Power of Hope in Addiction Recovery

Hope is the feeling that something good will happen – a longing fuelled with so much passion, we truly believe it’s possible. As we begin this new year, we make promises to ourselves; those that we intend to follow through with. Even though some of our New Year’s resolutions don’t amount to much each year, we continue to set them because we have hope that, with enough dedication, we will achieve our goal.

Whether it’s losing weight or giving up drinking, our resolutions give us a purpose. That purpose is fuelled by hope. The intense belief that something is possible is the only way many alcoholics and drug addicts survive. When they are using, their hopes revolve around their drug of choice. They constantly hope that they can consume more alcohol or more drugs soon; but in an addictive personality, this sort of hope is coupled with anxiety and frustration. Recovery takes place when addicts can isolate hope from the other negative feelings. This leaves them with what hope truly is.

Hope is a positive force when unadulterated; and it’s an incredibly useful tool in rehabilitation – even as just a four letter word, it is powerful. When therapists ask clients questions like “Are you living life as you hoped to?” sets a lot of things in perspective. This makes the alcoholic or drug addict look at their past and reflect on where they went wrong. When asked questions like these after detox, patients start to come out of denial.

Hope in recovery

The rest of recovery is aided by looking forward with hope. “What do you hope to do when you recover?” or “what drives you to live?” are questions we ask at Hope Trust. When recovering addicts are made to think about the future, they often get scared. However, they keep looking forward. They have a clear path in front of them, and at Hope Trust, we enable them to move along the path. Then, they will gain the confidence to hope.When addicts are made to address their problems, they come to realize that hope makes things better. Hope makes problems lose their power, and gives the addict control of his or her recovery. Hope Trust is an aptly named organization as it provides hope – with a little bit of trust, a lot of hard work and a strong mind, recovery is possible. With Hope, anything is possible.