Life Skills Training as a Core Part of Being Sober
Table of Contents
The biggest challenge that you will face in your recovery is learning how to adapt to the stresses of your day-to-day life once you complete inpatient drug treatment. When you were in active addiction, you were used to not caring about yourself, and your daily activities were motivated by the powerful hold of drugs and/or alcohol. Life skills were not a priority, but they are vital for lasting recovery. When you finish drug treatment and are ready to resume your life you can feel overwhelmed and the urges and thoughts of using drugs and alcohol can reemerge and make you vulnerable to relapse in your addiction recovery.
To help you better function in your day-to-day life while keeping your recovery front and center, it is a must that you learn and enhances basic life skills. These skills are mandatory if you are going to lead a healthy lifestyle outside of treatment and will help you sustain long-term addiction recovery. Rehabs Of Armerica features comprehensive life skills training that will give you the tools you need to step forward into a life of recovery with confidence. Call us today to learn more about our life skills training programs found through our nationwide partners.
Defining Life Skills Training in Addiction Recovery
Simply defined, life skills training is a set of psychological and social skills that are needed for you to successfully adapt to the obligations and challenges of everyday life. These life skills can be broken down into three basic categories. The first category of life skills training focuses on the cognitive development you need to analyze situations and events as they unfold in daily life so you can make the best decisions.
The second life skills category focuses on those personal skills that you need in order to manage and take care of yourself. The third category of life skills training focuses on the effective interpersonal skills that are needed for you to communicate and interact with others in a healthy fashion.
What Does Life Skills Training Teach Those Who Are in Addiction Recovery?
Life skills training helps those who are new in recovery in two important ways. First, you are able to confidently assume your duties and obligations with your work, family and school. Secondly, you will be able to keep your focus on strengthening your recovery since you are able to take care of yourself. There are several ways in which life skills training can help you achieve and maintain lasting recovery.
Developing a Healthy Daily Routine
Life skills education will allow you learn to develop and implement a daily schedule and routine. While having a consistent daily routine may seem like the most basic skill to have, people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol can completely forget the importance of having meaningful, structure in their day-to-day lives. With effective life skills training, you are able to implement a consistent and healthy daily routine which is highly structured and includes a sleep schedule, regular time for exercise, work and family commitments and other recovery-related activities.
When you learn how to successfully plan your day, you are better able to stay productive and are able to prioritize those activities that will help strengthen your recovery. You also will minimize any idle time in your schedule which would allow thoughts of using drugs to enter your mind.
Employment Coaching
Another important part of life skills training in receiving the necessary employment coaching that will help you locate and obtain long-term and meaningful employment. Finding consistent and meaningful employment will help you in becoming more self-sufficient and more confident as you grow in your sobriety. It is common for addicts to lose their jobs and experience lengthy unemployment due to their drug and alcohol use.
Through the help of an employment coach in drug treatment or through an aftercare program, you will be able to learn how to interview, write an effective resume and use all the available community resources that are needed to obtain employment.
Money Management
Learning how to effectively manage your finances is another way in which life and coping skills training helps you maintain long-term addiction recovery. While in active addiction, any income that you may have earned went towards your drug and alcohol habit, and the basic necessities you need to attend to such as food, utilities, and other bills were neglected.
Through life skills training and education, you can learn how to put together a realistic monthly budget and you can learn how to better prioritize your expenses. Additionally, you can learn important ways on how to save and invest your hard-earned money so you can achieve financial stability and peace of mind for you or your family.
Finding New Hobbies
Life skills training also benefits long-term recovery in the fact that you are encouraged to explore new hobbies and interests which support you new recovery-based lifestyle. You can pursue activities such as reading, learning a musical instrument, or learning to cook or you can resume those old hobbies and interests that you once enjoyed before drug and alcohol addiction took control of your life.
These healthy and recovery-centered activities can help you enjoy life and can help you establish new friendships and keep you motivated. These activities also help fill your day with those things that promote growth and change and minimize idle time.
Learn Effective Communication Skills
Most importantly, quality life skills training can benefit you in long-term recovery by helping you re-establish relationships and teaching you to effectively communicate with the family and friends again. Along with rebuilding and repairing relationships with your family, friends and loved ones, you are also taught how to work through those deeper emotional issues which could be hindering your growth as a recovering person.
Additionally, you will learn how to form new friendships and you can learn strategies on how to avoid those stressful situations can lead to slide back into active drug use.
Get The Tools You Need to Succeed in Addiction Recovery
Life skills training and education are the essential foundations on which a solid addiction recovery program is built. At Rehabs Of Armerica, our experienced staff will help you find a treatment provider that teaches the life skills you need so you regain control of your life. Call us today!
