Making Amends During Addiction Recovery Steps 8 and 9 of AA

From helping you feel more mentally clear to letting your body start to heal from any damage, the benefits of a sober life are endless! You’ll become a new person, ready to take on the world again. The people who do not wish to make amends at the time may need time to think as well, and you’ll have to accept the fact that they may never come around to forgiveness. Allowing people their space and being patient with them is a significant indicator to them that you’ve changed. Keep moving towards those people who are welcoming and ready to accept your amends.

Steps 8 and 9 help us to move out of the shame we have lived in, shame that feeds the cycle of substance use and addiction. We strengthen and reinforce healthy recovery whenever we do our part to repair relationships or reach out to others with support and understanding. It’s possible that the other person is unaware of the harm you have caused them, and making direct amends would make them aware and hurt them badly. In Step 8, people in recovery look back on their actions and identify where they are at fault and what can be done moving forward.

Making Amends: How to Rebuild Relationships after Battling Addiction

Living amends look different for everyone, depending on the specific negative behavior patterns you have identified while working the 12 Steps. Determining the most impactful living amends will require a great deal of honesty. A qualified behavioral therapist can help you identify the areas of your life that need attention. Living amends refers to the ways in which you change how you live Making Living Amends During Addiction Recovery your life in recovery or “walking our talk.” These changes affirm your commitment to the direct or symbolic amends you made with others. Living amends represent the long-term actions you will take to remain committed to recovery. If you have devoted the necessary time and energy to the first 8 steps, you should have a solid foundation from which to approach making amends in Step 9.

Making amends is a very important part of addiction recovery. The recovering person must acknowledge that actions they took during active addiction caused harm to others, especially those who are closest to them. They must take ownership of those actions and begin to take new actions that show the commitment they have made to their recovery. People get tired of broken promises, of forgiving over and over and giving second and third, fourth, or fifth chances only to get hurt again. When you’re looking to change both your behavior and your broken relationships, stop making excuses to fulfill your promises. Soon, you’ll run out of reasons to give your loved ones why you’ve failed them once again.

Steps for Making Living Amends

That’s why you have to keep the channels of communication open at all times. This https://ecosoberhouse.com/ ties back into making tangible reparations for your mistakes wherever applicable.

It also shows that you’re working towards a more positive lifestyle. A direct amends I made was for borrowing money from multiple people. I reached out to them, told my story and where I was at now, and said how sorry I was. I offered them their money back – some took it, others did not.