If you are searching for information about addiction treatment programs that can help you, you’ve already taken the first step in addiction recovery. At TruHealing Centers, our staff can answer your questions about the stages of addiction recovery and how our programs can serve your needs. Contact our team today by calling [Direct] or completing our online form. We can provide more information about how our addiction treatment programs may help you progress through the stages of addiction recovery.
Stages of Addiction Recovery for Relapse Prevention
The stages of recovery are common to all the people who walk the path away from dependence to a new life of sobriety. These are natural steps, but because humans do not adhere to straight lines, they often ebb and flow, curve and double back along the way.
It helps to understand these steps, recognize them in yourself and others, and feel reassured that you are not alone. Countless others have moved through these stages toward addiction recovery before you.
Precontemplation
This stage happens before you even think you have a problem. Either you have not had enough negative experiences relating to your substance abuse, or you are in denial. You may believe at this point that your substance use is helping you. At the very least, it’s fun and harmless, or perhaps a reward that you deserve. During precontemplation, you are not thinking about changing a thing.
Contemplation
When you realize and/or admit that you have a problem, you start thinking about change. As the name given to this stage suggests, you are contemplating but not committing. You open up to hearing what others say about the consequences of your substance use. You listen when you hear about recovery options instead of tuning it out. This stage can go on for a long time, even years. It can also revert to precontemplation along the way. This is a point in your recovery path you will think about later when learning about triggers and how to avoid them.
Preparation
Something has tipped you past mere contemplation and into readiness for action. During this stage, you meet with your doctor or other healthcare professional, google “rehab center” and “stages of recovery,” and compile a list of your options for treatment.
Action
This is when real change starts. The first action step is usually detox, during which you receive professional medical help to withdraw from the substance that has had you in its clutches. The action stage is engagement in all aspects of treatment in an addiction recovery program. While in treatment, you will learn skills to recognize relapse triggers and how to avoid them.
Maintenance
Sustaining major life changes can be hard. At this stage, you realize that rehab was not the end of the journey. Now you need to hold onto your sobriety. As you gain momentum and time passes, it gets more manageable, and your risk of relapse decreases.
Termination
This means that you have moved beyond fear of relapse and no longer feel vulnerable to or threatened by addiction, your substance of choice, or the once-powerful triggers that could set you off in the past.
Progress Through the Stages of Recovery Today
Suppose you are at the very early steps in this path. In that case, the idea of reaching the end-stage of recovery and feeling content, confident, and optimistic about not drinking or using drugs may seem fantastical, impossible, or even scary. How can there be life beyond that substance that seems to hold the key to everything?
At TruHealing Centers, we can help you find your way along the stages of recovery to that self-awareness and healing. Call today at [Direct] or use our online form to learn more about our addiction recovery programs.