Completing rehab may be one of the most emotional and physical tasks your loved one has ever endured, especially after what seems like an eternity of battling a drug or alcohol addiction.
You’ve lived with the addiction, as well as with the struggles, endless lies, shame, and broken relationships.
However, now your loved has received the help he needs and is recovering and ready to come home. The energy and optimism you are feeling is welcome and long overdue. Although you’ve been down this road before and were disappointed, you are trying to stay positive. So, what should you say or do when she gets home from treatment?
Post-Rehab Do’s
Your loved one should have a detailed post-rehab plan before she comes home. It will help her have an easier transition back into reality. You will also benefit from this aftercare plan as there are several things you can do to help the recovery process:
- Be patient: Because recovery is a process, it will take time for your loved one to solve all the problems in his life associated with her addiction. You and your family should be patient with your loved one as well as with yourselves. There are still going to be bad days, and everyone will still make mistakes.
- Keep lines of communication open: Starting conversations, whether they are positive or negative, is extremely important to helping your loved one’s recovery. It’s also important that you remain as honest as possible.
- Learn about addiction: Take time to educate yourself about alcohol and drug addiction through online research and reading. This allows you to gain more knowledge about what your loved one is feeling and experiencing both now and while in treatment.
- Show that you care: On the path to recovery, your loved will more than likely lose the friends with whom she partied and some of the family that once trusted her. She may also feel alone or overwhelmed trying to get back on track. As your loved one’s support system, take an active role in her life simply by showing her you care.
Post-Rehab Don’ts
Just as there are many things you should do to help your loved one post-rehab, there are also some things that shouldn’t be done. These include:
- Expecting everything to be normal: You can hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst. This advice can help you and other family members who expect your loved one to be the person she was before addiction took over her life. You need to give her space to rebuild his life around recovery. It will take time.
- Being judgmental: Recovery is different for everyone. Some may go through it smoothly, while for others it can be an emotional process. Practice keeping an open mind and being understanding during this healing process without judging or comparing your loved one to others.
- Bringing up the past: Your loved one has not only hurt herself with her addiction, but most likely you, as well as other family members and friends. However, since she is taking the steps needed to move past this addiction, you should do the same. Bringing up the past is a surefire way of not healing.
- Neglecting yourself: In order for you to take care of a loved one in recovery, you must continue to take care of yourself. Don’t spend countless hours worried about relapse or working overtime to remove all triggers from your household. Your loved one will learn how to handle these situations. Spend some quality time taking care of yourself so you can help care for your loved one.
If you or someone you love is in need of alcohol or drug treatment, contact us anytime at (877) 977-3268. We are here to help.
