Our participants come to us having lived dramatic and addictive lives. They have often abandoned healthy activities which they once enjoyed: sports, outdoors, relationships, hobbies, etc. The word “fun” is synonymous with using drugs and alcohol, as they have attended to little else for some time. Here at Roads to Recovery, we have learned that including our Outdoor Adventure Program into our whole person approach assists men and women with overall recovery.

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In early recovery life seems lackluster and the thought of being alcohol and drug free forever seems boring, daunting and maybe impossible. In addition to letting go of the need for chemicals we are also asking our participants to let go of dramatic living, compulsive behaviors, codependent relationships (which are often dramatic and exhilarating), and many other maladaptive ways of living. The mission of Roads to Recovery Outdoors, is to “recover” that which was lost in active addiction.

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We seek to instill within our participants a sense of awe and wonder about the world in which they live. We assist them, through our work at Roads to Recovery, with interaction with nature, outdoor adventures, and group outings. The goal is redefining fun in a more expansive way including a wide array of seemingly mundane everyday life occurrences as well as the exhilarating events.

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The truth is that learning to enjoy life is an important predictor of long-term recovery. Recovery does not mean a lifetime of begrudgingly tolerated days of endless boredom and misery, even though this is what many imagine in early recovery. At Roads to Recovery these outdoor adventure experiences are part of our core mission to help people sustain recovery and achieve their best health for life.