Are you starting your journey to a safe sober life? You should get an accountability partner for addiction recovery. An accountability partner can help you stay on track with your sobriety and recovery goals. There are many other benefits to having an accountability partner, but perhaps the most important is that having an accountability partner helps prevent relapse, making your recovery more successful.
If this is the first time you’re learning of an accountability partner, you may also wonder what an accountability partner does in recovery, where to find an accountability partner, what are all the benefits, and why should you include an accountability partner in your recovery? This guide will answer those questions and help you determine if you need an accountability partner for your recovery journey. If you struggle with drug or alcohol use, visit our Portland drug and alcohol rehab for help. Crestview Recovery’s residential programs can help you become and stay sober.
What is an Accountability Partner for Recovery?
An accountability partner is a person who helps someone stay on track with recovery goals. They can provide motivation, support, and encouragement during your recovery from substance use disorder. An accountability partner is meant to be there for you whenever you need help in your recovery. This may include a late-night call after you encounter a trigger and feel your sobriety is threatened, or acting as a friend and hanging out with you for a day to do sober activities.
An accountability partner can support you in many ways. It’s important that they understand your history of substance use and your goals to stay sober.
What Does an Accountability Partner Do?
Your accountability partner can do a lot of things to support you and your recovery. Their main goal is to help you stay sober and offer support when you most need it. Some actions an accountability partner may take to help you stay sober include:
- Check in: Your accountability partner regularly checks in with you about your progress toward recovery goals and challenges you’re encountering in recovery.
- Offer encouragement: They motivate you through challenges and provide tough love when needed to keep you on track for maintaining sobriety.
- Work together: They participate in goal-related activities with you, such as going to recovery meetings or trying new hobbies to avoid triggers.
- Talk about recovery: They may share their perspectives and insights with you about recovery and are an ear for you to discuss your struggles or triumphs in recovery.
- Give advice: As someone who knows and understands your recovery journey, you accountability partner can give you advice on how to avoid triggers, prevent relapse, and stay on track for your goals.
Is an Accountability Partner the Same as a Sponsor?
No, an accountability partner and a sponsor are not the same. Typically a sponsor in recovery is someone who has experience with substance use themselves and is also in recovery. Sponsors typically have more experience than accountability partners because they have been through treatment and may have supported others in the recovery journey previously. Sponsors also provide more mentorship, while an accountability partner is more like a peer.
How To Get an Accountability Partner?
An accountability partner can be anyone who supports your recovery and is open to being a person you can contact for help and rely on to keep you on track for sobriety. To get an accountability partner follow these steps:
- Identify potential candidates: Consider who in your life may be available and willing to support you in maintaining your sobriety. Think of friends, family members, colleagues, or someone you met in rehab who is on the same journey as you.
- Ask someone to keep you accountable: Ask the person you’ve chosen to be your accountability partner. Explain to them your recovery journey and share your goals to see if they can help.
- Establish a plan: Determine how often the two of you will check-in, how often you might meet, and how you will communicate. It will be good to set some boundaries and plans for an emergency.
If necessary, you can have more than one person keeping you accountable during your recovery. This may help with availability or flexibility of your accountability partner and ensures you always have someone to reach out to.
What are the Benefits?
Having an accountability partner in addiction recovery can offer numerous benefits, providing crucial support and motivation. Here’s a list of those benefits:
- Increased Motivation: Knowing someone is relying on you can strengthen your resolve to stay sober. Also, your accountability partner can provide encouragement during moments of weakness.
- Enhanced Structure and Discipline: Regular check-ins and shared goals create a sense of structure, which is vital in early recovery. They help you stick to your recovery plan.
- Reduced Isolation: Addiction can be a very isolating disease; an accountability partner combats this by providing consistent support and companionship. They create a sense of belonging and understanding.
- Improved Self-Awareness: Talking through your thoughts and feelings with an accountability partner can help you identify triggers and patterns. You can trust your accountability partner to offer objective feedback and insights.
- Relapse Prevention: They can help you recognize warning signs of relapse and develop strategies to cope with them. They can also provide immediate support during cravings or high-risk situations.
- Shared Experience and Understanding: If the accountability partner is also in recovery, they can offer unique empathy and understanding. This shared experience can create a powerful bond.
- Boosted Confidence: Achieving milestones with an accountability partner reinforces your belief in your ability to stay sober. They celebrate your successes, no matter how small.
- Consistent Support: They are there during times that a counselor or therapist may not be. They are a constant support in your journey to long-lasting sobriety.
- Honesty and Openness: An accountability partner promotes honesty. By being open with them, you learn to be more open with yourself.
How Does Crestview Recovery Help with Accountability During Recovery?
Accountability is a skill you can learn while receiving treatment for substance use disorders at Crestview Recovery. Our programs naturally involve accountability and support. Learn more about what we offer and how each program can provide accountability in your recovery.
Our inpatient addiction recovery program provides a 30, 60, or 90 day treatment plan, depending on your needs and severity of addiction. Getting residential treatment means that you stay in a facility and receive 24/7 support for recovering from addiction. Staying in our facility can help you become more accountable for recovery. By participating in individual and group therapies, you’ll work toward sobriety every day.
The aftercare program at Crestview Recovery ties up any loose ends before transitioning from treatment back to your regular life. Aftercare includes relapse prevention planning and skills training to ensure you can manage your sobriety without help from our medical team. Accountability is one of those relapse prevention skills we teach. In our program you will receive tools needed to understand what it means to be accountable in recovery.
The 12-steps were created by Alcoholics Anonymous, but the principles can be applied to drug addiction as well. We provide 12-step rehab therapy in Portland, Oregon. This therapy program guides you through each of the 12 steps, which heavily rely on you being accountable and holding yourself responsible for your short-comings as well as your next steps to get and stay sober. The 12 steps require you to take a moral inventory, make amends, and provide support to others; all of these steps encourage accountability.
Crestview Recovery has sober living homes in Portland, available to those who complete treatment. Living in a sober living accommodation means living with peers who are also in recovery. Our sober living homes are a great option for those transitioning out of treatment because you’re surrounded by others in recovery and you’re all working toward the same goal to maintain sobriety. A sober living arrangement helps you stay accountable for sobriety after you leave rehab.
Do You Need an Accountability Partner for Recovery?
You may need an accountability partner for your recovery from addiction. Everyone needs a support system while they recover and an accountability partner can be a reliable source of support. You may especially consider finding an accountability partner if you have relapsed before during recovery. An accountability partner is someone you can call if you’re feeling the urge to drink or use drugs.
If you live alone, it’s a good idea to have an accountability partner to check in on you periodically. Recovery can be a hard journey and having extra support can only help. You may also need an accountability partner if it’s your first time going to rehab. Professional treatment is very successful in detoxing and healing you so that you don’t relapse, but relapse is always a possibility. If you are completing rehab for the first time, you may not know what life is like sober and it will be helpful to have someone who supports and roots for your recovery as much as you do.
Call Crestview Recovery to Learn More!
If you or a loved one are seeking treatment for drug or alcohol addiction, call our team at Crestview Recovery. Our admissions team will answer any questions you have about the recovery process and help you begin treatment.
