When alcoholics, or addicts, leave the safety of a rehab environment, to continue their lives in the usual routine of working, living without using drugs or alcohol (or a mixture of both), the real challenge presents.
Being confined in a treatment center or rehab, a safe place, is necessary for many. But what happens when they are discharged, to adapt to reintegration in the fast pace of “real life” again?
We lose too many patients in this phase, a crucial phase of reintegration.
Please keep in mind that the addict/alcoholic used substances to help them cope in every day life. The substance was a way to medicate them, to either “give them courage”, or “settle their nerves” or “help them relax” after a day in real life.
When suddenly returning to the workplace, to face questioning colleagues and employers, our addicts/alcoholics experience feelings of anxiety, shame, embarrassment, despite all the preparation they hopefully receive before leaving treatment.
This is only one of the daily challenges to face.
A sober companion can accompany the addict/alcoholic through the first few weeks of readjusting to the rhythms of daily stresses which are massive triggers.
A sober companion will patiently allow the addict/alcoholic to settle back into their lifestyle without relapsing during this crucial integration.
Essentially, after rehab, your addict/alcoholic is like a very small child. The thought of facing life without the old behaviours of turning to drugs or drink to cope, is daunting. It’s a new way of life, a new way of living, without the old coping mechanisms that nearly killed them.
“Unless you allow a very small child to do things for itself, to feed itself, to walk, to dress itself, to write, to draw, to express itself, it will never develop and become independent and be able to stand on its own feet and make its own decisions.” This is exactly what Sober companions are trained for, how to stand back and allow patients to make mistakes and to take as long as it takes, to master what life is like, and learning to do things, make decisions, face confrontations, financial struggles, without turning back to drugs and/or alcohol.
As with a small child, we have to be very patient and wait and watch, no matter how tempted you are to do it for the child to save time. Life is a classroom in a school, and you are learning all the time. How often do guardians have to stand back and very lovingly watch you fumbling and struggling with life so that you can learn a vitally important lesson, a lesson never to be forgotten once it has been learnt and mastered? A sober companion has empathy, healthy boundaries, and love and patience.”
Please contact us for more details, we’re willing to help.