Gratitude in recovery isn’t just about thanking your loved ones for supporting you as you enter an addiction treatment program. It’s also not pretending that everything is fine. Everything isn’t fine all the time, and that’s normal. Recovery comes with challenges, setbacks, relapses, and growth.
Gratitude is the practice of identifying and acknowledging positive aspects of your life—the small wins, and all the blessings you’ve been dealt. So even though November is National Gratitude Month, we encourage gratitude 365 days a year because practicing it trains the brain to feel good and manage stress.
How Does Gratitude Affect the Body?
When we use substances like cocaine, heroin, marijuana, or alcohol, the brain releases dopamine in tsunami-like floods. This can eventually damage neural pathways, sometimes irreversibly.
However, when we engage in gratitude, our brains release dopamine at a much more sustainable and healthy pace. In short, while drug addiction creates dangerous levels of dopamine, practicing gratitude does not.
Regularly practicing gratitude is a surefire way to slow stress and anxiety in their tracks. When you remember how your family supported your sobriety or how your friends or partner stepped up and researched treatment resources for you, your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) components begin to trigger the rest-and-digest response. This facilitates relaxation, supports immune system activity, and encourages restful sleep.
Tips For Staying Grateful Throughout November and Beyond
St. Joseph Institute supports families and individuals through trauma-informed treatment methods and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) programs. Both of these avenues require gratitude.
Trauma-informed care and education allow our staff to acknowledge what our patients have been through and the trauma they’ve sustained. Residents learn to process the trauma they’ve experienced and focus on the positive aspects of life they want to cultivate.
CBT teaches our clients to avoid overgeneralizing or catastrophizing their situation. With time, this eliminates thought patterns that enforce negative self-talk, such as “I’m a terrible person,” “I don’t deserve to be alive and well” or “I’ve ruined my life beyond repair.” Once negative thoughts are reduced, people have more space to see what’s going well for them, their natural talents, and the joy they can experience and feel grateful for.
Both of these treatments fight off resentment and negativity, which can compound into depression and trigger relapse.
Journaling To Practice Gratitude
Many of our residents find journaling prompts helpful as they work through their issues in individual and group therapy. Here are some great writing prompts to get started on gratitude reflections today:
- Think of a moment when you succeeded in something or did something to help someone else. Write about who helped you get to that spot, any positive reactions you created, or anyone whose day you might have brightened related to that event.
- Write about a pet, a place, or a person that you hold dear, respect, or enjoy being around, and why that is.
- Write about your favorite time of day, your favorite daily activity, or your favorite place to spend time and why you feel a special pull to those things.
- Reflect on something that you’re grateful to have today that you didn’t have a year ago. If nothing comes to mind, tweak the timeframe to 6 months, 30 days, weeks, or days until something pops up.
- Make a list of all the things you like or appreciate in yourself.
- Try to summarize any tradition or memory that you love to return to, and list all the reasons why you love that specific event.
St. Joseph Institute is Grateful For Your Recovery
We’re just happy you’re here, whether it’s as a client or as the loved one of a client. Contact us today with any questions, or to receive more resources for successful sobriety and healing.
