Addiction Recovery – Help for Addicts
Maintaining Sobriety and Staying Clean and Sober
This is the CapeRecovery Model of Addiction Recovery – It saddens me that often, within the big and lucrative business of rehab and recovery, the people are often forgotten. We need to remove the myth that a short stint in a rehab is a suitable quick fix to addiction. Addiction recovery and recovery from any process addiction, dual-diagnosis issue or eating disorder is far more complex and highly personal than that and although rehab is the perfect way to begin the process and get into the recovery mind-set, what does an addict do when they come out of the initial period there, when they are surrounded by the same people, places and things? Re-lapse rates are incredibly high, people die and that is the reality of this disease if the addict is not looked after throughout the whole process and beyond. I have some of my own tips on avoiding relapse here. We have developed the simple CapeRecovery model of Recovery, we offer authentic and straight forward help for addicts so that all our clients have the best possible chance of a long and happy life. With us being actively involved, the chances of that happening are certainly increased a lot, I honestly believe that. Some people don’t really like the 12 steps (I personally do and they have taught me a lot, it is a very practical program). It doesn’t matter what your point of view is though, the key is that staying clean and sober and maintaining sobriety always takes work, essentially it is about living in the new way you have learnt, on a daily basis. Below is the CapeRecovery model of Addiction Recovery, it is meant as a help for addicts new in recovery, to be straight forward and used alongside whatever program or knowledge about maintaining sobriety and staying clean and sober that you already have. It stems from my personal discovery of addiction recovery and my fighting against it for so long. I wish that someone had spelt it out to me in a simple fashion 5 years ago when I first tried to get and stay clean and sober.
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The CapeRecovery Model of Addiction Recovery
- In my experience everything is based on your past and in particular, your core beliefs. Addicts hold on to negative core beliefs and often ignore the positives. The perception of yourself that you have gained since childhood, your formative years, stuff you learnt back then stays with you. You learn what you think people think about you, it doesn’t even matter if it’s true, the fact that you believe it makes it a part of your identity. We have to re-train ourselves by working on our negative core beliefs about ourselves. In recovery we stop that cycle of making the same mistakes over and over again so we begin to realise that in many ways we have always been wrong about ourselves. We really do become new and improved people in recovery but it takes time and hard work.
- Damages and wrongdoings from the past remain with you, these things are compounded by and re-enforce the negative core beliefs. We cannot move on until we understand the difference between accepting responsibility and punishing ourselves for past mistakes. We must face up to and deal with any anger we still hold on to and we must do all we can to let the people we have hurt know that we didn’t mean the harm and that we are addressing the way we handle situations in the future. Sometimes the only thing you can do is stay clean and sober and keep moving forward.
- When addressing everything from the past it becomes overwhelming, the way forward is to focus on small positives, actually do what was once alien to you and praise yourself for small achievements. You can’t repair everything overnight, don’t try to. Things move forward once there is a little hope, it grows with time and new problems become easier to deal with.
- Independence is a great way to motivate yourself and improve self-esteem. Addicts often cling to something or someone to give them self worth. Try living as a single person without being reliant upon substances, behaviours or other people. Many people give up the substance or behaviour and remain in a loop of relationships on which they base their worth. This is not to say a recovering addict must remain single forever, just that if relationship problems and the reliance on a partner have been an issue in the past, take some time out to enjoy being you and learn to like yourself again.
- Do good things for other people, the traditional way of helping addicts who are new in recovery is great. The good feeling that being appreciated for doing something selfless and without an agenda is incredible.
- Don’t slip back into your old ways, keep doing the next right thing and keep asking yourself why you are doing things, check your motives for every decision you make. It becomes easier to do the right thing instinctively. Most importantly, don’t give up, amazing things always happen but be patient. Our addictions often took years or decades to develop to crisis point, it’s not going to be perfect overnight but it’s always going to be a lot better than it was.
- Finally, don’t pick up that drink or drug, however bad it seems, it always gets worse if you go back.
The CapeRecovery Experience
Our complete rehab and recovery packages designed for locals and overseas visitors alike, provide the opportunity for each of our clients to receive the highest standard of care and treatment, at the best local prices, for any addiction (drugs and alcohol), behavioural addiction (Gaming, Gambling, Sex, Love, Porn), dual-diagnosis issue (including depression) or eating disorder (bulimia, anorexia, binge eating, food addiction, etc). We plan everything and offer unrivalled support to the client and their family back home throughout the whole process, from primary, secondary and tertiary rehab to continued care and fully supported sober living, offering choice and expert guidance at every stage. With social activities amongst the recovery community of Cape Town and some excellent volunteering opportunities, it is the only complete rehab and recovery package of its kind found anywhere, all in the recovery capital of the world!
The CapeRecovery Model of Addiction Recovery, Help for Addicts, Maintaining Sobriety, Staying Clean and Sober
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