Alcoholism Recovery Stages: Six Steps to Beat Alcohol Addiction

This is one of the fundamentally important experiences newcomers have when they begin attending A.A. By Michelle Pugle

Michelle Pugle, MA, MHFA is a freelance health writer as seen in Healthline, Health, Everyday Health, Psych Central, and Verywell. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks.

Many people with substance use disorders have become almost terminally isolated and drawn back into a life of secrets and shame. They have become reliant only on themselves to prove they can pull themselves out of their misery, not seeing that much of their misery comes from the isolation of prideful self-reliance. The only times they look beyond themselves is when they are blaming other people, places, and things for their pain. “A power greater than ourselves” is the second major hurdle for people seeking recovery from substance use disorders. First, there was having to admit powerlessness over alcohol, and now there is almost immediately the issue of believing a higher power exists and can be helpful.

Handling setbacks in your recovery

There are a range of symptoms you can experience when you stop drinking. Tapering can help minimize these symptoms, but you might still experience some of them while your body adjusts to the lack of alcohol. Voices Recovery Center offers Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, group counseling and a food pantry, among other things. Shea takes a holistic approach in those he’s helping, and says he gets just as much out of the program as they do. Consider staging a family meeting or an intervention, but don’t put yourself in a dangerous situation.

Therapy is often a primary component of alcoholism recovery, regardless of whether a person has a mental illness. Therapy helps alcoholics identify and deal with stress that increase their urges to drink. In inpatient treatment, relaxation techniques may be taught and practiced in a group setting. In outpatient treatment, patients and therapists can discuss and practice stress management, and patients may be given homework. Group support is important in reinforcing new behavior, because the emotions triggered by these changes are very powerful and can retard and even arrest recovery. Additionally, resistance is experienced from self, family, and friends for the very same reasons.

How to accomplish your goals

My goal is to offer thoughts on the psychological depth contained in the 12-step approach to recovery from addiction (see A Meaningful Definition of Addiction Recovery). This article will describe the foundation of the steps, what each of the 12 steps of recovery means, what to expect when doing the steps, and how to help a person recovering from an addiction. Many people come to AA with the same thoughts and feelings that you may https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/essential-tremor-alcohol/ have when thinking about this step. Other members can support you on your own quest to understand and use Step 2 and can share their experiences so that you can see some alternative ways of interpreting this step. Step 2 can be uncomfortable for some people because it seems to encourage people to believe in God. Those who don’t have religious belief or who aren’t comfortable with the concept of God sometimes balk at this step.

Experts hope that if they can trace alcoholism to one gene or a combination of genes, they could use the information to identify those at risk and create early prevention methods. This strengthens the Self, increases honesty and awareness, improves mood, promotes new behavior, and reduces the anxiety accompanying change. Building tolerance for the experience of emptiness supports the Self, as old behavior and ego structures fall away. They outline a spiritual process of surrender of the ego to the unconscious, or a higher power, and very much resemble the process of transformation in Jungian therapy. Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, was influenced by Carl Jung. In correspondence, Jung wrote Wilson that the cure for alcoholism would have to be a spiritual one — a power equal to the power of spiritus, or alcohol.

Get Help to Recover from Drinking

Dr. Okhifun is a passionate medical doctor, with over five years’ experience as a general practitioner. His passion for medical education led to his journey in medical writing. He also serves as medical coordinator and content writer for Gerocare Solutions, for which he also volunteers as a health advisor/consultant for the elderly. Our recovery programs are based on decades of research to deliver treatment that really works.

In this stage, a person suffering from alcoholism learns relapse warning signs and how to put the tools learned in previous stages, so their life of sobriety continues. People discover the extent, to which using alcohol has compromised their quality of life. They learn to manage anger and build healthy relationships and acquire employment skills. Once detox is complete, people can begin work on the psychological, social and behavioral problems that accompany an alcohol addiction. Once a person becomes sober, other conditions and issues may become apparent.

But drinking less is always a good choice for your body and health. This can sometimes cause unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, and these symptoms can make it hard to stick with your recovery plan. When you quit alcohol cold turkey, you quit drinking completely and suddenly. These can indicate a life threatening condition called delirium tremens.

• If you started in a residential treatment program, you will now move to the continuing or follow-up counseling phase of your rehab program on an outpatient basis.
• Love it or hate it, self-care has transformed from a radical feminist concept into a multibillion-dollar industry.
• Step two is merely stating that there are forces outside ourselves that can move us toward a saner life.
• Apart from Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs, alternative groups have gained popularity – including Smart Recovery, Recovery Dharma and Celebrate Recovery.
• If underlying issues are left unresolved, however, one faces a higher risk of forms of compulsive behavior other than compulsive drinking, such as gambling, excessive sport, excessive sexual activity, or compulsive eating.

In their book “Changing for Good,” psychologists James Prochaska, John Norcross and Carlo DiClemente warn that those who “cut short the preparation stage” are more likely to fail. Once people in the contemplation stage shift away from just thinking about their alcohol problem and begin focusing on a solution, they’ll move alcoholism recovery timeline toward stage three of recovery. But what is the “Self?” Isn’t it the mixture of a mental construct and our immediate experience of I see, I taste, I feel? And all these sensations and thoughts add up to the idea that I exist as a separate individual. Step 10 recommends a continual inventory and prompt amends as necessary.