Give Yourself Grace to Allow for Growth
When you are in the grips of a substance use disorder, it can feel like you are trapped. You want to give up drugs or alcohol, but withdrawal symptoms chase you back to more substance use. You might feel like nothing will ever really change.
But if you get yourself into treatment, you can experience the possibility and power of change. The process of reclaiming your sobriety is the best possible evidence that change truly is possible.
Still, once you have been in recovery for a little while, you might inadvertently forget that important lesson about the possibility of change. As your day-to-day life rolls on, challenges of various kinds are going to arise, and you might find yourself sorely tempted to return to drugs or alcohol. In fact, a relapse might feel inevitable. You might convince yourself that you are a person who uses drugs or alcohol, and you always will be.
If you get to thinking that way, you are struggling with what is called a “fixed mindset.” But what will serve you better in recovery is what is known as a “growth mindset.” A fixed mindset makes it hard to believe in and make changes in your life. A growth mindset opens you up to all kinds of wonderful possibilities.
Let’s take a deeper dive into these two competing mindsets.
A Fixed Mindset Doesn’t Fix Much
When you have a fixed mindset, you are convinced that certain aspects of your life—your personality, talents, behaviors (including, perhaps, substance use), and more—cannot be changed. When you think this way, it seems unlikely that you can make any progress toward any positive changes in your life.
Some people might tell you that having a fixed mindset is just a realistic way to look at your life. But we would argue that having a fixed mindset can serve as a kind of excuse for not making the effort to improve your life. If you believe that nothing can get any better, it is extremely likely that, in fact, nothing will get any better.
A Growth Mindset Allows You to Flourish
When you have a growth mindset, you start from the belief that change is possible in your life. You can work to make changes and improvements in your immediate circumstances, you can overcome setbacks, and you can pursue goals over time.
Think of what a difference such an attitude can make. Now, when you think about your recovery, you can imagine yourself working hard to maintain your sobriety, finding ways to overcome challenges of all kinds, and pursuing all kinds of goals—including those that are directly related to your sobriety and those that are made possible by your ongoing sobriety.
Your Growth Mindset Serves You Well—Even (or Especially) If You Relapse
It is all too easy to see a relapse as evidence that you are incapable of change. After all, you tried to get sober and stay sober, and a relapse looks a lot like a failure—especially when you have a fixed mindset. Even if you have been working to cultivate a growth mindset, a relapse can undermine your confidence and make it more likely you will fall back on a fixed mindset that does not really serve your best interests.
But that is the wrong way to react to a relapse. A relapse is certainly a setback—but we have already established that overcoming setbacks and challenges is empowered by maintaining a growth mindset. If you experience a relapse, the best move is to return to treatment, get sober again, and then continue to work toward ongoing sobriety. A growth mindset allows you to keep a relapse in perspective.
We Can Help You Make the Most Important Change
We want to be extremely clear here: You can, in fact, reclaim your sobriety. And we can help you do so.
At The Aviary Recovery Center—located near St. Louis, Missouri—we can help you make the most important change in your life. The first step to reclaiming your sobriety is our medically supervised detoxification program, which allows you to withstand the rigors of withdrawal in a safe environment that is free of temptations.
Detox is followed by rehabilitation, which includes both individual and group therapy. In addition to offering strategies and resources for maintaining your sobriety over time, rehab also includes treatment for co-occurring mental health disorders—including depression, anxiety, trauma, and more—that may be entangled with your substance use disorder.
As your time in treatment comes to an end, you can count on our continuum of care to provide ongoing support as your recovery journey gets underway. We offer continued support through our alumni group.