What Are the Benefits of Community for Recovery?
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Hawaii still has a strong tradition of “It takes a village.” This mentality is not lost on us here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab, which is why we believe so strongly in community for recovery. When we work together, we can accomplish anything and this includes getting sober and staying sober.
Healing at the Cellular Level
When it comes to healing at the cellular level, it is all about healing the whole “Self” rather than its individual parts. This means cellular-level healing at the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. It also means healing our social status and social lives as well (which is a big part of community for recovery).
Healing at the cellular level is also a very holistic approach to recovery because it is all about the interconnectedness of all of those previously mentioned parts. We cannot fully heal psychically if we are not in the right emotional state, we can’t heal emotionally if we are not mentally clear, and there can be no spiritual growth if we are physically unwell. As we can see here, in just these few examples, everything must work together to heal at the cellular level.
The Importance of Individualized and Comprehensive Recovery
While it may seem paradoxical, it is important to focus on individual recovery if one is ever going to benefit from a recovery community. Also, one must heal individually if they are going to contribute to a recovery community.
The best way to ensure this type of recovery is to engage with a wholly individualized recovery plan. Here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab, we believe that “one-size-fits-all” recovery rarely works. It does not pay enough attention to the person behind the diagnosis. After all, as the ancient Greek philosopher and Father of Western medicine, Hippocrates, said, “It’s far more important to know what person the disease has than what disease the person has.”
However, an individualized plan is only going to get that individual so far. The recovery plan must also be vast, varied, and comprehensive.
Comprehensive recovery is all about ensuring that a recovery plan is utilizing all of the resources that are currently readily available. This means resources from every realm of recovery: the psychotherapeutic, experiential, psychedelic, and holistic. When all of these avenues of treatment are taken, then the chances for recovery go up exponentially. Those statistics continue to go up when community for recovery is utilized.
The Importance of Community for Recovery
Roughly 89 years ago, two men struggling in their recovery got together and determined that the only way they were going to attain and maintain sobriety was to do two things. One was to acquire a Higher Power greater than themselves, and two was to work with other people also struggling to recover.
These two men were Bill W. and Dr. Bob, the two co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and they did attain and maintain recovery, and their program has gone on to help millions of people and their families recover. A big part of this success has to do with their focus on community for recovery.
There is even a chapter in the primary text of 12-Step recovery (most commonly referred to as the Big Book) entitled “Working With Others.” The chapter states, “To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends – this is an experience you must not miss. We know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives.”
This passage is emblematic of how important it is to work with others in recovery. It even goes so far as to state that working with others is “the best way to ensure immunity” from a relapse, and relapses are much more common than many of us may want to admit.”
According to the peer-reviewed thesis, Addiction Relapse Prevention, by Doctors Guenzel and McChargue, “One primary concern in addiction treatment is the high rate of relapses within a short period after even the most intensive treatment. Many studies have shown relapse rates of approximately 50% within the first 12 weeks after completion of intensive inpatient programs that often last 4 to 12 weeks or more and can cost tens of thousands of dollars.” This just reminds us how important it is to take all of the right actions in recovery to avoid relapse, including working with others.
Community for Recovery: Connecting to Recovery Professionals
One of the best resources that we have for recovery is the professionals whose primary purpose is to help us succeed. This includes psychologists, therapists, dieticians, nutritionists, naturopath doctors, counselors, sobriety coaches, and recovery center administrators.
Just as important as connecting with recovery professionals is connecting with the right recovery professionals. What is the use of working with someone if they are not the right fit for our recovery? So, ensuring that the right professionals are utilized is crucial.
It is also important to keep good long-term relationships with recovery professionals. Recovery does not end when one finishes their time at a recovery center. It is a lifelong process. Thus, maintaining healthy relationships with therapists, counselors, and doctors is crucial. The same is true with maintaining long-term relationships with recovery peers.
Community for Recovery: Connecting to Recovery Peers
As previously mentioned, working with other people in recovery is vital. These other people are often referred to as “recovery peers.” Recovery peers are people who are either just starting their recovery journey, are in the middle of their treatment, or have gone through treatment and are enjoying recovery on the other side.
These recovery peers are the people who are going to carry us through recovery when times get hard – when we run into “triggers.” That is why building the biggest “sober network” of recovery peers possible is ideal for long-term success. There are also many other benefits.
What Are the Benefits of Community for Recovery?
Now, the benefits of community for recovery are vast and varied. The following are just a few of those benefits:
- Reduced chances of relapse
- Increased accountability
- An opportunity to help others
- Variety (the spice of life)
- Fitness partners
- A shoulder to lean on
- An opportunity for growth
- Help with goals
- Spiritual strength, advisement, and partnership
As we can see, these are some integral benefits. Many of them begin when we connect with others while in treatment.
Positive Community in Treatment
It only makes sense that some of the strongest bonds that we make in recovery will occur while we are in treatment. This has to do with proximity and being in the same stage of recovery at the same time.
Another big aspect of connecting with others while in treatment is that we are going through the same experiences, and we are even often working with the same professionals. This creates an opportunity for unity, which is especially true when we connect with others while in group therapy.
The Benefits of Group Therapy
Group therapy is a great way to connect with others while in treatment. It also helps peers and professionals connect differently and more easily for both. According to the peer-reviewed thesis, Group Therapy, by Malhotra and Baker, “As the need for behavioral intervention and long-term psychiatric care is steadily rising, alternative methods of treatment must be employed by physicians and healthcare teams to meet this increasing demand. Group therapy provides a solution to this problem by allowing for the treatment of multiple individuals simultaneously. Doing so allows healthcare providers to reduce wait times and increase accessibility.”
Group therapy can also be highly beneficial for recovery on an individual basis. It can help people express themselves in a safe space without fear of judgment or retaliation. Group therapy can help people feel empowered (as they offer suggestions to others). It motivates people, and can even help more introverted people feel more comfortable to share. These connections made in group therapy also offer an opportunity to keep relationships going after the treatment center.
Positive Community After Treatment
One of the best ways to maintain connections after treatment is to form and join alumni groups. This ensures that we keep up with those with whom we intimately bonded through the first parts of our recovery journey.
However, it is also important to connect with new people once we leave the treatment center. A great way to do this is to connect with new recovery communities. This can happen online or in person at recovery meetings, the most well-known being 12-Step meetings.
The Benefits of 12-Step Recovery
Many people point out that the First Step of 12-Step recovery begins with “We.” The First Step states, “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol [and substances] – that our lives had become unmanageable.” This is emblematic of how important community for recovery is in 12-Step programs.
As previously mentioned, the Twelve Steps can be highly beneficial. According to the peer-reviewed journal Social Work in Public Health, “There are many paths to recovery from alcohol and SUDs, and one that has been traveled by many and is associated with positive long-term outcomes is involvement in 12-Step and mutual/self-help groups. Such groups, including Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Cocaine Anonymous (CA) and a number of others, have served as the primary, if not only, source of behavior change for many, as adjuncts to formal treatment, or as a form of continuing care and community support following treatment.” Also, “In 2006 and 2007, an annual average of five million individuals age 12 or older in the United States attended a self-help group…”
These millions of people get together every year to help each other recover from the “cunning, baffling, powerful” disease of addiction. Of course, 12-Step meetings are not the only meetings for recovery.
Alternatives to 12-Step Recovery
Many people balk at the spiritual aspect of 12-Step recovery. While most people come to discover that the spiritual nature of 12-Step programs can be tailored to whatever we wish (including not adopting spirituality at all), others choose alternative programs.
A couple of non-12-Step recovery programs include SMART Recovery and LifeRing. These programs are agnostic and focus more on how one can manage one’s addiction issues using more pragmatic tools. However, they also have a big focus on community for recovery. There are also many therapies that can be utilized with others in recovery. These are therapies like nature immersion therapy, surf therapy, horticulture therapy, and yoga.
Community and Nature Immersion Therapy
Yes, connecting with nature is a very personal experience, but it can also be greatly enjoyed in a group setting. Being in nature can increase everybody’s mood. According to the National Park Service, “Exercising in nature leads to greater health benefits than performing the same activity indoors. Individuals are more likely to repeat being physically active when the exercise is performed in a natural environment.” Also, “Communities that are closer to nature are more likely to have stronger ties with their community members.”
There is also another crucial benefit of nature for recovery – connectedness. According to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, “While cognitive restoration and physiological well-being are the prominent and renowned benefits of nature exposure, there is one important construct that is often overlooked in environmental psychology research studies – that is, the human-nature relationship; also known as connectedness to nature (CN).”
This “connectedness to nature” also offers a greater “connectedness to others.” Another great way to attain this connectedness is via surfing and surf therapy.
Community and Surf Therapy
Most surfers agree that it is much better to ride waves with others than to do so alone (just don’t crowd someone else’s surf, of course). Surf therapy offers a great opportunity for community for recovery.
This type of therapy also offers a myriad of other benefits. According to the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Psychology, “[T]here is increasing evidence suggesting that participation in action and adventure sports, such as surfing, is meaningful and life-enhancing. Participating in action and adventure sports is said to create opportunities to foster positive psychological outcomes such as resilience, self-esteem, positive affect, and relatedness. A growing body of evidence worldwide has validated the use of surfing as a therapeutic mediator to achieve positive change such as increased well-being.” Another excellent holistic activity that can practiced both individually and with others is yoga
Community and Yoga
Yoga has been practiced both individually and in group settings for thousands of years. Initially, yoga began as a solely spiritual practice but has recently moved into the realm of recovery.
Yoga with others can be particularly beneficial because it offers community strength to keep going. There are also many other benefits, especially in therapeutic yoga. According to the International Journal of Yoga (IJOY), “Therapeutic yoga is defined as the application of yoga postures and practice to the treatment of health conditions. Yoga therapy involves instruction in yogic practices and teachings to prevent reduce or alleviate structural, physiological, emotional and spiritual pain, suffering or limitations. Yogic practices enhance muscular strength and body flexibility, promote and improve respiratory and cardiovascular function, promote recovery from and treatment of addiction, reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, improve sleep patterns, and enhance overall well-being and quality of life.”
Creating a Positive Community at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab
Yes, it can “take a village” for us to attain a healthy long-term recovery. But this shouldn’t feel like a chore. We didn’t recover to be miserable. No, we spent enough time doing that in active addiction, where we let our lives get very small. Recovery allows us to open our lives back up to new experiences and, yes, new people.
Here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab, we know that recovery is about the journey, not the destination. We also know that the journey is much more fun and fulfilling when taken with others.
Connecting with others in recovery can be vital for success. This includes connecting with recovery professionals and recovery peers. The community and traditions (for example, Ho’oponopono) on Hawaii’s Big Island can also greatly aid in one’s recovery. If you feel like you or a loved one are struggling with issues of addiction, mental illness, or co-occurring disorders, we can help get you on the right road to long-term recovery right away. You don’t have to go through this alone. For more information about the benefits of community for recovery, as well as other means, methods, and modalities that can help, please reach out to Exclusive Hawaii Rehab today at (808) 775-0200.