Addressing Your Addiction Experience in Support Group Meetings

How To Talk About Your Substance Abuse Experiences During Addiction Support Group Meetings

Going to group meetings is an important part of an addiction treatment plan. When you attend group meetings, you get a chance to hear from others who have experienced many of the same challenges you have. You can feel supported and validated in your struggle, and you can even learn a bit from their experiences. Going to these meetings also gives you a chance to share some of your own experiences and feelings, allowing you to get support as you work through your recovery.

You may feel awkward or hesitant when you start attending group meetings since you will be sharing such personal feelings and sometimes shameful behaviors. However, you should embrace this process as an essential part of your recovery. Here are a few things to remember about appropriate addressing your addiction experience in support group meetings:

Keep The Support Group Members in Mind

When you are addressing a group of people who have also struggled with addiction and are also going through recovery, there’s not going to be much that you can’t say. Most of the people in the group will have had experiences like yours, and all will be able to relate to what you are saying. You can share freely without fear of judgement or shame.

If you are in another group setting in which your recovery comes up, you’ll want to keep your audience in mind to know how much to share. Keep the details to a minimum and speak in generalities if they are not people who can relate to your experiences. Otherwise, you may get a reaction that will make you feel embarrassed or shamed, and that can be a trigger that threatens your recovery.

Be Honest To Confront Your Addiction Experiences

In a safe space like an addiction support group, you can – and should – be open and honest in your communications. That doesn’t mean that you have to share every dirty detail of what you’ve done or what has happened to you over the course of your addiction. However, it does mean that you should be open and honest about how you are feeling and about the important details contributing to your addiction.

For example, you don’t have to share the specifics of your relationship with your spouse, but you can talk about how you felt like your spouse enabled your behavior or contributed in other ways to your addiction. The more honest you can be in your sharing, the better you can confront your experiences and work through the healing process.

Say What Feels Right

There are no rules for how much you have to share at a group meeting. You can say as little as your name and that you’re having a hard day. What matters is that you share what feels right to you in the moment. You must prioritize self-care, and that includes giving yourself space when you need it and not pressing yourself to be more vulnerable than you are ready to be.

Recovery happens differently for every person. You cannot force it to happen on a certain timeline. Show yourself compassion, and participate as fully as you can in the moment.

Attending group meetings is just one thing you can do to get the support you need during your recovery. You can also attend individual addiction counseling sessions and go to an addiction clinic to get a tailored addiction treatment program. Group meetings provide a valuable source of support and provide accountability, but you can’t rely on them alone. You need your own recovery plan, and an addiction counselor can help you create the plan that will optimize your chances of success.

Corebella Health and Wellness offers a variety of addiction treatment options so that you can find what you need to support your healing and recovery. We offer detox treatment and medication therapy with a suboxone doctor. We offer individual addiction counseling, group support meetings, and family counseling and support meetings. We also have a wellness clinic offering services to help you create a healthier lifestyle for comprehensive healing. We provide services throughout the Scottsdale, Glendale, and Tempe areas. Call us today to schedule a visit to one of our clinics or to talk with a counselor about our services.