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Spiritual Treatment

Receiving Love From Others

Receiving love from others can provide support for individuals struggling with substance abuse.

The Importance Of Love From Others

Love from others is a necessity for humans. Love allows for connection, growth, and the survival of the human species and spirit. When we have other people’s love, we allow ourselves to surrender to their care, kindness, respect, compliments, encouragement, and commitment. Valuing the support of others can help us heal the parts of ourselves we may be struggling with so that we can transform. Furthermore, when we receive love from others without feelings of selfishness or doing so just to have needs met, we are communicating our desire to nurture and be nurtured.

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Being Open To Receiving Love From Others

Receiving love can be as simple as expressing gratitude for support or connection. However, receiving love can also be difficult for many to practice, due to self-limiting beliefs or blockages to love. Emotions like shame, guilt, or low self-esteem can keep some from receiving the love they need in healthy relationships.

Being open to receiving love begins with a choice to receive others’ love and trust their intentions. Receiving allows for love to flow freely to one individual without feeling of shame, unworthiness, or obligation. The choice to receive love can be actualized through:

  • Receiving love without obligation
  • Knowing one’s value
  • Expressing one’s need for help, love, or encouragement
  • Accepting compliments
  • Accepting help from others
  • Actively listening to others as they communicate

Receiving love is often connected to one’s self-image and ability to love themselves in a healthy manner. Receiving love is also connected with one’s self-esteem, self-worth, and self-love. If one is low in any of  these areas, they may struggle with accepting genuine self-love from others. Remembering to accept and love one’s self is a primary way to accept to love.

Building And Maintaining Trust

Building and maintaining trust in relationships are essential for their growth and development. Trust is essential to receiving and giving love to others, because it allows for cooperation and commitment for flourish. Building trust can involve your friend, partner, family member, or co-worker showing the following characteristics:

  • Availability
  • Consideration for the needs of others
  • Consistency
  • Vulnerability
  • Accountability
  • Integrity (matching words and actions)
  • Sharing ideas and emotions
  • Acceptance

Maintaining trust allows for the giver of love and the receiver of love to have a sense of balance within the relationship. Trust can be gained over time as both parties involved in the relationship grow to depend on and confide in each other.

Cultivating Healthy Relationships And Love From Others

Healthy relationships thrive with equality, warmth, interdependence, respect, trust, playfulness, and honesty. These relationships can be extremely helpful to someone recovering from addiction, as they offer support and other valuable benefits. Due to the quality of healthy relationships, we can feel nurtured and vulnerable to confide in our loved ones, friends and spouses with a feeling of safety. Healthy relationships can be created in many places, such as:

  • Religious functions
  • Interest groups
  • Work
  • The gym
  • Treatment center activities
  • 12-Step support groups

Unhealthy relationships consist of turmoil, abuses of control, a lack of respect, lack of fondness or support, and other difficult characteristics. Either party may lack value of one’s self or the other party and may put pressure on the other in attempts to control the relationship dynamics. As a result, strains of unhealthy relationships can cause frustration and emotional blockages to love.

Avoiding Negative Influences

Accept love in its purest, most positive form by avoiding negative people. Negative people can come in the form of friends, family, and co-workers who create conflict, criticize, discourage, or put others down. These negative or “toxic” influences are often distressing, creating negative experiences in the individual’s life.

The individual seeking transformation may drift back into stressful mental and emotional states. As a result, the individual may become discouraged from living a life of wellness or may struggle to maintain a positive attitude. Take back your power and resist any urge to dwell on negative comments, mean-spirited remarks, or discouraging feedback, and seek encouraging, supportive people.

Finally, if you are in a position to offer support to a loved one struggling with substance abuse, be mindful of the challenges they face. Be compassionate and non-judgmental as you encourage their road to sobriety.

Get The Support You Need

Healthy relationships are essential for recovery support. If you or a family member struggle with substance abuse, or finding a healthy support system, contact a treatment provider today. They can help guide you to facilities specializing in the best support groups focusing on love and spirituality-based peer groups.

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