Getting help on the outside.

    In residential treatment getting help is easy.  It is all around you and comes in all different forms.  You have your therapists and psychiatrists milling about ready to help you and proactively engaging you.  You have your peers who won't let you isolate.  Basically, you would have to work to not get help, and even then they would come find you.
     On the outside recovery is a whole different animal.  You are free to make your own choices and suffer the consequences.  You have to seek out help.  If you don't make meetings, no one is going to come looking for you.  If you don't attend therapy, the therapist will just move on to the next patient.  We need something in the outside world that was provided for us in treatment.  We need accountability.
     The first thing I did when I got out of treatment was to start a list of meetings I attended and I kept track of every one.  At my first meeting I shared and closed my share with the fact that I didn't know anybody in the local fellowships yet and was in need of a sponsor.  Sure enough I left that meeting with a sponsor who would keep me accountable for attending meetings and calling everyday.  If my sponsor doesn't hear from me he calls me out for isolating.  He asks when my therapy appointments are and calls me shortly before to make sure I am on my way to the appointment.  I should point out that I have a sponsor in two different fellowships, which some may deem unnecessary.  For me I am fighting both a substance addiction and a process addiction so I find this helpful.  Honestly I think my NA meetings work for any addiction but since I am fortunate enough to have "S" meetings nearby, I attend those too.  One thing I am sure about is that I can't have too much help.
     The other thing I have to struggle with is keeping up on my development of a spiritual connection.  I had time put aside for prayer and meditation in treatment but now I have distractions like the work, the internet and television.  Keeping a balanced recovery is an active process.  It won't just happen.  If you are fresh out of recovery make a schedule for important recovery tasks and when you plan to do them.  This is an essential tool to keep you working toward recovery.  Like we say in the meetings "it works if you work it."