Old 12-14-2017, 07:07 AM
  # 9 (permalink)  
StartingOverNW
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Washington State
Posts: 591
A couple of things that have helped me being in the situation you're in:
1) Make some real connections with people in whatever recovery program you're participating in (AA, SMART, whatever), and form friendships/bonds with those people so that you have a few people you feel comfortable talking with about day to day recovery, and people who you know are mutually engaged with in recovery so that they care about your recovery on a personal level and vice versa. A good sponsor can play this role and help introduce you to others or to good meetings where you can meet others. Keep in contact with these people every day in early sobriety especially.

2) Seek out a therapist/addiction counselor who is well versed in recent addiction science, ideally is in some sort of recovery themselves, and is willing to keep seeing you even if you continue relapsing, to help you see if there is stuff that can be uncovered about your life which is causing you chronic pain/anxiety (which you may not even be aware of on the surface because it feels 'normal' to you).

3) Don't give up - if something isn't working, keep trying to figure out why that is and try new things if needed.
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