A vital life skill is being able to practice healthy self-expression. Self-expression allows people to communicate, express emotion, and find joy in life. When people cannot engage in healthy self-expression, they can have difficulties feeling seen and heard. In severe cases, it can lead to a breakdown in communication and the unhealthy expression of negative emotions. This can have a drastic negative effect on a person’s mental health. Sometimes, it’s bad enough that a person can self-medicate to reduce these negative feelings.
Of course, self-medicating is not a healthy way to cope with negative emotions. However, if someone doesn’t have access to the education needed to learn healthy coping skills, it can be difficult to see an alternative. That’s why at Painted Desert Recovery, clients learn healthy coping skills. One of these skills is healthy self-expression, which allows clients a means to communicate their needs beyond words. To understand what Painted Desert Recovery does to teach this skill, we must first examine why healthy self-expression is important for addiction treatment and recovery.
Why Self-Expression Is Important for the Recovery Process
Healthy self-expression is important for recovery for several reasons. The first is because it gives a healthy outlet for the negative emotions associated with addiction and its co-occurring mental health disorders. It lets these emotions be expressed in a way that is productive and safe. Another reason why healthy self-expression is important for recovery is because it builds up our inner self. This allows us to understand that we matter and deserve to be treated with compassion and respect. Having the ability to use healthy self-expression inspires confidence and resilience, which can give someone the drive needed to recover from addiction.
Healthy self-expression is also fun, an aspect that should not be overlooked. Addiction treatment can be difficult, and it’s a lot of work to confront the things that hurt us. Having something fun to look forward to after treatment can offer a welcome reprieve. It’s important to rest and care for yourself during treatment and recovery. Depending on the type of healthy self-expression, a person can have a dedicated time for peace and relaxation.
Finding ways to express yourself gives us joy, which gives us something more desirable than addiction. It may seem like addiction is all-consuming, but self-expression can show someone that there is light in the darkness. Hope is a powerful thing that inspires change and progress. Without a form of healthy self-expression, this hope can seem unobtainable, making treatment more difficult than it has to be.
The Difference Between Unhealthy and Healthy Self-Expression
There are many forms of self-expression, but some can be harmful if a person isn’t careful. For something to be considered a form of healthy self-expression, it must allow someone to express themself without being harmful to themself or others. As an example, painting and writing music is a form of healthy self-expression. Cultivating a garden, decorating a cake, or writing a story are valid and safe ways of expressing yourself.
However, there are forms of expression that are harmful. Engaging in an activity that actively harms yourself and others is not healthy. For example, engaging in self-harm practices, such as physically harming yourself or constantly putting yourself down, can cause serious lasting damage. Engaging in reckless activities as a form of expression, such as street racing, puts both yourself and others in danger. It’s important to examine the activity you want to engage in to determine if it’s a form of healthy self-expression. If you have questions, it’s always okay to get help from a professional.
Discovering Healthy Self-Expression at Painted Desert Recovery
Learning how to find and express forms of healthy self-expression is one of the many focal points of addiction treatment at Painted Desert Recovery. Several therapies offered at our facility help clients discover ways of healthy self-expression. A good example of such a therapy is art therapy. This type of therapy has several purposes in addiction treatment. It gives someone an outlet to communicate difficult emotions and concepts. Art therapy is also good for teaching clients a way to deal with stress. For many, art therapy teaches clients a form of healthy self-expression. It’s a versatile and helpful therapy that is recommended clients try as part of their treatment plan.
Painted Desert Recovery is also a designated safe space for women. For many women, they were told throughout their lives to be quiet and not ask for attention. Here, women find support from other women, giving them a chance to fully blossom into the women they were meant to be. Part of that is encouraging each other to engage in healthy self-expression. Painted Desert Recovery is not just a place to recover from addiction. It is also a place where a person can make important life discoveries and learn to express themselves without fear and judgment. Nobody has to face treatment and recovery alone – not when there are compassionate mental health care professionals willing to help.
Healthy self-expression is important for addiction treatment, but it’s also important for recovery as well. People who have a strong foundation of coping skills, such as healthy self-expression, can tolerate stress and other difficulties better than others. It can make the difference between staying in recovery and a relapse. Those who feel heard and seen are less likely to need substances to fill the void. So in the end, discovering healthy self-expression doesn’t just help us on an individual level; it helps us all on a societal level as well.
It’s fundamental human nature to want to express oneself and be heard. However, there are healthy and unhealthy ways of self-expression. Everyone needs to understand the differences between the two, especially during addiction treatment and recovery. Luckily, nobody has to try and figure this all out on their own. Here at Painted Desert Recovery in New Harmony, Utah, clients learn about self-expression in a safe and supportive environment. With several offered therapies designed to encourage self-expression and confidence, clients don’t just recover from addiction. They also grow into the ideal people they want to be. If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, don’t wait to get help. Contact Painted Desert Recovery today at (844) 540-0353.
