How to Remain Sober After Rehab

Maintaining Long-Term Sobriety from Drugs and Alcohol

Building an alcohol or drug-free life in a recovery center is just the beginning of your sober life. It takes effort and commitment to continue to stay sober upon program graduation.

Rehab has equipped you with the basic tools – coping skills to manage your triggers, stress management, and healthy lifestyle choices. But it’s not enough to possess these tools; you must now pick them up and use them.

Ingrained Recovery regularly helps our clients make great strides in their sobriety journey. Our inpatient and outpatient programs support clients with a full continuum of care.

But make no mistake: how to remain sober after rehab does not offer a ‘one-size-fits all’ answer.

Even with careful relapse prevention planning, we know that a small percentage will experience sobriety fatigue and may return for some fine-tuning. But in our experience, most past clients flourish in their new sober lifestyle, as long as they stay consistent and committed to recovery.

Keep reading for tips on how to stay sober from the mental health professionals at Ingrained.

Maintain Sobriety After Addiction Treatment with These Healthy Lifestyle Changes

Preventing relapse can feel like a lot of work, at least at first. But the more you use your recovery tools, the more confident you will become as you pursue long-term recovery.

Build Healthy Relationships with Sober Friends

Think about the people closest to you. Do they support your sobriety journey and desire to stay sober? Or do you have co-dependent relationships with people who attempt to sabotage your recovery journey at every turn?

You need to avoid toxic relationships, swapping them for a healthy support system of friends and family members who will honor healthy boundaries and encourage you to stay sober and maintain sobriety.

Add Support Group Meetings to Your Weekly Schedule

Our medical professionals recommend that all clients attend community support networks at least once a week after leaving treatment.

For those pursuing 12-step program support, we encourage attendance at 90 meetings in 90 days to foster connections and help create a healthy routine following rehab.

While we support our clients with extensive aftercare planning support, you can also look online to find these local resources:

• Alcoholics Anonymous- AA (alcoholism)
• Narcotics Anonymous – NA (drug abuse)
• SMART Recovery (for all behavioral disorders)

When you spend time in a meeting, you learn valuable relapse prevention strategies to use in daily life and build a local support system. Meeting people who are successfully preventing relapse in their own lives can significantly encourage you to stay sober. Some groups celebrate milestones with members.

For instance, AA members earn coins for 30, 60, and 90 days of sober living, along with milestones celebrated with coins at six months and one year (and nine months in NA and some AA groups as well).

Go to Follow-up Appointments with Your Mental Health or Addiction Recovery Providers

Attending follow-up appointments with mental health counselors or treatment professionals is another centerpiece of long-term sobriety. Ongoing care helps you manage stress and co-occurring mental health conditions and allows check-ins on your progress.

When a professional spots potential triggers or pitfalls, they can help you stay motivated and avoid them.

Avoid Relapse by Staying Clear of Personal Triggers When Possible

In treatment, you probably learned to identify potential triggers – the emotions, people, habits, and places that could make you question your decision to stay sober. Avoiding these triggers is a tremendous act of self-care.

While you may not always be able to avoid them, identifying them can help you plan how you can face them.

Manage Stress (Without Drug or Alcohol Use)

Many with a substance use disorder started using their drug of choice as a stress-coping mechanism. Stress is typical in daily life, but learning to manage it healthily is necessary when you want to stay sober.

Instead of substances, you might try journaling, learning to play an instrument, praying or meditating, or exercising. The more tools you have, the more confident you will feel when you have a hard day.

Structured Schedules Will Win the Day

It’s great to relax and have free time, but a disorganized lifestyle or too much idle time can be risky. Setting a structured schedule helps you keep a focused mind and reduces the odds of making impulsive decisions.

When you feel calm and in control, you are more likely to maintain sobriety. Be sure you include time in your day for meals, exercise, work, rest, and recovery-related activities.

Eat a Balanced Diet and Drink Enough Water

Eating well-balanced meals is such a basic act of self-care, but so many of us still overlook it. Good, nutritious foods fuel your recovery. When you eat balanced meals with proteins, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, you support brain health and feel better.

How you eat indirectly helps with preventing relapse and helps you stay sober.

Be Sure to Get Enough Sleep

Getting a good night’s sleep is essential to staying sober. Studies have shown that while some people drink alcohol thinking it helps them sleep better, they’re actually sacrificing sleep quality.

Try for 8 hours of quality sleep each night to support emotional regulation and maintain sobriety. If you have a hard time falling asleep, consider removing electronics from your room – the blue light they emit may be the culprit.

Master Relaxation Techniques

Learning how to calm your mind and body is an essential skill to master in recovery. Try simple tools like:

• Deep breathing
• Progressive muscle relaxation
• Guided meditation
• Yoga

These techniques help you release accumulated stress. They are a safe way of acknowledging your daily anxieties while providing an outlet for release. These tools are necessary to stay motivated and on the path to long-term sobriety.

Exercising Regularly, Making Time for it No Matter What

We all know we should move our bodies, but so many find it hard to stay motivated to do so!

Exercise is a powerful tool in relapse prevention. It releases feel-good chemicals to help relieve stress and uplift mood. You may also find a new support network in the people you meet at the gym.

Daily movement also helps rewire your brain’s reward system to look forward to fitness milestones instead of substances. Whatever activity you choose, exercising is a terrific way to stay motivated.

Reach out for Professional Help if You Feel an Oncoming Slip-up

Long after your addiction treatment, cravings can happen. But it’s how you respond to them that matters. Relapse prevention starts in the same place as cravings to use again – in the mind. If you feel tempted to use, reach out to a recovery professional or support person immediately.

Acknowledging the cravings early and working through them with a counselor or therapist can stop a full relapse before it’s too late.

Avoid Social Gatherings with Alcohol (Find Sober Ways to Celebrate Milestones)

Effective relapse prevention also means reconsidering how you celebrate milestones with friends and family members. Some families have a party culture, with wine flowing freely and cocktails around the table.

You may need to set boundaries and avoid events where these behaviors are likely. Instead, invite them over for a sober activity, like a game night, or plan a sober pizza party. You can also celebrate achievements with our support groups.

What to Expect at Our Accredited Drug and Alcohol Rehab

If you’re reading this because you’ve been through rehab and have relapsed, know that it’s okay to reach back out for additional professional help. You have not failed to reach your destination; your recovery journey has hit a detour.

Remember that a substance use disorder is a diagnosed illness; like any other chronic disease, it can take unpredictable twists and turns. A person living with type 2 diabetes wouldn’t beat themself up over a setback in their overall well-being – neither should you!

Our mental health pros will make any necessary adjustments to your treatment plan and help you learn how to regain control again. Some therapies that might be appropriate include the following:

• Medication-assisted treatment
• Medical detox (if needed)
• Treating post-acute withdrawal syndrome
• Individual therapy or counseling with family members
• Behavioral therapies
• Trauma-informed treatment
• Restoring self-confidence in support groups
• Developing additional coping skills

Getting clean and sober after a history of alcohol or drug abuse is a ongoing process, and it’s okay to ask for professional guidance along the way.

Call Ingrained for Proven Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Options

If you have prioritized self-care but still struggle to stay motivated after completing a treatment plan, our licensed clinicians and therapists can help.

We’ll examine what parts of your treatment have worked and where we can reinforce or fine-tune your strategies. Our knowledge of evidence based practices makes a significant difference in your success.

You deserve to live a happy, fulfilling life surrounded by loving friends and family. Call us today – we can help you make that happen.