Healing is not possible alone. It can be scary to let others in on your healing process. This is especially true when opening up to others, expressing yourself, and allowing yourself to be seen hasn’t felt safe in previous relationships.
Learning to cultivate healthy relationships again is often part of recovery. Being part of a peer support group, such as a 12-Step program, can provide space for you to connect with others walking a similar path, work through the 12 Steps, and begin to cultivate your sober lifestyle.
Connecting With Individuals on Similar Journeys
Recovery and treatment are obviously unique for each person. Still, a community that can understand the challenges of recovery from addiction and mental illness is an invaluable resource. Having a community to lean on provides profound benefits to mental wellness and feeling connected to a group greater than yourself. This can help you continue making strides in your recovery.
With a group of supportive individuals, you may feel like you can connect on all aspects of recovery. Healing becomes more difficult without a space to share difficulties and celebrate wins.
Space for Friendships to Grow
Recovery also often entails creating healthy relationships while letting go of previous ones that could trigger relapses. Meeting like-minded individuals in communities where you are connected by the common goal of sobriety is one way to cultivate friendship and nurture healthy relationships.
Being Seen in Your Healing
Although feeling fully seen, heard, and understood by others can be uncomfortable, it’s also an innate human need. You are worthy of being seen, loved, and accepted by others. Recovery is an opportune time to allow yourself to cultivate safety and familiarity in being seen by those who accept you and support you unconditionally.
Asking for help, let alone receiving it, is a common sticking point for many in recovery and treatment programs. Perhaps you don’t even know support and healthy relationships are possible because they are not something you have experienced before. Reaching out to a treatment facility that can meet your recovery needs is the first step to increasing your capacity to connect with others in a way that supports your healing.
Allowing yourself to receive support, be seen in your healing, and be supported unconditionally can feel like a foreign experience until it becomes more familiar to you through treatment. Many individuals are not used to asking for help, expressing their thoughts and feelings, and leaning on others when times feel difficult. This is especially true if you’ve never been able to do so before. At Avalon Malibu, we understand the importance of the role community support plays in healing. If you are ready to begin your journey, call Avalon Malibu today at (844) 857-5992.
