5 Positive Tips For Parenting In Recovery
Parenting can be difficult for anyone, but this can be especially true for people in recovery. Although having a parent who is addicted can be damaging for a child, there are things that you can do as a parent to make things better. Even something as simple as acknowledging your past mistakes and sincerely apologizing for them can improve the situation. From there, following through with your addiction recovery and expressing your unconditional love as a parent are ways that you can practice good parenting after addiction. Here are five positive tips for parenting in addiction recovery.
1. Take ownership of the situation
The first step to making improvements is to acknowledge that you have an addiction problem. Although talking to your kids about this might feel overwhelming, the best course of action is to just be honest and sincerely apologize for your past behavior. A helpful tip for discussing this with children who are under the age of nine is to describe addiction as a disease. You should also make sure that you explain to them that this situation isn’t their fault. This is extremely important and cannot be emphasized enough. Apologizing for your past actions can help with this as well. To take accountability for your actions, you might have to get specific and have an open conversation with your children while you highlight past issues and ask how those situations made them feel.
2. Don’t ignore self-care
To make improvements in your parenting, you need to make sure that you are taking care of yourself too, not just your family. For many people, this includes completing a drug detox program, rehab, and aftercare. Taking essential steps to live a healthy sober life is also an excellent way to focus on self-care. Eating a balanced diet, having an exercise routine, practicing mindfulness, and keeping up with your personal hygiene are all ways that you can practice self-care. If you are living a healthy and happy life, all that goodness will overflow into your household and your relationships as well. When it comes down to it, practicing self-care not only helps with overcoming addiction, but it also enables and empowers you to be a better parent. Taking care of yourself is pretty simple. It doesn't require a lot of effort to come up with a simple routine you can stick to every day. Actually, It's a great way to give yourself the time to learn how to love yourself again.
3. Show unconditional love
Addiction therapy can be as much of a difficult process for your children as it is for you. Therefore, it is especially important that your children feel like they are loved unconditionally. Ensuring that they feel heard and simply spending time with them are great ways to express your love for them. This will help strengthen or repair damaged relationships and your excitement for sober living will likely spread to your loved ones as well. Learning how to love your children and your family well doesn’t happen overnight. It will require commitment, energy, and lots of effort, but it will come more easily with time.
4. Attend therapy
Attending addiction therapy is an essential aspect of addiction treatment and recovery. You may also benefit from trauma therapy and clinical therapy if you have been diagnosed with a co-occurring disorder like depression or PTSD. Whether you attend individual therapy, family therapy, or both, the sessions will help open the lines of communication and establish a stable foundation for healing and growth in the relationship. The word “therapy” can sometimes come with a stigma, but sometimes people need the help of a professional to get through the difficult parts of life, and there is no shame in that. Sometimes the therapy involves activities that may appear strange weird to you, such as the use of realistic baby dolls, but remember that it is a crucial step that one must go through for healing.
5. Follow through on your promises
An important part of good parenting is following through on your promises. This may have been overlooked previously due to addiction, which was likely very problematic. Though this may be the case, this does not mean that you cannot repair the damage that has been done. Following through on promises like attending their sports games, plays, dance recitals, or other events can do wonders for strengthening your relationship with your child. It will make them feel remembered and loved, which will also improve your parent-child relationship.
Conclusion
Addiction treatment and recovery can be difficult for the recovering person and their loved ones. Things are often more complicated when children are involved. However, focusing on self-care and your addiction recovery program are the first things you should do to improve your parenting and strengthen the relationship with your child. Taking the time for yourself may feel selfish, but it’s important to give yourself time to heal and grow so you can also be the best parent you can be.
Author bio:
Kelsey Brown is an Austin-based writer. She received her B.S. in Journalism from Missouri State University and writes about addiction recovery, health, and well-being for Briarwood Detox Center. In her spare time, Kelsey enjoys doing outdoor activities with her family like hiking, camping, and kayaking.