“What did you learn today?” your parents might have asked after a day at school. “I don’t know,” you reply. You didn’t pay much attention. You didn’t care too much about what they were teaching. Everything about school bored and annoyed you. You certainly learned some things, but you may not have fully absorbed the teaching which took place because you weren’t in a mindset of absorption. The information, the tools, and the skills, weren’t anything that particularly mattered to you. As a result, you didn’t give your full attention, and you didn’t come away with anything useful.
Men who go to treatment for drug and alcohol addiction go, in a way, back to school. Most treatment centers’ programming includes educational group sessions which may or may not be therapeutic based. For example, a dialectical behavioral therapy group might be more skill building and information based than a DBT processing group therapy session. “Classes” might also include relapse prevention, diet, nutrition, medication management, therapeutic journaling, neuroscience of addiction, and much more. These educational sessions are not merely fillers for a schedule otherwise dominated by activities and therapy. Every single component which is designed into a treatment center’s treatment plan is extremely important. Addiction is a matter of life or death. All of the education a man can receive from treatment will help him stay alive.
Addiction, of course, leads to some unruly behaviors. In treatment, men might revert into their school-aged selves, uninterested in learning or paying attention. Typically, what brings a man to treatment for addiction is a series of painful and dangerous experiences. Treatment is not a means to an end or a necessary requirement. Treatment is the exceptional opportunity to learn how to live in a way which does not necessitate the destructive behaviors associated with addiction, as well as addiction itself.
Time is not a waste when you are in treatment. Each piece of information is invaluable for your health, wellness, and longevity in recovery. There is a saying in recovery “don’t take yourself so seriously” and this sentiment has importance. We can think we are more serious than our treatment, know better than the professionals, and have a grip on addiction, and take our stance over the whole situation very seriously. The more serious we take ourselves, the less serious we take others trying to help us. We shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously, but we should take our recovery seriously.
You have a chance at life. Every day at Tree House Recovery in Orange County, CA, we are helping men find freedom from recovery. Call us today for information on our men’s treatment programs: (855) 202-2138