Despite how weak it may feel to admit it aloud, experiencing fear when undergoing new experiences is natural. This is true of all new experiences, and especially ones that create a fundamental shift in someone’s life, such as addiction treatment and recovery. For many people with an addiction or those participating in early recovery, three specific recovery fears that often hold back their progress are fears of change, shame, and relapse.
Today’s blog will review these three recovery fears and how addiction treatment centers like The Right Step centers in Texas will work to address these in an honest but hopeful way.
Embracing the Inevitable: Overcoming the Fear of Change
While many people prefer familiarity over change, no version of the future looks the same as it is right now. We grow older, our living situation and employment vary, our friendships evolve. Change is both inevitable and necessary. However, you get to decide which direction that change takes you. Recognizing your power to create the kind of change you want and being able to see the vision of where you’re headed are both powerful tools that can help you embrace change in the here and now.
Enlisting the support of a therapist can also be instrumental in helping you overcome your fear of change by preparing you for what’s to come and embracing its necessity.
Owning Your Past: Shutting Out the Fear of Shame
Another challenge associated with the recovery process is owning up to the choices and actions taken during active addiction. Remembering the people you’ve hurt, the decisions that put yourself and others at risk and recognizing the discrepancy between those images and the life you want for yourself is not for the faint of heart.
Understandably, regret, shame and guilt become associated with your past—all emotions that you’ve successfully avoided until now. With the support of your compassionate treatment team at The Ranch Tennessee, you can find the strength and safety to revisit those wounds and find a way forward, effectively shutting out the fear of shame.
Balancing Realistic Expectations and Hope: Coping With the Fear of Relapse
Many people may fear recovery because they’re scared of relapsing. They’re afraid they won’t be able to maintain the commitment needed for long-term recovery. Many worry they don’t have what it takes. That no one has been in their situation before. And they’ve lost all hope. Some part of them is protecting them from what seems like a worse fate, proving yet again that they are weak, have low or nonexistent self-control, or are a failure.
At The Right Step, our team helps clients understand that relapse can be a part of the addiction and recovery journey. It helps you learn how to overcome obstacles and become more resilient. Our clients learn to cope with the fear of relapse in individual and group therapy sessions that provide them with both empowering and motivating support. We help clients believe in themselves while recognizing that the addiction they’re up against will not easily let them go.
Overcome Your Recovery Fears With The Right Step
Fear is typical for individuals with or without a substance use disorder. Yet the types of worries experienced can vary from one person to the next. At The Right Step Centers, the treatment team responds to and care for diverse recovery fears through a variety of comprehensive treatment programs. These include:
- Medical drug detox
- Inpatient rehab program
- Outpatient rehab program
- Individual therapy
- Group therapy
- Fitness therapy
A call to The Right Step at 844.899.7749 is the first step to pursuing a substance-free life. In this safe, judgment-free space, you can learn how to recognize and understand your recovery fears for what they are. This means identifying any triggers that could be setbacks and relying on healthy coping mechanisms to achieve lasting healing and sobriety.
