Becoming your Own Best Friend through Recovery
The path through opioid use disorder treatment onto long-lasting, successful recovery is an intimate process that can bring patients a newer understanding of themselves and the world around them. Self-reflection plays a significant role during these times. Many people feel like their journey has led them to a deeper connection with themselves and have built their futures upon self-determination. Learning to rely on oneself through treatment and recovery can’t be coached or accomplished overnight, but the work put toward reaching those goals is well worthwhile.
Connecting to One’s Inner Self
Through substance use counseling during treatment, many patients begin to delve into deeper reasons or understand how their past experiences may have led them to substance misuse. Often, these people are victims of some form of abuse, or their coping methods are a sign of unresolved trauma. Going through the process of unpacking heavy or painful memories can be like cutting through scar tissue; however, the wounds can finally heal when properly mended. While patients endure this kind of work, they often learn to rely on themselves where they would have otherwise looked to substances to numb their feelings or depended on the enabling behavior of a loved one to get them through.
Building the Inner Voice
Part of becoming self-reliant is changing the tone of one’s inner voice and how it speaks, when a patient is dealing with self-doubt, shame, and other negative feelings that come about during addiction recovery, having an inner voice that speaks more positively and assuredly is the key to overcoming self-sabotaging habits. Avoiding dealing with one’s inner voice can become a substantial obstacle when learning to reach it. Still, once a patient has worked through journaling, self-reflection, therapy, and other intensive projects, it becomes much more attainable.
Ways to Tap into Your Inner Voice:
Journaling: Using a writing medium, whether hand-written or typed, to express ideas, goals, worries, and random thoughts can be highly impactful. Individuals who exercise journaling feel safe expressing themselves outside of their thoughts to help them organize feelings and emotions to move past difficult times.
Meditation: spending time alone in a relaxed and comforting setting to help ease anxieties and reduce stress can help bring out one’s inner voice and silence the extra noise that has been drowning it out for so long.
Mirroring: speaking into a mirror, watching oneself, and repeating affirmations can be a small but effective confidence booster for people looking to connect more deeply with their inner voice.
Getting outside: Nature can profoundly affect getting in touch with one’s inner self with the help of fresh air and other organic elements that elevate the senses and stimulate the mind.
The first step to becoming self-assured and your own best friend while grappling with substance use disorder is to get in touch with a facility like Recovery Services of New Mexico to get started. Our experienced and compassionate staff is prepared to provide quality substance use disorder treatment. Send us a message or call today to inquire or enroll.