Once you make a decision to get treatment for your drug or alcohol addiction, you will have to do some necessary preparation. For instance, you will need to find out what to expect from treatment – talk to the intake specialists and do some reading. Then talk with friends and family about your decision and share what they can expect while you are in treatment and once you get home. Educate yourself on what you can bring and what you cannot.

Another kind of preparation you want to consider is preparing your mind. Your mind has been the main source of your problems, and you will find out more about that once you are in drug and alcohol addiction recovery. Here are some ways to get your brain ready.

5 Ways to Prep Your Mind for Recovery from Addiction

1. Start now to change your thinking. Most alcohol addiction treatment plans are focused on some form of cognitive therapy, where you challenge your mostly negative thoughts and find more positive thought patterns. If you are thinking, “This treatment stuff is going to be hell,” try turning it around, as in, “This treatment stuff is going to be the best thing I ever did for myself,” and then be sure to come up with a few reasons that validate the truth of your more positive approach.
2. Read up on your disease. Another focus in treatment for drug abuse and alcoholism will be to make sure you understand that addiction is a disease. Finding out all you can about the disease will help you detach from it so that you can stop beating yourself up about having it.
3. Most treatment centers bring meditation into the treatment plan because of the studies that have supported its effectiveness as a recovery tool. Meditation is calming. You may find it a way to de-stress from the prospect of rehab.
4. Read inspirational literature. You might want to start a routine prior to addiction recovery treatment in which you combine meditation with inspirational readings. Use the wisdom of others to motivate you and validate your own journey.
5. Write yourself a congratulations letter. Before you go off to with your drug or alcohol addiction, sit down and write about what you are going through prior to treatment and your hopes for recovery. Congratulate yourself for making big changes and taking big steps. Put the letter in a place you will remember, so you can read it when you return. If you do this, you will likely see the difference between the old you and the new one in a completely new light.