of treatment sessions or support groups you will attend, or goals for your life after treatment. It may include resources for shelter, work, or other assistance.

Your aftercare program should also include regular check-ins with a counselor for weeks or months after your rehab has ended. These continued check-ins help you stay accountable to yourself and give you an easy opportunity to ask for help and support.

Finally, these programs should help you find employment through vocational assistance. They may help you find a way to further your education, such as through community college, or connect you with employers who are looking for workers. Having a job or vocation supports your abstinence while helping you build your new life after treatment.

At Harmony Place, our aftercare programs give you comprehensive, compassionate support for long-term sobriety. We help you build a balanced life after rehabilitation and create a plan to avoid relapses. You can rely on us to help you maintain abstinence for years to come.

If you or a loved one is experiencing addiction, you can find the help you need for rehabilitation and beyond. Contact us today to get help for addiction.

Chris P

I've been to 12 rehabs over the last 20 years and NO other place has touch like Harmony Place! From the owner right down to the cleaning lady, everyone here is kinda and warm. God has blessed this place and I feel privileged to have come through here. I recommend anyone who is going through their struggle with mental health or substance abuse to pick up the phone and come! You won't regret it!

Joseph S

This place is incredible, kind, loving, patient, rigorous, educative, caring and the best place for recovery. Ill be part of the alumni crew

Monica G

I had very good experience at Harmony Place From first day I came, staff was very kind and make me feel welcome and safe. Everyone was friendly and always try to help me. The therapists are very good and caring. They listen to me and help me understand my problems better. I learn many things from them and feel stronger because of their support. The nurses also very nice and professional. They always check on me and make sure I am okay. Food was good and facilities were clean and comfortable. It help me feel more relaxed and focus on my recovery. Management also doing very good job. Everything was organized and you can see they really care about patients. I am very thankful for this place and all the people who work here. I recommend this center to anyone who needs help.

Denton

Awesome place great people u want to check this place out most definitely 😜

Tyler

A treatment center where the owners truly care about your recovery and after care.. cannot recommend enough

Jodana S

If you want to detox painlessly this is the place! The staff is A1. They truly care about us. The groups are awesome . Residential is crazy awesome! You live in a mansion. With a private chef who makes the best food. Community meeting that gets results fast, they care about your opinions. Pool and Jacuzzi are beautiful. If your struggling with addiction this is the house you should come to. I LOVE HARMONY PLACE!!!!! Thank you to all the staff they go above and beyond to make this experience comfortable therapeutic. Don't spend another day in your addiction come to Harmony Place right now!

Cass

I’ve been to 4 treatment centers before Harmony Place, and I can tell you without a single doubt that this is the absolute best by FAR. The past ones were luxury Residential Treatment centers that just treated every single client the same not tailoring to each individual, and were basically just in it for the money, dropping the ball each time. I can also tell you that I’ve never met the CEOs, but here, David comes to the facility almost every single day, and makes sure he get to know every individual here. He is incredibly kind, and was even willing to transfer me to another facility with a higher level of trauma therapy due to me having a lifetime of trauma and PTSD that just is going to take a long time to tackle. He truly cares about all of the clients having all of the tools that we need before getting released to the real world. No more of other CEO would ever be willing to miss an opportunity at making more money and even paired with my IMPECCABLE case manager to find a different facility that was more trauma based. My case manager, Sam, goes absolutely above and beyond in every single aspect. She makes sure you have a smooth transition into aftercare, provides out of this world advice when it comes to sobriety, and takes the time out of her day to make sure that FMLA and short-term disability are completely taken care of during your stay. I’ve never met a case manager that could ever compare to Sam. Ever. I feel lucky to have met her, genuinely. Marissa, my therapist, is SO SWEET, actually listens to you, and provides advice and therapy tailored to each individual’s experience. She’s handled every mood I’ve been in, never judged me, and allowed me to feel safe enough to tell her things I’ve never told any person or therapist in my 29 years of life. I’ve been going to therapy for the past 15 years, and none of those therapists even come close to how amazing she is. I’ve been to 4 other treatment centers in my life and none even come close to Harmony Place. The facility is clean, organized, and high-end. I would recommend Harmony place to my family, friends, and anyone seeking treatment. I feel SO BLESSED to have landed in their hands. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE IN THE CLINICAL STAFF BEYOND WORDS. I love you guys ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️. I feel more confident than ever in my Recovery.

Gabe H

Where to begin.. Harmony is a place that will forever be a part of my story as the first step in my recovery journey. I’m so grateful for this program. The staff is very friendly, and many of them understand what addiction is like, for they themselves have recovery stories of their own. They have an awesome team of therapists, group facilitators, nurses, RA technicians, medical and health professionals, a wonderful case manager for aftercare that cares deeply for your next steps; making sure you are set up for success. They have a wonderful admissions team (shoutout to Marielle who was so kind and understanding of my messed up situation). Everyone is very relatable and friendly. They invest heavily in the importance of diet and nutrition too - there’s a full time professional chef. I gained all the weight I lost and wanted back in the first two weeks lol. On top of the intensive programming they do throughout the day, they take us out to experience various kinds of outside groups to get a taste of the real world, and also take us on social outings during the weekend. If you’re serious about getting better this place will meet you where you’re at and prepare you to launch with a renewed mind and heart.

Monica P

I can't begin to explain just how amazing Harmony Place is. In fact, when we sit down with the owner, Jeff, and clinical director, David, on Monday mornings to have a house meeting, they ask us what they could be doing better. A bigger blender for smoothies is the ONLY thing we could come up with. Let me begin by addressing some negative reviews. If you notice many of them are from people, or are referring to people who have been asked to leave. It is because of harmony places protection of their clients that provide ideal conditions for healing and progress. There is a screening process that it is implemented where they make sure the clients they admit are ready to start a life of sobriety. Some people slip through the cracks. Some people find out a few days or weeks in that they've changed their minds. Some are inappropriate and break rules. It happens. When Harmony Place ask people to leave, It's because they are protecting the people who are here that want treatment. In effect, they're providing exactly what I needed for a genuine start to recovery. When I began my search for a treatment center, my requirements were that the facility's provide an environment in which its residents all want to be there and that it is ethically ran. I got that and so much more at Harmony Place. As well as a structured routine, they also provide a confidential and nurturing environment where one feels safe and where profound healing can begin. Their program offers a sound foundation where further progress in sober living is almost guaranteed. In group meetings, we enjoy getting to know ourselves again and with deeper understanding about why we are the way we are. We are provided with skills to handle real life. Its here that I've come to understand that its not addiction that has driven me to make a mess of my life. It is the trauma that I endured and not processing it correctly that lead to poor thinking patterns that opened the door to addiction resulting in poor life management. So we start at the bottom. Trauma. They help us understand that trauma has led to our own toxicity, what that trauma looks like and how to get out of our own way. Process groups help us learn how to take accountability and foster healthier relationships. I learned here that changing the way I think is absolutely possible and imperative to the healing process. Harmony Place offered me hope when I previously felt I was unfixable and a support team that truly loves me. Even after I leave here, I have contacts that almost demand I keep in touch and an alumni meeting where I can return to the facility on Thursday nights. I wasn't a 12 stepper when I came here but my first experience with it was not one where I was ready to stop using. I understand now that the steps will work for me. It's certainly is not the only modality that they teach. In one group, we are provided an opportunity to sit with a recently retired medical doctor to just ask questions. Another is with a nutritionist. There are a handful of people IN recovery that come to lead groups that are all accredited highly specialized where I felt understood and not judged. The knowledge I have gained here is life changing. It is also versatile and relatable for all types of people. my favorite group was dialectical behavioral therapy. There are breathing classes and sound bath groups and I started doing yoga in the morning. There's a dharma meeting they take you offsite that focuses on Buddhist values. A fantastic onsight chef provides three meals and you can have special requests. We facilitated our own Movie nights during free time. I cant forget to mention you get your own one on one meetings with your assigned primary therapist and there is comprehensive medical support complete with 24/7 nurses and a doctor that shows up throughout the week. If this is what you need to recover and you have mediCAL, cancel your mediCAL and get insurance Harmony Place accepts if you can. There are people to help you with that as well. Just call. Many, many thanks to the staff. ✔️Another life changed.🙏

Cody B

This is such an amazing place truly changed my life. I would recommend this place to anybody if they’re looking for a strong recovery house that truly cares about your recovery and not about just money So if you’re ready to change your life, don’t miss out on the greatness of harmony because this place is where it’s at

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