Ways to Enjoy a Sober Holiday
How can you enjoy a sober holiday season? In the past, you may have spent time with friends or family drinking or using drugs. It was normal for you to find a way to hang out and just have fun. Now that you are focused on sober living, things are a bit more difficult than they used to be. You’re not sure how to make it through. At Alina Lodge, our goal is to give you strategies to encourage long-term sober living even through the holidays.
Identify What Makes a Sober Holiday Season So Difficult
Sober living is a challenge every day, but as long as you work one step at a time towards maintaining that goal, you’ll achieve it. The holidays, in general, can make that difficult. Take a moment to think about all of the factors that may get in the way of you enjoying the holidays without drugs or alcohol. What’s making it hard to have a sober holiday season?
- Traditions that involve using substances
- People that you do not like which increases your stress
- Past trauma that may have you reliving what happened to you
- Fears of being alone for the holidays
- Unsure how you should handle these experiences now
When you identify what is bothering you the most about the holidays – or worrying you about relapse, that’s when you can start to move beyond those struggles.
Tips for Making a Sober Holiday Fun
A sober holiday season is more possible than you think. Here are some strategies to help you to have one.
Do Something Different
Don’t do whatever you used to do. Instead, find a way to have fun in a new way. Go to a different location. Create your own holiday celebration right at your home.
Choose the Right People
This is often one of the hard parts about the holidays. You want to do the same thing you always have with the same people. Yet, those people may still be drinking or abusing substances. Who else can you spend some time with?
Change the Focus of the Day
While the holidays are often child-focused, you may be used to celebrating with adults. Why not have a party for the kids instead? Or, you could host an adult evening at home with holiday movies. The key here is to change what you typically expect from a good experience.
Know When You Need to Ask for Help
There will be times, including on the holidays, when it is hard to deal with sobriety. The fact is, you may feel like you are missing out on things you used to love to do. While you can try to change things up and expect different outcomes, you may still struggle with your past use.
There are times when this may push you towards using. You don’t want to lose all of the hard work you’ve done to relapse. For that reason, now may be the best time for you to step back into therapy to find out what’s really going on and to rebuild that confidence in your ability to maintain a sober life. At Alina Lodge, we can help with programs such as:
- Drug detox services (if you’re using)
- Residential treatment programs
- Long-term residential treatment
- Men’s rehab program
- Women’s rehab program
You Can Get Through the Holidays – and Alina Lodge Can Help
A sober holiday season may be your goal for right now, but you also need to continuously work on sober living as a whole. Sometimes, our brains and bodies just need more time and work to heal. That is where Alina Lodge can help you. With therapies designed to provide you with exceptional care, we can help you achieve the best outcome possible. Learn more by connecting with us online or calling 833.685.1700 today.
