Assessing the health of the relationships in your life after treatment is essential. The people you spend time with can directly impact your well-being and mental health.
Not every relationship from before treatment is going to be healthy. Addiction is powerful, and it probably connected you to people with similar substance or behavioral choices. Although you made life changes, not everyone in your life made those same choices. There may be relationships in your life that are unhealthy or could place you in dangerous situations.
However, understanding and acknowledging the health of relationships is key to successful recovery. Here are a few different tips for assessing and evaluating the relationships in your life.
Who Do You Spend Your Time With?
Think about the primary relationships in your life. Who do you enjoy spending time with? What about that relationship brings you joy? The first step in assessing the health of your relationships is to determine which relationships you want to keep in your life. Not every relationship from before treatment will make it long-term in your life.
Do you have relationships in your life that cause you to stress? Where is that stress coming from? Determine which relationships you want to continue building and which ones are not healthy to continue having in your life.
How Do Your Relationships Feel?
Think about your relationships separately. How does each relationship make you feel? What do they bring to your life? As someone in recovery, having supportive relationships with other people is vital. There may be days when you do not feel capable of maintaining your sobriety or feel unworthy of a healthy lifestyle. Having people around you who can remind you of your goals and capabilities is critical. Think about which people you can count on to be there for you in your life. Recovery is an amazing time; however, it is a time where you will need support on challenging days.
Understand Your Triggers
Understanding your triggers is an essential part of recovery. It is also something that can significantly affect your relationships. Everyone is triggered by different things. Having relationships with people who understand your triggers is helpful. If you continue to have relationships with people who use your substance of choice, it is crucial for them to realize that some of their behavior may trigger you.
As you analyze your relationships to determine their health, consider how each of your relationships triggers you. There is a good chance that something about almost everyone has the possibility of triggering you. That is normal. However, you will need to determine which relationships may seriously trigger you towards relapse or other risky behavior.
Establish Your Boundaries
Boundaries can be an essential component to a healthy recovery. They help you to remain safe and in control. Establishing boundaries can help you to keep your relationships healthy as well.
Your loved ones will want you to succeed. They will want to motivate you and help you keep moving forward towards your goals. Not everyone you meet will understand your recovery or your goals. They may not respect the boundaries you have in place. If you are faced with relationships such as that, it might be a good idea to analyze that relationship further.
Working with a therapist can help you to better understand the relationship and why you may be struggling. You will need to make challenging decisions about what you will and will not tolerate.
Work on Goals
As you know, goals are fundamental. Creating goals helps you stay focused and keep moving in the direction you want to go. If you want to improve the relationships in your life, then consider making some goals. How do you want your relationships to improve? What can you do to create healthier relationships? When you can establish clear goals for your relationships, you can see which relationships are the most important to focus on and improve.
When you create goals, try to establish goals based on what you can do, not necessarily what anyone can do. This will help you maintain your control and focus on your own behavior and actions. You cannot control other people, but you can control yourself.
Stay Connected to Support
You may elect to work with a mental health care provider as you begin your journey of creating healthier and more stable relationships. They can help you focus on the skills and tools you need for your specific situation. Talk through your struggles and your worries. Processing your emotions is essential for both yourself and your relationships.
Creating healthy and stable relationships is an integral part of recovery and maintaining your overall well-being. As you complete treatment and enter into recovery, you need to surround yourself with supportive and positive people. You will want to create firm boundaries that all the people you have relationships with know about and respect. Analyzing your triggers will help you to assess your relationships. You will also benefit from focusing on goals and staying connected to support. Here at The Guest House, we are ready to help you begin the process of assessing your relationships. We understand that it can be challenging to fully understand what is healthy and unhealthy in relationships you have with people you care about. We are here to help you begin that process. Call us today at (855) 483-7800 to learn more about our different post-treatment options and how we can help support you on your recovery journey.