Phases of recovery from alcoholism. Stages of bio-psycho-social recovery (recovery) for patients with addiction Late Recovery – creating depth and meaning in life

Stages of recovery

Transition – abandon attempts to control consumption.

During the Transition we need to complete three main tasks:

· We acknowledge that we have lost control of our alcohol and drug use.

· We accept that we cannot control it because we are addicted.

· We commit ourselves to a program of recovery that involves the help of others.

The transition begins when increasing life problems caused by addiction force us to admit that we are in trouble, but we are not yet convinced that these problems are related to alcohol or drug use. First, we make attempts to solve our problems without taking into account the use of alcohol and drugs.

We fail time after time.

When we eventually see the connection between substance use and problems in life, we do not yet say: “I am a chemically dependent person.” This may happen later. What we say is, “I'm a social drinker and I'm in trouble,” or “I'm having fun doing drugs and I'm in trouble.” We still believe that we are “responsible for our use,” it’s just that things aren’t going smoothly for us. We tell ourselves: “I drink or take drugs because I have problems in my life. If there are no problems, I can stop using.”

When we realize we have problems caused by chemicals, most of us ask ourselves, “How can I continue to use alcohol and drugs but avoid the problems?” The solution seems simple. We're just trying to control our drinking and drug use. At this stage, our goal is to try to prove through control that we drink or inject drugs in order to have fun or socialize.

Most chemically dependent people use multiple strategies to try to regain control. Here are the most famous of them:

- Change of pace.

- Quantity limitation..

- Limiting the time of day.

- Frequency change.

- Change of substance.

- Using other drugs to maintain control(for example, smoking marijuana in the first three hours of a party to avoid drinking so much).

- Temporary abstinence.

Our attempts at control fail time after time. Eventually, we come to believe that we cannot control our drinking and drug use and that the problem is bigger than we thought.

In order to recover, we need to change our belief system from “I am a social drinker (doing recreationally) and can control it” to “I am an addict and cannot control it.” Once this recognition is made, treatment can become effective.

We must also learn about the disease of addiction that has caused the loss of control. Moreover, we must learn about the steps necessary for recovery.

First, we must gain basic knowledge about addiction.

Secondly, we must analyze our problems and their connection with alcohol or drug use.

Third, we must decide whether we are addicted.

Fourth, we need to explore our ways of denying our addiction to make sure we are being honest with ourselves.

Finally, we need to work through the first three steps of the Twelve Step Program. During the transition, we go through our experience of powerlessness over alcohol and drugs. As a result, we become aware of the uncontrollability of our lives. We need to seek help from a Power greater than ourselves and actively seek out anyone or anything that can help us. We also need to be willing to accept this help.

Stabilization is recovery from the damage caused by addiction.

Four important things happen during the stabilization stage.

· We physically recover from withdrawal from the substance we used.

· We stop being preoccupied with chemicals.

· We learn to solve problems without using alcohol or other drugs.

· We develop hope and motivation.

Recovery from physical withdrawal symptoms.

At the beginning of the stabilization period, we still continue to use alcohol and drugs. We want to stop, but when we do, we may feel physically ill. This ailment is called withdrawal syndrome (withdrawal syndrome, hangover, withdrawal symptoms).

There are two types of physical withdrawal syndrome – acute (short-term) and subacute (long-term).

People recover from acute withdrawal symptoms within 3-10 days. When this period ends, we may think we have done it. The worst is over. The rest of your recovery will be easy. To some extent this is true, but more than half of us encounter a surprise. The surprise is called subacute withdrawal syndrome. The peak of subacute withdrawal syndrome occurs approximately 4 – 6 months of chemical purity and may occur to varying degrees over a period of two years.

Symptoms of subacute withdrawal syndrome include difficulty with:

· Clarity of thinking

· Managing feelings and emotions

· Experiencing stress

Memorization and

· Rest while sleeping.

The Twelve Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous offers three basic tools that can help an addict through this period of recovery:

· Attending meetings.

· Sponsorship

· Slogans.

Overcoming substance concerns.

We think about using alcohol and drugs when it would be better to think about other things. This concern must be overcome in order for us to progress in recovery. Many of us find that we have developed the habit of “addictive thinking.” Dependent thinking causes us to think in self-destructive ways, leading us into high-risk situations such as going to a bar or missing a meeting.

Dependent preoccupation can be a combination of six elements:

Euphoric memory

· Positive expectations

· Trigger events

· Obsession

· Compulsivity

Codependent preoccupation makes it difficult or impossible for us to think well about our recovery. It must be suspended so that we can develop it.

The best way to do this is to start telling your story at a Twelve Step program meeting. Another option is to see a chemical dependency counselor and work through your history of alcohol and drug use. Or restore it yourself. Take memories of the “good old days” and analyze them. When most of us did this work, we came to the conclusion that the only good thing that drinking and drugs gave us was a state of woozy and the ability to turn off the awareness of how wrong our lives were.

But from the moment we challenge the euphoric memory, the obsession begins to subside. When it decreases, our compulsivity to use alcohol and drugs decreases along with it. Our dependent preoccupation is defeated and we can no longer deny reality.

Exploring non-independent ways of experiencing stress.

Now we are forced to face the painful truth of our lives. During stabilization, most of us have serious problems with our spouses, family, friends or work. Awareness of these problems creates stress, and we need to learn to cope with it.

In order to successfully move through this stage of recovery, we need to learn independent problem-solving strategies.

Short-term social stabilization.

For most of us, our addiction was devastating. We have suffered physically, psychologically, socially and spiritually.

To stabilize, we need to take steps to piece together our current lives. It is quite difficult to move forward in recovery if our job is in jeopardy, we are on the verge of divorce, we may be arrested, we may suffer financial ruin or bankruptcy. Short-term social stabilization means that we learn to apply a kind of “bandages” to the main problems of life. In AA parlance, we "commit" them. We may not be able to solve them completely, but we can take actions that will insure us against possible catastrophic consequences.

Developing hope and motivation.

As we become more resilient, a new sense of hope begins to arise and motivation strengthens. We begin to think more clearly and rationally, and our emotions calm down. We begin to build a new story of recovery, living one day at a time. We begin to see progress and recovery in others. We see that acute withdrawal and subacute withdrawal are something we can manage. We become convinced that life can improve if we follow certain fundamental principles. Obsession, compulsivity, and cravings for alcohol and drug use often decrease. We begin to believe that recovery is possible.

Early recovery – understanding and acceptance.

The main goal of early recovery is to change our attitude towards alcohol and drug use, which leads us to a breakdown. We change our understanding of addiction and the role it plays in our lives. We explore the meaning and purpose of taking chemicals, and learn to cope with life without using them.

AA likes to say that alcoholism is a combination of two problems: a drinking problem and a thinking problem. Problem of thinking relates to irrational thoughts, uncontrollable feelings and, as a result, self-destructive behavior that is accompanied by alcohol and drug use. In early recovery, we focus on resolving the thinking problem that is associated with our addiction.

Understanding Dependency

At first, when we take the First Step and accept our powerlessness over alcohol and drugs, it seems like an inexplicable miracle. We know it happened, but we don't understand how we did it. We're not sure we know how to preserve it. We are afraid that the miracle will destroy itself.

In Early Recovery we debunk the miracle myth by exploring the healing process. We begin consciously embrace our addiction and learn what is required of us if we are to continue in recovery.

The first goal of early recovery is to develop an accurate and detailed understanding of chemical dependency. This is an intellectual task, but it awakens many feelings. Acceptance involves understanding addiction as a disease, trying this information on ourselves, and deciding that we actually have this disease, and this disease has its consequences.

The part of us that questions our addiction or tries to reduce it is called dependent "I". It is a habitual way of talking to oneself that develops to maintain and protect one's addiction. The dependent self is the guardian of denial and rationalization. This dependent self prevents us from clearly understanding what chemical addiction is, recognizing the fact that we have it, and the consequences that chemical addiction has brought into our lives.

Each dependent has two distinguishable parts:

· Dependent "I" and

· Sober "I"

The goal of recovery is to transfer responsibility to the sober self.

The goal of early recovery is to finally suppress the voice of our dependent self. And this voice must be defeated with the help of truth.

It is very important to realize what exactly your sober and dependent selves are saying to each other. Sometimes the dependent self takes over. We fall into addictive thinking without even realizing it. From the moment you learn to see the difference between your sober self and your addicted self, you can stop and ask yourself, “Who is talking now, my sober self or my addicted self?” A sign that you have reached an agreement with both your sober and addicted selves is your ability to describe your sober self without internal debate.

Understanding the role addiction has played in your life.

The dependent self has caused us to change physically, psychologically, socially and spiritually. Our dependent self has given us belief in things that are not true. We believed that our dependent self was our friend, when in fact it was our enemy. We believed that we needed to trust our dependent self, and it would help us, when in reality it was destroying us. We thought our dependent self could solve problems, when it created them. We thought that our dependent self knew how to deal with stress, when in fact we only became tense or powerless. We need to correct our thinking and see what the dependent self is.

Life history reconstruction

Chemical dependency operates within the context of our lifestyle. To understand how your chemical addiction developed, it is important to understand your life.

If we look at the relationship of alcohol and drug use to the course of our lives honestly and accurately, we will have to admit how destructive it has been. And if we see how destructive the use has been, the logical thing to do is stop it.

Determining the purpose served by alcohol and drugs

Alcohol and drugs served certain purposes in each of our lives. We used them for something. Sometimes in order to increase our strength. In other cases - to overcome weaknesses, or to avoid problems. It is important to understand how we can cope with such situations without resorting to substances.

Accepting the Disease of Addiction

Acceptance is the ability to think about what happened while we were using alcohol and other drugs without feeling pain. It is an emotional process that involves releasing shame, guilt, and unresolved painful experiences experienced during addiction. Many people in recovery carry these unresolved painful memories with them for many years. They feel fine most of the time, but when they think or talk about past alcohol and drug use, the pain, shame and guilt return.

Many of us try to cope with these feelings by trying not to remember what causes them. This works for a short time, but the feelings inevitably return. When we fully accept our addiction, our past alcohol and drug use will no longer be able to hurt us.

There are four ways to resolve the pain of memories.

- Listen to the stories of others.

If we have expelled unpleasant memories from our minds, they return when we listen to other people's stories. We can note our painful memories and begin to talk about them with others.

- Tell your story.

One of the most powerful ways to remember and resolve pain from the past is to tell your story in meetings.

We begin to experience feelings that we did not allow ourselves to feel while we were drinking and using drugs. The pain is felt and expressed. Eventually there is a feeling of relief and perhaps resolution of the pain.

- Contact a consultant.

A counselor can prepare us to tell our story by helping us remember what happened in episodes of drinking and drug use. An experienced counselor can help us fill in memory gaps by asking questions and using guided imagination. We are asked to remember exactly what happened - what exactly we saw, heard, felt and experienced.

A combination of telling your story to your sponsor, meetings, and counselor can help you heal faster.

- Work in Steps.

During early recovery, most recovering people work on the Fourth through Seventh Steps of the AA Program. These Steps are about the process of internal change.

Step Four: “We examined ourselves deeply and fearlessly from a moral point of view.”

Step Five: “We admitted to God, ourselves, and at least one other person the true nature of our shortcomings.”

Step Six: “We are fully prepared to have God deliver us from all these defects of character.”

Step Seven: Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

Average recovery is the achievement of life balance.

In Medium Recovery, we begin to repair the parts of our lives damaged by addiction. We evaluate our goals, examine our lives, and make changes. Long-term change is what average recovery is all about.

Resolving Frustration

We can be discouraged when we look at life after six to eighteen months of sobriety and find that there is still a ton of work left to do. This is a period of high risk of failure. We start asking questions. Sobriety for what? Why am I still sober if I have so many problems?

In early recovery, many of our friends are people in recovery, and what we have in common is the program. We often feel uncomfortable with “earth people” who do not work the Twelve Step Program. Most of our old friends are active addicts, and we should stay away from them to stay sober. Most people who are not addicts don't understand what we go through, and many are codependent. The program is an island of sanity in an addicted world, and we spend a lot of time there. As we enter mid-life recovery, we recognize the need to extend this island of sanity to other areas of our lives. In A.A. this is called “applying principles in all our affairs.”

An average recovery confronts us with a major choice. Either we begin to rebuild our lifestyle using the principles of recovery, or we avoid making any real changes. This is where many people get stuck. They rationalize by saying, “I don't drink and I go to meetings! That's all I have to do!” They find it much easier to use their recovery program as a place to hide from their problems than as a tool for growth and change.

Repairing damage.

The next challenge of early recovery is to repair the damage we have done through our illness. We need to make amends for one simple reason: although we are not responsible for getting sick, we are responsible for making amends for the damage we caused.

The Twelve Steps tell us to begin to free ourselves from problems by working Steps Eight and Nine. Step Eight asks us to make a list of all the people we have harmed and be willing to make amends to them. The Ninth Step suggests that we “make personal amends to these people whenever possible. Unless it might hurt them or someone else.”

Creating a Balanced Lifestyle

A healthy life requires a balance of physical, psychological, social and spiritual aspects.

Physical health in recovery.

Gaining physical health is an important part of average recovery. Physical health usually improves with abstinence. Unfortunately, many people in recovery develop habits that undermine the benefits of abstinence. These self-destructive habits include poor diet, excessive use of cigarettes and caffeine, and inappropriate exercise.

Psychological health in recovery

Psychologically healthy people have the habit of using their minds in healthy ways. They learned to think clearly, logically and rationally. They learned to manage their feelings and emotions. They can make correct judgments and regulate their behavior.

Social health in recovery

The goal of average recovery is to learn to function well in family, intimate relationships, work and friends, and to cope with the normal ups and downs of life.

Life without chemicals

A very important part of mid-term recovery is learning to live a chemical-free life. In average recovery, we learn that our recovery does not guarantee us a problem-free existence. Stable recovery means we can cope with problems and changes in an effective way.

In the Twelve Step program, this is working on the Tenth Step.

Step Ten: We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, we immediately admitted it.

Working this Step means that we maintain awareness of what we are doing and the consequences that our actions will have. At the first sign of a problem, we can recognize that something is wrong and take action to fix it. We learn to solve problems without using chemicals.

Late Recovery – Creating Depth and Meaning in Life

Many of us grew up in chemically dependent or dysfunctional families where we learned self-destructive skills to deal with life. These are unconscious habits that we blindly repeat as adults. These self-destructive thoughts, feelings and behaviors can reduce the quality of our recovery and increase our risk of relapse. Late recovery is a time when it comes time to learn to free ourselves from the habits, beliefs and debilitating feelings that we acquired in childhood.

Chemically dependent people who grow up in dysfunctional families experience a number of the usual problems associated with late recovery.

Problem 1: Solving personal problems

In late recovery, many of us find that we are unable to solve important personal problems, even though we can solve similar problems for other people.

Problem 2: Inability to manage feelings

Another common problem is the loss of ability to cope with feelings and emotions. Many of us either turn off our feelings or overreact.

Problem 3: Unchanging Habits

Many of us remain inflexible despite years of sobriety. We seem to have a hard time changing our behavior even if we want to.

Problem 4: The need to care for or save others.

Many of us are compulsive helpers. We will try to help people even when they don't want to be helped. We will help others if it harms ourselves. We don't seem to feel entitled to take care of ourselves, even though we are constantly busy solving other people's problems.

Problem 5: The need to work things out quietly and do what others expect.

We do what is expected of us, but we don't do it well enough to stand out and receive praise, or poorly enough to be punished. Some of us become so invisible that other people don't even know we're here.

Problem 6: The need to entertain others and distract attention from difficulties.

Many of us feel like we have to be the center of attention. We cannot endure periods of silence in meetings. We feel especially uncomfortable when others bring up serious and painful issues. To get rid of tension, we start joking and acting like clowns.

Problem 7: The need to appease and achieve peace at any cost

Some of us have learned to be peacemakers. We do not like conflict, and therefore we feel that our task is to create and maintain peace at any cost. We need to avoid conflicts and smooth out unpleasant feelings.

Problem 8: The need to take blame for other people's problems

Many of us strive to be scapegoats for other people. We feel so bad about ourselves that when others accuse us of something, we see no way to defend ourselves.

Problem 9: The need to act contrary, break rules, and create problems.

Some of us are compulsive rule breakers. We don't see anything wrong with this: we just don't want other people to tell us what to do. Problem 10: The need to blame others for your own problems

Many of us find it difficult to take responsibility for our own problems.

If we want to solve the problems of late recovery, we must be willing to spend the time and necessary energy on it. First, we must recognize that childhood themes cause problems in recovery. This brings us back to Step One, only this time we address our powerlessness over our own childhood.

Second, we need to learn something about both functional and dysfunctional families so that we have a basis when we examine our childhoods.

Third, we need to reconstruct our childhood history, fill in the gaps in memory, and discuss what we have learned with supportive people.

Fourth, we need to make connections between what we learned about our childhood and how we behave as adults. Key Question: “What behavior did I learn as a child that I use in my life now?”

Finally, we must stop blindly applying the behaviors we learned as children. We need to break the cycle of family dysfunction by taking responsibility for changing who we are and how we behave. If we don't change, we will do to our children what our parents did to us.

Maintenance - learning to enjoy the journey

The final period of recovery is maintenance. We need to maintain ongoing awareness of our dependence on mind-altering chemicals, take daily inventory of our behavior, and address problems when they arise. We must make a strong commitment to growth.

During the maintenance period, the focus of our recovery shifts from repairing damage to developing a quality lifestyle. This happens when we realize that we have freed ourselves from the burden of the past. We are no longer crippled by the pain, guilt, or shame of our addiction. We have freed ourselves from the defensive habits we learned as children. We are open to growth and development. Spiritual growth and developing relationships with other people become our priorities.

During the maintenance period, many of us are busy working the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Steps of the Twelve Step Program.

Step Ten: We continued to introspect and when we made mistakes, we immediately admitted it.

We continued to examine ourselves, our behavior and its consequences. Whenever we experienced negative consequences, we acknowledged it and changed the behavior that caused those consequences.

Step Eleven: We sought through prayer and meditation to develop our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us to do and for the power to do it.

In other words, Step Eleven teaches us to find our unique meaning and purpose in recovery.

Step Twelve: Having achieved the spiritual awakening that these Steps brought about, we tried to carry this message to other alcoholics and apply these principles in all our affairs.

We cannot become ex-alcoholics. Our disease is in remission, but can never be “cured.” Without an ongoing, active program of personal growth and development, most of us will revert to old patterns of addictive thinking, emotional instability, and defensive behavior. No matter how long we have stayed sober, returning to a destructive mindset and lifestyle sets the stage for relapse.

In this lecture, we will get acquainted with the process of recovery from chemical addiction, learn the stages or stages of this process, determine what tasks need to be solved at each stage, and outline a plan for our further actions. Let's start with the question: what is recovery?

Let's imagine a person's personality in the form of a circle, which consists of the following spheres:

physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual. Chemical dependence is a disease that causes loss of control over the use of alcohol and other drugs. In turn, this leads to problems in all areas of human life. During the recovery process, an alcoholic or drug addict goes through the stages from destructive addiction to full physical, psychological, emotional, social and spiritual health. Recovery is a meaningful, comfortable life without the need to use chemicals. Cleanliness and sobriety are more than just restoring what has been destroyed. It is a new way of life that promotes a continuous process of personal growth. The healing process for no one is accomplished in one day, it is a long process that goes through certain stages or phases. The evolutionary model of recovery embraces growth through movement and change. It is a consistent effort to acquire new skills and abilities. We can recover by starting with simple abstinence and achieving meaningful, comfortable sobriety.

The healing process is based on a number of concepts:

1. Recovery is a long-term process."
2. Recovery requires complete abstinence from alcohol and other drugs.
3. There are basic principles that govern the recovery process, which include the 12 step program."
4. The better we understand and accept these principles, the easier it is for us to recover.
5. Understanding alone does not lead to recovery.” It is necessary to use new knowledge in life.
6. Success in recovery depends on how a person copes with the tasks (problems) that come his way without using drugs or alcohol

The healing process goes through a number of stages,

Transitional stage

At this stage, a person realizes that he has serious problems due to the use of chemicals. He realizes that he can no longer live like this.

Stabilization stage

Recognizing the fact of your illness, accepting responsibility for your recovery, recognizing the need to do something.

• Early recovery stage.

  A process of internal change is taking place. At this stage, we learn to feel comfortable in sober life. The physical craving passes. We are beginning to learn more and more about the nature of the disease. We gain the ability to solve the problems of using chemicals. This stage ends when we begin to put into practice what we have learned through working the 12 step program.

• Medium recovery stage.

  At this stage, there is a reassessment of relationships in the family, with friends, and compensation for the damage caused to us and others in a past life. This stage ends when stability and balance appear in the lifestyle.

• Late recovery stage.

  The late recovery stage solves three important problems:

  1. Identification of problems that arose in adult life as a result of growing up in a dysfunctional family.
  2. Getting rid of complexes that appeared before chemical dependence developed.
• The stage of maintaining sobriety and cleanliness.

  This period is accompanied by personal growth and daily work on the recovery program.

  Let's look at the table that defines the tasks at each stage of recovery.

Stage name	Main goals
1. Transitional.	Refusal of attempts to control drug use -
2. Stabilization.	Restoring the body from the consequences of consumption.
3. Early recovery.	Internal changes. Changing our thinking, feelings, and actions regarding use*
4. Average recovery.	External changes. Repairing the damage done to our way of life.
5. Later	Overcoming children's complexes and
recovery.	shortcomings.
6. Maintaining sobriety.	Balanced life. Personal growth and development.

Let us consider in more detail how changes occur at each stage, how the bio-psycho-socio-spiritual model of a person’s personality changes.

Stage 1. Transitional stage.

The main question at this stage is: “Am I sick or not?” You shouldn't answer this question alone. At this stage, we can go through attempts at temporary abstinence in order to then “control” the use, through the analysis of our beliefs: “I don’t have such a problem, because now I don’t use...”, “now I know what the consequences will be.” and I won’t use...”, “I can handle it myself”, in order to recover, it is necessary to change the position: from the position “everything is fine with me” - to the position “I am a chemically dependent person”, “I am an alcoholic ", "I'm a drug addict." We need to accept help from other people. This stage ends when we recognize the need for help and seek it.

Stage 2. Stabilization stage

During this stage, the focus is on physical recovery from withdrawal symptoms. As a rule, this problem is solved by a medical procedure for cleansing the body of drugs or detoxification. Problems with sleep and memory go away; clarity of thinking appears; awareness of your feelings. During periods of low stress, withdrawal symptoms are less severe. If the stress level increases, the syndrome returns. Emotions become either reactive or completely frozen, clarity of thinking is lost: “The brain goes on a lunch break.” Many people mistake the effects of long-term withdrawal (subacute hangover/withdrawal syndrome) for mental illness.

Treatment of long-term withdrawal symptoms,

1. Attend AA and NA groups.
2. Communicate with your sponsor.
3. Use the slogans of the 12 step program: “First things first”; “Call your sponsor before, not after; “Wait for a miracle” and others.
4. Fill your time with activities.
5. Organize balanced meals 3 times a day.
6. Give yourself enough time to rest and sleep.
7. Do physical exercise"
8. Learn techniques for dealing with stress.

Let's move on to mental health. The main goal of mental healing during the stabilization stage is to stop experiencing mental preoccupation with the use of the chemical substance. Cravings are a serious problem during this period. Drug use has damaged the brain to the point where it becomes dominated by self-destructive thoughts. Cravings arise as a result of such thoughts. To understand the nature of this phenomenon, it is necessary to understand the sources of thrust formation. This may be the result of the following factors:

1. Euphoric memories of use (the “good old days” syndrome).
2. Obsessive thoughts about the possibility of using a substance.
3. Inability and unwillingness to deal with your problems.
4. 0freedom from the feeling of responsibility for your recovery.
5. Compulsiveness, irresistible attraction, rash actions.

This can be avoided if you recreate the medical history in all its details. This is an objective, critical attitude towards the period of use. An alcoholic or drug addict tells his story in groups, thereby destroying the effects of these factors and gaining experience in solving his problems, at the same time creating his own story of recovery.

We become convinced that withdrawal symptoms can be overcome, and we become convinced that life is getting better. If you follow the principles of the 12-step program, then anxiety, obsessive thoughts, and compulsive behavior go away. We begin to believe that recovery is possible. We are increasingly interested in the nature of our disease, but there is still a lot of work ahead. This is an indication that we are ready to enter the next stage of recovery.

Stage 3. Early recovery.

At this stage of recovery, the main role is given to “Understanding and Acceptance”, i.e. Attitudes, views and concepts regarding use change. Our understanding of addiction and the role addiction plays in our lives is changing. In early recovery, the emphasis is on correcting the mindsets associated with our addiction.

What is the problem with thinking? In irrational thoughts, uncontrollable feelings, defeatist, self-destructive actions.

Work on 12 helps in overcoming these problems — step program.

In early recovery, we learn the vocabulary necessary to understand and describe what happened and what we need to do to maintain positive change, begin to learn about our addiction and what we need to do to stay sober and clean. At this stage, two types of changes are assumed: in the sphere of feelings. beliefs, motivation and changes in the process of understanding the laws and principles of addiction. We can judge that our understanding is adequate if we are able to prove to others that we are chemically dependent people when they try to convince us otherwise. Acceptance of chemical addiction is the ability to remember and think about what happened during our period of use without experiencing pain. This is an emotional process of releasing the feelings of shame, guilt and pain that we accumulated during the period of use. Many people in recovery carry these negative feelings for years. That is, they can live comfortably, but when they start talking about their past, the feelings of guilt and shame return. Many of us try to cope with these feelings by trying not to remember the events that caused these feelings, and this helps for a while, but eventually the feelings of pain, shame and guilt return. Freeing yourself from these painful feelings is the goal of emotional recovery at this stage. Painful feelings are the result of traumatic memories that we refuse to talk about. We often brush aside the facts, considering these events to be insignificant and meaningless. We may say to ourselves: “I was drunk or on drugs then. Why bother now when I’m sober and clean.” However, what happened has long-term emotional consequences. Pain seems to be recorded and registered in our subconscious, and in the future, any situation can trigger the memory mechanism, and then painful feelings will return to us. Painful memories persist despite attempts to suppress them in our minds, and every time they surface, we get into the habit of blocking them out. Unfortunately, this does not solve the problem of final memory and painful feelings will return again and again.

Let's look at four ways to free yourself from these memories:

1. Listen to other people's stories.
2. Tell your stories
3. Participate in the psychotherapeutic process.
4. Work according to the 12-step program, paying special attention to steps 4 to 7.

Stage 4. Moderate recovery.

At the stage of average recovery, we move on to external changes and begin to restore those areas of life that were destroyed by our addiction. At this stage, much attention is paid to our social health. It's not an easy process, but if we keep working hard, we can bring new meaning, purpose and happiness into our lives. If in early recovery the focus was on staying clean and sober, e.g. We lived a “one day” program, mastering the skills necessary to maintain sobriety, then at the stage of average recovery we turn our attention to a lifestyle that does not always bring us satisfaction. The main problem of this period is overcoming the “defeatism.” We are disheartened to discover that internal change is not the end of the healing process, but only the beginning of fundamental changes in our lives. During this period, we are faced with the main question - the question of choice: to build a new lifestyle according to the principles of the 12-step program or to avoid any changes in life. Those who have the courage to move forward are ready to face reality. They are ready to find purpose and meaning in life and sobriety. To make the right choice, we need:

• firstly, a firm conviction that restoration of what was destroyed in the past is possible, and that building a new, better life is also possible;
• secondly, we also need to believe that change comes at a price, but change is worth the price.

Once we have faith that a balanced life is possible, we can make the choice to move forward. At this stage of recovery, we move out of the “victim” role. We have a choice.

The goal of this stage of recovery is to “make amends.” And although we are not to blame for having a disease, we are responsible for our recovery, A In the process of this work, the 8th and 9th steps of the program are invaluable assistants.

By balancing our lives, we begin to enjoy life in all areas: physical health, psychological health, which is characterized by clarity of thinking, the ability to reason logically, manage feelings and emotions, the ability to determine what we feel, and the ability to express these feelings appropriately to other people. We are able to sincerely evaluate ourselves: “Who am I? What do I deserve in life? In the social sphere, we learn to function in family, intimate relationships, and communicate with friends. We learn to cope with the ups and downs of everyday life. Job satisfaction provides a sense of purpose and meaning. We develop a relationship with a Higher Power. We learn to trust ourselves enough to accept the consequences of our decisions.

Stage 5. Late recovery.

Its main goal is liberation from childhood problems. Those of us who grew up in healthy families move through late recovery quickly, without complications." For those who grew up in dysfunctional families, the process is more difficult. More typical problems of late recovery:

1. Inability to solve one’s own personal problems, although similar “other people’s” ones are being solved.
2. Inability to manage feelings. Most of us either “turn off” our feelings in a stressful situation, or react reactively, violently, and hypersensitively.
3. Rigidity of habits. Reluctance to change your behavior.
4. The need to care for others and save others.
5. The need to fit in, to do what other races expect.
6. The need to appease others. "Peace at any cost."
7. The need for defiant behavior, violation of rules.
8. The need to blame others for our own problems.

There are no special steps to solve these Problems. Only indirectly do the 4th and 5th steps relate to these problems. What needs to be done during the late recovery stage is:

1. recognition of childhood problems and their identification;
2. gaining knowledge about the family model;
3. restoration of childhood history;
4. establishing connections between childhood problems and adult life problems;
5. lifestyle change.

When this work is completed, we move on to the final, sixth stage - stages of maintaining sobriety and cleanliness. This stage lasts a lifetime. At this stage, work is underway to create a high-quality lifestyle. The process of growth and development continues. If we have reached this stage, this does not mean that we do not have difficulties. Work on their coping continues using a 12-step program.

Recovery is a process of change. Changing yourself can be an exciting journey. This lecture shared the experiences of many recovering chemical dependants, and you can benefit from them.

Stages of recovery Stages of recovery used in a rehabilitation program. The separation of stages helps to improve the assessment of the patient’s condition by workers and by the patient himself in the recovery process. So that there is no confusion. The stages of rehabilitation may differ from the stage of recovery.

Stage 1 “Transition”.

First stage includes work on recognizing powerlessness over the problem of alcoholism and drug addiction, recognizing the loss of control over the problem.

Many, even admitting their powerlessness over the problem, try to control their use by reducing the dose, setting the time and timing of possible use. Even when entering rehabilitation, the addict is motivated not by complete recovery and stable remission, but by reducing the dose for further use.

This stage ends with the recognition of powerlessness over alcohol and drugs, and the lack of desire to control drug use. An addict who seeks help does not always have an idea why he lost control, why drug use cannot be stopped, and why all attempts to overcome cravings ended in failure. Our task is to help in realizing the problem and accepting it as something that has already happened. In AA communities, these symptoms are called fatigue fatigue. It is important for us that sobriety is not just a healing of wounds, but a way of life.

Stage 2. "Stabilization"

Stabilization. Healing from damage caused by use.

During the second stage - stabilization— we already understand that we have big problems with mind-altering substances, and that we need to completely stop using them, but we are not yet able to do this. During stabilization we are recovering physically from the effects of drug use. Withdrawal syndrome lasts individually for each person; for some it may take a month, and for others much longer. This period is the most difficult, as there is a struggle with oneself, how to resist the first glass or injection.

At this stage, after the body has recovered from withdrawal, addicts experience mental distress and emotional mood swings. This stage is one of the most important in the rehabilitation process, for which maximum resources are involved. Work with psychologists, group therapy, and occupational therapy.

Stage 3 Early recovery

The third stage is early recovery: this is a time of internal change. At this stage, we learn to live in society and feel comfortable abstaining from psychoactive substances. The craving for alcohol and drug use weakens, and we delve into the problem that led us to addiction and how it affected us.

We learn to overcome feelings of shame, guilt and remorse. The task of this stage learn to cope with your problems without turning to drugs. Early recovery ends when we are ready to begin applying what we have learned to improve other areas of our lives.

Stage 4. Average recovery

During mid-recovery, the fourth stage, we learn how to repair past damage and find balance in life.

We learn that full recovery means “applying these principles (the sober living skills we learned in early recovery) in all we do” (in the real world of everyday life). During the period of average recovery, repairing relationships with people becomes a priority. We overestimate our significant relationships, particularly with family and friends, as well as our careers. If we find ourselves unhappy in any of these areas, we accept it and plan to do something about it. In AA terms this is called “making amends.” We realize that we have harmed other people. We want to take responsibility and do everything we can to make amends. Average recovery ends when we achieve a balanced and stable life.

Stage 5 (not for everyone)

During the fifth stage - “late recovery”. Our task is to focus the children’s attention on overcoming obstacles to a new “sober” life, which have been formed since childhood. Long before a person became addicted. Many drug addicts come from dysfunctional families. (Families where parents did not fulfill their parental responsibilities).

Due to the lack of proper upbringing, the child was not able to acquire the standard skills in order to be happy. The purpose of the center, if necessary, is to show a person about possible adult problems caused by growing up in a dysfunctional family, and to help to recover in this area, to resolve current problems, despite the obstacles caused by the way the parents raised them.

Stage 6: Maintenance

The final part of recovery is “maintenance.” Those undergoing a course of recovery from drugs or alcohol receive the necessary information on how to move on with their lives, how to overcome obstacles and maintain sobriety. At the final part of the recovery process, the addict’s task is to put all the information received into practice. Constantly working on oneself and current problems makes it possible to become more resistant to the problems of alcoholism and drug addiction, and the ability to self-develop in society.

STAGES OF RECOVERY table

Stages of recovery	Main theme
Transition	Stop trying to control your alcohol or drug use.
Stabilization	Healing from damage caused by use
Early recovery	Internal changes (changes in thoughts, feelings and actions related to alcohol and drug use).
Average recovery	External changes (correction of lifestyle disorders caused by addiction and development of a balanced lifestyle).
Late recovery	Outgrowing the limitations of childhood
Maintenance	Living a balanced life and continuing to grow and develop

Additional: growing up in a dysfunctional family This is a small society in which strict parenting is encouraged, strict rules and destructive behavior are encouraged. In such a family there is no respect, no recognition of merit, no encouragement of the individual. The final part. Socialization. We hold various events that help you plunge into real life without drinking alcohol and drugs; Below is a video of an excerpt from the event at the New Hope Center now called “Helping Hand.”

Recovery from chemical dependency is a process, not an event. The recovery process begins when the chemically dependent person begins to recognize the problems that arise from the use of alcohol or other drugs. The goal is achieved when this person begins to live a full, comfortable life, without using alcohol or other drugs. The path between these two points is long, difficult, and sometimes confusing. Only in recent years have studies begun to try to describe the process that those who achieved a full, comfortable life went through.

THE DISEASE OF ADDICTION AND THE RECOVERY PROCESS

The need for recovery is driven by the fact that addiction is a progressive disease. Chemical dependence occurs when a predisposed person begins to change chemical substances. The chemicals create a special state called euphoria, which makes him feel better without taking action on his own. Consuming alcohol or other mood-altering drugs allows a chemically dependent person to bypass normal stages of emotional growth.
Emotionally mature people understand that their well-being comes from the way they think and act. They understand that to be in a good mood, you need to think and act productively.

Chemically dependent individuals learn that they can feel better (the experience of euphoria) by taking a dose of alcohol or another feel-altering substance. Because there is no longer a need to think or act more responsibly to feel better, chemically dependent people stop learning to manage their feelings and emotions without chemicals.

As a result of frequent use of alcohol or other drugs to achieve euphoria, tolerance towards them develops. As you become accustomed to mood-altering substances, you will need to take more and more of them to achieve the same effect. As a result, a person increases their intake. Frequent use of alcohol or drugs in large quantities leads to dependence on them. When people who are addicted to these substances stop taking them, they begin to feel dissatisfied.

This dissatisfaction is caused by a combination of physical, psychological and social factors:
Physical: Withdrawal from alcohol or other drugs creates symptoms of agitation and discomfort (hangover).
Psychological: withdrawal causes irritation. The drugs that the addicted person relied on became unavailable.
Social: Withdrawal creates a feeling of discomfort. The chemically dependent person's entire social network was built around his or her progressive use of alcohol or drugs. When consumption stops, there is social pressure on the individual to resume consumption.

When does recovery begin?
When chemically dependent people begin to encounter problems that prevent them from living their normal lives, they are forced to establish a strategy for dealing with these problems. At this stage, we can say that they are already in the process of recovery, although they may continue to use alcohol or drugs for some time.

Recovery can be described as a progressive process through six stages. Each stage has a number of recovery challenges that need to be addressed. At each stage, the person in recovery must be prepared for future challenges in recovery. He runs the risk of relapse and relapse. Often, insufficient experience of sobriety leads to stressful situations and problems.

Recovery is learning to live a normal, comfortable, meaningful life without the need for chemicals - it's more than just not using alcohol or other drugs. It is growth and development in which people learn to fully "actualize" themselves. Actualization is the making of something real through action. Recovery is a process of self-realization through appropriate thinking and action. Let's take a closer look at each of the tasks listed in the grid.

STAGE I
TRANSITION

The first phase of recovery is transition. This is the period when chemically dependent people begin to believe that they are "social drinkers", "recreational drug users" and can control their drug use. They recognize that they have problems, but do not seek treatment or engage in AA Twelve Step work, believing that they do not need it. At the end of this phase, they accept their chemical dependency, accept the fact that they cannot control their consumption of chemicals. To reach such acceptance, chemically dependent people must experience the following:

1. Development of motivational problems.
As we learned earlier, the transition phase begins when the chemically dependent person begins to realize that the problems that arise are beginning to progress and become more serious. These are motivational problems because they give the individual motivation to take action. At first, such problems consist of only minor troubles, but over time they become so intensified that they come into conflict with normal life or with the way of life that a given person prefers.

Most people do not take problems seriously until they interfere with their normal lifestyle. Chemically dependent individuals are no different from them. They ignore or rationalize the problem for as long as possible. As chemical dependency progresses, problems increase and worsen. Chemically dependent people cannot recognize that their problems are related to alcohol or drug use, so they try to solve these problems, ignoring the obvious causes.

2. Failure to solve problems normally.
The normal way to solve a problem is to identify it, study possible ways to solve it, and practically apply the mentioned methods. Typically, this method of problem solving works well, but it does not work when the problem is caused by chemical dependency. In this case, chemically dependent individuals cannot recognize and see the true source of their problems because they deny the presence of the disease, so their attempts to solve the problem constantly fail.

3. Failures of the controlled consumption strategy.
Constant failures in solving problems in chemically dependent people lead to the fact that they begin to realize the connection of these problems with the consumption of chemical substances. But at this stage they do not yet realize that they have become addicted. They are still convinced that they are normal consumers, recreational consumers who can control their consumption themselves. They believe that problems arise from using too much, too often, or taking the wrong kind of drug. In their opinion, the solution is simple: you just need to control the amount, frequency and type of chemical consumed. But because addiction is a disease characterized by loss of control, these attempts fail

4. Acceptance of the need to completely abandon the habitual psychoactive substance.
Repeated failures in attempts to control withdrawal (sobriety) finally leads the chemically dependent person to realize the fact that he is not a social drunkard, a household consumer who can take control of his consumption, but that this control has been lost. Having accepted this fact, chemically dependent people are prepared for the fact that vital problems can only be solved by completely abstaining from the consumption of alcohol and drugs.

At this point, the transition stage is completed. The individual surrenders to the reality of the fact that controlled consumption of alcohol or drugs is impossible, that a life of abstinence must be lived.

STAGE II
STABILIZATION

The second phase of recovery is stabilization. The primary task of this phase is the restoration of violations that were caused by addiction. It may take six to eight months. Typically, a person needs about a month of recovery for every year of heavy alcohol or other drug use.

Most people in recovery go through the stabilization stage by doing the following:

1. Awareness of the need for help.
One of the biggest challenges for chemically dependent people is seeking help. Most of them are confident that they can handle it themselves; for example, they often try to abstain at first without seeking help. They are usually filled with symptoms of physical and psychological withdrawal, social pressure, and the burden of problems created by dependent consumption. Such individual, solitary efforts to recover usually fail. Finally, they realize that they cannot maintain abstinence (sobriety) on their own.

When chemically dependent people are prepared to seek help, they are often enrolled in an appropriate Twelve Step program—Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) for those addicted to alcohol, or Narcotics Anonymous (NA) for those addicted to drugs. Some turn to professional counselors for help, some to rehabilitation programs. One of the best sources of help is a certified chemical dependency counselor who can create an appropriate therapeutic treatment plan.
Most people find that stabilization is safer and easier when they simultaneously participate in a Twelve Step recovery program and seek the help of professional counselors. Whatever the source of outside help, the main task is to regain control over thoughts, feelings, judgments, and behavior. This organically fits into the creation of a protective environment that prevents the recovering person from the immediate aftereffects of addiction caused by the withdrawal effect.

2. Recovery from immediate aftereffects.
Withdrawal is a direct consequence of physical and psychological dependence on chemicals. Dependent individuals consumed alcohol or drugs for so long and in such quantities that they retained their ability to act only after intoxication; their brain chemistry is tuned so that intoxication is normal and sobriety is abnormal. The body requires mood-altering chemicals to function normally, otherwise symptoms of dysfunction will appear. They can be short-term or long-term.

Short-term symptoms usually appear within three to five days and include insomnia, agitation, irritability, and tremors. Long-term withdrawal symptoms, which can last from six to eighteen months, include loss of clarity of thinking, difficulty managing feelings, making memories, and sleep continuity. During times of low stress, symptoms subside; during times of severe stress, they return. During prolonged periods of intense stress, people may become accident-prone and develop severe symptoms leading to physical or emotional decline.

Recovery from long-term or short-term withdrawal requires abstinence from alcohol and other drugs, knowledge of how to manage withdrawal symptoms while sober, and appropriate medical care. In this case, it is necessary to use a structured recovery program, including upbringing and education, including participation in A.A. groups. Twelve Step programs, diet, and stress-relieving exercise to help restore normal brain chemistry. Once these symptoms are under control, chemically dependent people find themselves preoccupied with chemicals.

3. Interruption of pathological preoccupation.
During the stabilization period, chemically dependent people often become extremely preoccupied with alcohol or drugs, so much so that it leads them to self-destruction. Their dependent preoccupation is the result of a combination of the following factors:
* horror of sobriety;
* euphoria;
* positive expectations;
* obsession;
* compulsivity;
* traction.

Sobriety anxiety is a process in which there is a conscious focus on the negative aspects of sobriety, while blocking consideration of the positive aspects.

Euphoric urges are a process in which the mind focuses only on positive memories of alcohol and drug use and blocks out negative ones, allowing the person to think that consuming chemicals was a good thing. Euphoric urges lead to the belief that it would be a good idea to take chemicals in the future. Because alcohol or other drugs have provided painless pleasure and relaxation in the past, this is the only "reasonable" reason that they can provide pleasure and relaxation in the future. This is a positive expectation. It sets the mood for obsession. Addictive compulsion is the inability to stop thinking about the positive effects of drinking alcohol or drugs. Those in recovery may long remember how good it was to consume (“the good old days”), and how terrible it is that they will not be able to do so in the future (“dread dreams of recovery”).

Thoughts about the positive effects of alcohol or other drugs may include an emotional reaction: compulsivity. Compulsivity is the irrational urge to consume alcohol or other drugs even when it is clear that the outcome will be terrible. If the compulsivity is strong and persistent and continues for a long time, then the brain chemistry is adjusted to cravings, physical hunger, in relation to alcohol or other drugs. Now the body feels a craving, a “need” for the chemical substance. During cravings, many experience physical discomfort similar to that experienced immediately after stopping chemical use (“dry withdrawal syndrome”).

People who maintain and maintain sobriety learn to interrupt addictive pathological preoccupation. They stop exaggerating the horrors of sobriety, seeking to gain satisfaction from the state of sobriety. They remember past consumption to stop the urge to euphoria, stop thinking about what it would be nice to use in the future, openly talk about obsessive thoughts, cravings, with other people helping them recover (in AA, for example).

4. Study of non-chemical stress management methods.
A large part of the stabilization period is learning how to manage stress without drugs. With active addiction, most chemically dependent people have learned to manage stress using the following formula:

Stress + alcohol or other drugs = Relaxation

When alcohol and drugs are abandoned, there is no way to cope with stress. Until a person learns new ways to cope with stress, they will condition the chemically dependent person to believe that he needs alcohol or drugs in order not to go crazy.

5. Developing hope and motivation.
As chemically dependent people progress, they begin to believe that recovery is possible. They learn this by meeting and talking with other chemically dependent people who are further along in recovery. They are now beginning to feel better, having overcome the worst symptoms of withdrawal and dependent preoccupation. They now believe that the healing process leads to improved well-being. If others have done it, why can't I? They have a desire to spend time, energy, and vitality on recovery.

STAGE III
EARLY RECOVERY

Finally, it is time for the recovering person to begin the process of internal change. Early recovery occurs when the person in recovery begins to change their internal belief system.

In early recovery, many chemically dependent people are convinced that their addiction is a moral weakness and believe that they are addicted because they are immoral, weak, and emotionally sick. But by the end of this stage, most come to believe that addiction is a physical illness caused by psychological, social and spiritual factors. They will understand that shame and guilt are feelings associated with the disease and should be addressed by maintaining sobriety for as long as possible.
In early recovery, most people in recovery work through the first seven steps of the AA program. Work is underway on internal changes.

1. Full conscious understanding of the disease of addiction.
Early in recovery, it is important to recognize that chemical dependency is a disease. This problem is solved intellectually. For chemically dependent individuals, it lies in a strict understanding of the nature of addiction, in applying this understanding to oneself, and in recognizing the very fact that they have such a disease. This awareness will not be complete as long as they defend themselves while they try to overcome it in another way.

2. Full acceptance and integration of dependence.
Another important part of the early recovery process is acceptance, which occurs on an emotional level; it is a feeling manifested within. Chemically dependent people need to get rid of the emotional pain that continues during their sobriety. To do this, they should identify their feelings and talk about them. This helps relieve shame and guilt and helps relieve negative feelings about past drinking or drug use.

3. Training in the ability to overcome difficulties of various kinds without chemicals.
Those in recovery should learn to cope without alcohol or other drugs. Most chemically dependent people have never been able to do this. With early recovery, they begin to find ways to cope with daily problems and learn to identify and work with pleasant and unpleasant emotions. Overcoming problems in a sober life allows you to achieve self-esteem and gain an inner sense of security on the path to recovery.

4. Short-term social stabilization.
Most chemically dependent people, when they stop drinking or using drugs, find themselves in a state of crisis. There may be a risk of divorce, danger of dismissal from work, problems with the law. Such situations should be temporarily stabilized. This is not the time to make long-term decisions, but rather the time to take immediate action to avoid future losses.

5. Development of a value system focused on sobriety.
As people in recovery gain life experience, their values ​​change and they begin to see that using chemicals is not the best path in life. They gradually lose the desire to use alcohol or drugs and become grateful for recovery. At this point, the early recovery stage is completed. Many people now say, “I’m grateful to addiction because it took me to a new, better place in life.”

STAGE IV
AVERAGE RECOVERY

Most, when entering moderate recovery, attend Twelve Step meetings and use available therapeutic treatments. They overcome addiction on a daily basis, but are not yet ready to live a balanced, satisfying lifestyle. Things are improving compared to the days of active addiction, but more work needs to be done.

1. Overcoming the crisis of demoralization.
When, after six to eighteen months of sobriety, it turns out that there is still a lot of work to be done, a person can become demoralized. After spending a lot of effort on changing patterns of thinking, feeling, and behavior, a person may be disappointed to learn that this is not the end of the recovery process, but only the beginning of even more work. Many people in recovery resist further growth. They go to Twelve Step meetings focused on the first three steps and resist further change. They stop growing. Others have the courage to go further, the desire to confront reality, to do the work necessary to achieve a balanced life.

2. Restoration of social relations damaged as a result of addiction.
During the mid-recovery stage, big changes occur in people's lives. The primary task is to restore the external lifestyle. Changes occur in such important areas as marriage, relationships with children, social life, and career. What was damaged in the indicated areas is restored. At this point, chemically dependent people need absolute honesty in all areas of their lives. They learn to act effectively at work, at home, and with friends. They adjust their lifestyle in such a way that it corresponds to accepted values. At this stage, most should be working through steps eight and nine of the AA program. It is not enough to stop taking chemicals and going to meetings if we refuse to change other areas of our lives. The steps invite us to practice the principles of recovery in all our affairs.

3. Creation of a self-regulating recovery program.
Once broken relationships are repaired, many people in recovery discover other areas of their lives that need to be changed in order to feel good while staying sober. One person, for example, realized that he felt bad at work. He was a sailor and realized that this lifestyle was leading him to drunkenness. Having become sober, he realized that his work did not satisfy him, but he did not know how to do anything else. Because he needed to take refresher courses, he had to cut back on attending AA meetings, which were held five to four times a week. Another woman was unhappy in her marriage, and although she made amends for her husband, she remained dissatisfied with the lack of intimacy. After discussing this with a marriage counselor, she cut back on attending AA meetings so she could spend more time with her husband and be able to see the counselor.

You should go to meetings as often as necessary to maintain a balanced life. This means that sometimes the recovery program must be modified to include other forms of education or therapy that complement the Twelve Step program.

4. Establishing a balanced life.
Many people in recovery learn that the life they lead is “one-dimensional,” focused in one direction with little change or deviation. A little work, going to meetings, a little something else. Maybe they live with a family and go to meetings and nothing else. Average recovery calls for balancing your life and developing many different interests. To achieve a balanced lifestyle, a person begins to examine his personal habits, family, work, social life and social relationships. Maintaining personal health and sanity requires a sense of comfortable balance in all of these areas. With time and energy, many people in recovery can find interesting and productive work, build good family or romantic relationships, good relationships with someone's family, and create a coherent recovery program with a good mentor-sponsor. They may make many good friends within the program or develop friendships with others outside the Twelve Step program.

5. Change management.
Those in recovery learn that stable recovery does not mean recovery without problems. This means they learn to manage problems without becoming completely frustrated. This kind of daily discipline is part of what those in recovery learn in mid-recovery. This kind of discipline is achieved by us when working on the tenth step. People in recovery learn to differentiate between thoughts, feelings, and actions. They learn how to think about a problem, how to identify and address the feelings that arise about it, and what positive actions to take. Recovery requires rational thinking, recognizing and managing emotions, taking constructive action, and resisting self-protective impulses.

STAGE V
LATE RECOVERY

Late recovery begins as the person in recovery begins to develop productive relationships at home, at work, and with friends, both AA and non-Twelve Step. Despite these positive changes, many people in recovery still do not feel happy. The reason for this is often problems that began when he was a child in a dysfunctional family.

Late recovery is a period when problems that originate in the family are resolved in order to get rid of restrictions that originated in childhood. Now you can say to yourself: “I was influenced by my childhood. The quality of recovery is not the same.” Many recovering people solve such problems arising from family relationships very quickly and painlessly; they are able to adjust to adulthood without being influenced by irrational childhood beliefs or unwanted painful feelings. For others, the process is more complex and difficult. When they remember and reconstruct their family history, they see more clearly the physical, emotional or sexual defects they suffered as children. Others begin to realize that they never had enough experience and skills necessary for positive, trusting relationships. For such people, late recovery may take up to one or two years; they require the help of an experienced psychotherapist.

Many people in recovery indirectly resolve their family problems by working through a spiritual program on the Eleventh and Twelfth Steps.
For most people, problems that arose in the family were hidden or had a specific addressee. Most recovering people resolve problems stemming from early family relationships in the following way:

1. Awareness of the impact of childhood problems on sobriety.
Many people realize that a number of things are a consequence of self-protective actions and behavior in childhood. At first, they describe such problems “one after another,” but as they recover, they begin to see that these problems were repeated over and over again. They begin to understand that the only way to explore their previously haphazard approach is to explore the history of their childhood. Such knowledge allows you to make responsible decisions about what habits you would like to maintain. They began to consciously consider the fundamental rules of growth: recovery or repetition.

2. Study of behavior inherent in the family.
A person in late recovery must examine how childhood experiences impacted their subsequent sobriety. Most people in the late stages of recovery learn that they received the basic knowledge about themselves, about others and about the whole world from their relatives. The most powerful learning occurs before the age of five, when the child himself cannot critically evaluate what he is being taught. He unconsciously repeats the habits of his parents and their attitude towards the environment. If the model of behavior, thoughts, feelings is positive, it helps the child enter life with a solid foundation. If the parent’s behavior model is self-protective, then the child enters life with this behavior model.

3. Conscious exploration of childhood.
Knowing that self-protective behaviors and attitudes are created in childhood is not enough to initiate change. Recovery requires a conscious exploration of childhood. This is done by reconstructing details of childhood history and talking about them with friends, which provides feedback.

The process is similar to what happens when telling stories at AA meetings. When someone talks about the pain that alcohol or drugs brought them, a new understanding comes. Sad memories are revealed, told and resolved. Shame and guilt go away, and the person is freed from the past. Although destructive events are also remembered, they do not affect the personality with such force. The same process applies to childhood and adolescence. As a result, the person develops new understanding.

People see how the wrong actions they have been accustomed to since childhood affect their lives. They remember sad events and share them. Pain and sadness weaken and are removed. A new sense of freedom opens up.

4. Application to adult life.
The person in recovery must connect what they have learned about childhood to adulthood. This is done by making a comparative list of strengths and weaknesses brought from childhood. A plan can be made to enhance a person's strengths and reduce their weaknesses.

5. Changing your lifestyle.
The time has finally come to change the old pattern of thinking, identified feelings and actions. Deeply ingrained habits will not disappear simply because we understand how they evolved. But people in recovery who understand are more accepting of change. This requires a person to have a clearly set goal, a developed action plan, and a list of support from other people.

STAGE VI
MAINTENANCE

The last part of the recovery process is maintenance. The person in recovery must maintain caution in their chemical dependency, take a daily personal inventory, and correct problems when they arise. He must continue to grow. The nature of growth is this: growth or risk of binge drinking. Recovery is a lifelong process.
Maintenance begins when the recovering person realizes that he has freed himself from the past. He is no longer tormented by sadness, pain, guilt, shame for his addiction. He begins to free himself from the self-protective habits to which he has been addicted since childhood. He is free to grow. Recovery now focuses on achieving a higher quality of life.

Spiritual growth and improving relationships with others are important. Most people in recovery now focus on the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth steps. The twelfth step of the A.A. program leads those in recovery to find their unique purpose and meaning. To take such steps, they do the following:

1. Maintaining a recovery program.
Maintenance is never complete. The disease is called alcoholism - it goes into remission, but it is never “cured”. Without continuous and active spiritual growth, chemically dependent people will again fall into dependent thinking, emotional uncontrollability, and self-protective behavior. Regardless of their length of sobriety, these problems can create a stage that is conducive to relapse.

2. Effective daily coping.
Life during recovery is not free from problems, but now the recovering person has experience in overcoming them. One member of A.A. put it this way: “Recovery is a continuous endless string of problems. We are never free from problems. For me, recovery is selling one set of problems to buy another set of problems. I measure my recovery not by how many problems I have, but by how much I’m lucky to overcome them.”

3. Continuous growth and development.
Free from alcohol or drugs, the human mind is designed to absorb the truth. People continue to grow and change from the moment they are born until the moment they die. There is no freedom of choice in the fact that this happens; people are only free to choose the direction of growth and change. For those in recovery, positive change means constantly paying attention to detail. Change means conscious choice of thoughts, overcoming feelings, controlled behavior. People accept human weaknesses and continue to do the best they can.

4. Coping effectively with life transitions.
All people change throughout their lives. The first half of life usually refers to the period when a person wants to understand the world and things around him. In the second half of life, people typically turn their focus inward, embarking on a spiritual journey and discovering the essence of themselves. They study and understand the meaning of life and their place in it. With support, people learn maturity. They face the changes that await them in old age. They accept any change. They thank their surroundings for their youth and welcome maturity.

Complete restoration of the personality of a drug addict or alcoholic cannot happen in one day. Exist certain stages of addiction treatment, which together lead to recovery in all areas: biological, social, mental and spiritual. Completing rehabilitation in our center allows the patient to completely change his thinking and get rid of the obsession with using mind-altering substances. Only complex treatment leads to this result.

5 stages of treatment for drug addiction and alcoholism

The first stage of recovery from addiction is detoxification of the body. It can be completed in our clinic under the round-the-clock supervision of certified specialists. The remaining stages of addiction treatment take place in the rehabilitation center. Each of them has its own therapeutic value and is aimed at achieving certain goals.

Entry and motivation

The purpose of this stage is to introduce the addict to the therapeutic community from the inside. It is very important for a drug addict or alcoholic to realize their external and internal losses that have arisen as a result of active use. Addiction has isolated most people, so they must once again learn to interact with others. The normal daily routine is gradually restored, appetite appears, and familiarization with the rules of stay occurs. The newcomer is supported by a more experienced resident (mentor), and the therapist highlights the main goals and objectives of the further treatment plan. Entry lasts about 2 weeks, depending on the mental state of the patient.

Basic stage

During this period of treatment, the patient lays a strong foundation for further sobriety. It lasts from 60 to 90 days. The person works with powerlessness over the addiction, learns to accept support from more experienced group members, practices the principles of honesty and openness to new things, and takes on a variety of roles in the therapeutic community. The goal of this phase of addiction treatment is to take responsibility for your recovery. Working through the first three steps of the 12-step program helps to cope with emotional instability.

Preparation period

Upon completion of the basic stage, the drug addict or alcoholic discovers the true problems that led him to use. A person begins to understand that life reconstruction is not a one-day process. At this time, it is extremely important not to interrupt treatment, since the burden of guilt and depression can provoke a breakdown. Preparing to leave the center is accompanied by intense family work. At this stage, the rehabilitator learns to show concern for others. He gets the right to be a mentor and shares his experience of being in rehabilitation. In 1-2 months the patient is ready to enter society.

Ambulatory treatment

A three-month stage during which addiction shows all its insidiousness. The first 30 days of being at home are associated with euphoria; during the 2nd month, in most cases, a crisis of denial and resistance occurs, and only in the 3rd month does the person’s condition stabilize. The stabilization process is underway on an outpatient basis: the patient lives in the center 3 days a week, continuing to receive support and new knowledge, and 4 days at home. During this period, the therapeutic community becomes a kind of family for the addict.

Post-rehabilitation stage

Taken together, all stages of addiction treatment take from 3.5 to 9 months. After undergoing such rehabilitation, a person is completely transformed and becomes a mature person who does not need drugs or alcohol. Call us at our contact numbers and we will tell you more about our therapeutic community and recovery program.