Feeling stuck is common in addiction treatment, and often people feel like their productivity levels decrease when they are in an addiction treatment center. It’s easy to fall into a rut when you feel as if you’re stuck with sporadic emotions that you can’t control. Running out of ideas, inspiration, and energy is common— but you don’t have to let yourself stay feeling stuck.
What Is a “Rut” In Addiction Treatment?
A rut is when you are feeling stuck in a situation or mindset. People often feel as though they are stuck in a rut when they have been in the same mindset or situation for a long period of time. Many people who struggle with mental health disorders like anxiety and depression can feel like part of their life cycle is feeling stuck at times. The same thing can happen for those in treatment for addiction.
Can Recovery Help You Get out of Your Rut?
Addiction recovery provides so many learning opportunities, as we teach guests a different way to live through various skills and tools with intensive therapy. At Royal Life Centers at Spokane Heights, our addiction treatment programs encourage guests to cultivate new interests during their recovery process, so that they can experience joy in each moment of rebuilding lives rooted in happiness, health, and meaning.
What to Do If You Feel Stuck in a Rut
When you first notice feelings of being stuck, it is important to begin by holding onto that feeling and evaluating it. Ask yourself how long you’ve been feeling this way, if this feeling is something that has recently appeared or something you have just noticed, and what emotions are being brought up as a result of this feeling and shift in thinking.
Focus on different areas of your life to see where the problems lies, so that you can restructure as necessary. Some categories of your life that you can take a look at include: physical health, emotional health, personal goals, social goals, work and career goals, relationships and friendships, spiritual growth, financial goals, and mental health.
10 Ways to Get out of a Rut in Addiction Treatment
It’s important to identify where in your life you feel discontented, so that you can formulate a plan of action to change this feeling of being stuck. Many people fall into a rut as they feel stagnant or underproductive in treatment. While recovery may feel out of reach, there are ways you can shake that feeling in treatment and recovery.
Here are 10 ways to get out of a rut in addiction treatment:
- Start off small
- Take a break
- Learn something new
- Focus on progress, not perfection
- Talk to someone
- Redefine your big picture
- Read a book
- Prioritize rest
- Make time for fun
- Exercise
Start off Small
Working on a task by splitting it up into smaller tasks will help you stay organized and feel productive in addiction treatment. Decluttering your mind starts with a plan of action, and then working towards goals in small increments.
Take a Break
Take various moments through out the day to just check in with yourself. Reflecting on what you’ve done through out the day will give you insight and show you the things you need to work on or continue to work on. Taking breaks to check in with yourself will greatly improve your mental health also.
Learn Something New
Learning new things each day will help contribute to bettering yourself, and it will make you feel much more productive. Going to a meeting, listening to a speaker, or attending group therapy will teach you new things and you’ll hear something that you may need to hear. Actively learning will strengthen your recovery.
Focus on Progress, Not Perfection
“Progress, not perfection” is a phrase commonly used in recovery. Instead of trying to do something perfectly, just try to improve the way you’re doing it. Small improvements will make a massive difference in your life. So instead of shooting for perfection, seek improvement.
Talk to Someone
If you’re feeling stuck, you should talk to someone about how you feel and why. Talking to a therapist about how you feel will help you find healthier new habits to support your recovery. During counseling sessions, you can also work through your thoughts and feelings and learn to view recovery from a different perspective. If you are being hard on yourself, it is especially important to share this with your therapist. Together you can understand the way you act and react, what makes you feel stuck, and what feelings precede you feeling stuck.
Redefine Your Big Picture
Redefining your goals will help guide you by giving you something to work towards. If you have a vision for your life, you can continue to set goals that bring you closer to your vision. Inspire yourself by goal-setting with markers that set the path to achieving your vision.
Read A Book
Reading will provide you with inspiration and feed your brain. You’re not only improving your cognitive functioning by reading, but it’s also a great tool to use to de-stress and relax during the ups and downs of recovery.
Prioritize Rest
Try taking a 20 minute nap to recharge yourself. A quick nap will give you a boost, and then you can feel restored to tackle the rest of your day productively. Taking a nap will clear your mind and reset your body, and you will wake up energized and ready to do things.
Make Time For Fun
Some healthy competition can help you feel energized and completely change your mood. If you’re feeling down and stuck, trying gathering some friends together to play a board game. The competitive aspect will keep all of you engaged and will produce happiness and cohesion.
Exercise
There’s no better way to get out of a rut than by exercising. No matter what type of exercising you do, it will help you feel unstuck and productive. Improving your productivity with physical wellness exercises will also improve your mental health and ability to focus. Exercising provides so many benefits, but in addition to all of those benefits it is extremely effective in helping you get out of a rut.
Bring Meaning Into Your Life In Recovery
Royal Life Centers at Spokane Heights encourages guests to partake in activities and hobbies that will make them feel fulfilled in life. We provide therapeutic opportunities like adventure therapy, activity therapy, and equine therapy for guests to explore and discover what brings them joy. Our approach to addiction treatment is holistic, as we focus on strengthening the connections between the mind, body, and spirit. Royal Life Centers at Spokane Heights allows guests to discover things that bring meaning into their lives.
Addiction Treatment Programs in Spokane, Washington
Royal Life Centers at Spokane Heights has both a medical detox program and a residential inpatient program, which are short term treatment programs to begin the therapeutic work in overcoming addiction.
Across Royal Life Centers’ addiction treatment network, we offer the following addiction treatment programs:
- Medical detox program
- Residential inpatient program
- Partial hospitalization program (PHP)
- Intensive outpatient program (IOP)
- Outpatient program (OP)
During PHP, IOP, and OP, we also sober living and graduate housing to those who would like to live with others in recovery.
What To Expect During Our Addiction Treatment Programs
Our treatment programs allow guests to take initiative in their recovery process, collaborating with a case manager and their primary therapist to develop a treatment plan specifically tailored to meet their personal needs and goals. At Royal Life Centers at Spokane Heights, you will never feel a lack a progress, because you will constantly be participating in intensive therapies that will bring you insight and new skills and tools to practice.
Get out of Your Rut in Addiction Treatment
Will it may seem near impossible to get out of your rut, we at Royal Life Centers at Spokane Heights make it our mission to get you to a place of thriving and growth. Our program offers various evidence-based practices such as medication management and therapy to help you manage your triggers and cravings in recovery from addiction.
Royal Life Centers’ staff of licensed and experienced medical professional will work with you to identify negative patterns and behaviors and replace them with healthier ones. Throughout our addiction treatment programs, you can learn healthy coping skills to help you break out of your addiction cycle and achieve long-term sobriety!
If you or someone you know is struggling to get out of a rut caused by addiction, please reach out to our admissions team at (888) 907-0898. We are available to take your call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Because We Care.
References:
Chua, Celestine. “How to Get out of a Rut: 12 Useful Ways to Get Unstuck.” Lifehack, Lifehack, 13 Mar. 2019, www.lifehack.org/articles/featured/12-useful-ways-to-get-out-of-ruts.html.
Jones, Lane. “Zig Ziglar’s Wheel of Life – A Total-Life Approach to Goal Setting.” Freshtake On Content, Freshtake on Content, 11 Feb. 2015, freshtakeoncontent.com/wheel-of-life-goals/.
