Managing Freedom as an Alumnus

Graduating from one of Hawaii Island Recovery’s dedicated inpatient programs is a major accomplishment. Celebrating newfound skills and a continuing dedication to a sober life in each person’s transition to life outside a treatment facility is important. This time is exciting, as each alumnus will be able to express newfound freedoms and exhibit agency over their sober lives. However, this time can be equally intimidating. Learning the necessary skills for managing freedom as an alumnus is necessary to ensure that each alumnus can make the most of their daily lives in outpatient care while coping with common stresses and challenges during this time. 

Recovery and sobriety are not something that can be “completed.” Rather, the transition from Hawaii Island Recovery’s dedicated recovery space to life outside of a treatment facility can be stressful on its own, and by no means does recovery “end” when walking out of the doors back into the “real world.” There will still be stresses, and challenges that require dedicated attention. 

Exploring new freedoms after treatment can be an amazing experience. However, the deluge of continued stresses, urges, cravings, and more can cause an individual to lose focus on their recovery goals. Managing freedom means using newfound freedoms for continued personal sober exploration and avoiding unnecessary stresses and high-risk situations.

Many alumni may rejoice at the opportunity to further explore personal hobbies, create their daily routine and schedule, pursue new interests or social groups, and set personal goals after graduating from a residential treatment program. However, this freedom can also be stressful. 

Leaving a dedicated treatment facility and embracing new freedoms can come at the cost of a feeling of safety or security – a safety net provided by the culture, community, and support of a curated recovery space. Others may feel stressed at the deluge of new stresses of living in an environment not necessarily curated with sobriety in mind, or feel compelled to return to previously destructive lifestyles due to perceived expectations, previous social groups, or the accessibility of addictive substances. 

While freedom can truly empower each alumnus to make their own best decisions and pursue the person they want to be in sobriety, it is still a stressful time when an individual should rely on support from both professionals and peers while developing new strategies for managing the stress that comes with newfound freedoms.

It is paramount to ensure that each person’s newfound freedoms do not compromise their dedication to sobriety. Employing several strategies as an alumnus can ensure that each individual is making the most of new opportunities while still working toward their next sober milestone. 

Mantras are powerful resources in recovery. Having a core belief or mission that is repeated and ingrained in an individual can help contextualize each person’s experiences or guide healthy decision-making in sobriety. Measuring stresses or decisions against a sober framework of a dedicated mantra can ensure that a person is engaging in freedoms that do not compromise their hard-earned sobriety and progress in recovery. 

Using mantras alongside effective goal-setting can ensure that alumni can embrace freedoms that continue to align with their sober goals. Keeping reminders of each person’s mantra in frequented spaces, such as the office or bedroom, or keeping a reminder on a bracelet can all be great ways to remind oneself of personal goals and hard-earned progress while exploring newfound freedoms.

Staying actively engaged in recovery efforts and outpatient programs is a great way to balance new freedoms while continuing to focus on sober goals. Regular outpatient meetings, group treatment, and creating a social network of sober peers and professionals can all be instrumental. Talking about how each person is using their freedom with peers can also add additional perspectives to ensure that each person is making the most of the opportunity without exposing themselves to unnecessary risk.

Continued engagement in these programs can also reintroduce that feeling of belonging and provide an emotional safety net following residential treatment, further empowering alumni to safely explore freedoms, self-care outlets, and new activities while still feeling supported.

Reflecting on new experiences, hobbies, and the preceding day can all be important ways of managing freedoms in recovery. It is important to track how new experiences and stress may impact each individual. Using journals, meeting with family and friends, meditation, and more can all be great ways to reflect on the preceding day and how new experiences and freedoms may impact an individual.

It is crucial to embrace newfound freedoms in sobriety. The ability to decide on new hobbies and activities to pursue, set a schedule that best works for an individual, and allow oneself to pursue personal goals and interests is profound, especially while continuing to explore each person’s sober identity. However, it is also important to prepare for how these freedoms may bring new feelings of stress, urges, cravings, and more into daily life as an alumnus. Working together with professionals, family, and peers in continued outpatient treatment programs is instrumental in empowering each individual who is managing freedom in sobriety to make the most of their hard-earned freedom following rehab in Hawaii.

It is important to embrace freedom as an alumnus for you to explore your own sober identity and goals for the future. However, with freedom can also come stresses and challenges. We at Hawaii Island Recovery are prepared to help you manage freedom and the stresses therein at any stage of your recovery. Our comprehensive approach to rehab in Hawaii allows us to personalize your time with us, explore the effects of newfound freedoms, and help you develop the skills necessary to make the most of your newfound sober life. For more information on how we can help create a plan for you to maintain your sobriety as an alumnus, call to speak to us at (866) 390-5070.