When an individual is seeking recovery from alcohol and other drug abuse, acceptance becomes an incredibly valuable tool on their healing journey. For many, acceptance is the defining factor in an individual’s ability to let go of control, recognize their need for professional treatment, and eventually pursue rehab. Additionally, continued acceptance also plays a pivotal role in treatment as well as the lifelong recovery journey. Finding acceptance in recovery, however, can be a complex process as unconscious habits and desires begin to clash with the person an individual is trying to become in sobriety. Nonetheless, there are many ways that individuals can learn to find and strengthen acceptance in recovery.
At Athens Area Commencement Center, we believe that mindfulness strategies like acceptance are necessary for growth and healing in sobriety. For example, acceptance helps individuals to allow their thoughts, feelings, and emotions to surface without judgment or reaction. Additionally, acceptance directly challenges feelings of resistance and denial, which could otherwise contribute to low self-esteem and relapse throughout recovery. Our treatment programs help our clients grow in acceptance of themselves and others, which can directly protect sobriety while promoting positive self-esteem.
The Importance of Finding Acceptance in Recovery
To understand why acceptance is essential for lasting sobriety and recovery, it can be helpful to address some of the noted benefits of acceptance on an individual’s health and well-being. First, one study by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggests that “individuals who accept rather than judge their mental experiences may attain better psychological health, in part because acceptance helps them experience less negative emotion in response to stressors.”
Every person responds to challenging events in different ways. When an individual is stressed, however, they often revert back to habitual reactions and responses, and these often mirror reactions that developed from stressful experiences during childhood. Simply put, “[A]cceptance helps keep individuals from reacting to – and thus exacerbating – their negative mental health experiences.” Acceptance opens space between a trigger and a reaction by removing judgment and resistance, allowing for the present moment to unfold as it is meant to.
Unfortunately, many people use alcohol and other drugs in an attempt to self-medicate challenging situations in their lives. Further, denying the existence of a substance abuse problem in addition to ongoing feelings of guilt, shame, and regret can all perpetuate substance abuse. In this way, substance use is often an act of resistance to adversity, growth, and healing in and of itself.
Thus, finding acceptance in recovery is an essential process as it allows individuals to learn how to flow with life as it happens. Contrary to what some may believe, acceptance can help individuals pass through feelings of disappointment, frustration, and sadness both quicker and more effectively. Not only will acceptance help to challenge difficult temptations and cravings in early recovery, but it will also safeguard against a return to substance use when future adversity surfaces.
Valuable Ways to Strengthen Acceptance In Recovery
There are many different approaches that individuals can use to find and strengthen acceptance in recovery. In general, mindfulness tools, like meditation, can help cultivate acceptance. Alongside meditation, individuals can consider utilizing the following practices to strengthen acceptance throughout sobriety and recovery:
- Journal resistance: Keeping a journal of experiences, situations, and emotions where resistance is also present can help individuals recognize associated reactions they may use to avoid accepting reality on its own terms.
- Practice kindness: Developing kindness for oneself and others goes hand-in-hand with acceptance, as it promotes positivity and optimism while challenging negative emotions and experiences.
- Question habitual patterns: In daily life, individuals can also note their patterns and habits to detect potential underlying causes. Further, individuals can try to challenge these patterns by honoring their internal power and making different decisions.
- Practice positive reframing: Positive reframing is the process of taking a negative experience and reframing it through a more positive and helpful perspective.
An especially important practice that individuals can also do to find acceptance in recovery is to let go of feelings of guilt, shame, and regret that may otherwise perpetuate future substance use. While there may have been various incidents and situations that occurred that people may regret, remember that the past is in the past. What matters most is what we do in the present that will get us closer to long-term healing and sobriety.
Finding Acceptance at Athens Area Commencement Center
At Athens Area Commencement Center, we recognize that finding acceptance is a lifelong journey, not a destination. Yet, we also acknowledge the crucial role that acceptance often plays in an individual’s decision to pursue treatment and recovery. Accepting one’s need for professional guidance and support can seem frightening from the inside, but on the outside, it highlights an individual’s willingness to let go of the ideas, beliefs, and behaviors that are no longer serving them.
When an individual is ready to commit to treatment, we are here to ensure that they have the knowledge, tools, and resources that they need to sustain long-lasting sobriety. In addition, we provide aftercare resources to empower clients to prioritize acceptance in daily life beyond treatment.
Acceptance is the process of fully acknowledging a situation as it unfolds rather than judging it or fixating on how the situation should be different. In addiction recovery, acceptance is necessary as it allows individuals to fight a natural inclination for resistance while also challenging habitual patterns of thought and behavior. Oftentimes, resistance to adversity is what perpetuates the use of alcohol and other drugs to self-medicate. Thus, implementing practices of acceptance in recovery helps individuals grow in self-esteem, positivity, and overall commitment to recovery. At Athens Area Commencement Center, we help clients discover a variety of tools for self-acceptance throughout treatment and long-term recovery. Learn more about our programs by calling (706) 546-7355 today.