The goal of the Process Group is to build trust, to encourage open and honest communication, and to promote an environment in which individuals feel safe to share their struggles and work collaboratively to understand one another while undergoing treatment for addiction at our offices in Jacksonville and St. Augustine.
The Process Group is “here and now” focused. Patients learn and practice new skills for dealing with their thoughts and emotions, and for responding to the thoughts and emotions of others. These new skills enhance self-awareness, offer new ways of relating to people, and teach behaviors that assist patients in recovery in fostering positive change and making progress toward achieving their personal goals.
Learning to Have Meaningful Interactions in Alcohol and Drug Recovery
Addiction to drugs and alcohol can cause interpersonal relationships to suffer. To repair relationships, individuals with substance use disorder who begin the process of recovery need to learn a new way of communicating, including establishing boundaries, being authentic and honest, coping with anger and learning to resolve conflicts in a positive way.
When a person is under the influence of drugs and alcohol, their ability to interact in a positive manner with others is impaired. When people get sober, those skills may not instantly return. For those who have been using for long enough, or who started using when they were young, the skills to engage in open and honest discussion, to express themselves with confidence, to control their emotions when experiencing annoyance or frustration, may never have been developed.During alcohol and drug rehab at Recovery Keys, helping patients develop these skills that they will need for success in the world outside treatment is woven throughout the process. Process Group is a time when patients can put those skills into practice.
Process Group sessions are relatively unstructured to encourage patients to openly share any struggles, concerns or successes. The therapist allows the session to unfold naturally, while focusing on the interactions that come up between group members during the session. These group sessions allow participants to receive multiple perspectives, support and feedback from other individuals in a safe and confidential environment. The interactions in the group setting promote deeper levels of self-awareness and interpersonal effectiveness, as patients practice relating to others, expressing their feelings, hearing the thoughts of others and responding appropriately.
Rebuilding Self-esteem Shattered by Drug and Alcohol Addiction
Addiction can shatter a sense of self-esteem. Individuals who have become dependent on alcohol and drugs may feel intense embarrassment and remorse over the mistakes they made while under the influence, and experience shame and guilt over the negative impact the disease of addiction has had on their lives and on the lives of those they love.
In drug and alcohol rehab, facing hard truths about the damage caused by the addictive disease is an important motivator for change. But individuals in recovery also need to move beyond those feelings, and rebuild a sense of self-worth and self-esteem. Realizing that life is worth living, no matter impaired by drugs and alcohol someone was in the past, is also crucial to maintaining recovery. To face the challenges of life as a sober individual, people need to have a sense of confidence that they can handle life while sober. By offering advice and receiving encouragement, the Process Group helps restore a sense of self-worth that’s critical to placing the disease in remission and maintaining sobriety.
