Crisis happens in recovery. Getting sober, going to treatment, and choosing to live a lifestyle of recovery does not equate to being free and clear of problems or crises in life. Sometimes, it will be difficult to differentiate the two. A crisis in recovery could be not knowing how to discern your feelings and make an important choice. Or, a crisis could mean a relapse, watching a friend relapse, encountering an overdose, and experiencing trauma. Recovery and the many tools we gain through treatment and working a recovery program gives us the tools to live life on life’s terms, which means managing crisis as they arise. Here are the four tools you need to manage any crisis safely and sober.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness practices are often done in quite, in the style of meditation. When thinking about crisis-urgent, immediate, and demanding- you might not be thinking about mindfulness- peaceful, calm, and aware. It is the awareness in mindfulness that is most necessary during a crisis. The tools of mindfulness like noticing, paying attention, and being aware, help you be informed about a crisis situation and notice any important details which might be necessary to sources of outside help. Your awareness will help you maintain calm for yourself and anyone else involved.
Emotional Regulation
During a crisis, our fight-or-flight response can get out of control, building fear and adrenaline in our bloodstream. Emotional regulation tools help us recognize our natural emotions, like fear and stress, while empowering us to choose other states of being, like calm, in order to maintain control. Rather than be run by emotion, we can continue to feel our feelings while taking necessary actions to manage a crisis.
Asking For Help
You’ve learned in recovery that you do not have all the answers and there is often someone else who does. Crisis is an opportunity to ask for help from the best people for a situation or any people who can help in a situation. Your humility helps you recognize that you are not the professional in a situation and that you need to ask for help. If someone else in a situation refuses to ask for help, you can take the steps to do so.
Cypress Lake Recovery offers excellence in addiction treatment for substance use and co-occurring disorders. Our residential treatment programs approach mind, body, and spirit, to help restore each client as a whole. At the end of treatment, our clients leave our lakefront home with balance and confidence, rejuvenated in their new lives of recovery. For information, call us today at 1-866-217-2636.
