Addiction can negatively affect a person’s health and relationships. But with the right kind of support, relationships can amend during addiction recovery. The key to rebuilding trust and healing from substance abuse is an alcohol and drug treatment program such as Transcend Recovery Community and these treatments here. People with addiction need a professional help to stay sober. They need to understand that their life will not immediately improve once they stop taking drugs or drinking alcohol.
Aside from this, they also need to take responsibility for their past actions and the harm caused to their relationships by their addiction. Here are some tips on how to improve your relationships during addiction recovery.
Forgive yourself
You have already apologized to your loved ones, but don’t forget to forgive yourself. Remember, you can’t change what has already occurred, but you can learn from your mistakes and move forward. You will be able to make better decisions from now on.
Say what you want
In the past, you kept denying that you were taking illegal substances. Your loved ones are aware of this fact. So when you communicate with your loved ones now, you should be direct and honest about what your goals are. This will help rebuild the trust that was lost due to your addiction.
Attend counseling sessions
Your loved ones need to see that you’re serious about your goal to stay sober. Anything that happens during a counseling session is confidential, but you can tell them that you’re attending your counseling sessions regularly to reassure them that you want to change.
Reach out to your loved ones
If you want to mend your relationships with your loved ones, you have to reach out to them first. You can send them a letter or email if you need some time to think about what you’re going to say. Tell them that you have completed treatment or are currently being treated for your addiction. Let your loved ones know that you’re in the process of recovering from your addiction and that you want them to be involved in it. Initiating contact with your loved ones is a good way to show them that you’re working hard to become better and healthier.
Be patient
It won’t be easy to regain the trust of your loved ones, so you need to be patient. They may not see how an alcohol and drug treatment program would produce results within a short period when the methods they’ve been trying for years did not work at all. But don’t worry because you will be able to regain their trust as long as you show them that you have changed.
Fixing relationships broken by substance abuse is not easy, but not completely impossible. However, both parties should work together to fix the relationship. One of the best ways to do this is by dealing with current issues as they occur. They should never allow things to pile up until they can’t hold them in anymore. It is not healthy for the person in recovery and his loved ones. Once the person in recovery has apologized, they should move on and never bring up the issue again. It should remain resolved.