How do I stay in recovery after treatment?
January 26th, 2008
I really appreciated the post from uniquedancer. She brought to mind again the difficulty of “staying” in recovery! Of course at Mirasol a therapist works with the client for up to a year after treatment (most programs do not do this). However, I strongly believe that we (meaning treatment providers) need to provide even more support during that crucial year after treatment. We are working with our aftercare specialists to develop a dynamite aftercare program that I’ll make available to everyone as soon as it’s finished.
I will say that I’ve been struggling to perfect the program for over 6 months, and I would love some suggestions. We’re creating a book as well as a cell phone program to help people track themselves, their food, and their behaviors. It’s meant to help them plan all aspects of their recovery. This is all necessary, all good… and oh, so boring! No wonder people stop doing these kinds of tasks and drop out of recovery!
How can I make this fun? How can I weave the necessary spirituality into this program? How can I make it one of depth while simultaneously teaching people how to continue to have fun and be well? How can it be so interesting that people won’t blow it off?
I’d love some suggestions — including other books you’ve read. The skill building and tracking is easy, but developing a full, rich program is not. Thanks in advance for helping!! It is my goal to help many more people recover than ever before…..
Recovery is tough. And everyone’s process is so different that it’s hard to imagine a single aftercare program that could meet the needs of such a diverse group. And you are limited by geography – once your clients leave they are maybe thousands of miles away. I don’t know the answer to this difficult reality, but here’s a few thoughts:
- I don’t think that dependence on the treatment center is as much of an issue as it is made out to be. Some of the best (healthiest) connections we ever make are those that we make in treatment (both with other clients and with staff). I think those connections should be encouraged and nurtured (as long as they are healthy) instead of abruptly cut off at discharge. The hardest thing is to go home to people who don’t understand and leave behind all the wonderful support that you had in treatment. Phone support? Email?
- Short-term “refresher” courses – like a weeklong retreat somewhere beautiful. Not very realistic, I know, but much more practical than long term treatment for people with other commitments. Kind of like a spa week, but with a purpose – recovery.
- You’re right – tracking food and behaviors, etc. is boring, not to mention potentially triggering. Not really sure what to replace it with.
- In “Gaining” Aimee Liu talks about a possible key to recovery is replacing the ed with something that you are even more passionate about – whether that be an education or career or art or spirituality or whatever it is that excites you. That seems to make sense. Maybe spend some time trying to help each client exploring what it is that they love more than their ed.
- guided meditations for people with ed’s – CD’s or MP3′s. Sometimes hearing a soothing voice is really important.
Anyway, sorry for the ramble. Just felt like rambling. Have a good day.
-kc