What Are the Best Ways to Navigate Friendships in Recovery?

When you are in recovery, you will have to learn how to set boundaries regarding your friendships. During addiction, you most likely hung out with bad influences and unsavory characters that perpetuated your bad habits and choices. Now in recovery, you need to learn how to properly navigate friendships to ensure you make the right choices, set boundaries, and choose people conducive to your growth. 

This process can be tricky, but we at NorthStar Transitions have a few tips and tricks to help you along the way. As you begin making new friendships and revisiting old ones, keep these in mind to help you make the right decisions that will keep you on track to healing.

Understanding the Importance of Sober Friendships

While recovery can be a very personal process and time of growth, you should not do it in solitude. Having the support of others is a great motivation for staying sober. Together with sober friends, you can cope with the challenges, celebrate the victories, and finally have friendships that are good for not only your recovery but life in general. When looking to start making sober friendships, there are many things to consider to help you along the way. However, you should first develop a relationship with yourself and know your priorities, and then you can start navigating friendships in recovery.

Identify Your Priorities

First and foremost, you need to know your own priorities before bringing other people into your life, as they can begin defining your priorities for you. When others define your priorities, it can result in catastrophic damage to your recovery, especially if you surround yourself with bad influences. For this reason, you need to identify what’s important to you and what you’re willing to tolerate from friends. Your sobriety should be at the top of the list, with support from others being necessary for them to enter your life. 

You should also prioritize your health and wellbeing. Protecting your energy is crucial in recovery because you need to be physically and mentally healthy to continue progressing. Once you have identified the other specific priorities, you are ready to start navigating the world of sober friendships.

Friends From the Past

Understandably, you may want to continue old friendships from before and during your addiction. However, this can be challenging to navigate because you run the risk of bringing in individuals who are not supportive of your sobriety and may serve as bad influences. If you find that specific individuals are not willing to be sober around you or constantly offer you drugs and alcohol, it is crucial to end those friendships. 

While it may hurt at first, you are better off, and you will protect your sobriety in the long run. If you have friends who are supportive and want to do what they can to help you maintain recovery, these are the friendships to hold on to. However, it is vital to learn how to set and uphold boundaries that keep your sobriety and general well-being safe.

How to Make New Friendships

Recovery is the perfect time to begin meeting other sober individuals and starting friendships with them. Creating new friendships can be a daunting task initially, but knowing where, when, and how to approach these friendships can make the process significantly easier. There are various places that you can meet new sober friends; you just have to know where to look. Consider the following to get started:

• Support Groups: One of the best ways to meet other sober individuals is by going to support group meetings. These are specifically made for individuals in recovery, so you are sure to meet other sober individuals here. You can research local groups in your area and attend meetings as your leisure. Don’t be shy. Speak up, and introduce yourself to other members. Doing this will set you on track to meeting other sober people.
  

• Volunteer Work: Many people in recovery spend their time volunteering at various community events, sports leagues, animal shelters, and soup kitchens. You have a good chance at meeting other sober individuals by also volunteering your time. You will also feel good because you helped out individuals in need, so this is a double win!
  

• Social Media: You don’t have to go out to meet other sober people. Going online to virtual support groups or chat rooms will provide an excellent opportunity to meet new people that share your experiences. You can bond online and expand your sober support network quickly.

Learning how to navigate sober friendships in recovery can be difficult at first, especially after hanging around negative influences. However, being equipped with the right tools and knowledge can help you along this process and keep your sobriety protected at all costs. Once you feel comfortable knowing what your priorities are, you can begin the task of navigating both new and old friendships. If you need help with this process, NorthStar Transitions is here. We work with individuals in recovery from various backgrounds, ages, economic statuses, genders, and more. No matter what your experiences have been, you are deserving of genuine love and friendship. At NorthStar, we use various evidence-based treatment approaches that are personally tailored to fit your recovery needs. Visit us in Boulder, CO, and experience healing among the mountains. Call us today to learn more about our programs and start your journey to healing at (303) 558-6400.