It is important to understand that not every day will motivate you to manage your recovery needs. Experiencing these feelings could cause you to feel as though you lost all momentum. Before long, you might resort to old habits and risk using substances to help you cope with your emotions. You might even turn to isolation and avoid seeking help from the friends, family, and peers that support you.
Instead of going into isolation, consider giving your time to others within the sober community. Doing so will offer many benefits to your mental and physical well-being. Let’s look at how giving back in your sober community helps you maintain sobriety.
The Benefits of Giving Back
The feelings that are associated with giving back within the sober community are fulfilling ones. Further, the time you dedicate to the sober community will impact both you and your fellow peers. There are also many benefits to giving back to the sober community.
A few of these benefits help you:
- Create new relationships and friendships
- Develop a sense of purpose and fulfillment
- Get out of your head
- Find new career opportunities
- Become a leader and role model
Volunteering and spending your time helping others increases mood and reduces stress levels. You may question what ways you can start giving your time to your sober community? Let’s take a look at a few ways you can get started.
Seek Volunteer Opportunities
One of the most common ways to give back to any community is to volunteer. Rehab centers are always looking for volunteers to help within their facility. Establishing a presence in rehab allows you to help someone else work toward managing their sobriety. By being there, you will show patients that sobriety is possible and even inspire them to continue their journey to sobriety.
Offering your time to help others can bring you a sense of fulfillment and boost your mood. These mental health benefits allow you to resist triggers and keep your cravings in check. Therefore, volunteering will help to keep you accountable for your recovery regimen. However, you must have a handle on coping strategies to manage your triggers before volunteering to help another.
Become a Sponsor
If you completed a 12-step program such as Alcohol Anonymous (AA), you likely had guidance from a sponsor. After working with a sponsor and attaining the responsibility necessary to manage your sobriety, you can give back and become a sponsor for another. Sponsors play a vital role in acting as leaders and role models for other people going through addiction recovery. Since you understand the relationship dynamic between a sponsor and sponsee, you will better understand what is required to help another.
Being a guide for someone to lean on for support is one of the best ways to give back to your sober community. It is also another great way to promote accountability within your recovery. When you attend 12-step meetings, be open to reaching out to people looking for a sponsor. If you are not entirely confident about becoming a sponsor, you can still participate in helping out. You can set up for meetings or become a spokesperson at the meetings.
Make a Donation
Donating to charities and facility centers is another way to give back. However, you don’t have to give your entire paycheck. You can give as much as you feel comfortable with giving. Donating can help facilities improve their living quarters and services for their patients. It also offers you a chance to invest in the mentorship of other people going through treatment and recovery.
Join the Alumni Group at Your Facility
The journey to recovery is a transformative experience. However, navigating life outside of recovery may feel like a foreign experience. Alumni programs will help you adjust to everyday living. The best part is, almost every facility offers an alumni program.
Alumni programs offer the chance to interact and connect with other peers. These programs allow you to strengthen the sense of community and develop a lasting support system. You also get the chance to be the point of support for others. Alumni programs will also build upon your relationship skills to form healthy relationships with others.
Being in an alumni program teaches you leadership skills while offering you a supportive hand during your journey with sobriety following addiction treatment. Perhaps the most significant advantage of joining an alumni program is that you will have the security to know that you are never alone in your recovery journey.
Giving back to the sober community is beneficial for lasting recovery. Individuals who dedicate their time to giving back will inspire others to achieve their goal of sobriety. At Clearfork Academy, we want to allow your teenage son to develop the skills necessary to sustain a lifetime of recovery. Part of the process requires learning to remain active within the sober community because we believe that giving back will positively impact and reinforce your child’s recovery. Finding ways to give back to the sober community will also help your son feel a sense of purpose, accountability, and fulfillment. Such feelings will improve mood, confidence, and self-awareness. If your teenage son is currently experiencing difficulty managing their recovery, then the time to reach out for help is now. Remember, recovery always comes first. To find out more about our programs, reach out to Clearfork Academy today by calling us at (817) 259-2597.
Originally from the Saginaw, Eagle Mountain area, Austin Davis earned a Bachelor of Science in Pastoral Ministry from Lee University in Cleveland, TN and a Master of Arts in Counseling from The Church of God Theological Seminary. He then went on to become a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor in the State of Texas.
Austin’s professional history includes both local church ministry and clinical counseling. At a young age, he began serving youth at the local church in various capacities which led to clinical training and education. Austin gained a vast knowledge of mental health disorders while working in state and public mental health hospitals. This is where he was exposed to almost every type of diagnosis and carries this experience into the daily treatment.
Austin’s longtime passion is Clearfork Academy, a christ-centered residential facility focused on mental health and substance abuse. He finds joy and fulfillment working with “difficult” clients that challenge his heart and clinical skill set. It is his hope and desire that each resident that passes through Clearfork Academy will be one step closer to their created design.
Austin’s greatest pleasures in life are being a husband to his wife, and a father to his growing children. He serves at his local church by playing guitar, speaking and helping with tech arts. Austin also enjoys being physically active, reading, woodworking, and music.
