It can be a challenge to find the resources you need after finishing treatment. Recovery is a lifelong process, and you’re still going to need assistance once you’re back home. A continuing care program is intended to provide resources, accountability, and encouragement in sobriety to someone who has completed an inpatient or outpatient program. 12-Step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous are of the wider-known continuing care programs, though there are numerous options. Think of continuing care as your final source of strength and motivation as you return to your daily routine. 

What Are the Benefits of Continuing Care?

After treatment, your next step will be getting back to your regular life. You may be interviewing for new jobs or returning to your previous employment, enrolling in college courses, or reconnecting with your family members and closest friends. Continuing care programs provide the vital support and guidance for your transition from treatment to long-term recovery. These resources help you to continue your journey of healing while steadily increasing your independence. While your confidence will hopefully have grown by the time you reach continuing care, it doesn’t hurt to continue to tie loose ends and surround yourself with positive influences.

Continuing care programs can be beneficial for anyone struggling with addiction, especially those who have finished an inpatient or outpatient program. Continuing care programs help to show you how far you’ve come since your early days of recovery, giving you insight and purpose that can help you move forward. They also provide a chance to connect with peers who can relate to your experiences in addiction and sobriety. The relationships you form here can be empowering and motivational. The people you meet in these specific programs can become your friends or even an integral part of your support system.

What is Life Like in a Continuing Care Program?

Joining a continuing care program as you transition back into your regular life can provide you with a sense of relaxation and peace. These programs offer a means of attaining the same benefits as you received in previous forms of treatment, without having to dedicate as much time to your active recovery as you did before. This period of your recovery is when you start to live up to the promises you made to yourself in the earlier stages of your recovery. You can set new goals for your professional and personal lives, all with the support of your peers in sobriety. Continuing care programs also help to prevent relapse. They offer a direct route to counseling if you feel yourself becoming overwhelmed or find yourself slipping. 

Continuing Care and Your Loved Ones

Taking advantage of continuing care gives you a chance to bring in your family or the members of your support system to get educated about what you are going through. In some cases, people aren’t able to articulate or explain their struggle. Continuing care programs allow your loved ones a means to better understand you at this level. 

By the time you reach continuing care, the people in your life may begin to give you more trust. Enrolling in a continuing care program will show your support system that you are as serious as ever about getting sober. You can see this as a way to give back to your family and support system by showing them that their efforts were not in vain. Nurturing your relationships with the people who support you, both in your personal life and in the connections you’ve made in treatment, can make you stronger in your battle against addiction and as a human being. 

Is a Continuing Care Program Right for Me?

Whether or not you should try a continuing care program can depend on how far along you think you are on your road to recovery. It is recommended that you try this program if you have been in an inpatient or outpatient treatment program. As the inpatient or outpatient treatment comes to an end, it’s not a bad idea to try this program. The peer pressure and triggers of the real world can be a lot for someone who has just ended treatment. The things you learn in a continuing care program will better prepare you for the things that made you run to substance abuse. This program can teach you how to handle stress, depression, and anxiety, which are key things that can lead to substance abuse. So if you intend to obtain long term sobriety, then the continuing care program is definitely for you. 

A continuing care program can be thought of as an exit program meant to give you the tools you need to be successful out in the world. The road to recovery can be long and lonely, which is why these programs provide such valuable support. Continuing care is ideal for those who have completed more intensive forms of treatment and are ready for a step towards a more normal life; however, anyone in recovery has the chance to benefit from continuing care. You will have opportunities to meet others who can relate to your experiences and will be able to utilize the program as a resource to educate your family or close friends on your struggle. Kimberly Center in Fort Myers, Florida, offers treatment for addiction and substance abuse in the form of inpatient, outpatient, and continuing care programs that can assist you in your time of need. Reach out to us at (855) 452-3683 to learn more.