Importance of Support in Alcohol Abuse Treatment

Alcohol abuse treatment is marked by a number of challenges that make staying sober difficult to maintain but not impossible by any means. Support is of the utmost importance in alcohol abuse treatment whether an individual is suffering from a case of full-fledged alcoholism or he just needs a little help getting sober and staying that way. Various levels of supportive care can be found both in and outside of treatment providing unlimited options to those in recovery.

Support of all kinds helps addiction recovery!

Why is Support so Important?

The best way to understand why support is so vital in treatment is to think about the many emotional battles that can come in the early or even the late phases of addiction recovery. People seek support for everything from a way to avoid triggers to a way to cope to a way to feel good. Support is important because it:

• Provides the individual with a shoulder to lean on
• Offers a way to turn to a friend or family member for help rather than turning to alcohol
• Offers new groups of friends or peers who are sharing in a common goal to get or to stay sober
• Instills a sense of security
• Instills a sense of community

Types of Support

You may find support in a counselor or therapist, you may prefer to lean on your friends or family, or you may feel most at ease talking with your pastor or priest. There are so many different types of support available for those who are suffering from alcohol abuse. Some of the most common methods of support include:

• AA groups or anonymous meetings in which the users come together and support one another in their efforts to get sober
• Support from friends or family members in which you can lean on them in a time of need
• Social networks that provide a sense of community and foundation for recovery
• Sober living homes in which all members of the home are working toward common sobriety and abstinence from the use of alcohol
• Recovery groups for those who have been negatively affected by other situations such as physical abuse, sexual abuse or trauma

Making Support a Priority

When alcohol abuse takes over and a user becomes addicted, the first thing to go out the window are the priorities that keep the individual stable. A major part of alcohol abuse treatment revolves around the premise of instilling a sense of priority back into an individual’s life and restoring regular routines. As such, support is a very important part of the treatment process and should be a priority.

Even outside of treatment it is important to make support a priority for continued recovery. You may attend regular AA meetings or family counseling sessions or you may attend regular meetings with your therapist. Regardless of how you get support, it’s important that you make this a priority in order to keep the support there, fresh in your mind, and above the alcoholism or alcohol abuse temptations that you may otherwise have.

If you find solace or support in a group such as a recovery group or AA, you can benefit greatly from this method of care. You’ll share in similar beliefs, common goals and may even experience similar situations in which you can help one another out and continue to strive for total recovery without relapse. The good thing about meetings like these is that there are always other members in the room who have at least shared similar situations and who understand what you are going through. They may not have had to deal with abuse or the exact problems that you are dealing with, they may not have become addicted to alcohol in the same way that you did, but they most certainly know what it’s like to want to stay sober, to struggle to stay sober and to suffer as they make every honest attempt at getting sober—just like you!

It’s NOT Magic

Support is not the magic, cure-all for alcohol abuse but it can keep you moving in the right direction. When you need someone to lean on, you just want to talk, you need a distraction or you need a sense of social community, support can be your answer. Without support, your chances of recovery are rather limited—with it, you are most certainly given the chance to take the chosen path to lifelong sobriety, improved happiness and overall greater well-being.