Whether you're just starting out, or you’ve been in recovery for several months, community connections are one of the key components to long-term recovery. The support you gain from peers, through meetings, and in local community programs is generally a core element of your decision to remain in recovery when triggers signal you to otherwise make choices that could detail your healing. But what about addiction recovery apps?

Have you considered the impact your smartphone can have on your recovery? What if you could connect with members of the recovery community, speak with your peers and even receive push notifications on a regular basis to help you remain accountable in recovery? Addiction recovery apps like Pocket Rehab aim to help you maintain your recovery, longer—here’s how:

Immediate Community Connections

While 12-step meetings or consulting with your counselor are always options when you’re feeling like a trigger may send you in the wrong direction, what if it’s 3 o'clock in the morning? You can’t always call your counselor in the middle of the night, and you may not have access to a 12-step meeting at just the right time—with the importance of getting help when you need it, not when it’s most convenient, a recovery app seems like exactly the ideal choice for this kind of need.

Many times, a meeting is simply inaccessible when you need it most. What if you can’t drive to the meeting? What if you call your sponsor and they do not answer? Evidence-based principles tout the importance of connecting with a companion when you’re feeling triggered. If that means you need to connect with a recovering peer at 2 a.m., then that’s exactly what you should be able to do—and that’s exactly what is offered in an app. We want you to have access to the support you need, IMMEDIATELY—when you need it. If you can’t drive—no problem, you most certainly have your smartphone and can login to Pocket Rehab for support. If it’s late and your sponsor won't answer the phone—again, you can login to Pocket Rehab for support.  We provide support when you need it—not when it’s convenient to others. Likewise, connections with others that are like-minded and sharing the same struggles, goals and limitations can be helpful to your healing too. Connecting on Pocket Rehab allows you to:

• Immediately find others in your community that are in recovery.
• Consult with peers about your feelings and know that you are in a safe community.
• Build a group that is private, yet actively involved in your recovery. You can build friendships with others, without leaving your home. (although, leaving the house is healthy and we encourage you to meet others in recovery face-to-face too!)

Peer-to-Peer Accountability

Your counselor or therapist can tell you how important it is to stay recovery, but will you feel the same hearing from your therapist as you will hearing from a close friend that is also in recovery? Probably not! Peer accountability is a serious influence in recovery and when your accountability is encouraged by someone on a similar level to the one you are currently on, it hits just a bit closer to home. People in recovery that receive encouragement and accountability updates from peers that are also in recovery are more likely to value the input.

Online and offline, a recovery community is important because it offers a safe place for healing without stigma and shame that can come from those outside the recovery community. This is not to say that everyone outside the recovery community points fingers. But, the understanding that comes from someone who has first-hand experience with addiction is almost always greater than that of someone who has never personally been an addict or been family member or loved one of an addict.

Varied Support for Varied Needs

Sometimes, finding the right type of support or the right level of care can be difficult, especially in early recovery when emotions are running extremely high. During the early stages of recovery, you may not have close friends that don’t use drugs or alcohol and it’s like that you have pushed family away. As such, it can be hard to find support without great limitations being placed on the type of support being offered. Community becomes extremely important at this time—when relapse is the greatest risk. However, you can’t plan to build your support community WHEN you’re on the verge of relapse—it’s like that you’re too late if you wait this long.

We encourage users to build a support community before they are triggered or struggling with cravings that could derail recovery. A major part of learning from your mistakes will be to choose a path of sobriety that includes detaching yourself from the old groups and relationships that contributed to your addiction. But, where will you turn if you disconnect from everyone?

Consider your community options for support EARLY in your recovery before you face potential relapse risk. This will greatly improve your chances of preventing relapse later on.

Community can be found in:

• The workplace if this is a place where you did not use drugs or alcohol. (If you abused drugs or alcohol openly at work, it may be time to switch jobs)
• Church or a religious group.
• School or a similar learning environment.
• Online through 12-step groups online and through recovery apps as previously mentioned.
• Fellowship groups such as NA or AA.

Friends and peers in recovery are more likely to provide the varied support that you need during times of vulnerability. The connections you make as you grow in your recovery will help you to remain in long-term recovery. Developing strong relationships in recovery will help you to secure a foundation of healing that will remain in place even during difficult times when you may feel triggered or weak (alone too).

Positive Influences Bring Positive Results

Just as your parents may have told you that the people you hang out with will influence your behaviors and could get you into trouble—the same is true if you are spending time with the right people. Positive influences can bring positive results into your life. When you’re in recovery, it’s important to build a positive system of community and support so that you have several places to turn if you’re feeling like you need a shoulder to lean on. Everyone wants to feel like they fit in. It’s human nature to seek a bond with others that are like-minded. When you form bonds with members in the recovery community, you are more likely to feel like family and to remain deeply connected.

Continue building your positive community, complete with others who are in recovery and seeking freedom from addiction—and you will continue to find it easier and easier to make positive choices in your life both from day-to-day, and in recovery.