Navigating Your Recovery During the Holiday Season

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The holiday season can be hard on everyone. Family pressure, shorter days, and financial struggle already add strain. When you’re in recovery, the holidays can throw curveballs your way. Early in recovery, it’s important to establish new routines and habits centered around your health and happiness. Routine helps establish a baseline for you to fall back on when you’re triggered or uncomfortable. Boredom and unstructured time are difficult in early recovery. 

In life, especially during the holidays, knowing what triggers you is essential. A key to recovery is accepting what we can and can’t control while taking accountability for our actions. Treatment will help you establish your triggers, but as you move through life, you’ll be confronted by situations that may be triggering, but you will have the tools to handle them. Early in recovery, you establish new habits and routines to help you practice using your new tools.  

Many holiday activities center around parties with alcohol, including seasonal-specific alcohol like eggnog, champagne, and mulled wine. The holidays are about indulging in food and drink, so staying sober is challenging. Over the holidays, you might see family members you don’t usually see and be in unusual social situations that make you uncomfortable. These are the times when having a plan is most important so you don’t fall back on maladaptive coping mechanisms.  

Instead of reacting to triggers and situations as they happen, you can set yourself up for success by already having a support system, an exit strategy, or an excuse not to go in the first place. Think about situations and places that have been triggering and problematic in the past. Are there people you always drink or use with? Put your sobriety first and avoid the things you know will be difficult. 

Don’t feel obligated to attend every party, and don’t go to parties where you know there will be drugs and alcohol or people you know might bring drugs or alcohol. Your number one priority is protecting your recovery! It’s OK to take the time you need and have an unconventional holiday season while you figure that out. Don’t push yourself to get back to “normal.”

What are the tools you’ve learned to recenter and ground yourself? Make sure you can remove yourself from situations and take a moment to breathe. Go to the bathroom, step outside, or call someone you trust so that you can pause and regroup.

Recovery is about changing our habits and lifestyle. Any change or transition can bring up grief. It’s normal to feel sad or uncomfortable with change. It’s normal to mourn the habits around drinking, such as having traditional holiday drinks with family. Part of your recovery process will be creating new traditions that fit your sober lifestyle. 

If you usually spend the holidays with your family, set boundaries and tell them what you need. If that means creating new traditions, this could be a fun opportunity to celebrate your unique bond. With support from your loved ones, this could be a fun process! Family traditions over the holiday season are about love and meaningful time together. 

***

If you are prepared for treatment, the holiday season can seem like the worst time at a treatment center. It’s lonely without family and friends, and you might feel missing out on traditions and fun. However, there’s no perfect time to go to treatment. It’s a difficult decision, and we appreciate how stressful it can be to decide to go to treatment during the holiday season. But if you are struggling with mental health or substance use issues, the holiday season will not be a cheerful, healthy time.

Instead, consider going to treatment over the holidays as the perfect time to reset. Instead of trying to white-knuckle it to get through the season, give yourself the gift of recovery. Winter is traditionally a time of rebirth and resting before regrowth. It’s the perfect time to reflect on your gratitude and take accountability. You can move forward with a new, healthy mindset. Recovery is for you and your health, don’t try to make it through the holidays just for the sake of it.

At Sabino Recovery, we know that the holidays are triggering for many people, so we do our best to make it as calm as possible. Mostly, we carry on with therapies and groups with healing as our priority. We always aim to make Sabino Recovery a safe place for every resident. We suggest participating in calming modalities like equine therapy so that you stay centered. Recovery is the focus of everything at Sabino Recovery, including during the holiday season. If you feel particularly lonely or are triggered by anything, you are in the perfect place to handle those emotions.

Contact our intake team if you or your loved one is considering treatment this holiday season. We are dedicated to connecting you with the best treatment options available. To take the next step to true healing, call Sabino Recovery today at (844) 286-0516.

Navigating Your Recovery During the Holiday Season

Feb 17, 2023

Mental Health

Shara Turner, LPC, MSC, NCC, NARM

The holiday season can be hard on everyone. Family pressure, shorter days, and financial struggle already add strain. When you’re in recovery, the holidays can throw curveballs your way. Early in recovery, it’s important to establish new routines and habits centered around your health and happiness. Routine helps establish a baseline for you to fall back on when you’re triggered or uncomfortable. Boredom and unstructured time are difficult in early recovery. 

In life, especially during the holidays, knowing what triggers you is essential. A key to recovery is accepting what we can and can’t control while taking accountability for our actions. Treatment will help you establish your triggers, but as you move through life, you’ll be confronted by situations that may be triggering, but you will have the tools to handle them. Early in recovery, you establish new habits and routines to help you practice using your new tools.  

Many holiday activities center around parties with alcohol, including seasonal-specific alcohol like eggnog, champagne, and mulled wine. The holidays are about indulging in food and drink, so staying sober is challenging. Over the holidays, you might see family members you don’t usually see and be in unusual social situations that make you uncomfortable. These are the times when having a plan is most important so you don’t fall back on maladaptive coping mechanisms.  

Instead of reacting to triggers and situations as they happen, you can set yourself up for success by already having a support system, an exit strategy, or an excuse not to go in the first place. Think about situations and places that have been triggering and problematic in the past. Are there people you always drink or use with? Put your sobriety first and avoid the things you know will be difficult. 

Don’t feel obligated to attend every party, and don’t go to parties where you know there will be drugs and alcohol or people you know might bring drugs or alcohol. Your number one priority is protecting your recovery! It’s OK to take the time you need and have an unconventional holiday season while you figure that out. Don’t push yourself to get back to “normal.”

What are the tools you’ve learned to recenter and ground yourself? Make sure you can remove yourself from situations and take a moment to breathe. Go to the bathroom, step outside, or call someone you trust so that you can pause and regroup.

Recovery is about changing our habits and lifestyle. Any change or transition can bring up grief. It’s normal to feel sad or uncomfortable with change. It’s normal to mourn the habits around drinking, such as having traditional holiday drinks with family. Part of your recovery process will be creating new traditions that fit your sober lifestyle. 

If you usually spend the holidays with your family, set boundaries and tell them what you need. If that means creating new traditions, this could be a fun opportunity to celebrate your unique bond. With support from your loved ones, this could be a fun process! Family traditions over the holiday season are about love and meaningful time together. 

***

If you are prepared for treatment, the holiday season can seem like the worst time at a treatment center. It’s lonely without family and friends, and you might feel missing out on traditions and fun. However, there’s no perfect time to go to treatment. It’s a difficult decision, and we appreciate how stressful it can be to decide to go to treatment during the holiday season. But if you are struggling with mental health or substance use issues, the holiday season will not be a cheerful, healthy time.

Instead, consider going to treatment over the holidays as the perfect time to reset. Instead of trying to white-knuckle it to get through the season, give yourself the gift of recovery. Winter is traditionally a time of rebirth and resting before regrowth. It’s the perfect time to reflect on your gratitude and take accountability. You can move forward with a new, healthy mindset. Recovery is for you and your health, don’t try to make it through the holidays just for the sake of it.

At Sabino Recovery, we know that the holidays are triggering for many people, so we do our best to make it as calm as possible. Mostly, we carry on with therapies and groups with healing as our priority. We always aim to make Sabino Recovery a safe place for every resident. We suggest participating in calming modalities like equine therapy so that you stay centered. Recovery is the focus of everything at Sabino Recovery, including during the holiday season. If you feel particularly lonely or are triggered by anything, you are in the perfect place to handle those emotions.

Contact our intake team if you or your loved one is considering treatment this holiday season. We are dedicated to connecting you with the best treatment options available. To take the next step to true healing, call Sabino Recovery today at (844) 286-0516.

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