You have made it this far in your healing journey and that is something to celebrate. It takes courage and bravery to prioritize your recovery and put everything else aside. Now that you are facing life newly sober, you may be struggling with how to be a better parent in recovery. You are not alone in this struggle. Recovery is hard, and being a parent in recovery is no easy task. You may hold yourself accountable and be hard on yourself for past choices that affected your family.
However, the past is the past, and your task now is to move forward. The good news is that you are taking steps to get there. To assist you, this article will provide helpful tips on how to be a better parent in recovery. Some of the solutions include participation in individual counseling, alumni programs, and holistic therapies like yoga and meditation.
Communicate Openly to Be a Better Parent in Recovery
No matter how you want to think about it, kids are resilient and they will be okay. As a parent, you tend to be harder on yourself than your children are. All families are unique and share a bond of support during tough times.
Open communication is a foundation within recovery and key to establishing better connections within the family unit. While your children do not need to know every little detail, taking time to explain what’s going on in an age-appropriate manner can be effective for all parties involved. This can encourage your child to be open and honest with you about their feelings. For example, you could initiate the conversation over family dinner or you could chat during a walk around your neighborhood.
Practice Mindfulness
Parenting can be overwhelming. Of course, you worry about your child in a million ways. To help ease your worries, take a moment and breathe. Focus on the moment and recognize that it is essential to take one moment at a time. You are not a robot and cannot do everything in one day.
One of the most simple ways to practice mindfulness is to breathe and become aware of your breath. Create awareness of the moment you are experiencing and any sensations in your body.
Another way to practice mindfulness is to journal your thoughts and feelings. Allow the pen to do the work and write what is flowing from your mind onto paper. At times, you may wonder where all of your stress is coming from. When you put things down on paper, you can see your triggers and reflect on your thought processes.
Own Your Choices to Be a Better Parent in Recovery
Making bad choices is a part of being human. If you lose your temper when your child walks through the house with muddy shoes or brings home a bad report card, this does not make you a bad parent. This makes you a human. However, you can also own your bad choices or mistakes.
It is helpful to apologize to your children when you are wrong. This will teach your children accountability and continue to help you to grow within recovery. An apology will remind your child that you are aware of your actions and teach them that you care about their feelings.
Rebuild Trust Through Individual Counseling
Sometimes parenting in recovery can be frustrating and you find that you need some extra help. At The Guest House, we are committed to helping you no matter what you need in recovery. We offer individual therapy that is tailored to your needs. It is a misconception to think that you can do this on your own. We will support you every step of the way.
Individual counseling can help you improve your parenting skills and guide you in the direction you want to go. Learning how to trust yourself again is a difficult experience and you may need some assistance to get through this time in your recovery.
Practice Self-Care Through Yoga and Meditation
Self-care is essential in recovery. You have to take time out to focus on yourself and fill your cup before you can help anyone else. Even as a parent, this is true. All too often, parenting in recovery requires you to try to heroically manage everything each day with no breaks. No one can live this way. You need to take a time-out for yourself.
One of the ways you can practice self-care is to participate in yoga. No matter what is going on in your life, you can benefit from calming your mind and focusing on the here and now. In yoga classes, you will follow your breath with stretches and poses. This form of self-care can lead to better parenting in recovery due to the many benefits yoga provides. The chance to relax, become mindful, and release tension can result in better decision-making and a gentler and calmer reaction to stressful situations.
Meditation involves taking a few minutes to decompress and center yourself to release anything that is not productive. Yoga combined with meditation promotes physical and mental health and well-being. At The Guest House, we offer both of these practices and are more than happy to meet you right where you are in your recovery. Our mission is to see you succeed in all facets of your recovery.
How Can an Alumni Program Help Me to Be a Better Parent in Recovery?
An alumni program can benefit you in several ways. When you participate in alumni activities, you can receive peer support and empathy, a chance to enhance your communication skills, access to individual and group counseling, and much more to help you as a parent in recovery.
Being a parent is hard work and there is no right or wrong way to do it. Stress arises because you worry about how your substance use disorder (SUD) has affected your children. Being present in your children’s life is essential to being a better parent in recovery. The key to living your best life is taking time to connect with yourself and your family members honestly. You are doing the best you can, so please do not be so hard on yourself. At The Guest House, we understand how parenting in recovery can be difficult to manage. We want to guide you to be the best version of yourself. Give us a call at (855) 483-7800 today.