When you think of addiction treatment, you likely think of therapy and being cooped up in a treatment facility. However, there are highly effective alternatives that can help you recover from addiction. The idea of backpacking your way to recovery may seem far-fetched, but in reality, backpacking is an activity that can help you improve your problem-solving ability, connect with natural beauty, and calm your nervous system after addiction. As a result, treatment at New Creation Recovery incorporates backpacking as outdoor therapy. Integrated into an individualized treatment program, it brings many benefits and joys to your experience in treatment.
Backpacking Your Way to Recovery
Most addiction treatment includes being in a confined space with others struggling with addiction. This includes participating in both individual and group sessions that help you to recognize the root causes of your challenges with addiction and help you to build skills. However, if the thought of treatment in such a setting is off-putting, backpacking your way to recovery is a solution that is offered at New Creation Recovery.
As an activity, backpacking is a combination of hiking and camping. During a backpacking trip, you carry on your back what you need. This includes food, water, shelter, and clothing. In addition, you prepare your meals, consider where your trip takes you, and more. As a part of addiction treatment, backpacking is fully supported. Therefore, you learn how to do these things and care for yourself while you receive help from staff.
Benefits of Backpacking Your Way to Recovery
Outdoor therapies, including backpacking, are effective for many different populations, from adolescents to adults. Backpacking can help your recovery by improving your problem-solving skills. However, connecting with nature and backpacking also helps your nervous system to relax and heal. Combined, these benefits of backpacking can support your recovery by helping you to heal and build the necessary skills for a new and improved life after treatment.
Improved Problem-Solving
When you are struggling with addiction, you encounter many challenges in your life. As you go down the road to recovery, these issues will continue to crop up. However, problem-solving is difficult if you have struggled with addiction, and improving it can help you improve your self-respect and recovery.
Backpacking allows you to improve your ability to solve issues that arise. There is a constant stream of challenges to face in backpacking. This includes learning new skills like water filtration, setting up a tent, and reading a map. While backpacking your way to recovery, you learn these skills with the assistance of a mental health care professional. Counselors use these opportunities to learn not only the skill itself but also improve problem-solving abilities. This helps you to improve your backpacking skills and find solutions to many issues that arise in your recovery process.
Connecting with Nature
When you are considering addiction treatment, you may be weary of being indoors in a treatment facility for extended periods. However, addiction treatment can include the outdoors, and backpacking is an effective way to connect with nature while you are in treatment.
Through backpacking, you spend time in nature. You will explore many different landscapes and areas at a walking pace that helps you to immerse yourself in their wonder. In addition, this experience can help you to feel confident in being in nature, due in part to leadership that helps you every step of the way. This enables you to be ready to incorporate nature into part of your life after treatment.
Impact on Your Nervous System
The nervous system is a complex system in your body that includes neurons, both in the brain and in your body. These neurons communicate with each other to help your entire body to function. However, addiction greatly disrupts your nervous system in many ways. As a result of the changes in your nervous system, it is more difficult to stop using drugs or alcohol long-term. In addition, these changes impact your overall well-being, as they affect sleep, mood, appetite, relationships, and more.
Fortunately, backpacking your way to recovery at New Creation Recovery can help. Through backpacking, you slow down. You will walk, camp, explore, and more at a very natural pace for your nervous system. The combination of this pace and nature has a very calming effect on your nervous system. As a result, you may get your first glimpse at what you can feel like after treatment.
Backpacking Your Way Home at New Creation
When you are struggling with addiction, it can feel like it is impossible to get home. If you are someone who looks at traditional treatment approaches with unease, outdoor therapies like backpacking can help. New Creation offers backpacking as part of an effective and holistic treatment plan. You can combine multiple different treatment modalities in a manner that helps you to heal and move forward with your life free from addiction.
Outdoor therapies, like backpacking, can help you to build problem-solving skills and connect with the beauty of the world. As a part of an individualized treatment plan, backpacking is a very effective tool that provides you with an opportunity to build and improve on skills that you will need in recovery. This is why, at New Creation Recovery, we offer backpacking as a part of treatment. If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, we can help. Call us today at (877) 868-5730 to learn more about our treatment programs and how we can help you heal your mind, body, and spirit on the road to building a better life after treatment.
