Supporting your loved ones as they make a recovery and receive treatment for their mental health disorders can be difficult. It is often the time when families learn new ways to live with their loved ones and often struggle to let go of the old ways while embracing new definitions.
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However, this is also a time when your loved ones undergoing outpatient treatment need your support, encouragement, and togetherness the most. While centers like Acera Health IOP aim to offer all-around care and assistance, it is still essential for family and friends to support their loved ones during this transition phase.
Often, people struggling with mental health disorders tend to isolate themselves, magnifying the lack of love and self-worth they feel. This can negatively impact their well-being and undo everything they learn during therapy and life skill development sessions.
To avoid this, here are some practical ways to support a loved one during their outpatient treatment journey:
Keep in Touch
The overall experience of an intensive outpatient program can be isolating, especially when they are struggling to find stable footing. Oftentimes, individuals with a mental disorder shrink and keep their challenges to themselves.
Reaching out and staying in touch will dissolve such attempts and make them realize their worth in other people’s lives. Even when your loved one is unwilling to talk about their issues and difficulties, letting them know that you are there for them and always thinking about their best interest can be an icebreaker.
People in therapy are often loaded with feelings of guilt, not being good enough, and shame. In such situations, offering love and compassion can change how they look at themselves.
Encourage Healthy Lifestyle Changes
Neglect, trauma, abuse, and bereavement are some causes of mental health problems, and these deep-rooted reasons can hamper the way one leads life. The effects can show up as problems maintaining personal hygiene, eating healthy meals at regular times, and even not being able to plan the day properly.
During the course of the treatment, as individuals work on their problem areas, they tend to identify sabotaging habits and find way to get rid of them.
As your loved one begins to take control and start making lifestyle changes (ranging from better eating habits to cleaning routines), your support will encourage them to ask questions, seek help, and even learn from you. These moments of support do not have to be huge but rather subtle and genuine.
Offer Help Whenever Possible
Intensive outpatient treatment programs have a set time requirement per week, and there will be days when your dear one could be exhausted. Offering assistance will allow them to relax and unwind without worrying about getting chores done.
The assistance can be as small as making a meal for them, watering their plants, taking their pets out for a walk or even grocery shopping for them. It is important to set a limit to the number of times you will be able to offer such assistance to avoid overdependency.
Celebrate Their Milestones
Recovery is a time-consuming process that shouldn’t be hurried. It is also not a linear process where everything goes as planned. There will be occasions when your loved ones can overcome their fears like champions, and there will be days when getting out of bed seems like a challenge.
By celebrating their milestones, you can show your appreciation for the times they have managed to get past hurdles and were able to adhere to cope properly. Aside from this, these celebrations will help create positive core memories they can revisit in weak moments.
Final Words on Receiving Outpatient Treatment
It can be difficult to make life switches and take control within one day of receiving outpatient treatment.
Making a recovery is a tiring, exhausting, and sometimes overwhelming process. By receiving continuous love, care, and support from family and friends, individuals in recovery can let go of the feeling of being a burden or abandonment.
Moreover, seeing you cheer for them and being present will motivate your dear ones to continue with the treatment, regardless of how difficult or impossible it may seem.
