Making changes is difficult. However, when you are struggling with addiction it is necessary. In life coaching and individual counseling through treatment at New Creation Recovery, you work with a counselor who helps you to make changes, including building life skills. A helpful technique is to discover your purpose. When you have a firm grasp on what is important to you, you are more likely to make necessary changes that ultimately help you heal from addiction.
Finding Your ‘Why’ in Treatment
When you work with a counselor in addiction treatment, you explore your challenges with addiction. This includes learning more about why you struggle with addiction and what you need to do in order to change your life and recover. There are many significant changes that you will need to make; however, they are unique to you and your specific challenges with addiction.
Finding your existential ”why” can help. Your existential “why” is a reason that is deep and highly valuable to you. There is not a good or bad reason for you to change. Instead, it is a purpose that aligns with who you are and what is important to you.
In order to find this deeper purpose, you have to dig. It can help to ask yourself why you want to make these changes and continue to ask why until you feel that you find an answer that is so important to you. For example, on first thought, you may want to heal from addiction because you want to get better. However, on further examination, you realize that you want to heal from addiction so that you can be a better parent. This is a deep and more meaningful purpose that is part of why it is important for you to build new skills and change.
Purpose and Building Life Skills
Making changes is difficult. This is because, as a human, you are habitual. People, in general, follow patterns. These patterns and habits are both internal and external. They impact how you think, feel, and act. To break free of these patterns, you need to put energy in and do something different. While this can seem easy, in reality, it takes time to solidify a new pattern, and during this period it takes a significant amount of energy to do so.
When you discover or uncover parts of your purpose, you are more likely to understand the need for these changes. As a result, you are more driven to make these changes and build healthy new habits. This could include building life skills in the realms of self-care, financial management, communication skills, and more.
Building Life Skills to Rebuild Your Life
“Life skills” is a term that is used to classify skills that you use in your life that help you. Through life skills, you can rebuild your life in a way that helps you to achieve your goals and change your life toward what is important to you. Two main life skills helpful in addiction recovery are improved coping skills and communication.
Improved Coping Skills
When you have struggled with addiction, you likely have used drugs or alcohol as a way to cope. This may have been the initial drive toward using substances or simply a result of long-term use. However, in order to remain sober, you must improve your coping skills.
Coping skills that are important in addiction recovery include emotional regulation, stress management, and self-care. When you improve these skills they help you to make different choices than you have in the past.
However, improving coping skills means changing. Fortunately, when you understand your deep purpose and meaning for change, it is easier to make these changes. You are driven to change as you understand what the change will give you.
Communication and Community Building
Another important life skill is communication and community building. Having a community in your life is important. It helps to give you support and can give your life more meaning and connection. However, being able to relate to others, including listening and sharing, is a skill.
In life coaching and individual therapy, you learn communication skills. As these skills improve, you are able to be more effective at building and maintaining relationships that are important to your overall well-being and your recovery.
Building Life Skills at New Creation Recovery
Treatment for addiction and mental health challenges at New Creation Recovery can help you make changes in your life. One way you do this is by diving in to understand the deep and meaningful reasons you have for making a change. Through working with a counselor, you can begin to understand your deeper purpose. This will help you to be more clear about how you want your life to look while having support as you make the changes that will help you recover and rebuild it.
Addiction treatment requires that you make many changes. When you have a clear understanding of why these changes are important to you, and how your life can look after treatment, you are more likely to make these shifts. At New Creation Recovery, we know that finding your purpose can be daunting. This is why we provide many opportunities for you to discover your deeper purpose and meaning. We help you to make changes and connect with the reason why these changes are important. If you are struggling with addiction and looking for a program that can help, reach out to us today. Call us at (877) 868-5730 to learn more.
