How to Cope With Being ‘Let Go’ During Recovery

Two people shaking hands in a room.


In recent years, the economy has undergone many changes that have forced companies to make difficult decisions like cutting certain positions. If you were recently “let go†from your job, it could have a negative effect on your recovery. 

According to the Journal of Addictive Diseases, “Employment is a key functioning index in addiction services and consistently emerges as a goal among persons in recovery.†Newport Beach Recovery Center provides treatment and support services, including referrals to job placement services for individuals recovering from substance use disorder (SUD). We can help you heal and meet your recovery goals.

Being Let Go Is Never Easy 

Everyone reacts differently to being let go. However, most people find it upsetting and scary, even if they did not enjoy their job. Careers provide people with a purpose, motivation, and financial support. Losing those things can cause you to spiral if you do not have the skills to cope with stress. Job losses from legal issues related to substance abuse might make you feel guilty or ashamed. Newport Beach Recovery Center can help you accept your circumstances and find healthy solutions that prevent relapse and improve mental health. 

Most people who lose their job before or during rehabilitation worry about the following: 

  • Loss of health insurance coverage 
  • Concerns about paying monthly bills 
  • Being unable to provide for children or other family members 
  • Affording aftercare services like individual therapy 
  • Transportation costs

Health insurance provides at least partial coverage of treatment and aftercare services for many people. After a job loss, healthcare coverage may end immediately or within several months. Fear of being unable to complete treatment might interfere with your recovery. However, many resources exist to help you get the help you need to heal from SUD.

Coming to Terms With Your Feelings About Being Let Go

Treatment programs like the ones offered at Newport Beach Recovery Center help clients achieve and maintain emotional regulation. If you are let go before treatment, the risk of relapse or overdose increases significantly. However, you have a reduced risk if you get that call after you have started working with a care team. The emotional and practical support offered by healthcare professionals provides you with relapse prevention tools. You will learn how to cope with stress and process emotions in a healthier way. 

For many people, coming to terms with losing a job involves accepting the following: 

  • Loss of routine 
  • Sudden change in financial status 
  • Loss of social support

In addition to losing financial and healthcare support, individuals let go from longtime jobs might feel a loss of emotional support. Coworkers often grow close over time and become a sort of informal family in the workplace. Losing that connection can cause anxiety and depression. 

Your therapist will help you find healthy ways to cope with these life changes. During rehab, you need to focus on addressing issues related to substance abuse. Coming to terms with your new situation makes redirecting your energy and establishing new routines easier. The stress of a job loss does not have to interfere with your ability to achieve sobriety. Your care team will help you process the changes. Soon enough, you’ll feel strong enough to cope. 

Private and Community Support Services

Community-based and private recovery support services provide essential resources during aftercare. Newport Beach Recovery Center offers aftercare planning with information about local community resources, including: 

  • Self-help groups 
  • Advocacy groups and organizations 
  • Family support services 
  • Clinics and therapy offices
  • Job placement services

According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), recovery is a series of changes over time that “may include clinical treatment, medications, faith-based approaches, peer support, family support, self-care, and other methods.†Private and community services can ensure you have access to everything you need for long-term sobriety. People cope with job losses better when they have a comprehensive support system. 

Staying Safe While Searching for Work 

Losing your job can cause extreme emotional distress. The emotions can worsen symptoms of depression, anxiety, or panic. However, during treatment, you should focus on maintaining long-term sobriety. The care team at Newport Beach Recovery Center will provide you with the skills and tools you need to manage your condition while searching for work. 

Once you complete treatment or transition into a lower level of care, you can use the resources we provide to do the following: 

  • Prepare for job interviews 
  • Improve your resume 
  • Connect with companies who are actively hiring 
  • Get temporary assistance paying for utility bills, rent, or food 

Searching for a new job can put you in situations that might increase your risk of relapse. You will interact with many new people in unfamiliar situations. Some people encounter unexpected triggers, making it essential to create a safety plan before completing treatment. Newport Beach Recovery Center collaborates with each client to create an aftercare plan involving crisis management and steps to prevent relapse. You can get through this difficulty while staying sober.

Losing your job during addiction treatment can cause extreme stress and increase your risk of relapse. Job training and placement services exist to help people in recovery quickly find work. Part of aftercare planning at Newport Beach Recovery Center can include connecting you with job placement services and other resources in your local area. We understand the stress of losing a job. We want to help you succeed at maintaining your sobriety. You can successfully recover from SUD and integrate into a new workplace using the coping skills you learn during treatment. To find out more about our programs and services, call Newport Beach Recovery Center today at (888) 850-0363.

Does Newport Beach Recovery Center Help With Aftercare?

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The dedicated team at Newport Beach Recovery Center is here for the long haul. We do whatever it takes to help potential, current, and previous clients achieve and maintain sobriety, including: 

  • Providing alumni with emotional support during crisis moments 
  • Offering referrals and assistance locating resources 
  • Encouraging individuals in recovery to attend programs that fit their needs 

You are more than a diagnosis or a number to us, and we will do everything in our power to help you get the support and resources you need to heal from the damaging effects of substance use disorder (SUD).

How Does Life Skill Development Improve Treatment Outcomes? 

Developing essential life skills during treatment smooths the transition to aftercare by preparing you to cope with the challenges and daily stressors you will encounter once you complete the program. According to the National Library of Medicine (NLM), “Coping skills training groups (the most common type of skills development group) attempt to cultivate the skills people need to achieve and maintain abstinence.†We believe that life skills provide additional protections against relapse prevention.

Essential skills can improve your mental and physical well-being by doing the following: 

  • Increase self-management, self-efficacy, and self-awareness
  • Build self-confidence and self-esteem
  • Strengthen personal and interpersonal relationships 
  • Organize social and personal environments 
  • Encourage healthy activity and exercise 

These benefits will help you navigate aftercare and ongoing recovery with a lower risk of relapse and complications. By learning to manage symptoms and build a healthy routine, you can change your home and social environments to facilitate lasting positive changes. 

At Newport Beach Recovery Center, we believe everyone should access these essential skills during and after treatment. If you ever feel overwhelmed or unprepared for possible issues, you can reach out to our team, and we will help you find the support and information you need to keep moving forward in your recovery. SUD can be treated, and you can overcome any challenges you encounter in aftercare using the tools you learned in therapy. 

What Are Relapse Prevention Strategies?

Aftercare relies heavily on relapse prevention and crisis management strategies. Newport Beach Recovery Center personalizes every plan to the specific needs of the client and any potential issues they might encounter when they complete treatment which means that no two strategies are the same. 

A few areas that relapse prevention focuses on include: 

  • Learning to identify and avoid or cope with triggers 
  • Creating sustainable routines to maintain physical health
  • Creating a support system 
  • Setting attainable goals 

Aftercare planning and relapse prevention therapy can educate clients about the possible challenges they may encounter and how to avoid or overcome them using the tools learned in rehabilitation. 

Warning Signs of Relapse During Aftercare 

Relapse prevention during aftercare also relies on the client’s ability to recognize the signs of relapse. According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), early warning signs of the relapse process can include:

  • Thinking about using or fantasizing about past use
  • Not reaching out for support in times of emotional need or denying the need for support altogether
  • Starting to reassociate with people and places linked to past substance use
  • An increase in behaviors that were common when the individual was using
  • Stopping the medication prescribed for an addictive disorder
  • Experiencing emotional or mental relapse 
  • No longer prioritizing self-care and aftercare treatment like support groups and individual therapy 
  • Worsening personal hygiene
  • More severe cravings and other symptoms 
  • Unhealthy sleeping and eating patterns

Relapse is unique to each person, which means that it can accompany almost any significant life changes or alterations in behavior. 

How Do Clients Contribute to Aftercare Planning?

Collaboration between clients, the care team, and family members makes aftercare effective. Clients will discuss possible issues they might encounter during the aftercare and ways to implement the tools learned in therapy. Family members can provide additional support and accountability, improving the effectiveness of aftercare planning. 

What Happens After Treatment?

Newport Beach Recovery Center is here for our alumni regardless of what stage of recovery they have reached or how long it has been since they completed treatment. Client safety and health are our priority, and we are here to help each client move forward in their recovery. You matter, and you are not alone.

Why Is Aftercare Follow Through Important?

Clients are responsible for following through with the information, tools, and aftercare plan the care team provides. We cannot maintain accountability once clients graduate from our care. Aftercare follow-through is critical to continued sobriety, and the team at Newport Beach Recovery Center will do everything possible to prepare clients to take on that responsibility. 

Aftercare is essential to the recovery process and ensures that clients maintain sobriety and continue to use the skills they learned in treatment. Client follow-through is critical; otherwise, aftercare can fail. You can significantly decrease the risk of relapse during aftercare by actively participating in therapy and using safety plans and relapse prevention strategies designed during treatment. The dedicated team at Newport Beach Recovery Center provides aftercare for every client, in addition to alumni services that offer additional support during continuing care. Clients are never left to navigate aftercare alone, and they can always reach out to our team for information, help, and additional treatment. We believe that addiction is not a life sentence and that you can recover and heal from the effects of substance use disorder. To learn more about our programs, call us today at (888) 850-0363 to speak with our care team.

9 Tips For Managing Your First 30 Days Out of Rehab


Congratulations!  You have just made it through rehab and are on the way to your first 30 days of recovery.  Now, it is time to return to the real world with all its joys, problems and people. New in sobriety, to make it through, you need a plan. Here are some suggestions:

1.  Make a Schedule

Each day should be completely scheduled to leave minimal time to think about how to leave your sobriety.  This does not mean you can’t change your schedule, but this should happen only for really important matters.  Make sure to include lots of meetings to receive support and to help other people with their issues.

2.  Meetings

Make all meetings a priority.  This helps you fill time and affirm the techniques you learned in rehab.  These meetings will make your recovery more successful and always give you a place to turn besides returning to your addiction.  Put into practice the sobriety tips you learn here.

3.  Doctors

Make all your doctor appointments, even if you have not been as successful as you intended.  These appointments will help you pinpoint where you went wrong and set up on the correct path again.

4.  Religion

Religion is a good help to keep on the right path.  Whether you choose yoga, medication or prayer, spending time each day will keep you centered and help you reach your goals.  Prayer is calming and self-affirming.

5.  Cooking

This is a good idea even if you don’t know how to cook.   Preparing your own food gives you an outlet for creativity and can bring your family and friends together for support.  Start simple.  Don’t expect to make anything perfect on the first go around.

6.  Exercise

Exercise has many benefits for both the body and the mind.  Our bodies were made to move on a regular basis.   The more you exercise, the easier it becomes.  Slowly increase the amount you do during exercise.  You will be proud of your success.

7.  Write a Daily Journal

Each day, take some time to write down what you did during the day, your feelings and successes.  Comment on how your daily program worked, how you related to others and work out how to fix any mistakes you made.  If you need to read someone’s journal to understand how to keep one, take a look at any of Queen Victoria’s many entries.  She left behind volumes of journals.

8.  Learn Something New

The first 30 days is a good time to take up something new.  Don’t choose something that will increase your stress, but if you ever wanted to play the piano, learn how to paint, sew or make clay pots, this is a good time to take this up.  Just go with the flow, and don’t worry about how your results look.  They will improve if you keep up with your new hobby.

9.  Make a List of Goals

Everyone coming out of rehab should have a list of goals.  Keep this list handy and review it frequently.  As your recovery progresses, add new goals to move forward.  If a goal is too hard, look at breaking it up into different parts so that each goal is simpler to meet.  Don’t forget why you are in recovery.

10.  Forgive Yourself

Forgive yourself for your past indiscretions and go on.  No one intends to become addicted and it can happen to anyone under the right circumstances.  It is important to remember, however, forgiving has nothing to do with permission to repeat your mistakes.  Your main purpose is to move forward in your sobriety and form a complete life without the need of drugs to deal with life’s problems.

11.  People

You can’t continue to see people in your past that your main relationship was losing your sobriety together.  You must steel yourself to put these people behind you.  Practice what you will say if you see them, which you will at some point.  Be honest.  Let them know you can’t continue as you were for your health, and you won’t be joining them anymore the way you were.  If they ask, you can explain how you became sober.  But, they must be ready to hear this.  Sadly, this may include close friends and family members.  Keep yourself on track.

12.  Places

You know all the places you went to become addicted.  Don’t go to any of them, not for a long time.  These places may have some good memories that could draw you back into the fold.  The world is full of places where people don’t spend their day under the influence.  It’s those places you need to start spending your life enjoying.

Above all, keep to your recovery and meetings. If you or a loved one is struggling with sobriety, don’t be afraid to reach out. Contact us today to get more information!