Social Support in Recovery

Content
What is Social Support in Recovery?
Why Is a Social-Support Network Necessary in Recovery?
How to Develop a Social-Support Network
How Far Can You Allow Your Social-Support System to Go in Your Recovery Process?
Irrational Thinking Keeping You From Seeking Social Support in Your Recovery
What You Can Do to Create a Social-Support System to Assist in Your Recovery With Members of Your Group or 12-Step Program


What is Social Support in Recovery?

Social support is:

* a network of relatives and friends who provide positive feedback.
* the people in your life giving you emotional support.
* honest confrontation as you establish a lifestyle of recovery. It consists of compliments on your success, reminders when you deviate and understanding when you are discouraged and hurting.
* the people in your life accepting no excuses from you but helping you maintain your motivation and commitment to recovery.
* the people in your life (your network) pulling for you to succeed in recovery.
* emotional support and understanding from others as you struggle with a changed lifestyle and personal growth.
* physical support from others in restructuring your home, work site and social life to be more conducive to your recovery efforts.

Why Is a Social-Support Network Necessary in Recovery?

When you are trying to recover without positive reinforcement from your social-support system, you often:

* lose interest in your efforts.
* feel as if your efforts go unrewarded.
* lose the motivation to change.
* forget the reason for changing.
* feel discouraged when you have hit a plateau at which your changes are less apparent.
* feel as if your efforts are meaningless.
* feel depressed because the changes require too much effort (i.e., entail work that is unrewarded).
* want to give up since there is no visible change in your life, or in the ways in which others react to you.

When you are trying to recover with positive reinforcement from your support systems, you:

* feel encouraged to continue sacrificing time and energy to make the changes.
* feel motivated to continue working on the changes.
* feel supported and cared for when you are experiencing a plateau that involves little visible change.
* feel good about yourself and the efforts you are making.
* want to pursue new paths by which you can change your lifestyle.
* work harder and longer on your efforts to recover.
* become more involved and interested in your recovery process.
* become more conscientious in your efforts to change.
* become more realistic about the time and effort needed to make the necessary changes in your life.

How to Develop a Social-Support Network

To develop a system of social support in recovery, you can turn to:

* your spouse.
* family members.
* relatives, including aunts, uncles and cousins.
* neighbors.
* close friends.
* co-workers.
* social contacts.
* members of your church, synagogue or temple
* classmates.

How Far Can You Allow Your Social-Support System to Go in Your Recovery Process?

You can give those in your social-support system permission to:

* give open and honest feedback concerning your progress and efforts to change.
* positively reinforce you for your efforts to change, rather than just reinforcing the changes yourself.
* assist in monitoring your efforts to change.
* listen and be understanding when you are depressed over an apparent lack of progress.
* kick you in the butt when it's needed to keep you on track.
* accept you in your new lifestyle and continue to reinforce you in these changes.
* point out needed alterations in your lifestyle without nagging, harping, complaining or criticizing.
* compliment your efforts to recover and the resulting changes (without overemphasis on the changes themselves).

Irrational Thinking Keeping You From Seeking Social Support in Your Recovery

* I should be able to do this on my own.
* It is a sign of weakness to ask others for support.
* It is embarrassing to let others know of my personal weaknesses.
* You should never burden anyone else with your feelings or personal concerns.
* People who know a lot about me or my life can take advantage of me.
* People are basically self-centered and selfish; they don't really care about me.
* I don't need others to help me change my life.
* People are always trying to get me to conform to their ways of thinking, acting and believing.
* If I let others know what I am trying to do, they will always be on my back.
* I hate to be reminded of things I know I need to be doing for myself.

What You Can Do to Create a Social-Support System to Assist in Your Recovery With Members of Your Group or 12-Step Program

* Share telephone numbers with your support group and 12-step group members.
* Call one another during the week to reinforce each other's efforts.
* Call one another when you are discouraged.
* Celebrate each other's progress and efforts.
* Encourage one another to stick to the program of recovery.
* Take each other seriously and provide support when one of you is discouraged or weakening.
* Be tough with one another, so that when the going gets rough, you can confront each other to stay on track.
* Reward each other's attendance at group meetings and recognize that simply being there is a sign of wanting to change.
* Openly admit how hard it is to change one's lifestyle.
* Brainstorm and share tips on what works in getting through the rough stages and plateaus in the recovery process.
* Share insights and information to make the recovery process more palatable.
* Give permission to confront each other in order to refocus on the serious and difficult task of recovery and change.
* Maintain and encourage a sense of humor during the readjustment time of recovery lifestyle change.