Recovering from an addiction is challenging enough, and when you throw in the tremendous responsibilities of motherhood, it can seem like an impossible challenge. Becoming a sober mom requires making a lot of sacrifices and perseverance through the process.
Several factors make achieving sobriety very hard, but most importantly, you have to show up for your kids regardless. Hence, you have to keep pushing hard to achieve long-term sobriety while fulfilling mother duties to your kids. To help with the process, this guide on sober living for single mothers and non-single has been prepared for you.
While watching fellow sober moms who have achieved the same goals you’re targeting, it’s helpful to also take notes from those who have relapsed. These tips are key takeaways before we delve into more details on recovery guides.
Challenges to Becoming a Sober Mom
As we mentioned earlier, the journey to becoming a sober mom is filled with its challenges. Knowing some of the challenges you would face as a mom working towards long-term sobriety would be helpful to you. Let’s check them out:
Adopting New Ways of Life While Maintaining Old Routines
The duties of a mother and a worker are more than enough for you at the moment. As a result, you may have to rethink your everyday routines completely.
How does it make you feel to contemplate such a major change?
Managing your children’s needs may be more important than social gatherings at work or in your book club. In stressful situations at home, mothers frequently turn to their wine culture to cope. But keep in mind that you stopped drinking. Then it’s entirely right to do so.
Insufficient Support From Your Partner
Parents would probably be better able to manage their lifestyle choices if their spouses had assisted them with domestic tasks and childcare. Unfortunately, the companion has fallen short of her tasks, much to their dismay.
According to a poll conducted by the Harvard Business Review (HBR), working women spend more than 70% of their time taking care of their children and the household responsibilities.
In particular, working-from-home parents may find it difficult to balance their professional and personal life demands, which may be overwhelming. Keeping these moms sober would be very difficult if they were recovering themselves.
Scheduling Time for Recovery
A sober mother must also find a method to keep up with her recovery programs while dealing with lifestyle changes and unsupportive spouses.
Remember that attending 12-step meetings and sober mom groups is essential in addition to individual counseling. Maintaining your sobriety and managing your time is one of the challenges you’re bound to face.
Tips to Recovery for Sober Moms
Sobriety, career, and family may all be challenging at the same time. On the other hand, these tips have helped many mothers maintain long-term sobriety and are quite beneficial. Let’s have a look at them!
Create a Thriving Community
Creating a supportive group of other moms recovering from drug and alcohol addiction is important for laying a strong foundation. Substance misuse has a catastrophic effect on a mother and her family. Only another mother can comprehend the unbearable anguish and difficulties of being a sober mother.
Moms who have been free of alcohol and drug addiction for a long time have laid a firm foundation for learning to offer and accept support. Most women are wonderful at assisting but struggle to ask for it. People addicted to drugs or alcohol do not enter recovery with a positive attitude about themselves. For mothers struggling with drug misuse, unresolved shame is a major problem.
Mothers who maintain their sobriety for a long time develop an unbreakable foundation by attending several meetings, making phone calls to other sober mom friends, and mingling with other moms on the same road. These activities foster long-lasting connections, ensuring that mothers never feel alone.
The issue is that most substance abuse treatment programs and rehabs don’t have groups for only mothers to start establishing this crucial part of long-term recovery from addiction and alcoholism. This is one of the things that we value here!
Let Go of Resentment
Most alcoholics and drug addicts die as a result of resentment. Holding on to resentment makes you a prisoner and puts you in a victim mentality. Healing from substance use disorder requires letting go of resentment and developing healthy methods to cope with rage.
Moms who have been sober for a long time have learned how to deal with their anger constructively. They don’t point the finger at others or play the victim. They’ve discovered their voice and how to express themselves without being violent.
Practice Self Care
Being a mother is a beautiful gift, but it can also be difficult for a parent trying to stay sober. Learning to take care of oneself is a critical aspect of the healing process for mothers. Women who have maintained lifelong sobriety have developed methods to slow down, take time for themselves, and reduce their time on their never-ending “to do” list.
Hence, you can take time out to try new hobbies, take time off social media, and spend more time with your loved ones during recovery.
Whatever you do, don’t Drink any Alcohol
There are many twists and turns on the road of life. People we care about pass away, we lose our jobs and have financial setbacks, and our children become ill. Our lives are ravaged by heartbreak, divorce, mental health, and chronic pain. Additionally, many of us have recently had therapy to help us heal from the effects of past physical, sexual, or emotional abuse.
Any of these may trigger a relapse. In contrast, those who have achieved long-term sobriety realize that the most important thing is never to pick up a drink or a drug, regardless of the circumstances. They hold on, ask for assistance, and keep in mind that abusing alcohol or drugs will only worsen in the long run.
Addiction Recovery in Orange County, CA
Well, that’s a lot of detail on achieving sobriety as a mom in recovery. We cannot undermine the importance of sober mom groups and treatment centers specifically for women in fostering the process till completion. Applying the tips provided in this piece alongside added expert opinion should pose great results.
To learn more about gender-specific addiction treatment facilities in Costa Mesa, CA, call Opus Health at 855-953-1345.
