Aftercare is vital to sustaining sobriety after completing an inpatient or outpatient program. It provides ongoing support and resources to help individuals avoid relapse.
Often, aftercare programs include therapy and group sessions to discuss feelings and experiences related to addiction. These sessions can help individuals identify and deal with their emotions healthily so that they don’t return to abuse.
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Support Groups
Support groups are an excellent approach to meeting folks with similar issues. Whether it’s an addiction, a mental illness, or a health issue, you can get help from others who understand how you feel and can offer practical advice about managing things.
First, decide when your group will meet and where it will be held. Generally, meetings can be stored on weekdays or weekends at times that will be convenient for most of the members.
Next, decide who will be facilitating (leading) the meetings. A good facilitator can keep discussions safe and on topic, create a positive environment for everyone, and encourage participation. They can also monitor ground rules and serve as a timekeeper.
Individual Therapy
Individual therapy is crucial to recovery from addiction and mental health disorders. It helps patients increase self-awareness, improve communication skills, and develop healthy coping mechanisms.
In individual therapy, a trained mental health professional facilitates the sessions and helps clients work through issues in a safe space. The sessions’ primary objective is to help clients identify the unhelpful behaviors and attitudes contributing to their substance abuse or mental health problems.
Therapists also help individuals understand their past and teach them new ways to handle challenges that may trigger a relapse. People must know their triggers and the reasons behind their drug or alcohol use.
Impact Recovery Center Atlanta provides various individual counseling solutions to meet the requirements of each one of their clients. Many licensed therapists have areas of expertise in addiction, trauma, or grief and loss. It enables them to offer a more individualized care method and assist our patients in making the most of their therapeutic experience.
Family Therapy
In many situations, addiction is not a problem that affects the person with the substance abuse; it also impacts their family. Including family therapy as part of a person’s treatment program can be helpful and healing for the entire family unit, even if they’ve never been involved with the individual in recovery before.
Licensed family therapists use a variety of approaches in treating families, depending on their training and the specific needs and goals of each family. They may focus on improving interfamilial relationships and behavioral patterns or emphasize issues related to significant life transitions or mental health conditions.
There are many forms of family therapy, but the most common ones include marriage counseling/couples therapy, strategic family therapy, and emotion-focused family therapy (EFFT). In each form, therapists are trained to help couples figure out their issues and work on solutions. These modalities are sometimes used with other therapy types, like individual or group therapy.
Life Coaching
Life coaches provide positive incentives, support, and direction for people in recovery participating in an aftercare recovery program. However, they are not substitutes for the components of a comprehensive treatment program for alcohol use disorder.
According to the International Coach Federation, 80 percent of clients who work with a life coach experience improved self-confidence and 73 percent report improved relationships. They are also skilled at reframing the client’s journey, which can encourage them to make positive changes and avoid demotivating setbacks.
In addition, life coaches can help people to manage stress. Research shows that people under high-stress levels are more likely to abuse drugs or alcohol. It may be because they lack healthy coping skills, negatively impacting their emotional health and well-being.
