Substance use disorder (SUD) is often thought of as a chronic relapsing disorder. As stated in Addiction Relapse Prevention, approximately 50% of people relapse within the first 12 weeks. Despite the prevalence of SUD relapse, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) notes that 50.2 million U.S. adults consider themselves to be in recovery from SUD and/or mental health challenges. The prevalence of recovery from SUD can be tied to the guiding principles of holistic recovery found in active recovery. Thus, understanding active recovery can be invaluable to supporting healing and sustained recovery.
At Driftwood Recovery, we know recovery is a journey that continues long after you complete treatment. Your challenges with addiction are deeply interconnected to your life experiences and environment. Therefore, sustained recovery cannot happen without consideration for the whole person. Through active recovery, you can build the skills needed to address challenges in your daily life.
Yet, you may question what is active recovery. Expanding your understanding of recovery can provide insight into how connection with alumni can support maintaining recovery.
What Is Recovery?
Many traditional ideals of recovery are tied to complete abstinence with a focus on the elimination of all substances. Although abstinence is an important part of recovery, a holistic approach focuses on taking active steps toward healing the whole person. According to Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, before the abstinence focus of the Temperance Movement, there was an early harm reduction perspective that considered the body and mind. As SAMHSA notes, modern holistic models of care define recovery as a process of change. Holistic recovery is a process of change where you work to improve your health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach your full potential.
Further, four dimensions support sustained recovery:
- Health
- Overcoming or managing symptoms and or conditions
- Abstaining from using substances
- Making informed, healthy choices for physical and emotional well-being
- Home
- Having a stable and safe place to live
- Purpose
- Engaging in meaningful daily activities
- Work, school, family, creative hobbies, and volunteering
- Gaining the independence, income, and resources to participate in society
- Engaging in meaningful daily activities
- Community
- Finding support, hope, friendship, and love in your relationships and social network
The four dimensions of recovery highlight the holistic continuum of care as active recovery. Understanding the difference between passive and active recovery is an important step toward fostering active recovery.
Passive Recovery vs. Active Recovery
On the surface, the difference between passive and active recovery may feel obvious. However, in the day-to-day work of recovery, complacency can happen. You may not recognize that you are engaging in passive rather than active recovery. Passive recovery focuses more on waiting for things to happen to you. Listed below are some elements of passive recovery:
- Relying on external factors for change
- You do not reflect on your thoughts and feelings
- Doing rather than embodying the steps of recovery
- Believing you can recover on your own
Active recovery focuses on seeking out and engaging in support services with and without direct guidance. Some of the other elements that make up active recovery include:
- You accept that you need support and reach out for it
- Actively participating in meetings, therapy, and other recovery programming
- Engaging in discussions and sharing experiences in meetings
- Reaching out to your sponsor
- You commit to processing difficult thoughts and feelings
With awareness of active recovery, you can understand the principles of being an active participant in your recovery.
Understanding the Principles of Active Recovery
A holistic and active recovery is built on ten guiding principles that build skills that support every stage of recovery. Listed below are the ten guiding principles of active recovery:
- Hope: The belief that recovery is real and possible
- You can and have overcome challenges and barriers
- Person-driven: The act of self-determination and self-direction
- You define and help design the path(s) toward your life goals
- Multiple pathways: Acknowledges that each individual has unique and distinct needs, strengths, goals, culture, trauma, and experiences that impact pathways to recovery
- Holistic: Understands that recovery encompasses your whole life in mind, body, spirit, and community
- Peer support: Recognizes the value of sharing experiences, knowledge, and skills
- Social networks: Offers support, hope, belonging, and encouragement
- Culture-informed: Services are sensitive and personalized to your needs and experiences
- Trauma-informed: Informed and responsive services support and promote safety, trust, choice, empowerment, and collaboration
- Strengths and responsibility: Recognizes individuals, families, and communities have strengths and resources to support recovery
- Respect: Encourages community, systems, and societal acceptance and appreciation for people impacted by SUD and or mental health disorders
The ten guiding principles highlight the power of active recovery. Yet, how do you engage in active recovery in your daily life?
Ways to Engage in Active Recovery
There are numerous ways that an alumni program can support you in building sustained recovery:
- Volunteering in alumni programs and/or the wider community
- Exploring hobbies and activities you enjoy
- Art, music, writing, reading, gardening, and cooking
- Spending time with loved ones
- Sports, hiking, and yoga
- Practicing gratitude and mindfulness
- Educating yourself about your SUD and/or mental health disorder
- Connecting with peers
Engaging in active recovery through your alumni program can support whole-person healing. You can deepen self-reflection and self-understanding through active recovery, set realistic goals, and build a support network.
Supporting Sustained Recovery With Alumni at Driftwood Recovery
At Driftwood Recovery, we understand that true whole-person healing is rooted in connection to self and others. Without connection, you cannot fully address challenges with addiction, pain, and mental health disorders. An attachment model of care allows you to form healthy attachments in yourself and with others to turn clinical insight into action. You give yourself more space for learning, understanding, and growth through experiential sharing. Thus, access to services and resources that encourage connection to the self and others fosters engagement, support, compassion, and accountability for sustained recovery.
Engagement in recovery is an important part of the healing process. Without engagement, you can find yourself stuck in passive recovery, expecting change to happen to you. However, whole-person recovery requires active participation in the healing process. Engaging in a vibrant alumni program is invaluable to fostering active recovery for sustained recovery. Through a strong peer-driven network, alumni can offer the services and resources needed for connection with the self and others. Recovery is not done alone, and a strong alumni family gives you the foundation for support, compassion, engagement, and accountability to lead a courageous life in long-term recovery. Call Driftwood Recovery at (512) 759-8330 to learn how a dedicated alumni community can support you in your recovery.