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Job Training and Our Work Therapy Program

Why job training can help aid addiction recovery

Here at New Beginnings of Tampa, we believe that there are many aspects of recovery and therapy that go beyond a therapist’s office or a rehabilitation center, which is why we created the work therapy program, which allows the people in our program to both the chance to relearn important work habits and instill discipline, it also has the practical use of having them gain useful job skills and ensure a better chance at finding gainful employment once they leave the program. There’s more to it than just that, but already this shows how crucial integrating work into a person’s recovery can have a wealth of positive effects and make the recovery process more beneficial and more likely to stick. Addiction can utterly beat down a person’s sense of self-worth, but a job well-done, being able to demonstrate skills and responsibility, can help build it back up again.

How work therapy works

One of the most difficult aspects of addiction recovery can be reintegrating yourself back into society, particularly depending on the length of time spend both in the throes of addiction, possibly being incarcerated and the eventual recovery process. Having a job is a fairly major part of that reintegration because it allows you to be independent and support yourself, so work therapy seems like a logical solution. It starts in very small steps, eventually growing to higher levels of responsibility in tandem with you as progress is made in the recovery process. In the beginning, it can be helpful and calming to have a task to focus on keep your mind busy to avoid an immediate relapse, but new clients shouldn’t be handed the hefty responsibility of a job just yet, especially when they need to be focusing on their recovery first and foremost, so clients are given tasks that are generally confined to the property, like raking leaves or cleaning, an easy kind of busywork that can keep the mind and body occupied and also get the client in the motion of working. The next step is supervised volunteer work, like helping the homeless or working at a food bank, which, while still very much monitored, involves more responsibility and also adds the good feeling of being able to give back to society as they recover. From there, they typically do work like parking and concessions for events like concerts and sports games, which helps ease them back into a more normal work environment while still being able to be supervised. The final step is the client applying to and securing a job for themselves, proving that they can handle the responsibility and maintain their employment. The first paycheck can be a scary thing, as it creates both the means and opportunity for a relapse. That’s why we work closely with the client to monitor the money and help create a realistic budget for them to stick to, so they aren’t set up to fail and can begin saving money.

Final Word

By spreading out the work therapy into steps, it creates opportunities for success and victory that can help to strengthen the self-esteem of the client and keep them from feeling discouraged and potentially relapsing if they were suddenly thrown into the job market after their recovery all at once without any prior preparation. Instead, they get help integrating back into society and having a positive experience that helps aid in the recovery process as a whole.

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Taking the “less” Out of Homeless with Homeless Recovery

A program for people in peril

Homelessness has very much become an epidemic over the years in the United States. In many cases, they are ignored or worse. There is a stigma surrounding homelessness that implies that they are in some way less than human and not worth feeling empathy towards. What makes this even more horrifying is that so many homeless people are veterans who fought to defend our country, only to be let down by the system upon their return. People become homeless for many reasons, mounting health problems – be they physical or mental – and the costs associated with them, addiction, family issues and more. Homeless people are highly vulnerable, not just by nature of being homeless but also often physically, socially and psychologically. Here at New Beginnings of Tampa, our Transitional Housing and Recovery program works not just to address our homeless clients most immediate needs to food, clothing and shelter, but also therapy, guidance and job training to make sure that they do not fall back between the cracks. These are people who have been treated like they are nothing and at New Beginnings of Tampa, we work to rebuild the self-esteem and self-worth of our clients.

The steps to recovery

When we take in our homeless clients, most pressing needs are taken care of first, namely food, clothing and shelter that’s not just a roof over their head but a safe, healthy space. When that’s been taken care of, we can begin to assess an individualized program to help them get back on track. Sometimes that involves addiction recovery, therapy, group programs or a combination thereof. We also provide something that many other recovery programs do not, and that is work therapy. Work therapy is a crucial part of our clients, especially our homeless ones, being able to successfully integrate back into society. For recovering addicts, it gives them something to take their minds off relapse and withdrawal, and for all our clients, it creates a way to build their self-worth back up as they take on jobs with increasing levels of responsibility and achieve success. By starting small, with odd jobs on the property and moving to carefully supervised work like parking and concessions at events like sports games and concerts and eventually working up to them finding a job for themselves, they are not overwhelmed and discouraged by trying to do everything all at once while simultaneously trying to get through their recovery. This way they slowly re-immerse themselves in the feeling of work and having a job until they are ready to get one for themselves and can start saving money to move into a place of their own.

Final Word

There are no upfront costs to get into our program because many of the people who need the program most do not have anything to give. The most important thing is get those most vulnerable off the streets and into our program where we can start doing good and helping our clients turn their lives around. Homeless people are not any less a person than anyone, and they deserve to be seen as someone with worth who matters, which is what we aim to do with our different recovery programs, breaking the cycle of homelessness and ensuring that they are integrated back into society and can retain employment and rebuild their lives to be even better than they were before.

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Transitional Housing: A Safe Space for Recovery

For those in recovery, shelter and safety are vital

For people in recovery, having a safe space to live is absolutely critical for them if they are to make any progress in their program. The people who come to New Beginnings of Tampa are people at their most vulnerable and oftentimes at their lowest point. In most cases, they are homeless, with nowhere else they can go, and are often struggling with mental and physical health issues, addiction, and worse. In order to be able to work on complex issues, such as attending therapy and recovering from addiction, the most pressing, straightforward issues must be taken care of, namely, making sure that our clients have a roof over their head, a place that they can call home, even if it’s just a temporary home. Transitional housing ensures that our clients are off the street and in a better position to be guided and cared for in the most important part of recovery: the beginning. Once they no longer have to focus purely on survival, they can start moving forward with the program that will eventually help them get back on their feet and reintegrated with society.

What transitional housing does for clients

On top of a serving capacity of two hundred men, women and young adults, New Beginnings of Tampa also offers emergency housing for up fifty men, women and young adults and has no upfront costs to get into the program because the people who need to be their most typically cannot pay an upfront cost. The most important thing is to get them off the street and into recovery. From there they can receive individualized, personal care. For those with mental health problems, or issues with addiction and substance abuse, we have counselors to give them one-on-one attention, and referrals are made to appropriate agencies to ensure that they can get the level of help that they need if it is for whatever reason beyond New Beginnings to provide it for them. Our transitional long-term housing works in conjunction with our work therapy program in that it gives our clients a support system as they rebuild their lives and prepare to reenter society. Our transitional housing also makes it easier for our clients when they reach the end of their recovery program and are applying to jobs that they do not also have to worry about finding housing when they’re not yet employed and making money. This way, when they do succeed in finding a job, they can start saving their money immediately and take their time finding an adequate place to live as they finish their program and get back on track.

Final Word

Transitional housing is a key factor in a successful recovery and, especially if the client is homeless, vitally important for their safety and wellbeing as they start their recovery program. It provides a safe space and a buffer from the dangers of living on the street, as well as lessening the chance of a relapse if they are attempting to recover for an addiction. It ensures that we can care for our clients in the best way possible and takes care of the immediate issue of shelter and safety so that they can move on to the more complex and involved ones of therapy, recovery and their eventual reentry into independent living.

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Transitional Housing: Meeting the Needs of the Homeless

Homelessness is often the end of a long and difficult road. We often think of the lowest point of poverty as being hunger and exposer but the needs of the homeless most often go deeper than that. A person’s lack of food and shelter are typically a symptom of a deeper problem. While their immediate need is sustenance, they’re deeper need is to be cared for and to make meaningful connections. At New Beginnings of Tampa, the Transitional Housing Program works to first meet the immediate needs of those who are experiencing homelessness and then go deeper.

The programs at New Beginnings of Tampa, founded by Pastor Tom Atchison provide help to both men and women over the age of 18. We believe that transitional housing programs shouldn’t be one-size-fits all. That’s why our programs are also personalized to each individual and gender-responsive.

Food and Shelter

When someone who has been living on the street first enters the program their immediate needs are for food, shelter, and clothing. The program often starts with outreach. Pastor Tom Atchison and team members use food as a way to attract homeless men and women in order to talk to them about getting off the street. Next, we work hard to provide facilities for homeless men and women to do just that. We provide housing, food to sustain them, and clothing. Recently, we have worked to make our New Beginnings facility more energy efficient with green lighting and shower heads.

Addiction Recovery

After they’ve been clothed and fed, the next layer of need is met: the need to overcome addiction. Homelessness is often a symptom cause by addiction. Not only does substance abuse consume the focus of its victims, it can also lead to lying and stealing. New bad habits, brought on by addiction, can make it difficult to hold a job which eventually leads to homelessness. Finally, the pain and suffer addiction causes to victims and their families can cause a breakdown in confidence and self-assurance.

The addiction recovery programs at New Beginnings are centered around work therapy. From simple tasks to applying for real world jobs, giving people responsibility, supervision, and care help them to learn new skills and build confidence.

The process is essential for overcoming bad habits and behaviors that are produced by addiction, re-integrating into society, and making connections that can help avoid relapse in the long term.

Psychological Needs

Finally, the last layer is reached. Addiction, homelessness, and poverty can often be the result of deeper mental and emotional issues. When an individual is the victim of abuse, has mental health problems, or family and relationship issues, it can lead to difficulties maintaining gainful employment or using illicit substances as a coping mechanism.

Pastor Tom Atchison and New Beginnings of Tampa seek to reach those that are economically, physically, psychologically, and emotionally vulnerable by treating them as one of the family. Our goal is to show them love and care to help them overcome whatever is stopping them from leading rich and productive lives.

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Why Work Therapy is Crucial for Addiction Recovery

The first step is acceptance. That’s what we always hear about addiction recovery, but accepting that you’re struggling with addiction is much more difficult than it sounds. It often means taking responsibility for the bad road you’ve found yourself on. It may also mean accepting the fact that you have hurt people you’re close to, like family and friends. Because addiction often comes with lying, stealing, and manipulation, it often leads to a breakdown of work ethic and the ability to hold a steady job.

At New Beginnings of Tampa, we recognize that fact that addiction can leave a person’s confidence and self-assurance in shambles, which is why acceptance is such a difficult first step. However, Pastor Tom Atchison employs work therapy as a crucial way to overcome addiction at New Beginnings.

Throughout the process, being responsible for accomplishing tasks helps rebuild the resident’s work ethic and, more importantly, their self-assurance.

Engaging the Mind

When a resident first begins addiction recovery, they are in the grip of the detoxification process. With nothing to do, the mind wanders and the familiar cravings are brought to the forefront of their thoughts. Having a task to complete is an effective way to engage the minds of people throughout the detox process. The jobs start small. Residents might sweep the floor or rake the leaves outside, but the simple act of taking on a responsibility and focusing on getting the job done can stave off the pull towards relapse.

Building Confidence

As New Beginnings of Tampa residents advance in the recovery process, their level of responsibility increases. Taking on and accomplishing new tasks helps to rebuild the confidence that was lost to addiction. Residents prove to themselves that they are capable of working and contributing to something outside their addiction. They also help with charity events like food drives which allow them to directly contribute to society by giving back to the community.

Reintegrates

The process of integrating back into society is a crucial step in any recovery program. Detox helps get the chemicals out of your system, but learning how to engage with those around you and contribute to society is important in avoiding relapse and making a permanent change. As residents start to take larger jobs like working at events in concession and parking, they re-learn how to interact with customers, fellow employees, and their bosses. Through this part of the process, they are supervised and taught how to foster a good work ethic and avoid bad habits learned during addiction.

Instill Discipline

Pastor Tom Atchison’s work therapy program starts with menial tasks and ends with people in recovery applying for new jobs. In order to advance, they must put aside the pull toward relapse, bad work habits, and the desire to quit. They have to take pride in their work and do the best job they can. This idea instills the concept of discipline and self-control that is essential when it comes to long-term sobriety.

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Dealing with the Early Stages of Addiction Recovery

There is perhaps no more intense moment in the recovery process than the first stages of detoxification. You have attackers coming at you from all sides. The seemingly unrelenting physical need for the addictive substance, the emotional pain of dealing with your life as an addict and the things that drove you to substance abuse, and the mental exhaustion that comes with coping with your withdrawals.

But, with help, it’s not impossible to overcome addiction.

Withdrawal and Physical Symptoms

When a person in the throes of addiction first comes to Pastor Tom Atchison and the team at New Beginnings of Tampa, we need to be prepared for the first stages of addiction recovery: detox. Detoxification is intervening with a body’s physical dependence on a chemical substance. The severity of withdrawals often depends on the drug that was used and how long it was used. Some substances can cause dependency after years of habitual use while others, like Methamphetamine, can lead to quick dependency.

Depending on the level of dependency, people in detox can experience increased sensitivity to pain, insomnia, sweating, flu-like symptoms, and lack of appetite. Extreme cases require serious medical care and medication.

Emotional Affects

Dealing with the physical symptoms are only the first step in addiction recovery. Unfortunately, the next hurdle, in many ways, is much more difficult to overcome. During the detox process, there are a number of symptoms that affect your emotional state. Recoverees may experience irritability, anxiety, depression, and general emotional instability. Add to that the very real knowledge that the person may have hurt their friends or family, stolen, lied, and damaged their own life and relationship.

Finally, if substance abuse was a coping mechanism for some hardship or trauma, those negative emotions may come flooding back. Altogether, this creates a situation where a person in recovery is incredibly vulnerable and it’s easy to see why addictions are so difficult to quit.

Physical Activity as a Coping Mechanism

Even after intense physical withdrawals are over, there will still be cravings and the urge to relapse. One way to cope with this that Pastor Tom Atchison employs at New Beginning of Tampa is work therapy. More specifically, assigning tasks for the recoveree to focus on rather than being left to wallow in withdrawal.

This also helps the recoveree reestablish self-discipline. Being giving a task means taking on a responsibility. Even small jobs like sweeping the floor, require a level of discipline and focus in order to do it right. Not only does physical activity help work through the physical symptoms of withdrawal, work therapy can help a former addict rebuild their work ethic.

Accountability and Support

Support systems are the cornerstone of many recovery techniques and organizations. For instance, Alcoholics Anonymous uses the principle of sponsorship, so recoverees have support during weak moments. For that reason, we closely monitor residents in recovery throughout our work therapy program, especially in the early stages.

In the beginning of the recovery process, residents are given small tasks with clear rules. They are not allowed to leave the property and they are closely monitored. They also meet with counselors to work through the mental and emotional aspects of addiction recovery.