Leaving treatment is usually a very stressful time filled with fear. Thankfully I had some hope restored while in treatment, so of course that helped, but I was so nervous I was going to relapse. It was because of this fear of relapse though that I made sure to do what I was told to do in treatment, I knew if I did otherwise that there was a very good chance of everything going wrong. I'd like to share some of those suggestions I took, they were simple but life changing.

Practicing Honesty.

Throughout my years of actively using, lying had become second nature. It was a means to survive and I did it so often that it felt like a habit I couldn't break upon entering treatment. My therapist made it clear to be that being completely honest would be hard at the start, but with a few weeks of practice it would not only become more natural, it will make me feel better mentally. I truly feel honesty needs to be worked on before anything else because if you aren't honest in the recovery process then you are just wasting your time, recovery demands brutal and complete honesty, anything less than that is going to cheapen the work you do and make it quite ineffective.

Finding Support

Recovery is something that can not be done alone. If you were able to get clean by yourself you most likely would of done it some time ago. I had my many attempts at trying to stop by myself, it never  worked. It was suggested to me in  inpatient treatment that I would have to build a sober network. People that I could count on in times I needed it and individuals who have been sober for some time so they could guide me. At heart I am an isolated person, i'm happy being alone and not talking to anybody, but I knew I had to find some people that I could lean on. My worry was the awkwardness that would ensue after just introducing myself to somebody random at a meeting but anybody i built the courage to introduce myself to would then engage conversation about where i'm from and how long I've been sober and simple things like that. They were always friendly and I always walked away from the conversation feeling better! Luckily for me my treatment center had a very strong alumni program for me to meet people, I connected with so many that were on the same journey as me. There was a method to this madness. I also became aware that I am who I surround myself with. Unfortunately everyone you meet in recovery will not be doing what is best for their sobriety or themselves, but thankfully there are always people who are doing the right thing. Surround yourself with them and you will organically find yourself doing what they do.

Finding A Job

For many of us, finding work is not an easy task in early recovery. Sure there are the lucky ones who still have their jobs upon leaving treatment, but someone like me hadn't had a job in years. One that I could hold onto at least. I was told that I needed to just find a job, any job so I can fill my time up and have some structure in my life. I had a lot of friends who got picky on what they wanted to or did not want to do, they stayed unemployed. I applied to anywhere I saw and took the first job I was offered, and it felt good. Remember early on you are just trying to build a fulfilling, balanced life. Whatever job you find is not going to be your career the rest of your life and more importantly than the money is that you are just being responsible. I found a lot of fulfillment in just being a reliable person at my first job in recovery, no matter how small the job was.

These are but a few things I had to do upon leaving treatment but they were of paramount importance. We all are nervous upon leaving treatment, the best thing we can do is to take action, the right action. Once we do that our nervousness will be replaced by confidence in ourselves. Once we are confident enough in ourselves we can begin to help the next new person who just got out of treatment, that's how this all works.