Making New Friends After Rehab
If you've entered into a rehabilitation program for addiction, you're no doubt ready to make some changes in your life.
These changes need to continue even after the hard work of rehab is over.
In order to stay on the wagon, you're going to have to find some new friends to hang out with if the ones you hung out with before rehab were drinkers.
The idea of making new friends is enough to stress anyone out but starting in these three places will make it a little easier.
AA Meetings As much as anyone would like to believe they can stay sober without the help of a program, you're success rate will be dramatically higher if you attend a regular meeting or have some sort of a support system.
AA meetings will be a good place to find people dealing with the same struggles you are and will want to participate in activities that don't involve drugs or alcohol.
Be sure that you find someone that will help you down your path of recovery not someone that may be struggling and influence you to fall back into the same patterns.
Helping these people when you're years into your sobriety may be something you're interested in, but try to avoid it when you are in the first stages of recovery yourself.
Hang around after the meeting is over and join in on any lingering conversations.
You can ask someone if they want to go for coffee after a meeting or just let people know if they're ever getting together outside of a meeting, you'd be interested in joining them.
If no one at the meeting peeks your interest, find another meeting with a new group of people.
Halfway House It is common for people to move into a halfway house when they leave rehab to get continued support.
If you feel as though you're not strong enough to resist temptations, this may be the perfect place for you.
You'll be living with a group of people of the same gender who are all recovering addicts.
It's a great place to build friendships while you grow stronger outside of rehab.
New roommates may come after you move in if an old roommate leaves, so you'll usually meet a variety of people.
You'll always have someone around to talk to and you'll both be interested in activities that don't involve substances.
Take the time to get to know your roommates and if you find someone you really like, see if they're interested in doing something outside of the house or get a bunch of roommates together to go bowling or to a movie.
You can help each other make the right choices when you leave the house for the evening.
Roommates If you're not interested in living in a halfway house or are ready to leave one, consider finding a roommate or two to live with.
You'll have a little more privacy than you would in a halfway house and less rules to follow but still have the company and more structure than you would living on your own.
When you have a roommate, you have someone to come home to, share the household duties with and someone to be accountable to.
If you don't pay the electrical bill, it's not just you that suffers, your roommate will as well, which will give you a greater sense of responsibility.
Make sure you choose someone who has a similar lifestyle to you and won't be interested in having parties and drinking around the house.
If you want to live with another recovering addict, be sure to choose one that is further along in their recovery than you and will be able to support you when you may be struggling.
These changes need to continue even after the hard work of rehab is over.
In order to stay on the wagon, you're going to have to find some new friends to hang out with if the ones you hung out with before rehab were drinkers.
The idea of making new friends is enough to stress anyone out but starting in these three places will make it a little easier.
AA Meetings As much as anyone would like to believe they can stay sober without the help of a program, you're success rate will be dramatically higher if you attend a regular meeting or have some sort of a support system.
AA meetings will be a good place to find people dealing with the same struggles you are and will want to participate in activities that don't involve drugs or alcohol.
Be sure that you find someone that will help you down your path of recovery not someone that may be struggling and influence you to fall back into the same patterns.
Helping these people when you're years into your sobriety may be something you're interested in, but try to avoid it when you are in the first stages of recovery yourself.
Hang around after the meeting is over and join in on any lingering conversations.
You can ask someone if they want to go for coffee after a meeting or just let people know if they're ever getting together outside of a meeting, you'd be interested in joining them.
If no one at the meeting peeks your interest, find another meeting with a new group of people.
Halfway House It is common for people to move into a halfway house when they leave rehab to get continued support.
If you feel as though you're not strong enough to resist temptations, this may be the perfect place for you.
You'll be living with a group of people of the same gender who are all recovering addicts.
It's a great place to build friendships while you grow stronger outside of rehab.
New roommates may come after you move in if an old roommate leaves, so you'll usually meet a variety of people.
You'll always have someone around to talk to and you'll both be interested in activities that don't involve substances.
Take the time to get to know your roommates and if you find someone you really like, see if they're interested in doing something outside of the house or get a bunch of roommates together to go bowling or to a movie.
You can help each other make the right choices when you leave the house for the evening.
Roommates If you're not interested in living in a halfway house or are ready to leave one, consider finding a roommate or two to live with.
You'll have a little more privacy than you would in a halfway house and less rules to follow but still have the company and more structure than you would living on your own.
When you have a roommate, you have someone to come home to, share the household duties with and someone to be accountable to.
If you don't pay the electrical bill, it's not just you that suffers, your roommate will as well, which will give you a greater sense of responsibility.
Make sure you choose someone who has a similar lifestyle to you and won't be interested in having parties and drinking around the house.
If you want to live with another recovering addict, be sure to choose one that is further along in their recovery than you and will be able to support you when you may be struggling.
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