Menu Close

Addiction Resources

Get Started Today

Contact us today to start your journey!

Graduation: The Crossroad to Sobriety

Recovery may be a lifelong process, but there are still important milestones along the way. Graduation ceremonies mark the completion of treatment in a tangible way, celebrating how far each individual has come and sending them out to succeed in recovery.

Celebrating Your Accomplishments

Addiction experts recognize the benefit of charting progress and marking it in a special way. Graduation ceremonies at treatment facilities offer a tangible way to celebrate patient progress and send them out to succeed in recovery. The event acts as an example for future sober celebrations and is part of the mental work of living sober.

A celebration offers participants many intangible benefits. For example, a graduation gives patients the ability to express their milestones in a personal way. They may want to remember the occasion without saying anything at all, removing social pressure from patients who prefer less public attention. Or, they may have the opportunity to speak about something important to them in a positive way.

People working through the disease of addiction in challenging environments, such as jails and prisons, benefit from such celebrations, which act as spiritual interventions. A positive ritual, such as a ceremony, gives people with a history of negative experiences the opportunity to create positive associations. The spiritual aspect of the ceremony helps them add meaning to sobriety. Ceremonies also are good times to practice meditation, reflection, or prayer. These internal acts promote feelings of well-being and peace, which also support sobriety.

Celebrating Your Transition Into Sobriety

Graduation ceremonies are widely accepted, but some people feel they send mixed messages to people in recovery. Clinical psychologist Izaak Williams says the original meaning of a graduation ceremony as an ending to something is at odds with the disease of addiction. What if, he suggests, the ceremony enables the patient to feel he has beaten addiction, without the need of working on it in the future? It’s especially important for patients to manage their addiction for a lifetime, especially since 64 percent of patients in addiction treatment facilities are repeat patients.1,2 As an alternative to traditional graduation ceremonies, Williams supports using the term “transition day.” The ceremony should support techniques that make recovery easier and offer ideas about finding supportive people to connect with within recovery.2

Affirmation, Support and Re-Identification

Even people who question the terminology of graduation ceremonies recognize the importance of supporting addiction patients. Ceremonies allow people to speak about their personal struggles and offer tips to others about staying sober. One drug court graduate gave a speech during her ceremony to encourage others; she said it was important to refuse society’s labels about addicts. She added that graduates should find a positive way to define themselves.3 Supportive language and talk about the need to stay positive are important elements of graduation ceremonies.

Recovery is a lifelong process, but it’s still important to celebrate milestones along the way. Give us a call today at 269.280.4673 to kickstart your recovery journey.

 


1 Williams, Izaak L. “Drug Treatment Graduation Ceremonies: It’s Time to Put This Long-Cherished Tradition to Rest.” Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, vol. 32, no. 4, Oct. 2014. Accessed 19 June 2017.

2How do ‘graduation’ ceremonies affect addiction treatment?Science Daily, 3 Feb. 2015. Accessed 19 June 2017.

3Drug Court Graduate Gives Heartfelt Speech.” Hawaii State Judiciary, 17 Nov. 2015. Accessed 19 June 2017.