Learning how to live in recovery, how to abstain from our addictive substances and behaviors, has a lot to do with healing our self-destructiveness. If we aren’t able to shed our instincts towards self-destruction, we might always be driven back to the addictions that we used as a form of escape from our pain. How can we heal our self-destructiveness so that we can feel happy and at peace within ourselves?

Healing ourselves means changing the programming that has been driving our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. It means getting to the root of all the false limiting beliefs about ourselves that we’ve been believing to be true. Take notice of your thoughts. How do you speak to yourself? What do you think about yourself? Chances are your self-talk is full of criticism and harsh judgment. Perhaps you’re quick to disparage or discount yourself. Maybe you’ve grown accustomed to always knocking yourself down a notch.

Let’s look at the limiting beliefs informing this self-talk. Common beliefs that many of us share are that we are inadequate, unworthy and undeserving of love. We feel inferior compared to other people. We feel we’ll never be successful, and that we don’t have anything to offer. Now let’s work to heal the fears underlying these limiting beliefs. If you’re like many people, you developed these fears during childhood as a result of a traumatic experience such as loss or neglect. Start to tell yourself that you are safe, that you are good enough, that you are loved and lovable, deserving and worthy. Make the choice that you want to believe in yourself. Give energy to changing your beliefs about yourself to be full of love and encouragement. Learn how to give yourself praise. Look for the qualities about yourself that you admire and are grateful for.

Once we regain our faith in ourselves, we’re much more likely to want to preserve our wellbeing rather than self-destruct. We’re able to find our purpose and our passion in life. We have something to live for. We have something to look forward to. Believing in ourselves is one of the first and most important steps in our emotional recovery. Whether or not we have faith in ourselves and our ability to recover makes all the difference between wanting to get better and actually being able to.

Bayview Recovery believes in you. We believe you can recover, and we have a total commitment to helping you get there. Call 888-570-7154 for more information on our treatment programs.