In a group setting, love, human connection, and the search for meaning in addiction treatment can be of great help to those trying to get their lives back on track. When a person has developed the disease of addiction, they simply cannot know the truth. All addictions tell our reptilian brain (a vital sector for us to survive and experience emotions) “I kept doing that because it felt very good!” For this reason, any person with addiction defends himself to convince himself and convince us that he has to continue with the destructive behavior.
Addictive Behavioral Patterns
Addictive behaviors cannot be sustained in the truth if they want to continue to organize a personal story that allows the addiction to be sustained, and for that, a whole network of errors and omissions in their way of thinking might be necessary. The addict may have been running away from reality to relieve pain for years and found it temporarily helpful, but when seeking help, the web of lies and self-deception can no longer function and that is where their new path of self-knowledge begins.
Love Relationship
In order to change, the addict has to develop a relationship based on love. He has to understand love as the ability to take care of the development and well-being of everyone involved or anyone who has a relationship with the addict. If a person with addiction criticizes and hates himself, the people around him can begin by accepting many of the mistakes that have been made. In a recovery program, the addict will learn about taking care of himself, worrying about himself, even when he does not understand well what he is doing.
Ways of Thinking
Love for oneself and for the other will be the priority action in all stages of recovery from addiction. However, since the disease makes the addict move away from the emotions that they experience both in themselves and in the other, the addict needs the development of human connections as another of the central elements. These provide the addict with joy, acceptance, and anticipation that they are important to the other. Listening to the group during recovery makes the addict recognize many ways of thinking and feeling that are shared, which causes the regression to the feeling of loneliness and isolation, which is gradually disappearing.
Personal Growth
It has been heard over and over again that “What we cannot do alone, we can do together.” This is what allows Southern California substance abuse treatment to work to get the addict in a sober state and developing human connections. Another possible life is set in motion, giving a second chance that replaces the lack of meaning that the disease favored. The discovery of a new meaning in the addict’s life is unthinkable if the person is unable to grow within a group setting as a human being. This development means that the addict can no longer choose or expect anything from the addiction, understanding that at this stage of life, he or she gradually becomes a person in recovery with new projects based on constant personal growth.