Your life is changing rapidly. You have gone through treatment and made great strides to thrive in a world full of people who are just trying to survive. You spent years in survival mode and are now taking charge of your life and making meaning from the chaos in which you lived for so long. You are amazing.
There may be some people in your life who are doubting this new you. They are naysaying your changes and keep putting down the great strides you have made. They may be saying you cannot last or insist that there is no way you really changed. They may be insinuating that your hard-fought change is just a phase.
Do not believe them.
Keep Fighting for Your Changes
There will always be naysayers. You must continue to fight for the changes you are making. You cannot expect your changes to stay with you if you give in to the naysayers.
There are multiple stages of change; however, you can slip into relapse along the continuum of change. The key to avoiding relapse is maintaining momentum while you are in the maintenance stage of change.
Maintain Momentum
Maintaining momentum in the maintenance stage involves continued change. As a human, you should constantly be striving to better yourself. As you are in the maintenance stage, you also have the potential to revisit other stages as you attempt to make other changes in your life. Being in the maintenance stage of one aspect of your life does not mean you cannot make changes in other parts of your life.
Choose to Keep Changing
When you choose to be healthy, you always start small. You learn how to run before you run a marathon. The key to any change is that you need to keep choosing that change until it becomes a normal part of your life. By continuing to make the choice to change, you will soon have those naysayers believing that you are serious about changing your life. Then, making ongoing changes will become easier because you will have more support and probably better cheerleaders.
What Did You Learn in Treatment?
At The Guest House, we showed you that change was possible. You began the slow and arduous process of change when you first called and asked for help. You admitted you needed help, and that was the most difficult part of making change.
We taught you coping skills, how to be creative, life skills, and how to communicate with others through traditional therapies and our complementary therapies, including psychodrama, transformational breathwork, and equine therapy options. Our treatment for you was comprehensive so that you could make a large-scale change and become the warrior that you were meant to be.
Overall, in treatment, you learned how to communicate what you wanted and needed, and that was critical for you to begin the process of change. Now, at home, you may need additional support, and for that, our Alumni Program is available to you. You can ask for support from people who have been there and understand the painful process of coping with those who do not yet believe in your changes. Your peers from treatment can provide support and cheerleading when the people in your day-to-day life do not.
Treatment taught you to ask for help and to value your mental health, which is key to your success in overcoming trauma, managing your mental health diagnosis, and your struggles with addiction to drugs, alcohol, or unhealthy behaviors. You cannot expect your changes to be sustainable if you do not value your mental health, which facilitates your growth and change.
Remember: Always Take Care of You
You are the only you there is. Given this fact, you should take the time to ensure your own well-being. As you manage the changes you are making in your life, you may want to assess your relationships with others and ascertain who has the capacity to support you. You are making significant strides in your recovery, and you do not want to relapse simply because you do not have the support you need.
While the Alumni Program at The Guest House can be helpful, you also need support from friends and family. Do not forego asking for that support and be willing to stand up for yourself and the changes you have made.
You are an amazing person, and you have achieved so much through your hard work. Do not allow the naysayers to destroy all that you have accomplished. You can overcome, and this fact is clear because you have already survived and overcome so much.
You have made amazing strides into becoming the person you want to be. You are changing at a rapid rate and don’t need to be told your change is just a phase. It isn’t. You are fighting tooth and nail to be the warrior you need to be. At The Guest House, we recognized your potential the moment you called and asked for help, and we fostered that flame as you pursued treatment. Now that you have returned home, you may still need support, and we are able to offer that to you. We offer continued support through our Alumni Program, including individual therapy as you work toward maintaining change. Reach out to us at The Guest House and learn how we can help you continue to make changes. You don’t have to struggle alone. Call The Guest House today at (855) 483-7800 for help.