New Beginnings In Recovery – Making The Decision To Change
Substance addiction brings with it a slew of conflicting emotions — shame, bitterness, resentment and frustration, to name but a few. It also involves fear, a lot of fear. What if people find out? Worse, what will happen if I can not get my next drink or hit? Increasingly miserable, people hooked on drugs or alcohol never planned on a life of emotional, social and financial turmoil. It all seemed so easy and controllable — until it was neither. In fact, reversing course is not easy; it requires desire and resolve. More than anything else, being clean and sober demands a decision to change.
Do I Have to Hit “Rock Bottom?”
The idea of hitting rock bottom conjures images of skid-row homelessness; living in alleys and gutters; and the general contempt for the addicted person by society. Actually, this frequently mentioned condition looks different for each individual. Sarah A. Benton, an experienced addiction counselor, writes in Psychology Today : “Each alcoholic has a unique bottom, and some alcoholics report having several bottoms along the way that they have ignored.” The point is that addicted people need not wait until they have lost home, family, livelihood and health to seek help. New Horizon Counseling Center receives patients at any level of loss. Waiting for things to get worse only guarantees that things will get worse.
How Can I Know I Have a Problem with Drugs or Alcohol?
Psychologist Gregory Jantz is among many clinicians who use six benchmarks to help patients determine the degree of dependency on a given substance.
Has the client’s use of the drug increased in amount and duration over time?
Does the idea of quitting make the client anxious or upset?
Has use of the substance disrupted routines and relationships?
Are attempts to stop drinking or doing drugs aborted, only to be delayed to a later date?
Does the substance make the client feel better and content with life?
What life priorities have given way to substance use?
What Sort of Treatment Should I Get?
For those who have determined that help is necessary in order to get a handle on their substance abuse, there are a variety of therapeutic programs available at full-service recovery centers like New Horizons Counseling Centers in the metropolitan New York City area. Conditioned on the client’s specific addiction context, services can include psychiatric evaluation; individual and group therapy sessions; fellowship groups for the addicted and their loved ones; and, at times, the administration of medication. Behavioral treatments are most often counselling sessions whereby the client is helped to modify actions by changing thought patterns. Meanwhile, mutual support fellowships decrease the client’s sense of isolation, as though sobriety is a solitary battle. Finally, there are medicines that help to counteract the cravings with which many addicted people are afflicted. Each and all of these approaches are utilized at New Horizons Counseling Center.
Next Steps?
The old adage remains true: those who think they have an addiction problem in all probability do have an addiction problem. The first thing is to talk to a professional at New Horizons Counseling Center. The staff is well-trained in identifying addiction patterns and signals. From this consultation, a treatment program can be tailored to the client’s own condition as opposed to imposing a cookie-cutter process on very different personalities. As argued at the outset, none of it works unless the client has decided to become clean and sober. Without that, nothing works.
