Getting out of rehab or any other intensive drug/alcohol treatment program can be a daunting experience. When a person goes to rehab they’re put into a structured program. Meals, treatment, counseling, bedtime, etc. are all planned out for the patients. When they get released nothing is planned. Nothing has changed with the outside world, all the same temptations and pitfalls are still out there.
Many addicts relapse after rehab because they are overwhelmed with change. For years during my addiction, I spent 75% of my time searching for or using drugs. When I was discharged from rehab I was expected to change everything in my life immediately. I was not mentally, physically, or emotionally prepared for that type of lifestyle change. I didn’t know what to do, or where to meet sober people. Before long I was hanging with the same people, doing the same things that got me in trouble, and before long I relapsed and was back in active addiction.
Here are 15 essential things to do after rehab to give you or your loved one the best possible chance for a healthy long-term recovery. These tips were compromised by surveying over 100 active members of the recovery community to see exactly what helped them when they were released from a treatment facility.
15 Essential Steps To Take After Completing Drug/Alcohol Rehab:
Change/Evaluate Your Living Situation
Find A Group of Sober Peers/ Support Network
Change People, Places, And Things That Are Negative
Therapy And Treatment For Any Cross Addictions (Co-dependency, eating disorders, gambling, etc.)
Attend Outpatient
Know Your Triggers And Avoid Them
Take Your Medications Properly And Attend All Follow-up Appointments
Practice and Learn How To Cope In A Healthy Manner
Find Healthy Activities That You Enjoy
Be Prepared If A Relapse Happens
Help Others Struggling With Addiction/Volunteer
Go To A Halfway House Or Sober Living Facility
Find Your Purpose/Passion In Life
Have/Make A Treatment Plan
Build Up Your Recovery Tool Belt
Changing people, places, and things along with changing your living situation was the number 1 answer. I have been to multiple rehabs as a patient and I’m also a certified peer recovery coach. Every item on this list is things I see on a daily basis that help people rebuild their lives after addiction. The more items a person can check off from the list above, the better their chance for long-term sobriety.
There is a stigma associated with people who are in rehab or who have been to rehab. I am very diligent about my sobriety, anyone or anything that may hurt my chances of staying sober is going to be cut out of my life immediately. Sobriety for me is life or death, I know one relapse could be my last, I don’t take chances.
1. Change/Evaluate Your Living Situation
Getting sober is like starting a new life. If you’re starting your new life at a house with people who still drink or use drugs, it will be nearly impossible to avoid temptation. Remember, anything you put in front of your sobriety you will lose. After prison, I lived with a relative who is very enabling and stubborn. It didn’t take long for us to start arguing on a daily basis and me using drugs. I’m not blaming that person for my relapse, but I knew from day one it was a bad choice and didn’t say anything until it was too late.
Look for any sober living your community has to offer. Many people don’t want to go live at a sober living facility if they have a perfectly good house, but if the people at that house are negative influences it won’t matter anyway. Before long your addiction will come creeping back in and you will be back in rehab or jail. The most comfortable choice is not always the right one. A good recovery program is going to require you to step outside your comfort zone.
2. Find A Group of Sober Peers
This may be the most important thing on the list. In my experience, the most common thing that causes people to relapse is hanging out with old friends who still get drunk and high. Letting go of friends or family that you’re close with, is extremely hard, but it’s necessary for your sobriety. I met great people at local AA/NA meetings. Rocovery fitness is a gym/sobriety network in Rochester NY, that is solely for the purpose of doing fun sober activities with other people in recovery. Search the web to see similar programs in your area.
The wonderful thing about getting sober in today’s world is the internet. I have an Instagram account:@soberdogs2.Since creating my account in January 2019, I have met and linked up with hundreds of others in recovery. Use social media for positive connections. Just make sure to be careful of who you meet up with. Some people are still stuck in the addict mentality, which can be detrimental to your sobriety.My rule of thumb is I see how someone’s recovery program is before I let them into my circle. If a person has a shaky sobriety program, it probably isn’t the best idea to be around them in early recovery.
If you need help finding positive online groups check out my pages and look at the recovery groups I follow. That will give you a great start.
“A Mirror Reflects A Man’s Face, But What He Is Really Like Is Shown By The Kind Of Friends He Chooses”
-Former Secretary Of State and 4-Star General Colin Powell-
I always try to surround myself with people who I strive to be like. When I was looking for a sponsor in my 12-step program, I wanted someone whose sobriety was rock solid. Also, I wanted a sponsor who was living a positive happy life. The sponsor I ended up choosing is very positive, he practices what he preaches, and lives an honest happy life.
3. Change People, Places, and Things That Are A Negative Influence
If you have ever attended any inpatient or outpatient rehab you’ve most likely heard a counselor talk about people, places, and things. Any person, place, or thing that brings you back to your time using drugs should be cut out of the picture. When I was released from rehab I avoided people who used drugs but still had the same phone with all my old drug dealers’ numbers in it. A few weeks later I had a really bad drug craving and dialed an old number, within 30 minutes I was getting high.
If your 100% dedicated to your sobriety you must cut any/all ties that link you to drugs and alcohol. I avoid certain areas of the city. Any person who is still getting high is someone I don’t want to be around unless it’s in a clinical setting where I’m helping the person. Things can be a broad category so you have to look at your old lifestyle. For me, it meant getting a new cell phone and new number, deleting old social media accounts, and I even threw out my old gym bag because I used to stash my drugs in it.
4. Get Treatment For Any Cross Addictions (Co-Dependency, Eating Disorders, Gambling, etc.)
According to the Center On Addiction, approximately 16% of the US population has a substance use problem (this includes nicotine), and over half of the 16% are using more than one substance.² Many addicts, have an addictive personality. I don’t do anything halfway. It can be sex, gambling, tobacco, or video games and once I start, I don’t stop. If I don’t stay disciplined I will get addicted to almost anything.
One addiction can easily be replaced by another if we are not careful. I see many addicts in early sobriety, on their 5th or 6th boyfriend/girlfriend. They are trying to fill that void with a relationship when this time should be spent on working on ourselves. This is a very dangerous path. When 2 people in early recovery start dating or hooking up, it can be devastating for both of them. Usually when one of them relapses, the other does as well.
Even if you think you are not cross-addicted you should be diligent. I never gambled much at all, but just to be safe I still don’t go to casinos. It’s essential to work on all our addictions.
5. Attend Outpatient
A common misconception in society is, once a person completes rehab they are cured.The sad reality is that there is no cure for addiction. If I go out and get high tomorrow I will be right back where I was during my active addiction days. It’s a great idea to schedule an outpatient program right after your inpatient program. I did an outpatient program after I did an inpatient program. The outpatient program started at 3 days a week and gradually moved down to one day a week, This gradual process was very effective. It allowed me to be very involved in recovery while slowly rebuilding my life.
6. Know Your Triggers And Avoid Them
Triggers are all around us every day. They are different for every individual. Some are pretty obvious like the liquor store or the dope house. Other triggers are more subtle, such as seeing an old drug dealer’s phone number in your contacts. One weird trigger for me is when someone leaves a pan on the stove for too long. The smell of burning steel reminds me of the smell of cooking up cocaine. I would never have put the 2 together before, but now I do. If this happens, I leave the kitchen for a few minutes and go somewhere to take a few deep breaths. No matter where I am when it happens I call my sponsor right away.
If you are 100% committed to your recovery you have to tell your support system what your triggers are. I told my parents that I don’t like to pass through certain areas of the city because I used to get drugs there. Now we avoid those areas no matter what. If it takes an extra 20 minutes to get somewhere, so be it, this is life or death!
7. Take Your Medications Properly And Attend All Follow-Up Appointments
It’s a common practice now for anyone coming off heroin or any other opioid to be prescribed an Opioid Agonist (Suboxone) or Opioid Antagonist blocking medication (Vivitrol).³ It’s crucial to make sure you are taking these medications as prescribed.If you start trying to play the game of getting high and using your Suboxone just on days you can’t find dope, it won’t be long before your either dead, in jail, or back in rehab.
Attend any appointments you have scheduled. You may have follow-up appointments with the rehab you attended, or you may have appointments with new doctors or therapists. Going to these appointments and being honest with your doctor is very important. The majority of doctors and addiction counselors are great people that genuinely want to help.
8. Practice And Learn How To Cope In A Healthy Manner
One of the main reasons addicts and alcoholics use their drugs of choice is to cope with the pressures and stress of life. When we get sober life doesn’t stop. We need to learn healthy and positive ways to cope with stress. Meditation, exercise, walking the dog, calling our sponsor, or attending a support group are just a few healthy ways to cope.
9. Find Healthy Activities That You Enjoy
There is an organization in Rochester NY, called Rocovery. (https://www.rocoveryfitness.org/) Rocovery was started by 3 recovering addicts who love to exercise and do outdoor activities such as hiking, kayaking, and biking. The program is designed for people in recovery to connect through fun activities and exercise. Check to see if your community offers any similar programs.
If your city doesn’t have a Rocovery type program, find activities that you enjoy to keep yourself busy. Some people like to exercise and be active, others like art and painting. Be open-minded and try new things with other sober friends. You never know which activities you will love.
10. Be Prepared If A Relapse Happens
One of the best people I’ve ever met was my counselor in outpatient rehab. She always told us:
“I’m not expecting you all to never use drugs or alcohol again, unfortunately relapse is part of the recovery process in most cases. What I do expect is that if you relapse you will remember all the tools that you’ve been taught in here and you will use them.”
-M.A.E.
She was dead right. I did have a relapse during my time in outpatient rehab. Because of the tools she had taught me along with the tools I had been taught in AA/NA, I only got high for 2 days. After 2 days, I called her, told her the truth, and called my sponsor. By the middle of the following week, I was back in outpatient and back in recovery. A few years earlier I had a 4-month relapse that ended up with me in handcuffs because I didn’t use any of the tools and coping skills I had been taught.
Do not beat yourself up if you relapse.One major problem I always had was that I was my own worst enemy when it came to criticism. I would get extremely depressed after a relapse. Then I would tell myself“screw it you already got high yesterday your a screw up you might as well keep getting high”.I had to learn to forgive myself and move forward instead of dwelling on the past.
11. Help Others Struggling With Addiction/Volunteer
One common theme I hear from people in every stage of recovery is that helping others who are struggling is the best way to keep yourself sober. That is the whole concept of sponsorship in 12-step programs. When a sponsor works with their sponsee, they get just as much out of it as the sponsee does.
When a person who is 5 years sober helps someone who is 3 weeks sober it’s a good reminder of what can happen. As humans, our brains are wired to suppress and forget painful events. For an addict or alcoholic, remembering the pain of our addiction can be a useful tool. Just like one of the AA slogans says “REMEMBER THE WORST BEFORE THE FIRST”.
12. Go To A Halfway House Or Sober Living Facility
If your living situation is not the best possible place for you to stay clean and sober then go live at a halfway house or sober living facility. Halfway houses and sober facilities get a bad reputation. Usually, the people who talk bad about a halfway house are the same people who got kicked out of the halfway house for getting high. Don’t ever be ashamed to live at a halfway house. Rehab is very structured. If you like structure and organization a halfway house is a great transition to slowly get acclimated back into the community.
A very good friend of mine works at a halfway house. They have a waiting list of guys who want to live there. They have such a positive and successful program that everyone wants to be a part of it.
I used drugs for over a decade of my life. I got high multiple times a day during the last few years. When I got sober I had this feeling of emptiness inside me. It’s literally like losing a loved one. We addicts love drugs and we make them a part of our lives. When we stop getting high we feel alone. Finding a passion or purpose is a great way to fill that hole. It may be working with other addicts, or working with children. For me, it’s working with dogs. I love helping shelter dogs and finding dogs a good home. When I’m with my dogs I feel genuinely happy and complete inside. Search for what makes you truly happy and do more of it.
14. Have/Make A Treatment Plan
A Treatment Plan is a comprehensive plan that outlines your recovery goals. Treatment plans are often very complex when done by medical professionals. They may include demographics, diagnosis, cross-addictions, short-term plans, long-term plans, family situation, financial situation, etc.¹ If you have the ability to take your medical treatment plan home it can be very useful, but most of them are excessively complex.
Many rehabs will have the counselor and patient create a treatment plan together during their stay at the facility. If the rehab you or your loved one attended doesn’t offer a treatment plan upon completion, then you should work with another sober peer to create one of your own.
What To Include In Your Treatment Plan:
Goals (recovery goals, lifestyle goals, financial goals,) and how you’re going to achieve those goals.
Motivations for staying clean and sober
Emergency phone numbers. People you can call if you have a drug craving or relapse
Your triggers and how to avoid them or face them.
Sober support network. Who is already there for support and who can be added
Dates/times/locations of 12 step programs ( AA, NA, Al-Anon)
Dates and times of any follow-up treatment or appointments
List of medications and daily schedule to take them as prescribed
There are countless things that can be added to a treatment plan. Don’t complicate it. There are 3 main factors you need:
How you are going to stay sober on a daily basis?
Who is in your support network?
What are your recovery goals?
15. Build Up A Positive Support Network
“A Mirror Reflects A Man’s Face, But What He Is Really Like Is Shown By The Kind Of Friends He Chooses”
-Former Secretary Of State and 4-Star General Colin Powell-
It’s a well-known fact that the people you surround yourself with will have a major influence on your own actions and attitude. Sometimes it can be a direct influence and other times it can be more subliminal. Either way, the company you keep in recovery is extremely important.
I always try to surround myself with people who I strive to be like. When I was looking for a sponsor in my 12-step program, I wanted someone whose sobriety was rock solid. Also, I wanted a sponsor who was living a positive happy life. The sponsor I ended up choosing is very positive, he practices what he preaches, and lives an honest happy life.
Use Social Media
If you don’t like 12-step programs, make sure you build up a positive support network elsewhere. Get numbers from other people who are sober, you never know when you might have a terrible drug craving. The internet makes it very easy to connect with thousands of other people in recovery. Make sure you build your sober network like you would build an army. At any given time I have at least 50 phone numbers of people in recovery who would help me out, and they know I would do the same for them.
If you need help finding good sober people online check out my Facebook group or Instagram account. Facebook has a ton of recovery groups with thousands of members ready and willing to help give guidance.
Remember it doesn’t matter if it’s your first or tenth rehab, don’t be ashamed. It’s your life on the line, do whatever needs to be done to stay clean and sober!
Kyle Ruggeri, CARC (Certified Addiction Recovery Coach) is a recovering addict/alcoholic. Kyle created Soberdogs Recovery as a way to get accurate and first-hand information about addiction and recovery out to the world. Kyle has been in recovery for over 5 years.
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