Step-by-step addiction treatment programs have been used to defeat substance use disorder for decades. They’ve been around for so long because they show positive results. Clients who work through the 12 steps learn to trust in a higher power to help them heal. This action nurtures trust, both in themselves and in others. Learning how to reach out and rely on a positive network of caring friends and family makes it easier to stop self-medicating.
Once used primarily to battle alcohol abuse, today’s 12-step treatment programs defeat multiple addictions, including those focusing on drugs, gambling, sex, food, and more.
At Red Oak Recovery in North Carolina, we offer 12-step addiction treatment programs as part of our clinical approach. There’s much to learn from faithfully working the 12 steps. Chief among them is accountability. But there are other benefits of a 12-step program, too. To learn more about the benefits of addiction treatment using the 12-step program, contact us today at 828.382.9699.
12-Step Programs Reduce Feelings of Isolation
When you learn to accept that there’s a guiding force more significant than yourself, you feel less alone. The first step of a 12-step approach helps clients reach their own higher power and to other people when they need help. Isolation is an unfortunate side-effect of substance use disorder. Feeling like you’re all alone with no one to care or support you is common. Working the 12 steps helps clients realize that there are people who care about them and want them to achieve sobriety.
Relationships Improve Under the 12 Steps
Substance use disorder often causes hard feelings between the person who’s addicted, their friends, and family members. There may be a history of deceit or dishonesty present. There are usually many broken promises and empty words left behind. But as part of a 12-step program, clients learn to accept responsibility for past actions and go back to those they’ve hurt and apologize. As a result, they form stronger ties. Defensive loved ones suddenly become allies, restoring feelings of trust and friendship.
A Step-by-Step Approach Makes Recovery Goals More Attainable
Goals are easier to attain for most clients when they’re broken down into manageable parts and achieved over time. The 12-step approach helps clients work toward smaller goals, or save points, in their recovery. Accordingly, life becomes more manageable, and the need to self-medicate recedes. By overcoming hurdles one at a time instead of trying to jump them all at once, clients experience feelings of success. This process prompts motivation, which makes recovery more attainable.
The 12 Steps Foster Forgiveness
One of the most life-changing features of an excellent 12-step program is that it teaches clients how to forgive themselves. It treats substance use disorder as the disease it is and not as a sign of weakness or immaturity. This learning process includes the following realizations:
- Substance use disorder is a chronic disease, just like cancer or diabetes
- You are not to blame for your condition
- Recovery from substance use disorder requires medical treatment
- You don’t have to be perfect to recover, just human
- You can ask for help when you need it. Accordingly, you can expect to receive it
- Helping others is therapeutic
Red Oak Recovery Ensures That Recovery is Within Reach
The addiction treatment programs at Red Oak Recovery will address common feelings of guilt and shame that accompany substance use disorder. As a client in our 12-step recovery program, you’ll learn how to redirect negative emotions into feelings of positivity and hope. If you’re ready to explore the addiction treatment programs at Red Oak Recovery, call us today at 828.382.9699. We care about you, and we’re waiting to help.
