800-819-2978
Who Answers?3 Ways a 12 Step Program Helps You Want to Change for the Better
Not everyone who enters treatment or addiction recovery does so because they want to get well. Sometimes, a disgruntled employer or an unhappy spouse reach a point where they need to see a change in your life, or else. For other people, it may be a health scare or an overdose episode that changes things.
In either case, you’re left to go through the motions of rehab treatment and recovery while secretly wishing everything had stayed the way it was. On the other hand, there’s a part of you that knows you need treatment or some kind of help.
The 12 Step program treatment approach meets a person where he or she is at in recovery. Through interacting with like-minded others and working through the issues that brought about drug addiction in your life, the act of going through the motions gradually becomes a very real experience that changes your life.
If you’re considering 12 Step program treatment and have more questions, call our toll-free helpline at 800-781-0748 (Who Answers?) .
The Push and Pull Effects of Addiction
12 Step programs help you develop a drug-free mindset.
With substance abuse, what starts out as a surefire way to smooth out the edges of daily life soon turns into an out of control habit. According to the journal of Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, drug or alcohol “highs” followed by wrenching withdrawal episodes eventually trap a person inside a vicious substance abuse cycle.
Changes in behavior and appearance become plainly apparent to those around you, but seem like no big deal from your perspective. Eventually, circumstances, such as job loss or the threat of divorce force your hand.
In the absence of some form of treatment help, things will only get worse.
3 Ways 12 Step Program Treatment Helps You Want to Get Well
1. Emotional Supports
Alcohol and drugs offer quick and easy ways to avoid dealing with painful emotions and difficult situations. Unfortunately, addictive substances only make things worse, as many find out once drug withdrawal effects take hold.
Learning how to work through difficult emotional issues in healthy ways is a big part of the 12 Step program approach. This is done through the support group model, where people who share similar experiences and hardships all work together towards a common goal.
2. Developing a New Way of Thinking
Addiction breeds a mindset of its very own: a mindset that’s focused on getting and using drugs or alcohol. In effect, addiction changes a person’s thinking, priorities and motivations in drastic ways, according to Indiana University.
The overall goal of the 12 Step program approach works to help you identify and replace destructive thinking and behavior patterns with a mindset that’s focused on changing your life for the better.
3. Hope
It’s not uncommon for someone to go through multiple rounds of trying to stop drug or alcohol use only to turn around and start using again. After so many attempts, it’s easy for feelings of hopelessness to set in.
For these reasons, instilling hope remains an ongoing part of 12 Step program process. Ultimately, anyone who takes advantage of what the program has to offer will see that recovery is in fact possible.
For information on 12 Step rehab treatment options, call our helpline at 800-781-0748 (Who Answers?) .