Helping Your Client Cope With the Stressors of Leaving A Treatment Facility

Leaving a treatment facility to embark on the journey to recovery is intimidating for anybody. It should also be exciting. Despite the hard work, recovery is an adventure of transformation. Leaving a treatment facility typically means your client now has the tools needed for their newfound life of recovery. However, the transition from treatment to recovery comes with trials and tribulations. For the first couple of months in early recovery, they may struggle with everyday challenges. 

What Does Recovery Look Like?

Just as everyone’s struggle with mental health is different, everyone’s treatment and recovery are also different. Choosing to seek treatment is an empowering first step on your client’s path to wellness. However, your client may not feel that way at first. Some clients feel ashamed when seeking mental health treatment. They may feel broken, damaged, or that something is wrong with them. These feelings could directly result from the stereotypes and stigmas surrounding mental health. 

Recovery Comes First

Generally, a life of recovery is present when your client begins making choices that benefit them and their mental health. Those choices may be related to their career, personal life, relationships, or future goals. When stress presents itself, they can handle it in a healthier way than they would have before entering treatment. 

You can help your client handle the stressors of leaving a treatment facility by helping them feel empowered to put their recovery first. Helping them feel empowered means educating them on coping tools and techniques that they can utilize in their everyday life.

Tips for Coping With Stress

The best way to help your clients learn to cope with stress takes educating them about different ways to do that. Many of these tips for coping with stress require your client to create a solid regiment of self-care within their recovery. 

What does self-care look like? The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is focused on transforming the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses. In doing so, they offer people different ways they can go about focusing on self-care in recovery. Self-care is “taking the time to do things that help you live well and improve physical and mental health.” That means being able to manage stress. 

Your client can practice self-care by doing the following things:

• Get regular exercise:

  Exercise improves mental and physical health and can be cathartic, especially when people struggle to cope with stress

• Improve nutrition:

  According to the NIHM, a “balanced diet and plenty of water” can improve your client’s energy and focus

• Get sleep:

  Sleep is incredibly important for optimum health. Focus on teaching your client the importance of creating and sticking to a strict schedule and creating a relaxing space dedicated to sleep. That means reducing distractions, electronics, and your client creating a comfortable space for themself

• Pursue a hobby:

  Hobbies are also an excellent way for your client to maintain recovery and handle the stress of leaving treatment. You can encourage your client to either refocus on their hobbies and passions or discover new hobbies

• Create goals

  . Goals will also help your client with stress because they’ll have something to focus on. It’s easy for people to let stress and worry cloud their judgment and ability to cope with triggers. Focusing on goals takes time and energy, taking up time that might otherwise be spent worrying about stress

What to Expect From a Transition Back to the “Real World”

It’s hard to say what challenges your client will face when returning to the “real world” or their everyday life. Everyone’s path to recovery is different. There are, however, certain challenges that may present themselves to your client through this transition. They may feel irritable or anxious, especially about being on their own. They may also fear failure. Specifically, failure surrounding their recovery and if they’ll be able to maintain it. 

People also fear the stigmas surrounding individuals diagnosed with and managing mental health disorders. All feelings are normal and natural, but teaching them to cope with the stress and recommending self-care habits are great ways to help them cope with the stress of leaving treatment.

End the Stigma

In addition to offering mental health and wellness services through our online platform, SokyaHealth is focused on ending the stigma and shame around mental health treatment and helping clients find a life of wellness. The transition from treatment to recovery comes with its challenges. If your client is struggling with the stress of leaving treatment, help them even more by reaching out to Sokya today.

At SokyaHealth, we understand that leaving a treatment facility to embark on a journey to recovery is intimidating and scary for anyone. However, it should also be exciting. During treatment, people learn tools and techniques needed for maintaining mental health, wellness, and handling stress, especially early on when leaving treatment. While it’s normal for people to fear life after treatment, we are here to support individuals to sustain recovery. We work to educate individuals and their families about mental illness and provide ways to cope with stress and triggers. With us, your client will learn how to put their recovery needs first to become the person they want to be. The stronger their recovery plan is, the more confident your client will feel in their ability to maintain recovery long-term. If you are struggling to support your client, reach out to SokyaHealth today by calling 800-930-0803 and (866) 65-SOKYA for help.