Getting a “Clear Picture” of Recovery

We live in an age of instant gratification. If you want food, you order it and one delivery company or another has it on your doorstep within the hour. If you want a tv show, you stream it – binging on all the 14 seasons of episodes that show has to offer. If you want music, you search your favorite apps and have a playlist at your fingertips. Gratification has become an entitlement, with faster is better being the standard of success!

Photography and Recovery

Consider for a moment, the selfie. Yes, we are talking about all the duck faces, all the filters, all the angles to hide all the flaws – the instantaneous snapshot of how great this moment is. Fun pictures that they are, however, where is the depth? {Beyond your “heart hands” in the sunset, of course}.

Remember the days of authentic photography, with film, negatives and processing? One would fill up their little roll of 24 shot, send it off to be processed – ordering those highly coveted doubles of course – and in about 24 – 48 hours, you would have some pretty great photos. Old school photography was even better – the meticulous process of dark room photography, getting that film away from everything to slowly progress into the masterpiece hidden under the paper and ink. The film processed, the negatives put to the side, and the images transformed under a skillful hand to reveal the carefully captured images beneath the surface.

Treatment for Addiction Recovery is a lot like photography. There’s a lot of options out there. Many offering “quick fixes” or shorter stays. The truth is, for the true picture to surface, we have to go deeper. Just as the selfie doesn’t always display the true picture of a person, the surface image of one struggling with addiction doesn’t always mean they are ok. The best treatments are ones that allow the patient to rest, to be processed, to identify the truths of their self-core, waiting to be revealed beneath the surface image they show the rest of the world. Treatment allows a patient to process long enough to know (1) it’s more than the substance and (2) I am not ok to do this on my own.

Finding Help for Addiction

For addiction clients who are treated at AAC, you will be happy to know, these resources are crafted into your care. As valued experts and trusted advisors in the addictions industry, our team has been around long enough to know the difference between the grainy selfie and successful capture of a richly deep image. Our team specializes in Dual Diagnosis, allowing the client and their loved ones to know that what they show on the surface isn’t always the root of the problem – there is so much more about their treatment to help them heal for good. As an organization, AAC stands behind our Brand Promise – the only one of it’s kind in the industry. As a brand, we believe that if you entrust yourself or your loved one into our care for a consecutive 90 days, you have a much better chance of being successful. So much, in fact, that if you relapse, we will provide an additional 30 days to you. AAC is one of only a few national treatment centers to evaluate its outcomes and share the results publicly. Of clients surveyed, 63% were abstinent at 12 months compared to the 30% national standard.

We recognize there’s a lot of development that happens in the Dark Room of development for our clients struggling with substances – whatever that may look like throughout your care. AAC takes a holistic look at the big picture to uncover trauma, environment, medical history, relationships, genetic testing, and other factors that go into crafting your personal addiction story.

Final Takes

AAC’s Desert Hope Addiction Treatment Facility

Just as the best photography shouldn’t rush to develop – neither should you. Learning new behaviors, new coping mechanisms, new life truths and life altering plans take time to process and absorb. Give yourself the time to develop into the new picture you want to see. One that reflects the true person on the inside, hidden deep beneath the film. While there is no cure for addiction, there are resources to be put into practice for you to live a fuller life again.

And those negatives? We’re going to use them. Develop them. And we’ll help you toss them when you’re done.

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Read More from Lindsey Simpkins:

Celebrating Graduation: How to Cope Beyond the Cap and Gown

Recovering Father’s Day

Wholly Holistic Patient Care: Why Caring for the Whole Patient Matters