For many recovering addicts, they’ll be re-entering into their daily routines and lives at home after rehab. For many people, this can be scary, as they feel as if they’re leaving the safety and security of the treatment facility and venturing back into a life riddled with triggers and temptations. As a Christian drug rehab that incorporates faith into our treatments and teachings, we understand that staying sober can become a daily challenge, and your faith may falter throughout recovery. For those who are worried about leaving rehab after treatment, here’s a guide on how to stay sober after rehab that can help.

How to Stay Sober After Rehab: Tips to Follow

One of the biggest challenges to staying sober after addiction treatment is the fact that you are returning to your life before treatment, which can be an environment filled with temptations and triggers. The best way to avoid giving in to these drug cravings is to avoid these triggers as much as you can. This process often includes keeping your distance from any places, people, or events that are associated with your addiction. 

The friend that gave you cocaine should be avoided, and you should probably stay clear of the concerts where you couldn’t help but pop pills. However, eventually, you’ll come across moments when you can’t simply avoid a trigger, and you have to face it instead. For this reason, it’s important to be prepared for situations you might be placed in as you’re adjusting to life after rehab. 

Below is a guide on what to do to stay sober, with tips that can help you maintain your sobriety no matter what situation you’re faced with. 

Modify Your Home Environment

Especially if you kept alcohol or drugs in your home, coming back to a clean environment that’s conducive to your new lifestyle can make a world of difference. To prevent coming home to triggers in your own house, ask a loved one or someone you trust to remove any alcohol or paraphernalia from your home. Tell them about all your usual hiding spots to make sure they’ve cleaned out everything.

Maintain a Routine

Rehab usually includes a strict routine that involves various therapies and a constant schedule. When you leave treatment, it is easy to stray from this pattern of behavior, but your new free time could be dangerous. When recovering addicts are bored, they are more likely to relapse. Avoid this problem by maintaining a good schedule. If you had Bible study every day at a certain time, continue this after treatment. You can also fill your free time with other good habits like exercise and mindfulness.

Don’t Miss Any Follow-Up Appointments

If you have any follow-up appointments scheduled with your doctors or rehab center, don’t miss them. You may feel tempted to skip them or think you can handle things on your own, but it’s much easier to avoid temptation and stick with your plan when you’re receiving positive feedback and guidance. 

Find a Sponsor

Sponsors are individuals who have been sober for at least one year and can therefore understand all of the challenges you’ll face in the first year of sobriety. These individuals are in the position to help newly sober people like you find their footing in this new lifestyle. If you don’t have a sponsor, ask your 12-step meeting leader how you can start working with one. 

Participate in Sober Activities 

Sobriety can be a bit boring at times, simply because you’re night out of drinking is no longer an option, and that’s okay! It just means you need to find new ways to have fun, and, trust us, they’re out there. A few sober activities you could try include: 

• Exercising
• Meditating
• Yoga
• Playing sports
• Painting or another art activity
• Going back to school or taking an online course
• Gardening
• Learning a new language 
• Teaching (if you have a degree)
• Volunteering 

Replace Old Habits WithHealthy Ones 

Old habits, in this case, don’t just refer to drug or alcohol abuse but also to eating too much junk food, not drinking enough water, and not getting enough sleep. Stress, exhaustion, dehydration, frustration, and physical and mental illness are all contributing factors to addiction, so addressing these things in recovery by making some simple changes can really help. 

Some new habits you can implement into your daily routine include drinking at least 8 cups of water every day, getting at least 8 hours of sleep every night, doing at least 30 minutes of exercise three times a week, and taking an hour every day to do something that makes you happy, whether that is reading a good book or watching a movie. These are behaviors that will help you learn how to enjoy your life without drugs or alcohol. 

Set Realistic and Attainable Goals 

One of the best ways to maintain sobriety is to set realistic goals. If you’re not a runner, don’t set a goal to run a 5k in three weeks. You know yourself better than anyone, so we encourage you to set realistic and attainable goals that will help you progress in recovery and not discourage you. 

These can include not missing any 12-step meetings within the first three months of your sobriety, doing a daily devotional, or getting at least 30 minutes of exercise Monday through Friday. These are all attainable goals that you can build on and will help keep you accountable. 

If you’re struggling to stay on track, our alumni program can help. Our Christian addiction recovery center offers aftercare services for individuals who have completed treatment and need guidance as they adjust to their newfound sobriety. 

Staying Sober Quotes from the Bible

At our facility, we incorporated faith into all of our treatment methods to help clients heal spiritually as well as physically and mentally. We may all falter at times, but when you are feeling weak, we believe looking to God for strength can help. Below are a few Bible verses for staying clean and sober that can help you.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” – James 1:2-4

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and he will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6

“…we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” - Romans 5:3-5

If you do lose your way and relapse, it is okay. Our stabilization program is designed to get you back on track. You do not need to be ashamed of a relapse, but you should get help immediately to prevent spiraling out of control back into your addiction.

Begin Addiction Recovery Today 

What makes our Christian drug rehabilitation center unique is that your treatment doesn’t stop when you step outside of our facility. As part of the Banyan family, Faith in Recovery offers an aftercare program that is designed to make your sobriety journey easier and to help you make that life-long commitment to staying sober and keeping your faith. Through this program, clients are connected with others who have gone through our programs, creating a new support system with like-minded people to spend time with.

Our faith-based recovery programs are designed to help you find long-lasting success and to strengthen your relationship with God at the same time. If you or a loved one is struggling with substance abuse, do not be afraid to ask for help.

Related Reading: 

Scripture for Anxiety

What the Bible Says About Addiction