Mindfulness Recovery and Relapse Prevention
Sacramento and N. California Whole Person Addiction Recovery
Addiction Recovery Benefits of Mindfulness
A Mindfulness Exercise for Stress Relief
Detox: Addiction Recovery Important First Step
Wellness Lifestyle for Long Term Sobriety
Evidence-Based Trauma Informed Whole Person Addiction Recovery
Mindfulness in everyday life means creating an internal space and calmness that allows being quietly aware of your own thoughts without judgment.
Long-term addiction recovery is dependent on discarding habitual substance abuse activities – and engaging in new sober activities.
Recent research in the use of mindfulness in addiction treatment has shown that practicing mindfulness is very helpful for addiction recovery. We find that mindfulness has many benefits for patients recovering from addictions, PTSD, anxiety and other behavioral health disorders.
At New Start Recovery Solutions in the Sacramento area and Northern California – mindfulness training and mindfulness relapse prevention are integral parts of our dual diagnosis evidence-based substance abuse treatment programs. Conscious Recovery is also an important part of our whole person rehab programs. Residential and Outpatient addiction treatment programs are available.
“Study results suggest that participants who completed mindfulness based relapse prevention are still engaging with stress, but are cued to respond to stress in an adaptive, skillful manner. These processes might help to decrease substance use by increasing the use of adaptive coping skills.”
https://substanceabusepolicy.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13011-020-00293-3 Mindfulness-based programs for substance use disorders: a systematic review of manualized treatments
Call Admissions 866-303-6275 for confidential questions and assistance.
Same Day Detox Admissions · Dual Diagnosis Rehab Treatment
Residential Rehabs | Outpatient Rehabs | Mental Health Care | Virtual IOP
We work with EAP and Union Programs and most insurance.
TriWest in-network; VA Community Care Provider
Addiction Recovery Benefits of Mindfulness
Investigators at USC believe mindfulness practice could represent the next major breakthrough in the treatment of substance use and major mental health issues.
USC researchers Jordan Davis and Nicholas Barr are testing mindfulness as a component of recovery from substance use, trauma and other serious challenges.
Initial studies with young adults show dramatic drops in stress, cravings, impulsivity and risk of relapse after practicing mindfulness.
Some benefits of mindfulness for addiction recovery include:
- Reduced cravings
- Relapse prevention
- Decreased impulsivity
- Reduced stress and substance use
- Reduced Pain – A study published in the Journal of Neuroscience March 16, 2016 concluded that Mindfulness meditation reliably reduces pain. (Mindfulness-Meditation-Based Pain Relief Is Not Mediated by Endogenous Opioids)
- Reduced Rumination – Several studies have shown that mindfulness reduces obsessive thoughts.
- Stress reduction – Many studies show that practicing mindfulness reduces stress.
- Boosts to working memory – Improvements to working memory appear to be another benefit of mindfulness.
- Focus – Another study examined how mindfulness meditation affected participants’ ability to focus attention and suppress distracting information. Mindfulness meditation practice and self-reported mindfulness were correlated directly with cognitive flexibility and attentional functioning (Moore and Malinowski, 2009).
- Less Emotional Reactivity – Research also supports that mindfulness meditation decreases emotional reactivity. This results in being able to ‘catch’ habitual reactions before it becomes an action.
- More Cognitive Flexibility – Another line of research suggests that in addition to helping people become less reactive, mindfulness meditation may also provide greater cognitive flexibility to avoid habitual behaviors.
- → One study found that people who practice mindfulness meditation appear to develop the skill of self-observation, which neurologically disengages the automatic pathways that were created by prior learning and enables present-moment input to be integrated in a new way (Mindfulness Training and Neural Integration, Siegel, 2007a).
- Increased Emotional Resilience – Meditation also activates the brain region associated with more adaptive responses to stressful or negative situations (Cahn & Polich, 2006; Davidson et al., 2003). Activation of this region corresponds with faster recovery to baseline after being negatively provoked (Davis and Hayes, What Are the Benefits of Mindfulness).
- Relationship Satisfaction – Several studies find that a person’s ability to be mindful can help predict relationship satisfaction by increasing the ability to respond well to relationship stress and the skill in communicating one’s emotions to a partner.
A Mindfulness Exercise for Stress Relief
Findings from studies suggest that over the course of meditating – long-term practitioners of meditation actually altered the structure and function of their brains, ‘Neuroplasticity and Meditation’.
Below, some instructions to get started in the practice of mindfulness.
Mindfulness Exercise for Stress Relief
When feeling stress or pressure – do the following:
- Stop what you are doing. If you need to excuse yourself and walk away to another room or outside – do it.
- Breathe deeply and hold the breath as long as you can. ‘Watch’ your breath. That is: concentrate on breathing as if this is your only activity in the world. And for now, it is.
- Slowly release the breathe. Breathe in slowly and again hold the breath.
- Repeat – concentrating on slow breathing for 1-2 minutes.
- When it feels comfortable – listen. Just…listen. If you are outside, hear the wind moving in the trees. Notice birdsong or even car noise. Just listen to sounds in your surroundings without making a good/bad judgement.
- The combination of centering by concentrating on the breath and listening to surroundings without involvement – will bring you back to your ‘center’.
- Our center is the place where we can just ‘be’ for a few moments, without any judgement. This is who we really are.
- Centering works to ‘break’ the connection with physical and emotional stress. It returns us to a place of inner peace.
- If an unsettled state of mind cannot be brought back into perspective through this mindfulness exercise – mindfully walk or do something else for a few minutes.
- Repeat Steps 2-5. Inner balance and calm are critical factors to implement during times of stress.
Detox – Addiction Recovery Important First Step
Entering detox is an act of courage for those who have an addiction problem. There is often fear about the detox process. And there is concern about whether detox symptoms will be unpleasant or painful.
The compassionate and experienced staff at New Start Recovery Solutions locations will help you through detox and enter into recovery.
The first step in detox is a thorough medical assessment. Our medical staff will gather information on medical history and details about the addiction during assessment. This information is used to develop an individualized detox plan.
During medically assisted detox, patients are monitored 24/7 by medical staff. Medication will be prescribed, as needed, to deal with withdrawal symptoms.
New Start Recovery Solutions fully staffed medically assisted detox provides a safe and comfortable environment to go through the process of substance withdrawal. And it allows our patients to focus solely on healing.
Successful completion of detox is not simply a matter of ‘willpower’.
Stopping drug or alcohol use “cold turkey” without medical help is not recommended. In some cases, withdrawal from drugs or alcohol can be life-threatening. Also, even if detox is not medically serious – it is still an enormous challenge. Professional support during detox is almost as important as the detox process itself.
Call Admissions 866-303-6275 for confidential questions and assistance.
Same Day Detox Admissions · Dual Diagnosis Rehab Treatment
Residential Rehabs | Outpatient Rehabs | Mental Health Care | Virtual IOP
We work with EAP and Union Programs and most insurance.
TriWest in-network; VA Community Care Provider
Wellness Lifestyle for Long Term Sobriety
New Start Recovery Solutions uses a whole person approach to healing addiction recovery. This includes mindfulness.
Our goal is to assist patients in creating life long sustainable sobriety. Rehab patients are guided to create healthy habits, nutrition, rituals, and a wellness lifestyle for mind, body and spirit.
Whole Person addiction recovery in residential and outpatient rehab programs at New Start Recovery Solutions includes mindfulness training and Conscious Recovery.
Northern California Evidence-Based
Trauma Informed Whole Person Addiction Recovery
New Start Recovery Solutions | Recovery Happens Counseling Services
Confidential Consultations, Questions or Admissions
Call 866-303-6275
We are dedicated to helping those in need.
We Work with EAP and Union Programs and Accept Most Insurance
Kaiser Preferred Provider
VA Community Care Provider In-Network with TriWest
We also work out of network with most PPO insurance.
Please Note: We cannot accept Medicare, Medicaid or Medi-Cal.
Veteran Programs
We Work With:
∙ Union and EAP Programs
∙ VA Community Care Provider
∙ In-network with TriWest
• Each patient is evaluated by New Start Recovery Solutions staff and receives a biopsychosocial assessment; and an individualized treatment plan.
• We use Mindfulness for Relapse Prevention and other whole person evidence-based therapies.
• Our holistic therapies include CBT, DBT, Brainspotting, Conscious Recovery, yoga and more.
• If you or your loved one is located in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Bay Area, San Rafael, Monterey, Sacramento, Chico, Paradise, Redding, Martinez or other Northern California area – and are dealing with a drug abuse or an alcohol use disorder – welcome to evidence-based whole person addiction treatment at New Start Recovery Solutions.
• New Start Recovery Solutions is a VA Community Care Provider; in-network with TriWest.
• Our trauma-informed dual diagnosis treatment is effective for PTSD, depression, anxiety and more.
• Military and Veteran PTSD Treatment Programs – Residential and Outpatient.
• Treatment Programs for First Responders, Union Members and Professionals.
Please call our Admissions at 866-303-6275 for more information.
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We Accept Most Insurance
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