Struggling with addiction can do a number on a person’s self-esteem. However, the reality is that if you’re someone who’s struggled with substance abuse and managed to get into recovery, you have a lot to feel great about. While it might be difficult to see it now, there are things you can do to help build back your self-esteem after addiction treatment. For a few ways to go about building back your self-esteem, read on.
Remind Yourself With Tokens
Learning to love yourself again isn’t as easy as it may sound. Even if you’re proud of your recovery, the odds are that you still experience self-doubt and sometimes lose sight of just how far you’ve come. One great way to remind yourself of your journey and the positive steps you’ve taken in your recovery is to invest in a symbolic token. Consider picking up engravable jewelry with inspirational messages of hope, your own initials, or the initials of someone you admire to remind you of your recovery. Perhaps you’ve had a mentor, sponsor, favorite quote, or verse that’s inspired you through treatment. Any of these things would serve as great reminders of your journey and self-worth.
On top of engravable tokens, consider leaving yourself notes and other reminders that symbolize your success so far. Not only will this help you to feel better about yourself but it might help on challenging days as well. By constantly reminding yourself of the hard work you’ve put into staying clean, you’ll be less likely to do anything that might damage your progress.
Stay Connected to Supports
Recovery is often most successful when it isn’t done alone. If you were in treatment in a fantastic facility like the Dana Point rehab campus or have a good therapist you trust, it’s a good idea to remain in contact with them. Not only should you do what you can to come up with a transition plan as you work through your early stages of recovery, but it can be helpful to check in frequently with sponsors, mentors, or others that you met in recovery.
Think about joining a support group of others working on their recovery. Or, reach out to a friend who’s clean and experienced the good and bad times on your journey. They will be great reminders of your successes and can help to pick you up on challenging days.
Celebrate Milestones and New Goals
Anyone in recovery already understands the importance of self-care when it comes to taking time for yourself and pacing new goals and activities. However, many underestimate just how important it is to celebrate milestones and new goals as they work through their recovery. In order to stay clean, it’s often necessary to create new daily activities and routines. As you do this, make sure you take time out to celebrate things like recovery dates and achievements no matter how big or small.
For example, your overall physical and mental well-being will need to be a priority in recovery. While it’s important to focus on healthy routines, it’s also paramount that you don’t become so stuck in new routines that you forget to have fun. Successful recovery involves balance and your self-esteem will only benefit from taking time out to reward yourself for achievements no matter how big or small.
At the end of the day, being kind to yourself means surrounding yourself with support and remembering how far you’ve come. By doing so, you’ll put yourself in the position of not only feeling great about yourself but realizing you can do anything you set your mind to. Congratulations on how far you’ve come so far and best of luck as you learn to love yourself on your path to lifelong success. You are worth it!
