If you or a loved one are living in recovery from substance addiction, we couldn’t be happier for you. Long-term sobriety can feel intimidating and there are many things that can help an addict successfully not relapse. One of the most important tools is community.
Whether through your treatment center, aftercare groups, AA/NA, or other opportunities, finding a community of like-minded individuals who can help you stay on your sober journey is imperative. At Emerge Healing Center, we foster that community from day one of treatment and aim to continue it long into your life of recovery.
Importance of Community in Recovery
Addiction is an isolating disease. It drives the addict into a place where they feel all alone and makes them feel hopeless. That’s why community and connection are the opposite of addiction. Sharing emotions, experiences, insecurities, fears, regrets, and hopes forms attachments and the opportunity to not go through trials alone.
At its core, the community requires vulnerability, which is often taught during treatment. However, once leaving the safety of treatment, forming your community is even more important to prevent relapse. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, between 40 and 60 percent of people relapse within their first year of treatment.
To prevent relapse, find a community. At Emerge Healing Center we recommend aftercare groups, local AA or NA groups, and staying close to others living a life of sobriety.
Examples of the benefits of the community include:
- An opportunity for friends, family, or others in recovery to become role models.
- Gives support between counseling sessions.
- Negative feelings of isolation and depression often lessen or disappear.
- Opportunity for non-drug or alcohol-related activities.
- Provides recovering addicts with healthy social interactions.
Community Mental Health
The American Psychological Association defines community mental health as activities that promote mental health that is performed in the community instead of institutional settings. A community mental health center is a facility that is community-based and provides mental health services. This is often the alternative to a mental hospital.
Examples of community health could include AA, Alcoholics Anonymous, or NA, Narcotics Anonymous. It may also be an aftercare group held at an addiction treatment center. Whatever the opportunity, participating in community mental health could be the difference between relapse and long-term sobriety.
If you’re wondering why mental health is related to substance addiction, you may be surprised to know the two often go hand in hand. At Emerge Healing Center, we treat a range of mental health illnesses that are often the root cause of addiction. If these mental health problems aren’t treated, emotional numbness can occur, which can lead back to addiction behavior.
Symptoms of emotional numbness include:
- Not being able to access your feelings
- Having a hard time experiencing positivize feelings day to day
- Feeling detached and distant from others
- Loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed
- Preferring to isolate yourself instead of spending time with others
- Experiencing feelings of flatness, emotionally and physically
Another common trait in emotional numbing is experiencing dissociation. This term means feeling disconnected from your feelings, thoughts, memories, and surroundings. Unlike daydreaming, it can affect your sense of time and even identity. Again, the opposite of this is connection.
Emerge Healing Center’s Community
At Emerge Healing Center, we believe that trauma is often the root cause of addiction. We are aware trauma can manifest in many forms of maladaptive coping and we want to equip each client with tools to love themselves through every one of those. Our rehab center is located just outside of Atlanta in the Alpharetta area. Our services address both the psychological and physical needs of our clients. We believe in having a clinical program that is constantly evolving in order to help our clients reach their ultimate goal – long-term recovery.
Emerge Healing Center was created by co-founders Joe Difabio and Rush Jolly. Both raised in the surrounding cities of Atlanta, the two are passionate about what they provide and the community they provide it in. To further that passion, Rush is a member of the Forsyth Chamber of Commerce, representing Emerge Healing Center. Rush, along with Joe and the rest of the Emerge team, plans to spread the message of recovery throughout Georgia and beyond, with the help of opportunities provided such as the Forsyth Chamber of Commerce.
Our programs include a Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP), Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), and a Trauma & PTSD Program. We work with you and your loved one to determine which program is best suited for the client and gets them on the best path to recovery. Learn more about each program here.
We also work with each client to develop an aftercare plan, to ensure that the community aspect of treatment is not lost as they start their life of sobriety.
For recovery groups near Alpharetta, head here.
Getting Treatment
If you or a loved one are currently dealing with alcohol or drug addiction and would like to know more about treatment options in Atlanta, contact us today. At Emerge Healing Center, our team can help you to decide which program is right for you, as well as design a treatment program that will maximize your chances of success. Gain control of your life with the help of the right treatment center, and find out just how fulfilling an addiction-free life can be.
