What Is Aftercare Planning?

Addiction treatment is the first step in a journey to rehabilitation in life, not the only goal. One typically continues with drug and alcohol withdrawal and then with inpatient care to cope with life-threatening addiction. You will eventually leave rehab to go back to your everyday life, with the many struggles you encounter as part of your daily life. Good recovery centers don’t simply chuck you out and wish for the best in the world. Rather, they consult with you to prepare how will tackle life’s problems after leaving therapy. This method, called aftercare planning, is a vital component of the formula of long-term stable sobriety.

Does Aftercare Planning Work?

Before, or even during your treatment plan is being implemented, you may have concerns when considering treatment for a drug abuse condition. You may wonder how your medication works for you or what will happen to you after you are treated. Will you be sent back into the “real ” world to battle for yourself? What if the medication doesn’t work correctly for your condition?

The answer to this difficult question of whether treatment will work for you is unfortunately not a certain one. The ultimate goal of drug and alcohol addiction treatment services is to help people return to a happy, healthy, and productive life. This often includes optimal family functioning as well as a good level of productivity at work and in the patient’s community. Most people who enter drug or alcohol rehabilitation treatment and complete their treatment program stop using drugs and alcohol, decrease or eliminate their criminal behavior, improve their relationships at work and with their family, and improve their general social functioning.

Whether your rehabilitation treatment will be beneficial for you will depend on the particular nature and extent of your specific drug and alcohol addiction problems, how well your personalized treatment program addresses those problems, the quality of the social and treatment-specific interaction between you and your treatment providers and your particular level of engagement in your treatment program and aftercare planning. The journey to sobriety doesn’t stop when you leave the treatment center, but with the proper care and aftercare, longterm success is possible.

The Aftercare Process

Believe it or not, the recovery process while in a rehab facility can be a calming and therapeutic experience. You are sober, every day you learn new things about yourself and the world, learn new skills, and you build a friendship with other tenants and your recovery providers. Everyone around you is in the same boat more or less and you have round-the-clock help from caring service providers and medical staff.

So how can you transition back into “normal” life after your drug and/or alcohol treatment therapy ends? Everything looks the same, but so much has changed. How do you succeed in your treatment while much of your past and life so far is rooted in addiction?

The long-term healing via stress avoidance services is a central function in the treatment of addiction, and will help you recognize the root causes and help you to develop an array of customized techniques and methods to manage your addiction during the aftercare process. There are, thankfully, techniques and methods you can learn during and after therapy to ensure your longterm success in conquering your addiction and staying sober.

Avoiding Relapse

When developing an aftercare program, you might also be uncertain what the program will entail. Many people who go to drug or alcohol treatment centers for therapy and are rehabilitated for addiction will relapse at least once. This is in line with relapse rates with other chronic conditions, but with the physical, emotional, and social implications, the likelihood of contributing to substance or alcohol addiction is high. That’s why it’s important to follow your healthcare provider’s aftercare plan thoroughly.