This is part of a series of Interviews and writing from young adults who reflect on their treatment to transition to "real life." Some went to treatment as a teen and others went as young adults.
Life is different when you leave a treatment program and go out into independent living. The program that I am currently in is a transitional living program where I have an apartment with a couple other girls who are also in the program. Overall, this program involves therapy groups a couple times a week, working a job, taking a couple of classes a week, and practicing living independently skills. Life is pretty unstructured and for the first time, I have to structure my time and money and keep myself safe from relapsing into my earlier patterns. I wanted this, but it is harder than I thought.
These are the top 20 surprises that I have had in the four months since graduating from high school, leaving the residential treatment program, and turning 18.
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Creating and following a schedule for my day-to-day life
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Finding a balance between free-time and structure
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Implementing the skills I learned from treatment into real life situations
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Managing and prioritizing my responsibilities
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Life is NOT as cheap as I thought (or it used to be), and because of this, money disappears from my bank account much quicker
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It’s hard not having people around me to check up on me, hold me accountable, or give me company
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Setting boundaries with other people (especially guys)
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Finding time to take care of myself, and actually doing it
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Eating healthier/ making meals for myself
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Knowing when it’s an appropriate time to tell a new relationship that I was once in treatment
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Being in a classroom setting with people I don’t know at all
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Talking about what’s going on for me, the emotions I’m having, and being vulnerable
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Making new friends who are healthy and good influences on me
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Identifying the things I need versus the things I want
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Sticking to behaviors that align with my values
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Exercising more often
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Focusing on myself versus focusing on having an intimate relationship
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Staying in a rational headspace (not going from blaming myself to a “screw this” attitude)
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Thinking in long-term versus short-term
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Picking myself back up once I’ve made a mistake
About the author:
Jane Smith* is now in a transitional program and turned 18 in August 2016. She attended a wilderness therapy program after her first treatment program & then enrolled in a second residential treatment program, where she graduated in June from high school. Jane was accepted to a university, and chose to have an intentional transition out of treatment and a year off to work & grow. Jane is without the structure of residential treatment, and has a job, a cell phone, a social media presence, and continues to develop authentic relationships with her family.
* Name changed for confidentiality.
