A TWELVE STEP PLAN TO STAY SOBER DURING THE HOLIDAYS
Staying sober during the holiday season can be difficult for those new to sobriety. Family gatherings, work parties and friendly get togethers can feel like a white-knuckle ride on a bobsled instead of a festive social event. Emotional triggers such as family dynamics, resentments, loss, loneliness, unreasonable expectations and guilt can be even more difficult to navigate than a party where there is drinking. The holidays do not need to feel like a season of struggle. Whether you are in recovery or not, developing a holiday plan that focuses on self care, support, gratitude and finding new ways to have fun, will make staying sober and enjoying the holidays easier.
Everyone at Sacred Heart Rehabilitation wishes you a sober, safe and happy holiday season. Contact Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Center at 888.802.7472 for questions or admissions. Sources: www.aa.org, LM’s personal holiday experience as a recovering alcoholic; the experience, strength and hope and holiday coping skills as shared by other alcoholics with long term sobriety
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New Year’s Eve celebrates the end of this year, beginning of the next and the hope and promise that the new year brings. Many a NYE celebrations are focused around heavy drinking and drugging. If you are sober or concerned you may be an alcoholic or addict and need to be in a safe place, here are some ideas for staying safe and sober while ringing in the new year.
Take control of the situation: Host an activity or theme party. Let guests know the event is alcohol and drug free. By having a theme or activity party, drinking and/or drugs will not be the event’s focus. Guests will then be able to focus on fun, interaction and having a good time.
Maybe you are still battling alcohol and/or drug addiction and don’t even want to celebrate. Do you isolate in shame so that you can use without the judgment of others? Most battling addiction behave this way before seeking treatment. Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? Learn more about treatment options at Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Center call 888.802.7472 or 810.392.2167. Residential Admissions: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Despite good intentions, resolutions to never drink again, and a solid track record of uninterrupted sobriety, New Year’s Eve can be a white-knuckle event for those who want to stay sober and those who want to get sober.
Here is a simple cheat sheet that can help keep you sober and ensure 2019 won’t be greeted with a super sized hangover served with a large order of bad behavior.
If this is your year to get sober and be free of addiction, contact Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Center at 888.802.7472 for questions, or admissions. Sources: LM’s experience, wisdom and tools of alcoholics and addicts new to sobriety and those with long term uninterrupted sobriety. Thank you to CG, LH, MC, KR, DR, MA, MF. Santa came to visit the children staying with their mom's while in Substance Use Disorder Treatment at Sacred Heart Clearview Women & Children Specialty Services. They got to meet and talk with Santa and then open presents! They were very surprised and grateful for every moment and present. Pictures were taken in house by Sacred Heart and generously edited by Tuff Photo Pet Photography (www.tuffphoto.com).
The holidays are often difficult times for clients and their families. All the pressures of holiday celebration, that come to bear on average folk, are even more pronounced in the lives of early recovering clients and their families. The pressures are many and may include everything from limited resources to traumatic memories. The recovering person with a family may be faced with increased levels of guilt and shame (fellow travelers of addiction) during the holidays. If you add to that hard financial times, the holidays can become a time of deep despair and even relapse.
Recovery from addiction is a family business and including family members in every aspect of treatment makes it much more likely that the business will be successful. One of the difficult hurdles to this inclusion of family in treatment is the idea that exposing, particularly children, to the recovery process is in some way unsavory or lacking in moral standing. This belief is often expressed in not wanting children to know anything about the how the addictive process unfolded even after the recovering person has started on the road to health. Statements like, “I would never take my kid to an AA or NA meeting” or “kids don’t belong at a methadone clinic”, suggest a separation of family and treatment that we at Sacred Heart would like to bridge. This holiday the Sacred Heart staff of the Adult Residential Opiate Treatment Program held a party for the children and other family members at the Richmond facility. The party was made more festive by the participation of several community organizations as well as numerous unaffiliated individuals. These groups and individuals contributed approximately seventy wrapped Christmas presents ranging in price from five to fifteen dollars making it possible for every child of an Opiate Treatment Program client to receive a gift. The gifts were under a tree decorated by both clients and Sacred Heart staff and when children arrived they were given the presents by clients who volunteered to be elves. There were treats and wrapping paper every where. Newborn babies were seen sporting new blankets and knitted caps. The blankets and hats were made by children who were given an explanation of the importance of the idea of the Gift as a spiritual part of the holiday festivity. The message that the Sacred Heart staff of the Adult Residential Opiate Treatment Program was trying to send is that this program is family friendly. A client coming to us is welcome and so is his family. The idea that you can’t do recovery alone means that the staff of Sacred Heart, the community at large, your AA and NA bothers and sisters and your loved ones will join you in this journey. You are not alone. -Sacred Heart Therapist |
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