Repairing Relationships in Addiction Recovery
Substance abuse takes a toll on every aspect of your life, including your relationships. While escaping addiction and beginning your journey to recovery is a momentous achievement, it does not mean that everything if your life will repair itself. In order to repair the relationships that were damaged during active addiction you must be willing to invest plenty of time and effort. Some people may feel discouraged at the amount of time needed to repair a relationship that was damaged by addiction, but it is important to realize that these changes will not happen immediately. Have patience with yourself, your loved one, and the healing process. Trust will need to be regained by everyone involved. Rebuilding trust is a crucial step in recovery. While under the power of addiction, individuals often will lie, cheat, and steal to meet their need for or to hide their addiction to drugs or alcohol. It is important to also realize that not all relationships can be repaired and that some may be better off being left in the past.
How to rebuild relationships while in recovery
- Set realistic expectations. Years of destructive behavior likely won’t be repaired overnight. Patience is an important part of rebuilding relationships. Give yourself and your loved one the time needed to process and repair the relationship.
- Accept responsibility and apologize for any hurt you caused. Allow the person to fully express how they felt. Clear communication is key.
- Put in the effort to show that you have really changed. Be honest and build trust.
- Forgiveness may need to be earned. You may need to takes steps to show effort to gain forgiveness. Also, remember that not everyone has a duty to forgive. There may be people that have been hurt too deeply to offer forgiveness.
- Letting go of the past is an important part of recovery. Let go of things that happened and look toward the future.
- Eliminate the toxic relationships whether they were abusive, co-dependent, or involve someone who has yet to seek sobriety. Not every relationship will need to be repaired. Some relationships may be better off left behind.
At Silicon Beach Outpatient Center in Los Angeles, we focus on helping clients to learn how to integrate school, work, family, and friends into a stable, functional, effective, life. Our program provides clients seeking treatment for drug and alcohol addiction with a recovery program focused on healing the entire person. For more information about Silicon Beach Outpatient Center please contact us today at 310.846.8215.
