Sobriety and addiction recovery may seem like the same thing on paper. But in practice, they can be quite different. Sobriety means someone isn’t using drugs or alcohol. Addiction recovery is about an entire lifestyle change. As a woman with an addiction, you need to know where you stand. Are you in addiction recovery, or are you just sober?

Who Are You As A Woman

What kind of woman are you now? What kind of woman do you want to be? If you have been addicted to drugs or alcohol, you may have been dodging these questions for a long time.

When you don’t quite know who you are, you have two choices - keep running away or face the situation and dig deeper for more answers. A woman who is not ready to embrace recovery will constantly avoid these questions. She could be stone sober and still not really be in recovery.

You don’t need to have perfect answers to these questions. They are part of every woman’s lifelong identity process. You just need to be willing to face the questions throughout your life. That takes an act of courage, and that’s what moves you in recovery mode.

Listen To Your Mental Chatter

What’s your mental chatter saying to you? Does it take notice of your strengths and gifts, or does it scold and belittle you? Does it lift you up or make negative comparisons between you and others?

You’re a bad mother. You’ll never amount to anything like your sister. You’re a lousy daughter (or wife, or friend).

If you are just sober, you may not know what to do with these thoughts. They may trigger all kinds of emotions, sending you on a roller coaster every day. You might find other things to obsess about so your mind can’t focus on those awful words.

Face The Discomfort Of Your Emotions

When you are in recovery, you’ll still hear those things. But instead of ignoring them, you pay attention like you were a detective. How do those words affect me? Where do those phrases come from? Do I have to believe them every time I hear them? What else could I be saying to myself instead?

What’s the difference here? With sobriety, you just react in the moment. It hurts, so you turn away. In addiction recovery, you stay with the hurt for a while so you can change the process. You acknowledge the presence of these thoughts, but you refuse to accept the negativity. Then you do something positive to change your mood. Those thoughts may be there, but they don’t control you.

Stay well-supported when you deal with negative self-talk. Facing these feelings can be tough for a while. With practice, this gradually becomes easier and less stressful.

Sobriety and Addiction Recovery

When you go to drug rehab, the first task is to get you sober. You need the chemicals out of your body so you can start fresh. Sobriety can come fairly quickly, but true recovery can take a lifetime. Take a look at yourself today and make sure you are in recovery mode.

You’ve been through hell the last few months - drug addiction, family problems, having an addition intervention, then finally starting drug rehab.  Now your life is pointed in a much better direction and your rehab journey is over.  It’s time to start living your life out in the world again, away from the cocoon of rehab.  What’s next for you?

Outpatient Treatment After Drug Rehab

Certainly one option is to do drug treatment with an outpatient treatment clinic.  This could include group therapy two or three times a week plus individual sessions.  You would live in your own home and community, blending yourself back into your life and your new treatment plan.  If you have good support at home and an environment that will adapt well to sober living, then you may be comfortable heading home directly after your drug treatment is finished.  It can be comforting to be back among people who love you and are ready to help you keep the changes in your life.

Sober Living Helps With Transition After Drug Treatment

If you are at all in doubt about your ability to stay sober because of your home circumstances or other issues brought up in rehab, the sober living arrangement may be well-suited for you..  This provides a home-like environment with the added support of an all-female staff and co-residents.  Everyone is either in addiction recovery or there specifically to help women with their recovery.  It provides more freedoms than inpatient drug rehab, but does provide more structure than a person’s home environment.

Curfews and visitation restrictions exist to protect women in post-rehab transition.  The women who live there have more open opportunities to join support groups and plan their individual recovery program.  Many people have the idea that a half-way house or sober living arrangement is just a run down joint in the seedy part of town.  This is hardly the case for the Orchid sober living home.  It has the same kind of compassion and attention to feminine needs as the inpatient drug rehab. 

Is Sober Living the Right Choice for You

It’s hard to know when the sober living home might be the best thing for you.  Perhaps it is as you transition from drug rehab to your home community.  You might decide that after being at home for a while, you would do better in a sober living arrangement for a while.  No matter what your choice, the Orchid’s sober living home has an open door and a welcome mat out for you.

Making the decision to start addiction recovery is challenging enough.  Getting released from rehab is a big moment, but it’s just the beginning of your journey.  Life in rehab is very different from life at home, no matter how supportive everyone is.  Choosing a sober living home following drug rehab is a way to make your adjustment a little smoother.  Dedicating yourself to a drug free lifestyle is so important, and sober living homes are a great way to bridge the gap between rehab and home.