Why Is Aftercare Important in Recovery?

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The Problem

You feel emotionally dependent on others.

You Can't Stop Pleasing Others. 

This causes you to binge/emotionally/stress eat triggering a relapse in your recovery.

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How Do I Know If I Am a People Pleaser and Emotionally Dependent?

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If you're reading this, I'm guessing you think you may be codependent, you escape with food in times of stress, and people-pleasing is jeopardizing your recovery. 

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You may feel responsible for other people's feelings, moods, life choices, and behavior. You may feel anxious if others are unhappy with you, and you give their needs, feelings, and opinions precedence over your own. 

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You won't express how you feel or ask for your needs because you don't want to burden others with your problems or look weak. 

 

You want to keep the peace at all costs, even if it means sacrificing yourself and your happiness. Even your sobriety.

 

So you keep telling yourself that "you got this," but you don't...you actually feel unseen, misunderstood, and emotionally dependent in your relationship. 

 

A part of you knows that you lack self-worth, values, self-respect, and self-compassion. You know you shouldn't discount your feelings, wants, needs, wellness, life, and business goals or even doubt yourself! But your compassion for others due to a fear of success and being abandoned is so strong that you dismiss or talk yourself out of self-care and self-love clean and sober living to avoid conflict, especially in close relationships where you tend to lose yourself and abandon your own needs. 

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Is People Pleasing Causing Problems?

 

You even escape with food, shopping, or constantly working or doing because you do not want to go through the process of healing childhood trauma that you carry in your life due to unresolved emotional pain from childhood emotional neglect and fear of abandonment or you just avoid facing this addiction because it feels good but deep down you know it's just a numbing mechanism that needs to be eliminated from your life. Codependency is a coping and survival strategy adult children from dysfunctional homes rely on to avoid pain. 

 

At times you want to give up, unplug from your responsibilities, and not care so much about how others see you, being the responsible person, but you don't want to admit to anyone or yourself that you're feeling resentful, unappreciated, and ignored because you're not able to say "no" to things or set boundaries to accommodate your own needs, wellness goals, or recovery plan. Or live in the complete freedom you crave without feeling overwhelmed and trapped by life, business, or the people in your life or your deep hidden fear of not being able to deal with disappointment or loss due to a fear of abandonment.

 

Therefore you just defer to, agree with, and please others and escape with food to feel better while suppressing your difficult emotions and stressful lifestyle. At times you may even find it difficult to understand your own emotions.  The reason for this is because 

if you're codependent or a people pleaser your relationships are enmeshed and your boundaries are distorted. You lose yourself worrying about what your partner thinks, needs, or wants and your sense of self is dependent upon external validation. You depend on others for emotional support causing you to feel emotionally dependent in relationships. You may find yourself easily falling for people you can fix, or you believe you can heal. It's important to know the difference between emotional dependency vs love. When emotional addiction is a struggle it could be the fear of abandonment that fuels denial.

 

If this sounds like you, you may struggle with low emotional intelligence.

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What is emotional intelligence?

Emotional intelligence (EI) is our ability to reason about the emotions of others and ourselves to enhance thinking and decision-making. EI helps leaders maximize their own and their team’s performance. EI is higher in individuals who possess the five skills of self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation to achieve, empathy, and social skills. Research has shown that EI can be learned and developed by strengthening the use of the five skills.

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Is An Aftercare Program Right for You?

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The thing is you must learn the hard lesson of trusting, respecting, loving, and showing compassion for yourself. This statement sounds simple, but many people struggle daily to prioritize their needs, and self-care rituals, and lead their own lives without guilt, shame, and outside influences of other people's expectations, beliefs, and demands. Especially, if you were raised to have no emotional needs or programmed with faculty thinking that expressing emotions is a sign of weakness. Growing up with your feelings ignored teaches you that your feelings are unimportant, your needs, well-being, wants, desires, dreams, and life and business goals don't matter. Some folks may mistakenly take these subtle messages as they don't matter!

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These difficult emotions can lead to repressing, or minimizing how you feel and escaping with substance to numb the pain. Addiction to food, drugs, or alcohol is a disease that spreads its deadly tentacles into every aspect of your life. Nothing is immune, including your job, relationships, coping skills, finances, and even your physical and mental health. Because addiction is so destructive and pervasive, recovery is an incredibly time-intensive, exhausting, and challenging process. Therefore, it is no wonder that many people encounter bumps in the road and begin using substances again. Learning coping skills for relapse prevention can be a crucial part of an addiction aftercare program that helps reduce the chances of a destructive backslide.

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If you need long-term sobriety support my team and I can help you begin your emotional healing journey to heal these unresolved issues from your past. If you need aftercare services we can create a plan that helps support your vision for your life in recovery.

 

​​Emotional Intelligence, Codependency, and Emotional Eating Counseling can support you. Read here to see if e-counseling is right for you.

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What Is Addiction Relapse?

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Relapse is a common occurrence among people in addiction treatment. In fact, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), as many as 40 to 60% of people in treatment for substance abuse will relapse at some point.

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Just as no person is perfect, most addiction recoveries experience one or more incidents of addiction relapse. This happens when you lose your coping skills and begin to drink alcohol or use a drug after a period of abstinence. Although relapse is very average in the recovery process, it can be dangerous and even fatal, mainly if you use a drug in the same quantity you did before stopping. Because your body is no longer tolerant of the drug, you might overdose.

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Why does relapse occur so often? The main reason lies in why you started to drink or use drugs in the first place. For most people, substance use relieves physical or psychological pain or helps a person to numb themselves. If your life gets stressful and you lack coping skills for relapse prevention, the chances are good that you will go back to the ineffective coping skills that worked, however poorly, in the past.

 

Research shows that the greatest risk for relapse is during the first 90 days after your initial treatment. That's why we challenge our clients and students in recovery to participate in the 90 in 90 read more here. Additionally, the odds of maintaining recovery are lower without an aftercare program.

 

Aftercare services have many benefits, including the following:

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• You will learn how to cope with stress and reduce emotional dependency on food and people-pleasing.

• Identify and manage their triggers.

• Recognize warning signs of relapse

• Develop healthier behaviors

• Use coping strategies to address any cravings or negative thoughts that may lead to a relapse

• You can receive support and encouragement.

• You’ll learn how to interact with family and other people in healthy ways.

• If your cravings start, you will have a recovery coach to call; you’ll build a support system and wellness team.

• It builds confidence and develops skills through mental health and behavioral therapy, peer groups, and continued education to help in achieving and maintaining sobriety.

 

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What are the aftercare services?

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The term "Aftercare" simply means the treatments you receive after being discharged from the hospital. In mental health, aftercare programs are recommended once you have completed intense treatment programs as well as hospitalization. Aftercare is a time when you will continue your education to learn all about yourself, your triggers, your emotional dependency, and how you deal with the stress and negativity of life.

 

Why is aftercare important in mental health?

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Aftercare helps you repair old relationships, and it can also help you cut ties with negative people and aspects of your past life. You will learn to develop a new foundation of positivity through new relationships, new perspectives, and new habits for sobriety goals.

 

Are You Ready For Change?

 

By slowing down, and being fully mentally present, you’ll develop a deeper awareness of your thoughts, feelings, needs, decisions, wants, and desires while healing emotional dependency.

 

You can do this by asking for sobriety support and sober living guidance. Together we will create the life in recovery you’ve dreamt of free from codependency and emotional stress eating to aid in healing adverse childhood experiences ACEs.

 

No more putting yourself last, let’s make you a high priority!

 

No more escaping with food, let's make healthy eating and living a high priority!

 

No more allowing unresolved pain from your past to define who you can become!

 

So if you are ready to “become the leader of your life,” I got you!

 

Let's start rebuilding your life and healing from abandonment, childhood emotional neglect trauma, and any dependencies holding you back from your life in recovery. 

 

Community Partnership

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 When seeking a partner to refer clients after the detox process, consider collaborating with Spiced Life Conversation. Here’s why:

 

✨​Holistic Approach: Spiced Life Conversation focuses on post-detox support, including the often challenging post-acute withdrawal (PAW) phase. Their expertise can complement your recovery center’s services.

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✨Emotional Support: Spiced Life Conversation provides counseling and therapy for individuals and their loved ones during recovery. They understand the emotional complexities and can offer tailored guidance.

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✨Education: Partnering with Spiced Life Conversation allows you to share resources, workshops, and educational content. Together, you can empower clients with knowledge about addiction, coping strategies, and relapse prevention.

 

Remember, successful partnerships are built on shared values, clear communication, and a commitment to supporting clients on their recovery journey. Feel free to explore this collaboration further!  

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​“Join us on the path to recovery! Together, we can empower women, provide support, and celebrate sobriety. Take the first step today.”

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