Going back to daily life after residential treatment can be a shock. Community reintegration aims to make this transition easier while helping maintain the progress you made during treatment. This post explains community reintegration, its goals, and how it helps you in recovery.
What is Community Reintegration?
Community reintegration is for anyone who has been in residential treatment. It refers to interventions for integrating you back into your day-to-day life during recovery. It’s especially effective if you have a complex mental health issue or are overcoming addiction.
Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to feel isolated and marginalized when you return to life after residential treatment. Your ties with close family members and friends may have severed gradually. Your performance at school or work may have been significantly impacted or may have come to a premature end. These changes can lead to a gradual exclusion from your social circles. On the flip side, this exclusion may already have impacted your life before in-patient treatment, especially if you’re overcoming an addiction.
The adage, “It takes a village,” applies to community reintegration. It aims to reverse the all-so-common feelings of isolation and exclusion of those who receive in-patient treatment. Support is key to improving treatment outcomes, preventing relapse, and ensuring successful integration into society. You need the support of others to become the best version of yourself.
Things to Know About Reintegration After Treatment
Treatment and recovery aren’t easy. You’re brave to seek treatment and embrace the challenges ahead in recovery. But you deserve a whole and meaningful life. And reintegration after treatment helps set you up for success.
Reintegration after treatment includes:
- Continuous Treatment. Treatment isn’t over when you leave your in-patient facility. You will be more resilient when new challenges arise if you’re more active in your recovery by continuing to engage in treatment services and therapies.
- Overcoming Stigma. Early in recovery, it can be difficult to face the judgment of others who don’t understand your struggles. It may be helpful for you to limit your exposure to people who seem driven by judgment and blame.
- Finding Support. The saying, “What you focus on expands,” applies to life after in-patient treatment. It’s crucial to surround yourself with positive people who believe in you and support your recovery.
- New Connections. Some things will be easier than you expect. Not everything will be a struggle. Your time in in-patient treatment may allow you to build new relationships and connect with treatments and therapies that can help you long term.
- Communicating. It’s OK to tell others what you need. If you’re having difficulty building a strong support system or feel you’re not getting the benefits you expect from treatments and therapies, speak up. Your loved ones can’t read your mind, but they can help if you communicate.
Types of Continuing Support
An in-patient treatment program is just the beginning of your recovery journey. Returning to life before your addiction or mental health disorder is a life-long process. It’s essential to be proactive and get the positive support you need to take control of your future. The following are some typical interventions that can help answer the question, “What is community reintegration?”
Individual Therapy
Therapies like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy help you understand your underlying issues, withdrawal symptoms, and behaviors and address them holistically. It can be empowering to delve deeper with a therapist into why you have certain thoughts and feelings and find new, healthy coping methods.
Check-Ups
It’s critical to have accountability in your recovery process. Check-ups can be as infrequent as four times per year and involve a medical professional checking your vital signs. If you exposed yourself to a harmful substance, you could develop wounds, breathing and heart issues, sleep problems, weight loss or gain, or muscle twitching. So, you need to have regular physical health assessments during your recovery.
12-Step Programs
The 12-Step programs began with Alcoholics Anonymous and have grown to include groups focused on many other specific substances. This method involves personal accountability, group support, and, sometimes, relying on a higher power. There are many 12-Step programs, from general to substance-specific formats, with each tailored to your religious preference and cultural values.
Alternative Support Groups
It’s crucial to find a support group of some kind to help you in your recovery. There are many support groups available based on your preferences. Ask your counselor for recommendations or search online for groups in your area.
Goals of Community Reintegration
Research shows relapses may occur during the first six months after treatment. Community reintegration aims to combat this, helping you continue your recovery. Reintegration is vital to your recovery in many ways.
Boost Self-Confidence and Integrity
It can be crushing to return from in-patient treatment to be judged by those you once called friends. Community reintegration helps boost your self-confidence and integrity by encouraging you to surround yourself with others who encourage your newfound healthy lifestyle and create positive distractions.
Establish Responsible Routine
During in-patient treatment, your day is planned for you. You don’t have to cook your meals, get yourself to work, or care for loved ones. Establishing a new routine can help you manage your typical day-to-day duties. It also allows you to set aside time to care for yourself.
Active Involvement in the Recovery Community
The sense of accountability you receive from involvement in the recovery community is irreplaceable. It can be a healthy reminder of in-patient treatment experiences and can help to honor your new lifestyle. It’s crucial to take your mind off of past destructive activities while encouraging progress.
Achieving Personal Life Goals
If you’re recovering from substance use or addiction, abstinence is likely only a portion of your long-term life vision. You have dreams and goals for your life. Maybe you’ve always wanted to own a vacation home or help pay for your grandchildren’s college tuition. Whatever it looks like for you, the routines, accountability, and support you receive from community reintegration can help you take the steps needed to make that a reality.
How ILC Helps With Community Reintegration
After in-patient, residential treatment, it’s not a simple flip of a switch to go back to life as usual. By continuing your recovery journey with a qualified therapist, seeking out support, and communicating your needs to others, you can set yourself up to thrive.
Integrative Life Center’s extended care Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) are designed to promote reintegration back into the real world through living in the heart of the city; experiencing more freedom and responsibility throughout the week; and working on important life skills with their therapist and residential teams. After discharge, clients can attend weekly alumni aftercare programs to build community and connection. Contact ILC to start your recovery journey.
