When you enter a residential treatment program at a drug rehab center, the focus will be on helping you learn how to live a clean and sober life. While this is a serious concern and it involves straightforward therapy and counseling, that doesn’t mean there isn’t joy to be found in rehab. In fact, many types of therapy are designed to be both fun and helpful in order to encourage you to embrace a clean lifestyle. The counselors and other caregivers in the facility will encourage you to engage in therapies that you find enjoyable because this helps ensure your time in rehab won’t be entirely focused on serious matters. If everything focused solely on your recovery without providing you entertaining and diverting activities, you would see your recovery as more of a chore rather than as the opportunity to build a new and healthier lifestyle for yourself. By incorporating fun into your daily routine, the staff in the drug rehab center will help you learn that you don’t need drugs or alcohol to enjoy your life.
Fun is incorporated into therapy sessions in a number of ways to help you get the most out of every aspect of the recovery process. For example, art therapy involves drawing or coloring. While this might seem like a frivolous activity with no real purpose, it will help you and your therapist explore your memories, feelings, and thoughts. This is beneficial in discovering what really prompted your initial drug use as well as helping you explore the emotional triggers that drive you to continue abusing drugs. In addition to the things you draw, your use of colors will help your therapist understand more about your inner feelings, allowing them to help you address issues that may be obstacles to your recovery. Music therapy is a second type of therapy that’s fun for recovering addicts, yet is beneficial to their recovery and mental health. It involves listening to music to make it easier to discuss the past or present emotions. Music is also used to help an individual express themselves by giving them an instrument to play. Their choice of instrument and the manner in which they play it can help the therapist address issues that the recovering addict would otherwise be reluctant to discuss. Recent research has found that music influences and exposes emotions, so therapists use sounds and melodies in a variety of ways to help recovering addicts address substance abuse issues.
What Other Fun Activities Are a Part of Treatment in a Drug Rehab Center?
Physical activity is another important part of recovery, and almost every rehab center uses some form of physical exercise as a means of helping recovering addicts. This is because physical activity stimulates brain activity in addition to promoting good physical health. As you exercise, your brain releases endorphins or “feel good” neurotransmitters that help boost mood. This is why you feel exhilarated and happy after completing a race or winning a game. The sense of victory increases the level of endorphins the brain releases, so doing better will leave you feeling happier.
The fourth fun thing about drug rehab that you can look forward to is the extra time you’ll have to read and write. You can read plenty of fiction in your spare time or use your time to write creatively. This allows you to strengthen and explore your own sense of imagination as you create images in your mind to match the stories you’re reading or writing. As you throw yourself into an exciting literary adventure, you’ll forget all about your surroundings and the challenges you face in your recovery. Finally, a fifth type of fun you can have in rehab is the joy you’ll derive from socializing with other recovering addicts. This is important because it will help you start to develop new and healthier friendships that will last long after you leave the drug rehab center. You can play card games or board games, or you can sit around and talk with the other recovering addicts about anything you find interesting. Since socialization is essential to good emotional health, the time you spend with others in the facility can have positive and helpful effects on your psyche.
When you are ready to explore everything that a drug rehab program has to offer, call 833-846-5669. Our counselors are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to answer your questions. Making this first call will help you get started on a path to recovery and healthier living.