As you’re preparing for holiday challenges in early recovery, we hope these tips give you the guidance you need to remain sober. Another aspect of an effective relapse prevention plan for the holidays acknowledges an individual’s engagement in continuing treatment. Individuals in early recovery are likely involved with an intensive treatment alcoholism symptoms program. However, some facilities may offer reduced sessions or reduced time spent at the facility throughout the holiday season. Fortunately, many recovery programs know that temptations only get stronger during the holidays.
- Attend a meeting, call a sponsor, or find supportive friends and family.
- While the holidays can increase the availability of substances and bring about stressful social commitments, several other factors can make this time of the year particularly challenging for individuals in recovery.
- While you may be able to avoid many of the family-related triggers that occur during the holiday season by being without family, you also do not have family members to share your wins with.
- If they don’t want any special steps taken to accommodate them, and both you and they are comfortable with them taking part this time, then simply go ahead.
For Individuals in Recovery: Planning for Success
Routines offer structure, keep you grounded, and help ensure you’re prioritizing yourself. You may need to leave a party early reframing holidays in early recovery or decline an invitation if it conflicts with a self-care activity. Kitzinger et al. (2023) found that people in early recovery identified the consistency of structured routines to be a key factor in helping them maintain sobriety. If you’re in recovery, continue attending your meetings and staying connected with those who keep you accountable.
Overcoming Holiday Triggers – Tips & Tools for Recovery That Works!
Denial and avoidance of the pain of addiction can relate to shame and guilt. Reframing ways the family members can use their love and hopes for each other can help to restructure the focus towards shared goals. It isn’t always easy to find a non-judgmental position, but the payoff is re-establishing hope and connection over guilt, shame or hopelessness. Shame drives people to feel that they do not belong, or they are not worthy of being loved.
- When one member of the system is suffering from a disease, it can affect everyone in the family.
- Spending time with family members and friends can make you feel uncomfortable, stressed, and almost on-the-edge.
- Read Kali’s story, Alone on Christmas, for strategies on how to cope when spending the holidays alone.
Family Relationships and Recovery
Addictive behaviors include pushing boundaries and breaking rules, and your loved one is likely to know how to manipulate you. However, if they are successful at breaking the rules, they will never experience the negative consequences of their addiction. For those in early recovery, holidays can create anxiety that may override new skills to manage cravings or urges. Healthy boundaries are physical and emotional limits that people set for themselves to safeguard their wellbeing. Unhealthy boundaries are thoughts and behaviors that can lead to manipulative and controlling relationships.
Boundaries are often created in an attempt to manage relapse triggers. For instance, an individual in early recovery may request that their family refrains from alcohol or other https://ecosoberhouse.com/ substance use during holiday gatherings. If their family does not respect that boundary, then the individual in recovery should feel comfortable not attending gatherings. Likewise, learning how to say “no” is crucial for those working to sustain their sobriety throughout the holidays. The holidays may come with expectations, such as shopping, travel, cooking, and multiple social gatherings.
Plan, Plan, Plan
Make sure they understand that it is perfectly OK to miss the celebration if that is what is best for their recovery. The experience of sharing the holidays with family or friends can strengthen their recovery and reinforce the value of the fuller, more authentic way of life they are entering. To help foster a positive holiday environment for those in recovery, please keep in mind the following tips. Gift Mindfully – A good option to avoid enabling is to not give gifts.
For individuals in early recovery, however, it can also bring unique challenges, especially when it comes to attending family gatherings or facing social situations involving alcohol. In this special Thanksgiving edition of The Hanley Effect podcast, we explored strategies to help both those in recovery and their families navigate the holidays with love, support, and confidence. In a traditional holiday season of family connection and giving, it may feel like emotional whiplash for some to welcome a family member home while also needing to find ways to set limits and keep them accountable. Accountability plays a key role in recovery as individuals have to change physical and emotional patterns.
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