Recovering from addiction as a parent is very tasking. Learning to navigate life while being responsible for children is often overwhelming. For mothers, being engaged in treatment and recovery can bring up feelings of guilt, shame, and not being enough for their children. Regardless of any guilty feelings, it is necessary for mothers to take time for themselves. Taking time and space allow mothers to heal and grow and provide their children with a positive, healthy, and fulfilling life.
At First Steps Recovery, the staff encourages clients who are mothers to take a step away, understand their addiction and their habits, and heal. During this process, the staff encourages mothers to find sober hobbies or activities to help them maintain sobriety after treatment.
Mothers and Sobriety
Women are generally affected by addiction to a greater degree than men. In fact, women develop medical and social consequences much faster than men and also have a higher risk for relapse. Women are also more susceptible to low self-esteem, histories of traumatic events, and experiencing mental disorders that involve mood, anxiety, eating, and trauma.
As mothers, the well-being of their children becomes their utmost concern and is often a motivator for seeking treatment and sobriety. Moms are also often more involved with their families while struggling with addiction and recovery than men are, which can lead to more problems in their family life and structure.
With children being at the forefront of their priorities, mothers often lose sight of themselves and become more emotionally distant as time goes on. Women are more susceptible to relapse when they are more emotionally distant, communicate less, and are receiving a lack of support from their partners. It is important for mothers to recognize their habits, thoughts, and feelings in order to understand how they affect their families and children. Receiving help, treatment, and services that promote sobriety is vital to the long-term success of recovery, long-lasting sobriety, mental and emotional well-being, and familial well-being.
The Importance of Family Involvement
It is also important for the whole family to be involved in the recovery process. Family support allows mothers to take care of themselves without feeling excessive guilt or shame.
Likewise, family members should take an active part in the treatment process if they can. For instance, when family members involve themselves in family therapy, this helps mothers stay sober. When family members encourage healthy, sober habits, this also can improve outcomes.
Mothers, especially when they have become emotionally distanced, should feel supported by their friends and families. A support system paired with sober hobbies helps mothers create a healthy and happy life beyond the constraints of addiction.
Sober Hobbies That Mothers Can Be Involved With
Finding sober hobbies can be challenging, especially while caretaking. The ideal sober hobbies have a holistic focus, meaning they incorporate all aspects of a person’s self including the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
Sober hobbies with a holistic focus help clients develop a stronger sense of self, gain confidence, understand themselves and their addiction on a deeper level, and regain control over themselves. For mothers, these hobbies are significant in their recovery process as many mothers lose self-esteem and struggle with mental-emotional health at the hands of addiction.
Finding Sober Hobbies With First Steps Recovery
At First Steps Recovery, we prioritize holistic care for our clients. Holistic options include field trips and outings, recreation, art and music therapies, health and wellness education, yoga therapy, horseback riding, and wilderness experiences. With these holistic therapies, clients take time for themselves (sometimes away from the facility) and reconnect with and reflect on themselves. While healing the mind, body, and soul during treatment is the goal of many of these holistic approaches, it is important to remember that these activities can be incorporated into one’s daily life outside of treatment.
For instance, art and music therapies help clients express themselves creatively. By engaging with one’s emotions in this way, clients will often feel more comfortable being open and honest with others. Gaining a deeper sense of understanding of oneself is crucial in the recovery process. Engaging with these means of expression can provide a sense of joy, peace, and relaxation that is often much-needed for mothers. These are sober hobbies mothers can continue to implement into their lives after treatment.
Group activities, including field trips and outings, help clients enjoy time with others without the presence of alcohol or substances. At First Steps Recovery, some of these outings include hikes, swimming, social events, and movies. By finding joy in activities that do not involve alcohol or substances, clients engage in self-discovery and skill-building. For mothers, finding joy in these hobbies allows them to resist self-isolation in the recovery process. They realize they can be a mother and still have an active social and recreational life.
Here at First Steps Recovery, we encourage mothers to find more sober hobbies. To facilitate this, we help mothers engage in activities that do not involve alcohol or substances. Activities we offer include art, music, and yoga therapy as well as more social hobbies like field trips and outings. Mothers often feel a sense of guilt or shame in recovery, especially if and when they have to take time away from their families. However, the recovery process encourages mothers to engage in self-discovery, self-reflection, and self-growth. This helps them provide a healthy and happy life for their families and children. Mothers can re-engage with their own social lives and thrive in recovery. To learn more, please call (844) 489-0836.
