The Return Threshold in Recovery

When someone in recovery crosses the threshold into their recovery journey, they will inevitably cross the return threshold. This threshold is different for everyone, but it can often include the individual graduating from treatment and integrating back into the community. Integration may occur in an environment they are familiar with, or it may be new entirely. However, they are tasked with discovering how to reintegrate. Even in a new area, they may face familiar challenges, triggers, and cravings while learning to adapt.

This re-integration is the individual returning home with the gift. The ultimate boon, as Joseph Campbell called it. There has been a period of sobriety. They graduate from treatment and will often leave with a certificate indicating their completion of the program. Some, like my places of work, provide graduation coins for individuals that reach this threshold.

In returning with their ultimate boon, the individual in recovery often has some idea of their goals. Now is the time to implement what they could not start while in treatment. They obtain a job, attend meetings, work on rebuilding and maintaining relationships. New relationships are formed as well. They move forward in the next stage of their life.

However, most working in the field as well as most in recovery understand that treatment is not the end. People aren’t cured of their addiction. Recovery is a lifelong process. Relapses are not uncommon, and the average number of treatment attempts for individuals in recovery is more than you would expect.

This is not a moral failing, nor is it a sign of weakness. It’s the nature of the beast. Recovery isn’t easy, and it takes consistent effort every day. So, what gives? The individual has crossed the return threshold, but still has to struggle?

Yes!

As is life. There are always trials to navigate, setbacks to endure, and the abyss to face. The journey as the Everyday Hero doesn’t end; it continues in different forms. When individuals cross the return threshold, their next journey is set to begin. The journey of sustaining recovery.

However, one does not stay sober simply for the sake of staying sober. Sobriety is maintained when those in recovery live meaningful lives, working toward purpose. It isn’t simply staying sober; it’s finding a reason to be sober.

Without a reason, it’s a forced effort. An effort that ultimately misses pieces necessary for maintaining the growth the individual began in treatment. The hope is that while in treatment, they have begun to explore their purpose, even if they don’t fully know what that is yet. After treatment is where they will continue this effort to discover and work toward meaning.

This is the next call to adventure.

The next journey.

An opportunity to continue fostering their identity as the hero in early recovery.