How Do I Regain My Loved Ones’ Trust After Rehab?

Restoring relationships that have been tarnished by addictive behaviors is not always an easy feat. Trust can be harder to rebuild than most other things that an addiction takes away. 

Even though this might initially seem like a daunting task, it is possible. With time, patience, and persistence, you can start to regain trust from your loved ones after rehab. 

The Importance of Mending Relationships After Recovery

The first step in a successful recovery is admitting to yourself that you have a problem and then going to get help. This can seem like an enormous hurdle when you are dealing with an addiction, but you accomplished this step. Now, after treatment has been completed and you are going back to your regular life, staying sober is the top challenge and priority. 

Being subjected to the same environment and stressors that you were exposed to before getting sober can easily make relapse a possibility. That is why forming a strong support group is necessary. Other people who are in similar situations and trying to remain sober can be extremely supportive and equally helpful. 

Peers you meet in rehab often have similar backgrounds with addiction, and they should be part of your support group. Your shared experiences can help each other grow and keep living a healthier lifestyle. However, mending meaningful relationships does make maintaining sobriety easier and more fulfilling. 

Your loved ones have been there for you before and during your addiction, which forms a stronger emotional bond. Mending a relationship with loved ones after recovery can do the following:

• Remove some of the guilt and shame associated with addiction: Any addiction usually includes excessive amounts of guilt and shame. These two negative feelings can often become addiction triggers that might lead to a relapse. Regaining the trust of loved ones can remove some of these remorseful feelings and help you focus on sobriety.
• Get you back in touch with your core values: A core value is a person’s fundamental belief that helps drive their behavior. Oftentimes during addiction, core values can be forgotten. Mending relationships after recovery can help you recover these core values and help build back your natural personality.
• Form a foundation to rely on: Family and friends provide unconditional love. Mending broken relationships with them can restore that feeling of genuine reliability and support. While there might be a lot of pain in the relationship, relationships can be restored with time and effort.

Consistency Is Key in Regaining Trust

Addictions can completely change a person’s thoughts and behaviors. Your loved ones had the unfortunate privilege of knowing you while you were using. They saw a dark side of you where you were no longer in control. 

Certain family members or friends might not be that motivated to make amends with you at first. That is why consistency is key in regaining trust. 

Consistency Builds Trust

Continuing to make the right choices and avoid abusing substances goes a long way in the eyes of a loved one. Family and friends might be a little hesitant to initially trust you, but after continually doing the right thing and taking care of yourself, your consistency will ultimately pay off. 

Anybody can say that they are able to get sober, but your actions will be proof with time. A person in recovery must show consistency if they want to regain any sort of normalcy or trust with family and friends. 

Consistency Shows Your Value in Your Loved Ones

Long-term recovery from addiction is more likely to happen if you have a sense of community and social support from your loved ones.

Consistently asking for forgiveness and not being discouraged when none is given shows family and friends that you are sincere and willing to change. It exemplifies you embracing a new mindset and a new way of life, which is necessary when staying sober. 

It also shows how much you value them, as you give them the space they need to find forgiveness. Don’t expect immediate results. Just like your recovery took time, theirs might as well.

Consistency Shows Conviction

Consistency toward your own sobriety and your value in family friends shows that you are able to commit to something. In active addiction, you might have lacked conviction in almost everything except using again. Your loved ones need to see this clear change in you.

Being consistent with your own health and sobriety, your affinity toward loved ones, your career goals, and anything else exemplifies that change.  

Consistency in Overall Motivation

Staying consistent with everyday tasks and appointments helps to gain trust from coworkers and peers who may not be considered loved ones. This consistency adds to maintaining professional relationships and also encourages more motivation. This can have a positive effect on you, which loved ones will detect and appreciate. 

Long-term recovery from addiction is more likely to happen if you have a sense of community and social support from your loved ones. This regained trust is only attainable through a consistent effort on your part.

Tips to Regain Trust From Loved Ones

Regaining trust from loved ones is not easy to do after coming back from a treatment facility. Luckily, it is not impossible. These helpful tips might make it easier:

Don’t Apologize for the Sake of Apologizing

If you have betrayed a loved one’s trust, a sincere apology should be given. Just saying that you are sorry and expecting everything to be normal again does not work. 

Instead, come up with a heartfelt apology that you believe and say it without expecting anything in return. A loved one might need some time to process everything, but you have done your part if you make a sincere apology. Then, give them the space they need.

Don’t Worry About What You Can’t Control

People with addiction issues often worry too much about other people and their problems instead of taking time to work on themselves. Most things that happen are out of your control, but aspects of your overall health and well-being are up to you. If you spend more time focusing on yourself and making yourself better, your loved ones will take notice in time.

Don’t Give Up on Yourself or Your Loved Ones

It is easy to feel sorry for yourself after returning home from rehab. At times, giving up on yourself and your loved ones might seem like the only option. However, you need to stay motivated to regain the trust of loved ones. 

Motivation gives both purpose and direction to behavior. Even if it seems as if you are not making any progress, keeping motivated and not giving up will eventually lead to good things.

Don’t Lie to Your Loved Ones

A big part of recovery is being truthful to yourself, but you must also be truthful to others. Tell your loved ones the truth about your mistakes and why you thought they were rational decisions at the time. This might be difficult to do, but it will only regain their trust in the long run.

If you continue to lie, it only reaffirms their prior beliefs on you. Show them that you are brave enough to be honest, even if it is painful sometimes.