Strategies for a Recovering Drug Addict

Here is how to help addicts recover through creation.

What is creation?

Creation is the answer to the question: “What am I going to do with my life now that I am clean and sober?”

But before you can engage the newcomer in creative efforts, they have to get through stage one recovery. This indicates that they have to find some initial time to be clean and sober before the person can make an effort at creating a new life for themselves.

Getting through this first stage of recovery can be accomplished in several different ways. The best way to start out your journey and get a few days or weeks clean is to use the theory of overwhelming force. This means that the recovering drug addict must go above and beyond what they think is necessary in order for them to stay clean. If they are using meetings, they should go way overboard with attending them and start going to two or three each and every day instead of just one a day. If they are going to treatment, they should consider going to long term treatment instead of just doing a 28 day program. This is a brute force approach, and it works pretty good for newcomers who are struggling to stay clean in the first stage of their recovery. Without using this type of extreme approach, addicts are highly susceptible to relapse and most will never make it past 30 days clean. Using overwhelming force is the best way to increase these odds.

After an addict has established a few months of clean time, they are ready to transition into the creative life of recovery. This means that they are going to create a new life for themselves with real passion and purpose that can replace the drugs and the lifestyle that they used to be so passionate about. Creation is the process through which a recovering addict starts to heal their life after they start living clean and sober. It is not going to work to just eliminate the chemicals from your life and then try to continue living as if nothing is different. For most addicts, there is no “normal,” and a new life must be created in its place. This is the advantage of using creative efforts to maintain your life in recovery and it is critical if you are going to stay clean for a long time.