When beginning treatment, clients often think their program will only involve clinical services. However, healing and recovery are not confined to clinical approaches. Instead, it is important to address recovery through a whole-person approach. A whole-person approach involves engaging in healing practices that are not strictly clinical. Holistic services like art therapy and wilderness therapy are incorporated for optimal healing. Through these approaches, a person can develop healthy coping mechanisms by using creativity or strengthening their interpersonal skills. What’s more, one’s social life can be an important holistic element of recovery and healing.
At First Steps Recovery, there are a number of opportunities for clients to engage with their peers in a social setting. Rather than focusing all interpersonal interactions on the recovery process, interactions can happen organically, which enhances clients’ sense of connection. To help people find healing through social interactions, First Steps Recovery gives clients opportunities to just be themselves without the pressure of recovery goals.
What Are Opportunities to Develop a Social Life at First Steps Recovery?
At First Steps Recovery, community is one of the main priorities. When clients find and develop a community with others, it helps them feel encouraged and hopeful during the recovery process. However, because clients often enter recovery with the mindset that they have to heal and become sober, they can be overly focused on those goals. To help decrease this intense focus on achievement, clients are offered stress-free opportunities to simply socialize with no agenda. This type of socializing provides clients with the ability to work on their social skills without pressure. Additionally, through these low-pressure opportunities, clients can more easily develop connections with others that can last beyond the facility.
One of the most recent installments at the facility is the sober cafe. The sober cafe at First Steps Recovery is a place for alumni, current clients, and friends to come together at their leisure. Learning about each other without the pressures of group therapy sessions allows clients to naturally engage with each other and truly be themselves. This is part of the First Steps Recovery culture. A sober community shows new clients they can engage with others and the world without the presence of drugs and alcohol. Clients also learn that they are welcomed and part of a community that fully supports their decisions without judgment.
In residential treatment, clients stay at one of the First Steps Recovery facilities. There, they can take advantage of all of the common spaces. Comfortable living rooms, kitchens, and other sitting areas allow clients to explore their surroundings with each other and develop connections outside of their treatments. First Steps Recovery is meant to feel like a home for all clients.
The Importance of Community and Social Life in Recovery
Developing real, human connections is a key aspect of recovery and healing. Those with substance use disorders (SUDs) commonly have less social support in their lives and are more prone to isolation. Having a social support network can be powerful for maintaining long-term sobriety. Social systems also assist clients in developing positive behavioral changes. Stable sobriety is supported by these social networks.
A stable social life does not need to be entirely made up of family members or loved ones. Support and socialization can take place at the client’s recovery facility. Meeting people who have shared experiences and have a similar life goal of sustaining sobriety long-term allows clients to connect on a deeper level. The support in these relationships is mutual, and when connecting on this topic, long-lasting friendships can blossom. These groups can also be called mutual aid groups, which are specific to promoting recovery and fostering relationships with those who can understand addiction and recovery on a personal level.
While addiction is very complex and is not simply cured by support and a stable social life, finding mutuality during treatment can assist with the process. Clients with stronger social support networks are more likely to remain in treatment longer and yield better recovery outcomes. One of those outcomes is a decreased risk of relapse.
Forming Trust With Others in Recovery
Trust is a huge part of recovery. However, it’s not always easy to develop. When first getting to the facility and beginning treatment, interacting with others can be scary. Letting strangers into one’s life is not an easy task, but going into recovery with an open mind and welcoming new friendships is important. Everyone at the facility is there to work toward sobriety. The facility is a safe space for developing an inner connection with oneself and others.
At First Steps Recovery, group therapy is also a place to build trust. Clients can explore their addictions or mental health issues in a group setting. They share experiences and offer advice to each other. This group setting allows clients to develop connections with each other that are positive and healing. Clients can then take these strides they’ve made in group therapy and develop deeper friendships as recovery continues.
Here at First Steps Recovery, we prioritize community and developing friendships at our facility. We offer numerous areas on our campuses where clients can engage with each other in a non-clinical setting. At our sober cafe, for instance, clients can chat with current clients as well as alumni. The cafe provides a casual and nonjudgmental space where clients, old and new, can engage with each other and offer support to one another. Clients are encouraged to develop these deeper and more authentic connections with people and build a social support network. This network helps prevent self-isolation and assists with maintaining sobriety. To learn more about the social life at First Steps Recovery, please call us at (844) 489-0836.
Dr. Curl is the Medical Director and primary on-site provider for First Steps Recovery. He is a Board Certified Internist and Addiction Medicine Specialist having attended the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and completing his residency at Mount Auburn Hospital with Harvard Medical School. Following several years work as an internist and physiatrist (physical medicine and rehabilitation). Dr. Curl completed the Addiction Medicine Fellowship at Howard University in Washington DC and participated as a RAM Scholar (Research in Addiction Medicine). While part of the fellowship, Dr. Curl pursued research investigating the barriers to expanding and improving medication for opioid use disorder. Following his fellowship, Dr. Curl spearheaded the Opiate Use Disorder outpatient clinic and worked in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences within the Howard University Hospital. In 2023, Dr. Curl completed his Board Certification in Addiction Medicine.
