New Recovery it is best to stay as stable as possible in your life, one day at a time for as long as possible first.

If you are a newcomers to 12 step programs then it is the best advice to stay as stable as possible in your life, one day at a time for as long as possible first. Often times people with addiction disorders believe that they should immediately seek out individual counseling for themselves so that they can begin to look at all of the problems in their life. I don’t recommend this. If a person continues to have suicidal thoughts or serious symptoms such as seeing things or hearing things that aren’t there, then it would be a good idea to see a mental health or medical professional that specializes in addiction. However, individual psychotherapy is something that should be considered risky early on in the recovery process, unless it is with a therapist who is VERY knowledgable about addiction and they are willing to work with the person with the specific purpose of helping them focus on how to stay in recovery one day at a time – and NOT delve into deeply rooted issues. Deep issues such as childhood trauma, sexual abuse, grief, depression, shame, sexuality, etc. should be very carefully avoided until the person has established a solid foundation of recovery under their feet. By that I mean, it would be best if a person has a sponsor, has attended at least 90 meetings in 90 days, is emotionally ready to begin to dig up old feelings from the past, has established good coping skills (such as exercising, journaling, meditation/relaxation) and has a very strong support-system around them in their life.