Earning Back Trust in Recovery

On your road to recovery, trust from your family and friends may be the hardest thing to earn back. But it is possible.

The process will be long and slow, but as long as you remain diligent you will eventually get there. Keeping your word, and always following through with promises, is a vital part of regaining trust in recovery.

Not only must your words match your actions, you have to be honest. Never make a commitment to do something that you aren’t ready to handle yet. And that requires you to know yourself.
Though addicts in a recovery want to hold on to their sobriety, relapse can happen. After all, we are human. Whether its drugs or alcohol, the will to do whatever it takes to stay sober in recovery is only half the battle.

Addicts in recovery require a strong support system and strong will power along with diligence and honesty. So, earning the trust of everyone in your life all over again is very important.
How can someone truly support you and your sobriety if they don’t trust you to follow through in recovery?

Earning Back Trust in Recovery by Doing What You Say
Relapsing doesn’t necessarily mean you have completely broken anyone’s trust. Rebuilding trust in recovery is about proving your trustworthiness.

You have to do this by ensuring your words and your actions are one and the same thing. If for any reason you can’t do something or aren’t ready to do that thing, or you simply don’t want to it, say so.
Addicts in recovery, try to avoid letting people down. But you earn people’s trust by being honest. We can’t please everyone.

Whether you want it to or not, being completely honest with people can really hurt sometimes. And even though your honesty may sting, you have to remember that honesty is an important part of your sobriety.
You cannot hold it against yourself if someone else isn’t happy because you decided not to comply with their requests.

Besides, you’ve only been sober a short time while you used for how many years? Everyone won’t embrace you with open arms just yet. It takes time to earn trust in recovery.
Addicts in recovery want to change

In recovery, addicts want to re-build “trust bridges” with family and friends. They want the opportunity to prove that they can be trusted again. Proving this to themselves, as well as loved ones, is very important.

They sincerely want to prove that they are a good daughter, son, spouse or friend to their loved ones.
It’s very imperative for friends and family to be patient and allow this process a considerable amount of time. It’s best to give it a minimum of 6 months of accountable, responsible, behavior. Earning trust in recovery is not an easy task. But diligence, honesty and a strong support system (family, friends, NA, AA, support groups, etc.) will get you through it.