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Alcohol Recovery Process

Author: Gilly
Category: Body
Date: 11/23/2022

Alcohol recovery is a daunting prospect for anyone. Months, years or decades depending on alcohol takes its toll. Relying on drinking to help you be the person you want to be in social situations, to numb difficult emotions, or perhaps just get you to sleep - means that you may find it difficult to navigate a sober life.

For people new to recovery, it may seem like the challenges that sobriety brings may be too difficult to overcome. Fortunately, though, you don’t need to do it all at once. Alcohol recovery is done a day at a time. The difficulties that might seem overwhelming initially become much easier to manage when you tackle them bit by bit.

Keep reading to discover how to recover from alcohol, in 5 simple steps.

alcohol recovery

1. Deciding to Quit Drinking

The very first stage of the alcohol recovery process actually begins before you decide to quit. It is sometimes known as the “pre-contemplation” stage. During this first stage, someone with an Alcohol Use Disorder starts feeling the problems caused by their addiction, but are not yet willing to change. This stage is characterized by health problems, broken relationships, and painful and embarrassing experiences. During this time, people with alcohol problems are coming up against the negative ramifications of their drinking. The experiences here serve as a catalyst to want change.

Once someone has gained enough information on the consequences of problematic drinking, they begin contemplating whether they should stop. This is the “contemplative” stage. They might think about what they have lost due to alcohol. They may reflect that if they carry on drinking, they stand to lose much more. It is at this point that these people begin to be receptive to getting help. If you are friends with someone who you believe is at this stage, now is a good time to suggest that they seek professional support.

During contemplation, some people make the bold decision to get help for their problem, which leads them on to the next stage, detox. Unfortunately, some instead continue drinking. It can be painful to see a loved one dwelling in this stage. Ultimately, if they do not want to get help, you cannot force them. They will become ready when they have had enough.

2. Detoxification Before Alcohol Recovery

Once someone has made the decision to quit drinking, it is time to start preparing for the detoxification process. Some decide to do this without professional assistance, and many have succeeded. It is worth noting, though, that alcohol is one of the few substances that can cause fatal seizures during the withdrawal process. For this reason, it is usually recommended that people go to rehab for heavy and prologued drinking.

Alcohol detox sucks, there is no two ways around it. However, it is a crucial part of alcohol recovery. Going to rehab makes this process significantly less painful, and much safer.

Alcohol rehabs vary massively depending on what their program involves, and how much they charge. You may be able to gain access to rehab through a government program, which is free. Some of the less expensive rehabs cost a few thousand pounds a month, with the more expensive centres coming in at many tens of thousands.

Whichever centre you opt for, make sure that they offer medication for the detox process. This is key to helping you stay safe and comfortable.

After you have completed detox, be proud of yourself. This process is one of the most difficult periods that you will go through in sobriety. Just getting through it deserves credit.

3. Rehabilitation for Alcohol Recovery

alcohol recovery

After you have detoxed, the rehabilitation process begins in earnest. It is normal to feel emotionally “raw” at this time. Thoughts and feelings that had been repressed by alcohol will come flooding back. Do not worry, though, you will be looked after by trained professionals who can help you deal with how you feel. Also, bear in mind that everyone at the rehab is in much the same boat, so you are not alone with these feelings.

Rehabilitation has a few elements to help you address the reasons why you were drinking, and assist you in learning the skills that you need to help you not need to drink again. Rehab usually includes:

  • One-to-one therapy. This is a crucial part of rehab. During these sessions, which usually happen one or two times a week, you take a close look at the experiences in your life that led you to have an addiction to alcohol. Often, trauma plays a part in alcohol addiction, and one of the more difficult yet rewarding parts of therapy in rehab is delving into and healing from these traumas.
  • Group sessions. These vary depending on the rehab but usually include relapse prevention, reading of your life story for the group, and other sessions designed to help you with problems that cause people to drink, and problems that are caused by drinking.

4. Post-treatment for Alcohol Recovery

During rehab, you likely gained a lot of information about yourself that you were not previously aware of. Unhealthy thought processes and ways of behaving that you had previously thought were normal may now seem anything but.

Post-treatment is the time to take this information you have gained and continue to work on yourself. Your rehab likely gave you a post-treatment plan, that serves as a guide for when you first get out of rehab. This may include things like “finding gainful employment” and “attending recovery meetings”.

You may feel a little overwhelmed at this stage of alcohol recovery, as you realize that there is so much to do. You might mourn time that you now realize was wasted. As mentioned at the start of the article, though, you do not have to do everything at once. Be easy on yourself. You have begun a process that many do not have the bravery to start, a process that will be the most important of your life.

Some of the things that you can continue to do post-treatment:

Attend recovery meetings

For many people, this is a non-negotiable element of their alcohol recovery process. The most common alcohol addiction recovery meetings are Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings. These meetings are designed to offer people in alcohol recovery experience, strength and hope, so that they can successfully embark and maintain on their path of recovery. People who attend AA are encouraged to go through the twelve steps, which is a program of recovery. The program is designed to help recovering alcoholics deal with the wreckage of the past, find a higher power, and live a new life according to spiritual principles.

Find gainful employment or a better job

There are some people who have serious drinking problems who can maintain a level of functioning which allows them to continue in a high-powered job. This is not the majority of people, though. People who have alcoholism often have no employment, or underperform at work, leading them to have a job that does not match their potential.

Reconnect with family and healthy friends

People who have an Alcohol Use Disorder and are actively drinking are difficult to be around, and often say and do things that can cause rifts within families and among friends. These rifts can sometimes lead to people who were previously close becoming distant. Part of recovery for many people involves re-establishing relationships with the people that we hold dear. You may not be able to fix these things overnight, but often, as people see you are doing well, they will want to become a part of your life again.

Restore Your Body to Health

Alcohol affects every cell in the body, causing degeneration and ultimately death. Recovery allows us a new lease of life, and it also allows us to restore our bodies back to health. This might take a while, as someone newly sober has not only had their body affected by alcohol, but also by the alcoholic lifestyle. It can be easy to get carried away when you first start working out, and many people replace their alcohol addiction with an exercise addiction. With this in mind, remember to take it slow. Bodily health is a marathon, not a sprint.

Restore Your Mind to Health

Alcohol damages the functioning of your mind. When you get sober, you may not be able to think clearly, and it may feel like this will carry on forever. If you feel like this, you may be going through Post Acute Withdrawal Symptoms, which can mimic some of the symptoms of acute withdrawal stage. These symptoms of PAWS can last for up to two years.

Fortunately, the more time you have in sobriety, the clearer your mind should get. Attending recovery meetings will certainly play a big part in helping to restore your cognition. Seeing a therapist as part of your recovery can also help you to regain clarity in your life. You may also wish to carry on working on overcoming trauma with the assistance of a qualified professional.

Many people in alcohol recovery also use mindfulness as a tool to help them keep their mind clear. For some people, this involves meditation, others enjoy yoga, which is a kind of moving meditation. There is plenty of research to back up the effectiveness of techniques such as these to have your mind working well when you are in alcohol recovery.

Help other people.

A great way of maintaining sobriety is helping other people. This helps to build self-esteem and allows people who are in alcohol recovery to get out of their own heads. You can help in many different ways. Some people recovering from alcohol addiction choose to help people who are also struggling with alcohol problems, others decide to work in their local communities. If while drinking you did things that you are not proud of, you might give back in a way that rights the wrongs of your past.

5. Long-term alcohol recovery

The path of recovery is one that you will, hopefully, spend the rest of your life walking. As you keep going on this journey, you will find deeper levels of emotional sobriety, have a greater awareness of who you are, and will keep growing as a person.

The road may at times get tough. At these times, it is important to remember that bad situations do not last forever, and that “this too shall pass”.

Alcohol recovery is a process and not a destination

The alcohol recovery process has five clearly defined steps that you must go through to find long-lasting recovery. While the road can sometimes be a tough one, it is certainly worthwhile. Wherever you are at in your journey there is always more that can be learned. Continuing to grow and creating a new way of life is an ongoing process.

You can connect to meetings, with others in recovery and benefit from all of our recovery tools within our dedicated to recovery platform, by joining our free Recoverlution Community

Read more:

One month alcohol-free: The benefits

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