While addiction treatment programs play a vital role in helping people along the path to recovery, sustained support in the form of aftercare programs can be incredibly beneficial in helping patients maintain their sobriety. If you’re looking to start treatment, contact 888.687.8014 to learn more about our intensive outpatient program in Omaha, Nebraska. Northpoint Omaha can help you to break free from addiction and start your life in sobriety today.
But what is an aftercare program, and how does it help? The benefits of aftercare programs are hard to overstate. We’ve listed the five top benefits of addiction aftercare below.
What Is an Aftercare Program?
Aftercare programs provide long-lasting support for addiction recovery after you’ve completed a traditional treatment program. Too often, people graduate from treatment and have no real plan in place to stay sober. An aftercare program provides structure, continued care, and peer support to help sustain sobriety in this difficult period of recovery.
Benefits of Addiction Aftercare
Graduating from addiction treatment can be both exciting and nerve-racking. People are ready to thrive in their new lives in recovery but often worry about how they will react to triggers or cravings without the help of treatment professionals.
Aftercare programs can provide several helpful tools and resources to support you as you navigate life in recovery. Aftercare program benefits extend into numerous areas of a person’s life by offering:
Long-Lasting Support
The first of our five benefits of aftercare programs is support. After graduating from treatment, people who enroll in an aftercare program still have access to:
- Clinicians
- Addiction support professionals
- Psychiatric care
The support network for recovery in an aftercare program is there to help in difficult times and keep you on the road to recovery.
Accountability
Staying accountable is one of the key elements of addiction recovery. Like all habits, sharing your intentions and goals with others can motivate you to stick to them. In the case of aftercare programs, this helps you stick to your goal of staying sober, stay on track with the activities that sustain your sobriety, and keeps you accountable for your actions.
Continuity of Care
Another one of the key aftercare program benefits is continuing your treatment with the same providers and clinical team. Aftercare keeps you in contact with the people who helped you get sober in the first place and have a detailed understanding of your unique situation.
Social Connection
Peer support plays a vital role in addiction recovery. At an aftercare program, you can stay connected to the peers who have helped you along the way in your recovery.
You can also use these connections to find an opportunity to give back. Aftercare programs are typically filled with alumni and others trying to stay sober and can be a valuable resource to draw upon and contribute to.
Increased Likelihood of Long-Term Recovery
Finally, one of the best benefits of aftercare programs is that they help people stay sober longer. Several academic studies have investigated aftercare programs and found that they greatly increase the likelihood that a person stays sober after completing treatment.
Remember that substance use disorders take time to recover from and that an aftercare program can keep you vigilant in your recovery.
Start Your Recovery at Northpoint Omaha Today
When you’re ready to start addiction treatment, call Northpoint Omaha at 888.687.8014 to learn more about our outpatient treatment programs and how we incorporate aftercare programming into all of our treatment plans.
Our team has the experience and knowledge to help anyone recover from substance use disorders, no matter where they are in life. Call today to see how we can help you break free from addiction and start your new life in recovery today.