The work we do in recovery – completing a treatment program, attending therapy, working with a sponsor – are all even more beneficial when we combine them with regular support group meetings. It is a misconception that meetings are for people to sit around whining about their problems. For us to be able to work through our problems, we have to be able to express our feelings. Communicating with other people, sharing our emotions, listening to other people’s stories and connecting with them are all healthy ways of processing our emotions. Everything we do to work with our feelings in healthy ways helps us in the recovery process. The more we have calm, peace and emotional balance, the less likely we are to turn to our addictions for comfort and escape.
People take advantage of support groups not only to vent about their issues but to work through their feelings by speaking them out loud. We receive hope and inspiration from other people who have experienced similar issues and who have wisdom and guidance to share. We are able to learn from other people, and also to share of ourselves, making us both teachers and learners. Recovery is a challenging, ongoing, rigorous life experience. The more support we have from others, the more likely we are to succeed.
Sometimes when we’re in the middle of our problems, we lose sight of the big picture. We find it very difficult to think objectively. We sometimes lose rationality and have a hard time processing our thoughts. Sometimes our thoughts are all over the place. Being able to speak on our issues helps us to work through them. Hearing ourselves think out loud can help us process our thoughts and feelings. It can bring us breakthroughs and epiphanies that we might not have had if we were alone, worrying and overthinking the issue. Receiving other people’s input based on their own experience can help us to work through things more easily.
A beautiful thing about support groups is that we are reflections of each other. We are mirrors of each other’s stories, lives and experiences. We have so much in common. We’ve experienced similar trauma. We have similar emotional wounds. We struggle with the same addictions. The empathy we receive from people who truly understand can be a huge source of comfort. Knowing we’re not alone, feeling as though we have people to lean on, can be transformative for our healing.
Our treatment programs include group therapy, 12-step meetings, and family involvement and support. Call (575) 613-4810 for more information.
