When we think about getting sober, we typically think of detox, individual therapy, and group therapy. However, early sobriety and treatment can include so much more. Many treatment plans now incorporate treatment modalities to treat the whole person, including yoga, meditation, art therapy, music therapy, and life skills therapy. Your addiction is a part of who you are, but it does not have to be your identity. Including different therapies in your treatment can help you discover who you are without drugs and alcohol. At Evolve Indy, we’re here to help you explore your whole self.
What Is Life Skills Therapy?
Recovering from addiction is not just about detox. Getting the drugs and alcohol out of our bodies is just the first step. Once we’ve rid ourselves of the substances, we need to learn how to live again. Depending on how long we’ve been using drugs and alcohol, we may find ourselves in poor physical health, homeless, and without any support system. The thought of creating a life in sobriety may seem overwhelming. Life skills therapy helps us to learn how to live full and independent lives. And while it can be about learning how to cook, clean, and manage money, life skills therapy is about so much more. This therapy is meant to enable us to make decisions, interact socially with others, and explore how to behave in different situations.
How Does Life Skills Therapy Help in Addiction Treatment?
Researchers have found that life skills therapy can significantly reduce the tendency to use drugs. Life skills therapy enables an individual to accept social role responsibilities, manage expectations, and interact with others effectively. Said, in another way, life skills therapy helps us learn how to live life on life’s terms. This therapy doesn’t judge why we don’t know the things we don’t know. Life skills therapy is not about making us feel bad; it’s quite the opposite. Life skills therapy equips us with the skills that we need to live a life that doesn’t require the use of drugs and alcohol to feel better. Instead, we learn how to care for ourselves and create a life that doesn’t require an escape hatch.
Many who turn to drugs and alcohol do so because of pain, discomfort, and unease. Life skills therapy helps us learn how to begin to be comfortable in our own skin and deal with other people. Imagine being able to do things like having emotional conversations without a substance or setting boundaries with others. By the time we get sober, many of us have stopped taking care of ourselves physically. Life skills therapy helps us to get back onto the road of life. Equipped with the skills to shop for and prepare food, we have a much better chance of success in sobriety. Instead of focusing on what alcohol we’re having with dinner, we’ll be choosing which vegetable to eat. Life skills therapy teaches us that we can make decisions for ourselves to help us find our purpose and reduce our desire to seek an escape.
Get Help With Addiction at Evolve Indy
At Evolve Indy, we have addiction therapy programs to meet your needs before, during, and after the holidays. Whether you need extra support to get through the holidays or are coming back from a relapse, we’re here. We care about your success in recovery. We have a wide variety of programs that blend traditional and non-traditional therapies to treat addiction. Our programs range from residential to outpatient, and we will work with you to find the best fit for you. Contact us today to see how we can best support you in your journey to sobriety!