Is It Okay if My Addiction Recovery Process Doesn’t Look Perfect?

Every person who is suffering from a drug or alcohol addiction has a very unique story to tell related to how they ended up as an addict. It’s these unique circumstances that motivate addiction treatment professionals to find different ways to help clients. It wasn’t that long ago that the addiction treatment community relied heavingly on a cookie-cutter approach to treating addiction problems.

Over time, it became apparent that using such an approach was exactly why far too many people were relapsing. Up until about 10 years ago, the relapse rates for drug addicts and alcoholics lingered at about 70%. Clearly, that number is unacceptably high. In an effort to bring that number down, the addiction treatment community began customizing treatment programs for each client. It’s nice to report that such efforts have made a difference. The current relapse rates are sitting at around 55% to 60%. While more needs to be done, that’s still a significant improvement.

One of the challenges that come from customizing addiction treatment programs is predicting outcomes. Since each recovery process looks a little different, it’s harder to measure success. As you enter rehab, you should be doing so with two goals in mind, getting clean and staying clean. In order to accomplish these goals, it’s incumbent on you to apply yourself to the process. That means entering rehab with the best of intentions and a willingness to completely commit to the process. The titled question is very relevant and warrants further consideration.

Is It Okay if My Addiction Recovery Process Doesn’t Look Perfect?

Before we can answer this question, we need to think about what perfection would look like as it relates to addiction treatment. A perfect addiction recovery process would be one where the client follows these steps:

  • Enters rehab
  • Successfully clears their withdrawal symptoms
  • Works hard during therapy
  • Successfully identifies the root causes of their addiction
  • Uses the root causes to develop better coping and life skills
  • Leaves the addiction treatment facility with a solid recovery in tow
  • Never again touches drugs or alcohol
  • Goes on to lead highly successful life

In just a few sentences, we have laid out what a perfect recovery process would look like. As you are probably already thinking, nothing about addiction treatment is going to be perfect. To answer the titled question, it is okay if your addiction recovery process is less than perfect with one caveat. It’s only okay if you successfully walk out of rehab in recovery and never again touch drugs or alcohol. You see, the process is the process. While it might differ from one client to the next or even one rehab to the next, the endgame remains the same.

The client has to build a recovery that will stand the test of time. Without a crystal ball, how can we determine if a client’s recovery will last? We can’t do that. The recovery process is all about creating a framework that each client can follow. A lot of experience and forethought has gone into developing the best treatment processes. One of the unstated goals of a treatment program is to help clients create more structure in their lives. Without structure, the likelihood of chronic relapses increases. That’s the last thing that you want to experience. That brings us back to the titled question. The best chance you are going to have for a full and lasting recovery is to follow the guidelines of treatment as closely as possible. You can’t afford to get too far off track. Based on this, we need to clarify our position related to your recovery process not being perfect. We don’t want you to worry about perfection.

We want you to focus on being open and honest with your therapists. If you can do that, plus stay fully committed to the treatment process. there is a very good chance you will succeed in recovery. Success is defined by the length of your sobriety, not by the path you took to get there. We hope you find this information useful. If you have yet to go through treatment, that should be your first order of business. When you are ready to start dealing with your addiction issues, we will be here to help you.

To get the treatment ball rolling, we want you to call us at 833-610-1174. During the call, we will be happy to discuss the treatment options we might employ to help you arrest your addiction.