Individuals seeking recovery from addiction may consider a plethora of factors when entering treatment and committing to lasting sobriety. For instance, some may recognize the value of evidence-based treatments and want to prioritize them in their treatment plan, as these treatments are well-researched for their role in facilitating sobriety and recovery. Others may consider connecting with peer support groups to help increase their sense of social support during the healing process. In addition to implementing these elements into treatment and recovery, it may be beneficial for individuals to also consider the value of working with a professional who has personal experience with recovery, as it can facilitate a more effective and well-rounded recovery journey.
At Rancho Recovery, we recognize the benefits of clients working with professionals who have faced the trials and challenges of addiction recovery themselves. Not only does it help to foster a more reliable and trustworthy therapeutic alliance, but it also helps to make the healing process more personable. Many of our staff members at Rancho Recovery have personal experience with recovery. Therefore, we are passionate about ensuring lasting healing, well-being, and sobriety of the clients and families we serve, providing a full range of services, all geared for a lifetime of addiction recovery.
Understanding Addiction Recovery as a Personal Journey
Those who have not journeyed through the stages of addiction recovery are often under the impression that there is one clear path to establishing sobriety and recovery. Yet, it is necessary to understand that this is false. Every individual who enters addiction recovery does so with unique circumstances, needs, and goals for healing. Therefore, to effectively establish sobriety and recovery, treatment must be approached through an individualized, whole-person lens. This involves identifying and addressing all factors that may have influenced an individual’s initial decision to use alcohol and other drugs, as well as how or why they developed an addiction.
Some of the most influential factors to consider include:
- The presence of untreated trauma from childhood to the present day
- Effectiveness of current coping mechanisms used to navigate stress and adversity
- Influence of social support; quality of one’s relationships with family, friends, and other peers
- The presence of mental health disorders, including a family history of addiction and mental health disorders
- Age when alcohol and drug use began
- Frequency, intensity, and duration of alcohol and drug use
Though family members and friends can certainly play a role in providing social support, empowerment, and accountability to individuals in addiction recovery, there is often one element that keeps individuals feeling separated from their loved ones: lived personal experience with recovery. Thus, it is necessary to understand that addiction recovery is a personal journey, one that is immensely difficult to relate to – especially for those who have not endured the trials and tribulations of addiction or substance use disorder (SUD) themselves.
Similarly, individuals often hesitate to participate in treatment due to a fear that they will need to work with professionals who also do not have personal experience with recovery. Yet, contrary to this notion, many professionals who work in the realm of addiction recovery do have personal experience with recovery. Often, this lived experience is what motivates them to support and guide others in establishing and maintaining lasting sobriety in their lives.
Furthermore, despite lacking personal experience with recovery, family, friends, and other peers can best support their loved one seeking healing from addiction and SUD by recognizing the benefits of working with a professional who has personal experience with recovery. Not only does this ensure that a treatment plan is curated in the best interest of the client, but it also ensures that the healing process is approached with mutual understanding. Nonetheless, the first benefit of working with a professional in recovery is the ability to form an effective therapeutic alliance.
Building a Therapeutic Alliance Through Shared Personal Experience With Recovery
As an article by Focus: Journal of Life Long Learning in Psychiatry explains:
The therapeutic alliance is posited to be a measure of the therapist’s and client’s mutual engagement in the work of therapy. It represents an important component for achieving treatment success, regardless of the treatment modality.
Research confirms time and time again that the quality of a therapeutic alliance, shared between a client and therapist, is linked to the effectiveness and success of the healing process – independent of the treatment modalities used as well as the types of problems and concerns a client presents. Moreover, the article continues, stating that although there are differences in how the therapeutic alliance is conceptualized, there are three themes (defining features) that stand out. These include:
- Collaborative nature of the relationship
- Affective bond between the client and therapist
- Client and therapist’s ability to agree on treatment goals and tasks
Furthermore, understanding the value of working with a professional who has personal experience with recovery, specifically by informing a stronger therapeutic alliance, can be best achieved by reflecting on each of these themes.
#1. Promoting Mutual Collaboration
First and foremost, when a client works with a professional who has personal experience with recovery, the client and therapist can exercise mutual collaboration when approaching addiction treatment and recovery. Mutual collaboration ensures that a client is able to express their preferences, needs, and goals during treatment and also empowers deeper consideration of these factors when curating an individualized treatment plan.
On the other hand, when a client works with a professional who does not have personal experience with recovery, the client may experience unintentional paternalism in treatment. According to BMC Medical Ethics, “Paternalism emphasizes that staff members must ensure the patient’s best interest in everyday care and treatment, but that decisions are to be taken by the professionals only. The patient is expected to comply with decisions despite the fact that the professionals may not have fully taken into account her/his specific needs and preferences.”
Though a therapist may believe that the decisions they are making are in the client’s best interest, paternalism removes the client’s autonomy and self-determination in the treatment and recovery process. In some instances, paternalism may be necessary, especially for those who present with severe mental health disorders or SUD. Yet, in these cases, clients are often more open and understanding to a professional who has personal experience with recovery compared to a professional who does not. All in all, this emphasis on mutual collaboration facilitates greater treatment retention as well as improved relationships with treatment providers.
#2. Creating an Affective Bond
The second benefit of working with a professional who has personal experience with recovery is its ability to facilitate an affective bond within the therapeutic alliance. An article in World Psychiatry explains that an affective bond is one that facilitates compassion, liking, and trust between a client and a provider. When a client is fond of their therapist and, in turn, the therapist is fond of their client, an effective therapeutic alliance can be established, and effective goals can be created through teamwork.
One of the most important facets of a quality counselor or therapist is their ability to listen, both actively and intently. Professionals who have personal experience with recovery will feel more compelled to engage in active listening with their clients since they first-handily understand their rants, fears, and frustrations. This, in turn, ensures that the therapeutic alliance is successful and that the client feels empowered to commit to lasting sobriety. Knowing that their therapist went through the same trials and came out of it brighter and healthier can also facilitate motivation alongside an affective bond.
Additionally, trust is another undeniably important facet of an effective therapeutic alliance. When a client and provider share a strong foundation of trust in one another, both can feel comfortable expressing the hard truths about their challenges in sobriety and recovery. Being able to disclose the hard truths to a therapist, in particular, can be a game changer in an individual’s ability to establish abstinence and commit to lasting behavior change.
#3. Facilitating Agreeableness
Lastly, for an effective therapeutic alliance to exist, a client and therapist must be on the same page about treatment goals and tasks. Fortunately, working with a professional who has personal experience with recovery can facilitate this agreeableness. This is because those who have lived experience with addiction recovery can reflect on their own journey to identify what efforts worked for them and perhaps what ones were not as effective. Similarly, they can foster a more realistic outlook on the addiction recovery process and timeline for healing.
Throughout recovery, clients may experience dwindling motivation for sobriety and behavior change. Yet, therapists and other professionals who have personal experience with recovery are more sensitive to noticing the warning signs of relapse as they surface since they likely exhibited these warning signs in their own recovery journey. Similarly, these professionals can respond quicker to these warning signs and work more intentionally to adjust and change a client’s treatment plan – by prioritizing mutual collaboration – to ultimately prevent relapse during recovery.
Though therapists without any personal experience with recovery can certainly foster agreeableness with the clients they are serving and supporting, there are undeniable advantages when it comes to working with a therapist who has lived experience with recovery and sobriety. Ultimately, it ensures that the most effective and well-rounded treatment plan is created for a client, one that addresses their unique needs and goals for recovery while motivating them to engage in healthier behaviors for a lifetime to come.
Additional Benefits of Working With a Professional Who Has Personal Experience With Recovery
In addition to strengthening the quality of the therapeutic alliance in treatment, there are a plethora of other benefits of working with a professional who has personal experience with recovery, both for a professional and for a client. For clients, working with a professional with lived experience in addiction recovery can pose the following benefits:
- Facilitate continued accountability from early recovery well into long-term recovery
- Effectively advocate for those in recovery
- Added credibility from lived experience
- Provide reliable and trustworthy referrals to local communities that support sobriety and recovery for clients
- Build stability and healthy interdependence with clients through routine
- Provide knowledge, guidance, and support to family members of those in addiction recovery
- Share past successes and celebrations
Additionally, an article in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment highlights several benefits of professionals who have recovery status. For instance, these professionals:
- Can be crucial anchors for an individual’s self-identity, as those in recovery are able to identify more with their profession
- Attach greater meaning to their career tasks and client relationships
- Experience a greater sense of meaning and purpose at work compared to those who are not in sobriety and, therefore, are more committed to their jobs
When an individual is going through the motions of active addiction, it can feel as if no one could possibly understand what they are going through. Yet, when a client works with a professional who has personal experience with addiction recovery, these feelings of loneliness and misunderstanding can be expelled. In a similar way, clients can feel energized in knowing that they are working with someone who has walked the walk to live a sober and worthwhile life in recovery today.
Facing Addiction Recovery Alongside Professionals Who Understand the Journey
At Rancho Recovery, our staff has the personal experience and professional knowledge that individuals need to not only secure sobriety and prevent relapse but also feel comfortable and supported in achieving lasting healing from the underlying causes of substance use. We offer a variety of services and programs, each of which can be tailored to an individual’s unique needs and goals for recovery. Some of the programs we offer include:
- A medically supervised detoxification program: Provides a safe and supportive healing environment to enable comfortable withdrawal from alcohol and drug use
- Residential treatment: Offers a structured and nurturing healing environment for individuals to heal from the root causes of their substance use and place their full focus on their sobriety and recovery
- Outpatient treatment: Offers flexible treatment programs that allow clients an opportunity to engage and participate in treatment while maintaining daily responsibilities and commitments
We also offer:
- Dual diagnosis treatment: Provides comprehensive and individualized care for individuals struggling with co-occurring mental health disorders and addiction to achieve lasting healing and recovery
- Family programs: Enable family members to participate in their loved one’s recovery by providing education, support, and therapy that encourages the family to rebuild healthy relationships
Moreover, one of the facets of recovery that sets us apart from other recovery facilities is that we provide luxury rehab experiences. Our programs are continuously evolving, and our staff makes it a priority to discover the unique key for each individual that will, essentially, free them from their addiction and, in turn, empower them to develop renewed lives in sobriety and recovery.
Likewise, at Rancho Recovery, our staff understands the value of recognizing that addiction recovery is a personal journey. With our comprehensive and individualized addiction treatment services, coupled with professionals who have personal experience with recovery, we feel well-equipped to help individuals achieve lasting healing from addiction and other types of SUD.
Our mission is to provide successful and effective treatment services while helping individuals and families overcome the stigma of substance use and mental health disorders through education, understanding, and empathy. Working with a professional who has personal experience with recovery can further this mission and enable the highest quality of care. Furthermore, those with family members and other loved ones struggling with substance abuse or mental health disorders can benefit greatly by calling our facility and learning more about our treatment approaches and plans today.
If you are seeking addiction recovery, you may have heard of the benefits of evidence-based treatments, holistic treatments, and more. However, have you considered the benefits of working with a professional who has lived experience with addiction recovery? The recovery status of a professional can facilitate an effective therapeutic alliance, leading to mutual collaboration, affective bond, and agreeableness in treatment and recovery. As a result, you will feel more motivated to foster lasting behavior change and commit to long-term sobriety. At Rancho Recovery, our staff members are no strangers to the trials and tribulations that you will face in recovery, as many of us have been through recovery ourselves. Learn more about our programs by calling (877) 484-1447 today.