10 Coping Skills for Addiction and Recovery | Applied Care Services

[Music] [Applause] [Music] welcome back to the recovery channel i'm brian ariel treatment director of the outpatient recovery program at applied care services today we're going to go over 10 coping skills for addiction and recovery and you're going to say oh wow how many skills are there well there's a lot but we're just gonna do ten because we know addiction is hard and it's not something you can just snap your fingers and then decide that you're in recovery it takes time it takes hard work and it takes dedication so the first thing we're going to say today is be honest be honest with yourself and be honest with others be honest in sharing your hopes your dreams your struggles be honest with everyone around you not in a weird way but just be honest if you're struggling then say hey man i'm struggling today and i don't know what to do be honest because so much in our life with addiction why addiction is based in lying we lie to ourselves we lie to our friends we hide what we're doing we almost lead a double life and that can be stressful and that can be very hard to keep straight especially when we're lying to cover another lie and you know the old adage you tell one lie that leads to another lie pretty soon you don't know which why you need to tell in order to cover for yourself so number one be honest quit lying be honest with yourself be honest with others the second coping skill learn how to relax i know you might say it's cold it's this it's everything there's just too much stress in my life i'm too busy i can't relax well guess what take five minutes and do something simple like this yeah it's as simple as that take a few minutes and take a breath breathing will help you relax take five minutes and enjoy nature look at a picture think about something else other than being busy be one with something be relaxed if you notice stress in your body like in your shoulders your arms or your jaw relax them work on progressive muscle relaxation that will help maybe even massaging them another great way to relax is going for a walk yeah going for a walk walking someplace where you can be with your thoughts and be alone i'm not talking about isolation but i'm just saying listen to the birds look at the flowers relax that's the second one the third one practice some gratitude and even keep a gratitude journal think about things that you're grateful for instead of always the negative things that are happening it's really easy for us to think about negative and sometimes you really have to work hard on a positive what are you grateful for today i know i'm grateful that i have the opportunity to share this with you i'm grateful that you're watching i'm also grateful that i have family and friends and i'm grateful for a program like the outpatient program at applied care services but most of all i'm just grateful and i want to pass that gratitude on others and how can i do that by telling someone that i appreciate them yeah i might say to my one of my daughters hey you did a really good job on your chart i really appreciate what you did it really helped me out that goes a long way so practice some gratitude find something to be grateful for the fourth one is developing a strong support network now you don't necessarily have to go to aaa or n a or anything else like that but you know maybe there's a group of people that really care about you and they ask how you're doing that might be family it might be friends it might be people down at the gas station that you normally talk to every morning it might be your pastor get involved let them know what's happening with you they'll support you and if they don't then they're not your friends but get involved do something right do something to help someone else that's in the same boat that you might be in or maybe something that you've walked through i don't mean like garbage or nothing but maybe something that you've experienced and you've found a way to overcome it go volunteer do something to give back to somebody else and you'll feel better about it number five avoid high-risk situations now we all know we play mind games with ourselves and we feel like we can go over to a party and you know what i've been sober and everything is good and i'm gonna test myself all right there you're setting yourself up for failure avoid those situations do some risk management think about it are there going to be drugs here is there going to be alcohol there what kind of a party is this what's the focus should i be there if there's gonna be drugs and alcohol there my answer is no but you have to make that decision for yourself know where your triggers are know where you're vulnerable and then develop a plan to avoid those or to mitigate that risk number six helping others now we talked about volunteering in the other one and we talked about getting in a support group but really find something you're passionate about and help somebody there's plenty of organizations and opportunities out there all you have to do is go on the google machine and look for opportunities to help others i guarantee there's someone out there heck even if you have a neighbor that needs help shoveling their walkway or mowing their lawn or just going over and saying hi when you can of course wear a mask and we practice social distancing now but do something for someone else even if they don't expect it right step out of yourself be kind to others you know and turn be kind to yourself exercise number seven exercise this is the one that most people struggle with you want me to exercise and i guess it's statistically proven that during the new year gym memberships just go up but then shortly after that people don't go and use them and i'm not saying you have to go out and work out like arnold schwarzenegger or any of that mma guys but what it's as simple as just taking a walk it's just as simple as taking 30 minutes out of your day and walking or playing something like a video game like on your oculus or something with movement do something to get your heart rate moving so then you can help relieve your stress and feel better number eight work with a sponsor or find a support group now that can mean going to aa n a or maybe you go to your church and go to a bible study or you find another kind of support group that might help you it's up to you it's freedom of choice obviously but find something and someone to be involved with accountability is really important if we leave it to ourselves we'll take ourselves in so many different directions and we'll justify just about anything just so we can get over right remember the first thing is be honest so be honest be honest but then help each other out work with a sponsor get involved in a group number nine avoid halt and you might say oh boy what holt hopes ants are hungry angry lonely tired these classify your basic needs if you're hungry angry lonely or tired nine times out of ten you're primed to start your slippery slope on a relapse so take care of yourself eat when you're hungry if you're angry try to figure out why you're angry resolve that angry if you're lonely connect with others and if you're tired by all means take a nap go to bed find a good schedule for sleep hygiene and lastly but not least get into some sort of spiritual practice whether that be meditation praying bible study whatever it is get into some sort of spiritual practice that gets you outside of yourself and you can find hope for your problems and that will help relieve your stress and then you know what else it'll probably do it will help connect you with others you won't be so selfish either be kind this is brian ariel treatment director the outpatient program at acs be well be kind

Channel: Applied Care Services

Views: 24,681

Keywords: Addictions, Recovery, drugs, treatment, outpatient, ACS, appliedcareservices, therapy, addiction recovery, coping skills for recovery, addiction, minnesota, treatmentcenter, cravings, triggers, social media, disorder, help, support, group, 10 coping skills for addiction and recovery, acs, Addiction, skills, copingskills, addictionskills, recoveryskills, supportforaddiction, ladc, treatmentdirector, Brian Ario, recoveryispossible, groups, aa, na, minneapolis, st, paul, mensmentalhealth, womansmentalhealth

Id: xG0B7uOEPB4

Length: 10min 3sec (603 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 20 2021